Saturday, July 01, 2006

As reported by the Providence Journal: "The battle over the November casino
referendum has begun. "Since late May, the debate has been dominated by the
Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment and Harrah's-affiliated advocacy
groups with names such as 'CompeteRI' and most recently, 'Rhode Islanders
for Jobs and Tax Relief Inc.' "Yesterday, an anti-casino coalition group
that counts among its members former state economic development director
Michael McMahon, former Attorney General James O'Neil and former Providence
College basketball coach and Big East athletic conference founder Dave
Gavitt, officially announced its arrival on the battlefield.

"Headed by the blunt-spoken Richard Oster, retired chairman of Cookson
America, the new group known as 'Save Our State' (S.O.S.) is hoping to raise
at least $3 million for a campaign "that will focus on educating voters as
to why the proposal is such a bad deal for Rhode Island."

".But Angelique Pirozzi, campaign manager for the Harrah's-financed 'Rhode
Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief' sought to dismiss the new anti-casino
group as a front for the two big Connecticut casinos: Foxwoods and Mohegan
Sun.

".There was no immediate response from Foxwoods, but Chuck Bunell, chief of
staff to the Mohegan tribe, said: 'That is unequivocally false. We have not
been approached by anyone asking us to get involved.'."