HARRISBURG - A Detroit developer can keep the license he won from state regulators to build Pittsburgh's only slot-machine casino, the state's highest court ruled yesterday.
The Supreme Court rejected two separate challenges, meaning Don H. Barden, who owns casinos in four other states, can build the Majestic Star Casino on Pittsburgh's North Shore.
The groups Barden beat out - casino operator Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., of St. Louis, and developer Forest City Enterprises Inc., of Cleveland - both had appealed to the state Supreme Court. They claimed, among other things, that Barden's other casinos are losing money in profitable gambling markets, making him a financially unworthy candidate.