Bally

ATLANTIC CITY — The stabbing deaths of two Canadian tourists outside a casino hotel left tourism officials stunned and dismayed Monday, casting a shadow over the formal opening on Memorial Day weekend of the newest gambling palace and tripping up a $30 million-a-year campaign to rebrand and revive the sagging resort town. The two victims, women ages 80 and 47, were stabbed and killed during a robbery Monday morning outside Bally's Atlantic City casino hotel, just steps from where a police officer was sitting in a patrol car. Police declined to provide the names of the victims, or precisely where they were from, pending notification of family.

Daniel J. Gerlach, 40, of Haddon Heights, an architect whose marble work is in numerous commercial buildings on the East Coast, including the First Union Center in Philadelphia and the Trump casino-hotels in Atlantic City, died Friday afternoon while running on a treadmill at Bally's health club in Deptford. He died just four weeks after the birth of his son, Paul, an event that had the father of two daughters "on cloud nine," said Mr. Gerlach's father, Paul J. Gerlach. In 1993 Mr. Gerlach cofounded Doyle-Gerlach Inc., a Philadelphia company that imported fine natural stone, specializing in marble and granite, from all over the world.

Bally Manufacturing Corp. received the blessing of state gaming regulators yesterday to buy its second Atlantic City casino despite a lawyer's plea to halt the highly publicized sale. Members of the state Casino Control Commission unanimously approved Bally's purchase of stock in the Golden Nugget Casino/Hotel, a move that clears the way for the two casino operators to close their business deal possibly as soon as this weekend. Before voting on the purchase, commission Chairman Walter Read noted that he had received several letters from a Bally shareholder's attorney who is seeking to stop the sale, which figured in the Boardwalk power struggle between Bally and rival Atlantic City casino owner Donald J. Trump of New York City.

A disgruntled Bally stockholder who owns less than 100 shares of the corporation took on the Goliaths of the gaming industry yesterday in a frantic bid to foil peace accords struck by New York developer Donald J. Trump and Bally Manufacturing Corp. While the two Atlantic City casino operators sheathed their weapons in their Boardwalk power struggle, attorneys for Bally shareholder Carol F. Glassman moved in U.S. District Court in Camden to block the peace settlement. Glassman, 40, an occupational therapist from New York City, is represented by Haverford lawyer Richard Greenfield, who accused Bally's top executives of "trading away the health of the company for their jobs" and Trump of "extorting greenmail.

The Bally Manufacturing Co. approved an agreement yesterday to buy the Golden Nugget Casino/Hotel in Atlantic City for $439 million, according to a Bally vice president. The move is viewed by casino industry sources as an effort to thwart a hostile takeover bid of the Chicago-based Bally by New York real estate developer Donald Trump. An attorney for Trump said yesterday that Trump would attempt to delay completion of the sale of the Golden Nugget to Bally until all facts surrounding the purchase agreement were known.

Four people have been indicted in a theft-deception scam that netted them $35,000 during a five-month period in 1984 from Bally's Park Place Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, according to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office. Indicted on conspiracy, theft-by-deception and forgery charges were: Mary Joan LaBarbera, 57; Robert Bond, 38, her son; and Mark Keaton, 33, all of Las Vegas, Nev., and Arturo Rodreguez, 34, of Miami. According to John R. Hagerty, deputy press secretary for Attorney General W. Cary Edwards, none of the accused people has been arrested.

Less than a week after Bally Manufacturing Corp. vowed to keep the stylish Golden Nugget Casino/Hotel exactly the same, the corporate hierarchy has started to crumble at the "best little casino on the Boardwalk. " Since Bally purchased the rival casino on Sunday, two of Golden Nugget's top executives - its casino manager and its chief executive officer - have resigned. Boone Wayson, the chief executive officer, resigned yesterday. Those resignations came amid rumors that Charles Meyerson - a $300,000-a- year casino host who is a legend in the gaming industry for drawing the Nugget's high-roller gamblers - was considering quitting within 60 days.

WITH ALL that's going on in the world, I don't understand why the Daily News put Carrol Shannon on the Feb. 9 front page. The fact that she is a grandmother, as the headline blared, has nothing to do with this tale of belligerence, defiance and just plain crude behavior. Even if there was a misunderstanding by Bally management regarding her bike reservation, it does not give her the right to defy the manager on duty and force her way on the equipment. If that wasn't bad enough, when police arrived she disobeyed a lawful order to remove herself.

A federal judge in Camden has approved a $6.5 million settlement of a suit against Donald Trump and the officers and directors of Bally Manufacturing Corp. Shareholders who bought stock in Bally between Nov. 13, 1986, and Feb. 20, 1987, will get $2.25 million from Bally under the agreement approved Wednesday. The $4.25 million remaining will be paid to Bally by insurers of its officers and directors and by Trump, who must personally pay $2.25 million. The 1986 suit by Bally's shareholders alleged that the defendants' failure to disclose negotiations between Trump and Bally artificially inflated the value of Bally stock.

T IGER WOODS worked out at Bally's in King of Prussia yesterday afternoon following his first day golfing at the AT&T National. Woods, accompanied by caddy Steve Williams , and a few other guys, did some free weights and stretching with an exercise ball. Dressed in head-to-toe Nike gear, Woods was gracious to gym members who came over to say hello including Kurt Laufer , of GirlsofPhilly.com, who told Woods to "Give 'em hell this week. " Laufer was tempted to offer to introduce Woods to one of the nude models on his Web site, but took the high road instead.

KATHLEEN TURNER, Tyne Daly and playwright Terrence McNally will be among guests at the Philadelphia Theatre Company's 35th-anniversary gala June 6 at the Hyatt at the Bellevue. Former Gov. Ed Rendell hosts the gala event honoring Sara Garonzik , PTC's producing artistic director, and longtime board member Kenneth S. Kaiserman . Turner appeared last year in PTC's "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins ," and Daly is about to star in the revival of McNally's "Master Class" on Broadway.

IT WASN'T that long ago that Joey Fatone was twirling, gliding and crooning his way across hockey-arena stages while thousands of young girls squealed at his every move, and that of his four fellow 'N Sync members. So that can't possibly be the same Joey Fatone on the stage of the intimate Palace Theater at Bally's Atlantic City, handing out cash and prizes to the quarter-slots crowd as host of "The Price Is Right Live!" can it? It can and it is. Through April 27, Fatone, 34, is making like Drew Carey in the live version of the iconic CBS-TV game show.

LAS VEGAS - Like all major U.S. destinations, Sin City has felt the full throttle of the recession. But Vegas' economy, built entirely on spending - whether through gambling on the Strip's 33 casinos, relaxing at the lavish spas, or shopping at the upscale malls - needs tourists more than any other. And starting in early 2011, the city's marketing message will be heavily geared toward those who survived the recession. Why the push? "Survival," Rob Dondero, executive vice president of R&R Partners, the Las Vegas public relations firm that coined the famous "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" slogan, said candidly.

T IGER WOODS worked out at Bally's in King of Prussia yesterday afternoon following his first day golfing at the AT&T National. Woods, accompanied by caddy Steve Williams , and a few other guys, did some free weights and stretching with an exercise ball. Dressed in head-to-toe Nike gear, Woods was gracious to gym members who came over to say hello including Kurt Laufer , of GirlsofPhilly.com, who told Woods to "Give 'em hell this week. " Laufer was tempted to offer to introduce Woods to one of the nude models on his Web site, but took the high road instead.

ARE YOU ready for some beer pong? If you are, the Wild Wild West casino at Bally's Atlantic City is the place to be as the town's first bee- pong facility opens tonight. In case you just got back from an extended trip to Saturn, beer pong is a college-campus and sports-event tailgating staple. It's played on a regulation pingpong table, but no paddles are involved. The object is to toss a pingpong ball into a plastic cup filled with beer on the opponent's side of the table. (The game generally involves 10 cups per side, arranged in a triangular shape.

WITH ALL that's going on in the world, I don't understand why the Daily News put Carrol Shannon on the Feb. 9 front page. The fact that she is a grandmother, as the headline blared, has nothing to do with this tale of belligerence, defiance and just plain crude behavior. Even if there was a misunderstanding by Bally management regarding her bike reservation, it does not give her the right to defy the manager on duty and force her way on the equipment. If that wasn't bad enough, when police arrived she disobeyed a lawful order to remove herself.

1994 - Bally's obtains an option to purchase 21 riverfront acres on Christopher Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street. Ed Rendell is mayor of Philadelphia and speculation spreads that riverboat gambling will be approved by the state. 2005 - Bally's, which has become Caesar's Entertainment, pays $45 million on top of a previous $20 million in option payments for the land. Rendell, now governor, has successfully pushed for the legalization of slot-machine gambling. Caesar's is then absorbed by Harrah's Entertainment, which has a casino project in the works for Chester, Delaware County.

In a show of support for their dealer brethren, about 150 pickets who are members of casino unions in Atlantic City marched in front of Caesars Casino last night. "It's been two years too long for a fair contract for the working members of Caesars, Bally's, Tropicana, and Trump Plaza," said Scott Adams, assistant director of UAW Regional 9, which includes New Jersey, as he gathered members for the protest yesterday that started just before 5 p.m. and ended about 7. Adams was alluding to dealers at the four casinos who voted in 2007 to join the United Auto Workers.

After two years of what they describe as a run-around over a contract with Harrah's Entertainment Inc., dealers at two of Atlantic City's biggest casinos have authorized a strike. According to results of the weekend vote released by the United Auto Workers, which represents the casino employees, more than 90 percent of dealers at Bally's and dealers and slot technicians at Caesars endorsed a walkout. With the vote, the workers join dealers at the Tropicana, who authorized a strike in January.

BRITNEY SPEARS' peeps are in talks with Bally Total Fitness, reports TMZ.com, for Britney to be a spokesperson for the company. Britney? Total fitness? Wouldn't Red Bull and jerky be a better fit? During negotiations, TMZ.com says, Britney has been working with Bally's top personal trainers (so it's only a matter of time before she's linked romantically to one of her personal trainers). Work those kegels, Britney. The pop puff pastry has also been working with a Bally's nutritionist, so it's hello, tofu, and goodbye, Gorditas.