Casino

IF THE MARKET 8 casino proposed for 8th and Market streets were a student, it would be summa cum laude. On Thursday, the first of two days of public hearings on the awarding of a second casino license for the city, the independent Design Advocacy Group made public its letter-grade judgments of plans submitted by six would-be gambling-den developers. The group, consisting of local design and architecture professionals, graded each plan on site location and architecture. The clear winner was The Goldenberg Group's Market 8, planned for a surface parking lot at 8th and Market streets.

LET THE hooting and hollering begin. Thursday and Friday, the Gaming Control Board will hear testimony from nearly 75 people in two days of public hearings on the second casino license to be awarded in Philadelphia. Six developers are vying for the chance to open the casino, and although tempers and emotions may not be running as high as the first time around, when Philadelphians were grappling with what impact two casinos might wield on the city and its neighborhoods, this week's hearings are hardly expected to be hushed, either.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will have a full house Thursday and Friday when it hosts two days of public hearings on Philadelphia's second casino at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Doug Harbach, a gaming board spokesman, said all the slots for speakers have been reserved. Anyone who has not signed up will likely have to wait until a third hearing, scheduled for May 8 in South Philadelphia. This week's sessions will be held in Room 204 of the Convention Center, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m. on Thursday and 3 p.m. on Friday.

Atlantic City's dozen casinos generated $238.5 million in total gaming revenue last month, down 10.5 percent from March 2012, when 11 casinos generated $266.5 million. Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reinforced the obvious: that even with the opening of the $2.4 billion Revel in April 2012 and its addition of 2,450 slot machines and 160 table games to the market, Atlantic City's gambling revenue continued to shrink. Of the 11 gambling halls open a full year in March, 10 saw revenue decline.

Atlantic City police have identified the two people found dead in a hotel room at the Revel casino as North Jersey residents. The bodies of Vincent A. Iappelli Jr., 56, of Ringwood, and Clarissa I. DelCollo, 22, of Hasbrouck Heights, were discovered Sunday afternoon by a housekeeper. An initial investigation by the Atlantic County Medical Examiner's Office concluded there were no signs of trauma, no visible signs of injury, and no signs of foul play. Police recovered narcotics from the room.

Don't roll dice on casino smoking Revel casino may be the first business to think that its economic salvation lies at the end of a cigarette butt. In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Revel has revealed plans to allow smoking in its Atlantic City casino when it reopens. Previously, the casino had banned smoking. Revel is well within its legal rights to add smoking areas, since New Jersey's smoking restrictions were written so that casinos can allow smoking on 25 percent of their gaming floors.

ATLANTIC CITY - Authorities say the bodies of a man and a woman have been found in a hotel room at the Revel casino resort. Authorities told CBS 3 that the bodies of a 56-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were discovered by a housekeeper Sunday afternoon at Revel. Autopsies were conducted Sunday night. Police say the cause of the deaths will be released when the investigation is finished. They are asking for anyone with information about the deaths to contact police. Revel, the city's newest casino, opened a year ago. It has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Where North Beach Street twists and turns into Richmond Avenue in Fishtown, the old William Cramp & Sons shipyard has been the envy of developers and dreamers alike. It's 60 open acres of Delaware River waterfront, a vast blank canvas. And the man with all the paintbrushes is Las Vegas resort-and-casino developer Steve Wynn. Two weeks ago, Wynn finally released his plan for developing the site. Local reaction has run hot and cold. Everyone agrees that the Wynn project could be a game-changer for the waterfront, finally giving purpose to land that has been idle since after World War II. But the biggest concern is whether his ideas will conform with the civic vision for the waterfront that began taking shape five years ago. When Wynn emerged as a contender for the city's second casino, he offered only a sketch of a proposed 19-story hotel, rising above the pedestal of a casino.