Casino

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.

While its CEO made public assurances that it had sufficient liquidity to make it through 2013, the debtors of the lavish but flagging Revel casino in Atlantic City scrambled to arrange a bankruptcy filing. The burden of servicing $1.5 billion in debt, amid dismal revenue, was simply too heavy, according to the 390-page petition filed by owner Revel AC Inc. late Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden. On Page 13 of the voluminous petition, the debtors listed four ways they hoped to improve business: Add a high-end slots area, a new and less-expensive food court, a semi-private VIP players' lounge, and not least, a smoking area.

By A.J. Thomson Call it a Wynn-win for Philadelphia. The 300-room casino-hotel for Philadelphia proposed by Steve Wynn would sit about five blocks from my home in Fishtown, and extend up into lower Port Richmond. It should be the only site up for discussion. Wynn, chief executive of Wynn Resorts Ltd., which has similar operations in Las Vegas and Macau, is intent on building a destination resort on this 60-acre site, which extends along North Beach Street from Palmer to Cumberland Streets.

Philadelphia's planning commission wants to hear what people think about the six proposals for a second Philadelphia casino. So it's holding a series of neighborhood sessions over three consecutive nights in three locations. Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor and head of the City Planning Commission, said it is meant to be a "listening tour" to gauge public opinion in advance of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's round of hearings in April and May. The open houses for the commission are scheduled for: South Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field, 1020 Pattison Ave., March 26, 6 to 8 p.m. Center City, Center for Architecture, 1218 Arch St., March 27, 6 to 8 p.m. Old City, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., March 28, 6 to 8 p.m. Greenberger said he will make opening remarks and then listen.

The Philadelphia Planning Commission wants to hear what people think of the six proposals for a second city casino. Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor and head of the Planning Commission, said the "listening tour" will hit three neighborhoods on three nights. He and members of his staff will hold the sessions before the April 11 and 12 public input hearings at the Convention Center for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The commission is finalizing the dates and locations and will announce information soon, he said.

A woman was arrested at Parx Casino in Bensalem this month for smashing a beer bottle over the head of a fellow slots player who blew cigarette smoke in her face, according to police records. Dana Sarne, 30, of Morrisville, asked Paula White to extinguish her cigarette while the two were playing slots March 4, records say. Sarne said the smoke was irritating her asthma. According to the records, the two were in the casino's smoking section. White would not put out the cigarette, records say, and then blew smoke in Sarne's face.

A 21-year-old Camden man charged in an earlier double homicide admitted Wednesday that he was the gunman in a fatal 2011 casino carjacking in Atlantic City. Phillip L. Byrd of Camden pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Atlantic County to felony murder in the death of Sunil Rattu, 28, of Old Bridge, N.J., and the shooting of Radha Ghetia, 24, of Parlin, N.J. Byrd and two other Camden men were charged with murder in the robbery and gunpoint carjacking of Rattu and Ghetia in the Trump Taj Mahal casino garage around 8 a.m. Sept.

FROM THE START, lawyer Kevin Greenberg said that a coalition of community members he represents near the site of a proposed casino on North Broad Street would take neither an anti-casino nor a pro-casino position. "We are really concerned about traffic, parking, security and safety issues for the community," he said. But several neighbors are upset after learning that Greenberg's firm also represents Isle of Capri, the casino operator selected last month by developer Bart Blatstein for his proposed complex at Broad and Callowhill streets.

The pitchmen have unveiled their casino plans with videos and slide shows. Now, it's the public's turn to weigh in with questions, critiques, and concerns about the six proposals for a second gaming site in Philadelphia. On Monday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will begin accepting online requests to address commissioners at back-to-back public hearings April 11 and 12 at the Convention Center. Everyone from residents to business owners and city officials is welcome to speak.

It took Alicia Keys 2 minutes, 36 seconds to butcher the national anthem before the Super Bowl. There are farmers who can butcher a hog in 2 minutes, 36 seconds and have time left over to set six strips of bacon sizzling in the skillet. If you bet "over" 2:05, you won from here to New Orleans. There's a sucker born in America every 24 seconds. A proposition bet on the length of the anthem is all the evidence you need. You want a second opinion? Take the prop on how many total hats the Harbaugh brothers would wear on the sidelines, none, one, two?