20071028 NPR: Backlash Against Slot Machines in W.Va. and other news from Appalachia

NPR: Backlash Against Slot Machines in W.Va. – and other news items from Appalachia…

http://www.npr.org/search.php?text=slots

Oct-28-2007, All Things Considered

...at race tracks and other locations. Tomorrow, Maryland state legislature takes up the governor's proposal to legalize slots. It's also a big issue in the current governor's race in Kentucky....

Backlash Against Slot Machines in W.Va.

by Scott Finn

All Things Considered, October 28, 2007

West Virginia is one of a handful of states that allows slot machines and other forms of video gambling in neighborhood bars, as well as at racetracks. But while other states, such as Maryland and Kentucky, are considering expanding their gambling options, many West Virginians are now having second thoughts. Some find themselves torn between their socially conservative beliefs and the state's need for jobs.

Finn reports for West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Inside Appalachia – Listen hear.

Host: Beth Vorhees

Saturdays at 6 am - Sundays at 6 pm on radio

This hour-long weekly radio news magazine is devoted to topics of interest in the southern Appalachian region - shared issues, shared culture and shared history - with a new perspective.

_____

WV: Table Games by Keri Brown

In West Virginia, gamblers at three of the state's four racetracks will be able to play poker 24 hours a day. The state Lottery Commission approved all day gambling this week. Also, this week, the tracks that can offer casino style table games were given the go-ahead to open their poker rooms after a test of dealers and the regulatory processes. Players used play money and played for charity.

---

KY NewsBeshear Profile by Tony McVeigh, KPR

The governor’s race pits a republican incumbent against a democrat with a long political history.

Gov. Debate by Stu Johnson, WEKU

The two candidates for governor got their first shot before a statewide television audience this week on KY Educational Television.

Casino Gambling by Charles Compton, WEKU

Both the governor and the state horse industry say next week's election is a referendum of expanded gaming.

---

PA: Wind Farms

By Lisa Ann Pinkerton, Allegheny Front

By the end of 2008, PA will have 10 wind farms generating electricity. These farms are built without any state regulations. Instead, wind companies and the state work together to find what they consider to be appropriate sites. PA officials say this voluntary agreement, as it’s called, is a flexible set of rules that can change as the state's knowledge of wind farms grows. But critics say the agreement does more to protect companies than the environment.

---

WV: Bridge Day By Anna Sale

This weekend in October means its Bridge Day in Fayette County, WV. It’s the day each year when for six hours, it’s legal to parachute off the New River Gorge Bridge. As many as 200,000 spectators will watch. And organizers say despite a jumper fatality last year, participation this year was expected to be about the same.

---

WV: Banned Books By Scott Finn

Two critically-acclaimed novels by southern writer Pat Conroy were suspended from a Nitro High School Advanced Placement Literature Class. The parents of two students complained about graphic scenes of sex and violence in the novels "Beach Music" and "The Prince of Tides." The Kanawha Co. school board is trying to decide whether to ban the books, or allow them to remain as part of the curriculum.

---

WV: The Confederate Battle Flag By Beth Vorhees

Historic tradition or an emblem of racism? John Coski says the confederate flag means different things to different people. This week, Dr. Coski presented a lecture in WV on his book “The Confederate Battle Flag: America’s Most Embattled Emblem" as part of the 2007 Civil War Scholars Lecture Series at WV State University. We spoke to Dr. Coski earlier this week about his book and the controversial symbol of the American south.

---

PLUS: KY: Stereotypes ... WV: Mine safety & apple crop ... NPR news ... more