{"id":4187,"date":"2009-04-29T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2009-04-29T18:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/?p=4187"},"modified":"2020-12-25T16:18:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T21:18:20","slug":"opinion-if-only-we-had","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2009\/04\/29\/opinion-if-only-we-had\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: If only we had&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/icons\/casino.jpg\" alt=\"Clipart image taken from - https:\/\/www.freefoto.com\/\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Very &#8220;tongue-in-cheek&#8221; moment here. \u00c2\u00a0<span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news-sentinel.com\/apps\/pbcs.dll\/article?AID=\/SE\/20090429\/NEWS\/904290359\">I&#8217;ve been reading about<\/span> the Wal-Mart worker who absconded to the Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, Iowa, with $135,932.76 \u00c2\u00a0in Wal-Mart funds. \u00c2\u00a0Gee, if we&#8217;d had a casino here in town, we might have caught him sooner. \u00c2\u00a0And, we&#8217;d have saved the money we&#8217;re going to spend expediting him back to Fort Wayne. \u00c2\u00a0Plus, the money he lost, approximately $20,000 would have stayed here locally, for the most part anyway. \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This brings up a point, however that was made in the <a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2009\/04\/24\/yesterdays-say-no-to-casino-press-conference\/\">press conference held last week by the Coalition for a Better Fort Wayne<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0The point was that the casinos take money from a community, yet when crimes, such as this one occur, the casino doesn&#8217;t return the money, it doesn&#8217;t help to defray the costs of prosecution, or of housing an offender or his rehabilitation. \u00c2\u00a0Something to consider.<\/p>\n<p>And please understand. \u00c2\u00a0We don&#8217;t know the entire story behind the headlines in this case &#8211; not that it would excuse the behavior. \u00c2\u00a0But I&#8217;m sure this isn&#8217;t the first time a situation like this has happened occurred.<\/p>\n<h3>Related Images:<\/h3><div class=\"ngg-related-gallery\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71709.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry announces call for referendum vote on the gaming issue during a press conference on February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"199\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71709.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71709.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry announces call for referendum vote on the gaming issue during a press conference on February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"199\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71709.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71710.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss after the press conference announcing his decision to seek a referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"200\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71710.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71710.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss after the press conference announcing his decision to seek a referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Mayor Tom Henry shakes hands with Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"200\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71710.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71712.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"201\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71712.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71712.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith\" data-description=\"Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Council President Tom Smith\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"201\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71712.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71714.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"City Councilman Tim Pape makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"202\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71714.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71714.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape\" data-description=\"City Councilman Tim Pape makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Fort Wayne City Councilman Tim Pape\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"202\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71714.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71715.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Allen County Councilman Paul Moss makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"203\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71715.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71715.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\" data-description=\"Allen County Councilman Paul Moss makes a brief comment during the Mayor&#039;s press conference calling for referendum vote on the gaming issue.  Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Allen County Councilman Paul Moss\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"203\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71715.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71717.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Former City Councilman Dr. John Crawford and son Grant attended the press conference in which Mayor Henry called for a referendum vote on the gaming issue. Photo taken February 27, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"204\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/71717.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71717.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/02\/27: Dr. John Crawford and son Grant\" data-description=\"Former City Councilman Dr. John Crawford and son Grant attended the press conference in which Mayor Henry called for a referendum vote on the gaming issue. Photo taken February 27, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/02\/27: Dr. John Crawford and son Grant\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/02\/27: Dr. John Crawford and son Grant\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"204\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_71717.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85080.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is on the left and City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner is on the right.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"1694\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85080.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85080.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is on the left and City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner is on the right.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1694\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85080.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85088.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is in the background.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"1695\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85088.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85088.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\" data-description=\"Mayor Tom Henry addresses the press about the City&#039;s hiring of lobbyists to promote a referendum vote on gaming.  Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell is in the background.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: Mayor Tom Henry\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1695\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85088.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85094.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner answers a question from the press.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"1697\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85094.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85094.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner\" data-description=\"City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner answers a question from the press.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: City Corporate Counsel Tim Haffner\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1697\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85094.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85095.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell answers questions from the press.  Tim Haffner is on the right.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"1698\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/85095.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85095.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/05\/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell\" data-description=\"Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell answers questions from the press.  Tim Haffner is on the right.  Photo taken May 1, 2009.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/05\/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/05\/01: Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"1698\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/cityoffw\/thumbs\/thumbs_85095.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_06_25_header.jpg\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"Say No to CasiNO! group at the Indiana Statehouse.\"\n\t\t\tclass='thickbox' rel='1fc9fa9af1c07d642bf6ad7d9444fd11' data-image-id=\"3091\" data-src=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/2009_06_25_header.jpg\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_06_25_header.jpg\" data-title=\"2009\/06\/25 - Say No to CasiNO!\" data-description=\"Say No to CasiNO! group at the Indiana Statehouse.\">\n\t\t\t<img title=\"2009\/06\/25 - Say No to CasiNO!\"\n\t\t\t\talt=\"2009\/06\/25 - Say No to CasiNO!\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-image-id=\"3091\"\n\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/wp-content\/gallery\/blog-headers\/thumbs\/thumbs_2009_06_25_header.jpg\"\/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Very &#8220;tongue-in-cheek&#8221; moment here. \u00c2\u00a0I&#8217;ve been reading about the Wal-Mart worker who absconded to the Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, Iowa, with $135,932.76 \u00c2\u00a0in Wal-Mart funds. \u00c2\u00a0Gee, if we&#8217;d had a casino here in town, we might have caught him sooner. \u00c2\u00a0And, we&#8217;d have saved the money we&#8217;re going to spend expediting him [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1087],"tags":[742,1198,743,744,1200],"class_list":["post-4187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gaming","tag-casino","tag-coalition-for-a-better-fort-wayne","tag-gambling","tag-gaming","tag-say-no-to-casino"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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