Casino news from http://www.projo.com/
PROVIDENCE -- Providence restaurant owner Robert I. Burke, formerly a staunch casino opponent, joined forces with Harrah's today, touting the plan to bring a casino to West Warwick as an opportunity to pump tourist dollars into the entire Rhode Island economy.
Today's event at Burke's Federal Reserve restaurant was aimed at publicizing a planned Gateway Center inside the casino that would promote Rhode Island businesses and tourist attractions in other parts of the state.
The center would be owned and operated by Burke, with no association with the state's visitor center, which does not endorse the casino.
The 1,000-square-foot center, to be located on the main floor near the front entrance, would offer casino goers plasma screens, voice-activated kiosks, and touch-screen displays that would link directly to Rhode Island restaurant and other destination Web sites. And Harrah's also plans to offer "reward point cards" on which gamblers earn points that could be used in businesses outside the casino.
Burke previously had testified at General Assembly hearings against the casino plan, proposed by the Narragansett Indian tribe with Harrah's as its partner. He said he changed his mind after a series of discussions with Harrah's and the tribe.
Today's press conference was briefly interrupted when a group holding signs started chanting outside. The media spilled out to investigate, only to learn the group was actually supporting the casino, chanting "Yes on 1" -- the ballot question that will ask voters in November if they favor amending the state Constitution to allow the casino.
Harrah's officials shooed the group away, leaving only "Harry, the Harrah's Hog," an anti-casino activist dressed in a pink pig outfit who paced in front of the Federal Reserve holding a small Save Our State sign. Save Our State is the name of a group opposed to the casino plan.
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