Penn National Gaming

Support Funk for Tuscarora board director To the editor: I am writing in support of Larry Funk, candidate for school board director in the Tuscarora School District. Although I don't live in the district, I can vouch for his abilities, having served with him on the Franklin County Republican Committee and in several state-level campaigns. Larry has the background, experience and education for this position. He served an impressive career in the U.S. Air Force, too long to detail, but he managed a $95 million budget as well as a training program.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. -- Jefferson County voters once again will decide whether to allow table games at Charles Town Races & Slots. The Jefferson County Commissioners agreed Thursday to set Dec. 5 for a countywide referendum on the issue. Proponents of the games, including the commissioners, believe the games have a better chance of passing this time because a bigger slice of the money the track generates will go the county, its five municipalities and the school district.

SHENANDOAH JUNCTION, W.Va. -- The addition of table games at Charles Town (W.Va.) Races & Slots could generate about $129 million annually, according to state projections released by Jefferson County lawmakers at a public meeting Wednesday at Jefferson High School. With the passage of House Bill 102 earlier this month, Jefferson County's share of the additional gaming revenue would be about $6.4 million if voters approved table games, which include blackjack and roulette, according to the projections.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- In a special session Tuesday, West Virginia lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a bill that could entice Jefferson County voters to approve the addition of table games at Charles Town Races & Slots. With Gov. Joe Manchin's signature on House Bill 102 assured, the only question that remains is whether voters will take the bait, assuming it's offered to them. Racetrack owner Penn National Gaming Inc. has not set a deadline to decide whether to pursue a second referendum on table games, which include blackjack and roulette, according to John Finamore, the company's senior vice president for regional operations.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Gov. Joe Manchin said Thursday he was "1,000 percent" committed to protecting the interests of thoroughbred horse racing in the Eastern Panhandle and maintains that his proposed gaming and alcohol agency consolidation bill will only improve oversight. "I think that basically all we're trying to do is give the quality and professional support that these agencies need and we do that by bringing and reorganizing under one state gaming and alcohol control agency," Manchin said in a telephone interview Thursday.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. -- At least five horsemen will have to remove their animals and equipment from some, if not all, of their stalls at Charles Town Races & Slots by Wednesday at noon after a judge denied a temporary restraining order in an emerging dispute over stable agreements. Attorneys for the Charles Town Horsemen's Benevolent Protective Association (HBPA) and Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns the racetrack, confirmed that 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge David H. Sanders made the ruling Friday during a hearing in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. - When Penn National Gaming acquired the Charles Town Racetrack in 1997, it employed 238 people and nightly purses for the ponies totaled about $20,000, said Roger Ramey, vice president for public affairs at what has grown to become Charles Town Races & Slots. Eleven years and more than $300 million later, Charles Town Races & Slots employs more than 1,300 people and purses have grown to exceed $180,000 per night, General Manager Al Britton said. That investment includes $21 million for The Inn at Charles Town, where West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin cut the ribbon Saturday morning.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- When Penn National Gaming acquired the Charles Town Racetrack in 1997, it employed 238 people and nightly purses for the ponies totaled about $20,000, said Roger Ramey, vice president for public affairs at what has grown to become Charles Town Races & Slots. Eleven years and more than $300 million later, Charles Town Races & Slots employs more than 1,300 people and purses have grown to exceed $180,000 per night, General Manager Al Britton said. That investment includes $21 million for The Inn at Charles Town, where West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin cut the ribbon Saturday morning.

Frustrated by Saturday's defeat of a plan to add so-called "table games" at Charles Town Races and Slots, a senior vice president of the firm that owns the track said citizens will see their mistake when Maryland adds its own slot machines. Then it will be a situation of "I told you so," said John Finamore, senior vice president of regional operations for Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns the local thoroughbred track. Finamore said that contrary to what was said by state Del. John Doyle, a "better deal" for the local area is unlikely to materialize.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. - Jefferson County's casino table games referendum is over, but the level of debate stayed high Sunday as a Charles Town Races & Slots official lashed out at opponents like Del. John Doyle and Shepherdstown, W.Va., residents over the defeat of the games. John Finamore, senior vice president of regional operations for Penn National Gaming Inc., which owns the local thoroughbred track, said he thinks the concerns that track officials raised about increasing gambling competition from other states will become clear when Maryland starts getting serious about allowing slot machines.