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Vol. 2 No. 4 Special Katrina Issue 2006 VOL. 2 NO. 4 SPECIAL KATRINA ISSUE 2006 A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL MASTERS OF GAMING LAW Supplement to Casino Enterprise Management magazine President Michael Lipton Elkind & Lipton, LLP Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416) 367-0871 Vice President Robert Stocker, ll Dickinson Wright, PLCC Lansing, Michigan, USA (517) 487-4715 Secretary Anthony R. Coles Jeffrey Green Russell London, England 011 44 207 339 7000 Treasurer & Membership Director James B. Deutsch Blitz, Bardgett & Deutsch, L.C. Jefferson City, Missouri, USA (573) 634-2500 Vice President Affiliate Members John Sullivan Territory Incorporated Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (702) 222-1402 President 2002 Frank Catania Catania Consulting Group North Haledon, New Jersey, USA (973) 427-2500 President 2004-2005 Anthony N. Cabot Lewis & Roca, LLP Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (702) 949-8280 President 2003 Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier Snell & Willmer, LLP Phoenix, Arizona, USA (602) 382-6366 IMGL Executive Director Melissa Lurie International Masters of Gaming Law Boulder, CO, USA (303) 449-9955 Casino Lawyer is published four times a year by Casino Services Publishing, LLC . Copyright © VOLUME 2 NUMBER 4 Special Issue 2006 2006 IMGL Inc. This material may not be reproduced without written permission. 1 Casino Lawyer Summer 2006 Summer 2006 Casino Lawyer 1 It has been one year since the fury of year, the clean-up is nearly complete, Hurricane Katrina brought unimagin- much of the important planning is able devastation to the U.S. Gulf Coast, done, and the rebuilding effort is in its economy and its people. full swing. Today, our most indelible images are Despair is giving way to rebirth. those of an historic city under water, “The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is followed by horrifying images of providing unique opportunities for widespread lawlessness and thousands renewal and development in of impoverished people waiting for Mississippi, unmatched in our state’s help that would take days to arrive. history,” Gov. Haley Barbour said in announcing a Katrina Recovery Expo During those dark weeks, the media held in August in Biloxi. images of post-hurricane despair emanated mostly from New Orleans, I’m pleased to share with you this special and viewers worldwide felt that great edition of Casino Lawyer, dedicated to city’s despair. Mississippi’s Gulf Coast the thousands of gaming industry suffered similarly, with lives lost, executives and employees, lawyers, century-old historic homes and lawmakers and regulators who picked mansions destroyed, and the industry themselves up off the mat, and are now that had for a decade served as the building and shaping an already region’s primary economic engine emerging post-Katrina landscape. simply washed away. International Masters of Gaming Law is New Orleans garnered the lion’s share honoring two of those remarkable of media attention – both people with the inaugural Gaming compassionate and repulsive. It did Executives of the Year award. W. Owen then and it still does a year later. While Nitz is an attorney and managing the media loudly trumpeted the ugly partner of Nitz, Walton & Heaton in Las side of humanity in the weeks Vegas. Jeffrey M. Cooper is a CPA with following Katrina, tens of thousands of Bradshaw Smith & Co. in Las Vegas. remarkable people – in Louisiana, Together they are the co-trustees of the Mississippi, and from around the world former Imperial Palace, now IP Biloxi. – quietly rolled up their sleeves and began the long and laborious task of In describing how the casino and hotel rebuilding America’s last truly unique amenities would be completely city, and refashioning a thriving revamped, Owen famously told the coastal state that only a decade ago Mississippi Gaming Commission, “It’s seemed hopelessly impoverished. going to be a mindblower.” Turns out, “mindblowing” best describes Nitz and Watching T.V. images of the Gulf Coast Cooper’s remarkable dedication to in the days following Katrina, it wasn’t restoring their community. difficult to imagine a clean-up effort that could drag out for years. It was They showed up to ride out the hard to fathom that casinos and storm and haven’t left. restaurants and other businesses vital In the months after the storm, IP Biloxi to the region’s rebirth would be back in housed the emergency’s first operation anytime soon. But in just a responders, such as FEMA personnel They even helped bring a school agencies and operators following and an army of relief workers and back to life. catastrophic disasters like Katrina and insurance adjusters. In just four Rita; Len Blackwell says the Mississippi Sister Mary Jo of Nativity BVM months, they completely overhauled Gulf Coast will prevail and shares his Elementary School recalled “a phone their property and reopened it in reasons why; Sam Weaver outlines the call from two gentlemen” who wanted December, the first Biloxi property to do challenges and opportunities that lie to offer a donation toward rebuilding so. That meant roughly 1,500 jobs back ahead; and Tina Singletary writes about the school. I’ll let her describe what on line – bolstering both the economy player disputes. happened after several meetings with and a community’s battered morale. Owen and other representatives of the According to Stephen Richer, executive Beverly Martin, executive director Imperial Palace Mississippi Charity. director of the Mississippi Gulf Coast of the Mississippi Casino Operators “Owen simply said that the trustees had Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Association, praised the IP for helping agreed to take care of things for us. rebirth in Mississippi is gaining to restore a sense of normalcy to the When I asked which portion of the momentum: community by opening its meeting damage they would be sponsoring, he space to community functions that had simply said ‘All of it.’ 6,800 of 17,500 pre-Katrina hotel rooms nowhere else to go, such as Chamber of are open, and occupancy averages 80 to “My friends, The Imperial Palace Commerce events and the region’s 90 percent. Mississippi Charity has agreed to take annual Mardi Gras ball. The IP was host care of the entire restoration of our to dozens of events that might not have Most golf courses have reopened, school. This donation will include: happened without the property’s helping to rebuild an industry worth replacement roofs for the gym, school, support – events that helped bring a $100 million a year to the coast. and new addition; stage curtains; community together again. flooring for the gym; flooring for the Airline bookings at the Gulfport-Biloxi There have been plenty of tangible stage; all broken windows in the school; airport in August 2006 are 14 percent contributions to the community, as all broken blinds in the school; above last August, pre-Katrina. well. More than 1,300 wheelchairs replacement of the floor tile in the first The casino industry is rebounding along distributed throughout the region. floor hallway; a new sound system for with the community, Richer says. Five Furniture and bedding from the old the gym; fencing repairs to the school casinos have reopened, putting about Imperial Palace distributed. A semi- perimeter and to the back playground 6,000 people back to work. Several trailer filled with nice, new clothing and soccer goals for the playground. others are expected to open by Sept. 1, (shipped in from Las Vegas, thanks to The total amount is somewhere around bringing that number to 10,000. The the efforts of Jan Nitz and Kenna $500,000.” coast had 12 casinos before Katrina. Cooper). And monetary contributions: IMGL Biloxi member Britt Singletary Richer expects 20 by 2010. • Harrison County Habitat offered this supreme praise. “Not a To the thousands of men and women for Humanity, $200,000 single IP employee lost their job. Everybody who wanted to work still had who have brought the Gulf Coast and • The Living Cities, $50,000 a job.” To learn more about these two the gaming industry back from the extraordinary men, the company they brink: we applaud your efforts, we • Salt and Light Ministries represent and what they have meant to admire your passion and determination. Foundation, $30,000 Biloxi and its people, turn to Page 8 and read Singletary’s feature story. • Mississippi Coast Coliseum, $15,000 Also in this special issue of Casino Michael Lipton, • Gulf Coast Symphony, $15,000 Lawyer: Sharon Harris writes about President the regulatory issues facing • Ohr-O’keefe Museum, $10,000 both governmental/law enforcement Summer 2006 Casino Lawyer 3 Contents VOLUME 2 NUMBER 4 Special Katrina Issue 2006 page 6 1 Officers 2 Message from the President 4 Contents DEPARTMENTS A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats 6 Mississippi maintains buoyant gaming market. By Britt Singletary Enduring Regulatory Challenges in a Disaster page 8 8 How did the gaming industry handle the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita? By Sharon Harris Why the Mississippi Gulf Coast Prevails 14 Mississippi’s continuing robust recovery is cause for great optimism. By Leonard Blackwell The Shifting Landscape of Gaming 20 How a natural disaster changed Mississippi legislation. By Samuel Weaver page 14 Katrina’s Impact on Louisiana Casinos 24 Louisiana casinos that are back in operation have had an unexpected boost in revenue since the storms. By J. Kelly Duncan INDEX OF ADVERTISERS Aladdin Construction ..........................................................................................................................28 Bradshaw, Smith & Co., LLP ................................................................................................................12
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