NBC 6's Hank Tester laments the low level of intensity surrounding the slot machine proposition that will appear on the ballot on January 29th. He reminds us of the good old days (or bad old days, depending on where you stand) when Herald management had a resounding anti-slot fetish.
Those against the slots are a pale shadow of their former self. At one time a group called "No Casino" was a powerhouse anti-gaming lobby that was able to secure funding from many anti-gambling groups including, back in 1994, the Walt Disney organization and in tandem from the coffers of the late drug store tycoon Jack Eckerd. And there is the Miami Herald which, in the past, harbored publishers and company officials who openly opposed casinos, served personally on anti-gambling organizations. Herald staffers over the years privately complained about the paper's hierarchy's close alliance with the anti-gaming crusade. Many of them have departed with the take over by McClatchy. Gamers thought they'd get a better shake out of the Herald. The one blip on the radar is a man by the name of Doug Hurd who is a McClatchy employee. Apparently he is a middle management type, has nothing to do with editorial, I am told. The mild mannered Hurd hosted a meeting of a loose knit coalition which bills itself as "No Casinos Miami." Doug Hurd is no Alva Chapman.
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