Biloxi Casinos closing for Hurricane Katrina
The Mississippi Gaming Commission has ordered the emergency closure of all Gulf Coast casinos. All patrons should be out of the casinos by 2 a.m. , and the final closures will occur by noon on Sunday.
Safer walkways needed for Biloxi casinos
By TOM WILEMON
tewilemon@sunherald.com
New visitors, partying people and impatient drivers could be a recipe for tragedy when the Hard Rock Biloxi opens.
Crossing U.S. 90 will become more dangerous for downtown casino workers and tourists.
I travel the highway often and have seen Beau Rivage employees grimace as they step onto the crosswalk and then keep a wary eye out for speeding motorists.
The tourists are more unnerving. They’re prone to weave their way through traffic or step onto the crosswalk without having the right of way.
A pedestrian bridge would make it a whole lot safer. So would a wider sidewalk with a guardrail between the two casinos.
In the meantime, we should take extra precautions driving through the area. When friends come down to visit the Hard Rock, we ought to caution them to watch out for the people trying to get to work and to stay on guard for the traffic darters.
Source: Biloxi Sun Herald
Vegas connection to Coast grows stronger
By TOM WILEMON
tewilemon@sunherald.com
LAS VEGAS – Corporate mergers have made the casino world smaller.
A decade ago, ownership connections between casinos on the Mississippi Coast and Las Vegas were scarce. Today, almost half the casinos here report to corporate parents there. The largest of the corporations, Harrah’s Entertainment and MGM Mirage, operate the Coast’s biggest casinos.
Their gamblers and employees will increasingly have opportunities to travel and work between the different markets.
Harrah’s arrival on the Coast is a big factor for this trend. The company, which now owns the Grand Casinos, prides itself on its database of 40 million gamblers and cross-markets its properties.
Clem Roux, a retired school teacher from New Orleans who drives an airport shuttle bus, is one of the people in the database. Using his Diamond Card and the points he accumulates on it, he goes to Las Vegas about twice a year. Read the rest of this entry »
