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Alabama Casino Raids Leave Gaming Workers Unemployed
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA --
Persistent raids and persecution of operators of electronic bingo casinos by Governor Bob Riley has left hundreds of workers in Alabama unemployed. As gambling venues have closed in response to attacks by the governor's special task force, much-needed jobs have disappeared, creating uncertainty in areas where gaming was the leading employer.
Greene County is one such region of Alabama, in which the local race track is the top employer. Of over 400 hundred workers employed by the track before the state seized the electronic bingo machines, only twenty remain to serve the few customers interested in simulcast racing.
The track hasn't supported live racing in over a decade, yet the site was constantly crowded when the slot-style games were still in place, according to local residents. Greenetrack was a spot for social gathering and provided an economic lift for the whole county.
"It (the track with bingo machines) brought blacks and whites together in Greene County; we were meeting for dinner and socializing," local insurance agent Julia Spree told al.com. "People had hope for the future that's gone."
"People that worked at Greenetrack would come in here on Wednesdays with their paychecks and pay on their accounts," hardware store owner Jamie Banks said to the blog. "Now there's no check."
Whatever the governor feels morally about gambling, and regardless of the constant rumors that the anti-gambling campaign is a political payoff for contributions to Riley's gubernatorial campaign by Choctaw casinos, Greene County residents know one thing.
"It's killed the economy here," says long-time resident Sherman Moore.
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