State Rep. Charlie Brown responded to Hammond’s Mayor Thomas McDermott’s proposal for a second casino in Hammond by sarcastically asking, “I wonder what he’s been smoking?”
The mayor's offer is not a hallucinogenic fantasy; it is a practical compromise. The mayor is serving his residents by protecting a vital source of revenue for his city.
Expansion of casino gaming in both Hammond and Gary would benefit Lake County. With a number of casinos, Northwest Indiana could become a hub of Midwestern tourism. Casino gaming could replace the once thriving manufacturing industry.
The mayor might just be playing politics, but his premise is not a pipe dream.
- David Somodi, Crown Point
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