WYNN RESORTS is expected to move ahead with construction of its $2.1 billion hotel-casino complex in Everett this week after Somerville decided not to seek reconsideration of an environmental permit […]
Rolling the Dice
Coverage of casino licensing and the gambling referendum
Posted inGambling
DEP chief OKs Wynn permit
THE COMMISSIONER of the Department of Environmental Protection issued a two-page decision on Friday affirming the issuance of a key environmental permit to Wynn Resorts for its $2 billion hotel-casino […]
Posted inGambling
Wynn prevails in Somerville permit challenge
WYNN RESORTS on Friday moved a big step closer to beginning construction on its $2.7 billion hotel and casino in Everett when a state hearing officer said the Las Vegas company […]
Posted inGambling, Opinion, Politics
Building a government agency from scratch
Photographs by Mark Morelli I’VE ALWAYS HAD MIXED FEELINGS about gambling. I had no moral concerns about it; indeed, for years my wife and I had enjoyed a day or […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Gambling, Politics, The Back Story
The oddball ballot question
One of the four questions certified for the November ballot is a political oddity. Most ballot question proponents are hungry for publicity, eager to get their point of view before […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Committee OKs Lottery move online
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS LOTTERY would be authorized to offer its products online and on mobile applications, something the Lottery has said is essential to maintaining and growing […]
Posted inGambling
Wynn: Curtatone appeal not delaying casino
STEVE WYNN said Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone’s appeal of an environmental permit for his company’s proposed Everett casino is groundless, but he no longer is saying the legal challenge is […]
Posted inGambling
Only 10 boat slips at Wynn casino
THE PROPOSED WYNN RESORTS hotel and casino in Everett will feature just 10 slips for boats to pull up and dock. The number seems small given all the concerns about […]
Posted inGambling
Wynn says construction will start this summer
STEVE WYNN TOLD FINANCIAL ANALYSTS on Thursday that Wynn Resorts will resolve an environmental challenge from Somerville and start building its $2 billion Everett hotel and casino this summer. Wynn […]
Posted inGambling
Wynn land case defendants found not guilty
A FEDERAL JURY took less than a day to return not guilty verdicts for three men accused of concealing a convicted felon’s ownership stake in a 35-acre parcel of Everett […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gambling
Was Lightbody in or was he out?
JURORS IN THE FEDERAL conspiracy trial of three men involved in the sale of the Everett land for a Wynn casino began deliberations Thursday with both prosecutors and defense attorneys […]
Posted inGambling
Brockton casino rejected on 4-1 vote
THE MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION on Thursday adopted a cautious approach on gambling in southeastern Massachusetts, voting 4-1 to reject a casino license application for the struggling Gateway City of Brockton […]
Posted inGambling
Brockton fails to ‘wow’ Gaming Commission
THE MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION sounded unenthusiastic about gambling in southeastern Massachusetts on Wednesday, with the chairman lamenting a Brockton casino proposal’s lack of “wow factor” and other commissioners raising concerns […]
Posted inGambling
Attorney says he briefed Wynn lawyer on Lightbody
THE THREE DEFENDANTS in the Wynn Resorts land fraud trial rested their case on Wednesday after calling just one witness and playing an audio tape of the grand jury testimony […]
Posted inGambling
Commission crunches casino numbers
A CONSULTING FIRM working for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission estimated on Tuesday that the state would net less tax revenue overall if the commission approves a commercial casino in Brockton […]
Posted inGambling
Charlie (bleeping) Lightbody
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS are alleging in US District Court in Boston that some of the owners of a piece of land in Everett defrauded Wynn Resorts by concealing the involvement of […]
Posted inGambling
Tale of the tape in Wynn land case
DEFENSE LAWYERS IN THE FEDERAL FRAUD TRIAL of three men accused of concealing the involvement of a convicted felon in the sale of land in Everett to Wynn Resorts plan […]
Posted inGambling
What did Wynn Resorts know and when did it know it?
THE QUESTION OF WHEN WYNN RESORTS learned of convicted felon Charles Lightbody’s involvement in the casino company’s Everett land deal became harder to answer on Wednesday when witnesses in a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gambling
Witness: Wynn Resorts was told about Lightbody in 2012
TWO TOP OFFICIALS AT WYNN RESORTS were told in November 2012 that the owners of the Everett land they were seeking to buy included a man with a “checkered past” […]
Posted inGambling
Construction cost of Wynn rooms put at $1 million apiece
A TOP WYNN RESORTS OFFICIAL said on Friday that the construction cost of each room at the proposed Wynn Boston Harbor hotel will be $1 million, which is more than […]
Posted inGambling
Felon involvement in Wynn land deal called problem
THE LEGAL COUNSEL OF WYNN RESORTS pushed back on Friday against the notion that buying land for a casino in Everett from a convicted felon would not pose legal problems […]
Posted inGambling
Wise guys offer their take on Gaming Commission
CHARLES LIGHTBODY AND DARIN BUFALIONO were grumbling in late 2012 about how wise guys are always discriminated against. Lightbody said it was unfair that people like him, a convicted felon, […]
Posted inGambling
Was Lightbody’s involvement in land deal illegal?
THE HEAD OF THE INVESTIGATIVE ARM of the state Gaming Commission said she was “extremely concerned” when she learned reputed organized crime members may be part of the group selling […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Gambling
Wynn land case opens with lots of expletives
A STREAM OF SWEAR WORDS cascaded around a federal courtroom in Boston on Tuesday as US Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s office opened its case against three men accused of concealing the […]
