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Authorities seizing machines at White Hall
Published Thursday, March 19, 2009
WHITE HALL — ABI and Lowndes County Sheriff’s deputies are confiscating around 200 gaming machines and hundreds of thousands of dollars Thursday, according to authorities.
Governor Bob Riley’s press secretary Todd Stacy said the raid was part of the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling.
“The governor's task force on illegal gambling conducted a raid on a facility in Whitehall suspected of using slot machines,” Stacy said. “The initial investigation shows the task force will confiscate around 200 slot machines and hundred of thousands of dollars of cash.”
Stacy said the process should take nearly all day.
STJ Managing Editor George Jones said David Barber, who heads the governor's task force. told reporters on the scene that officers with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation had taken one machine so far. Barber said the task force would not take all the machines because there are more than 900 in the gaming center. Instead, the force will take at least one of every type of machine.
Jones said he saw rental trucks pulling into the gaming center's parking lot shortly before noon. More than 100 people are employed at White Hall Gaming Center.
Whitehall Entertainment, 6999 U.S. Highway 80, is part of a crack down on illegal slot machines being used in Alabama, Stacy said.
“Last year due to the fact that so called bingo halls all over the state used slot machines, Gov. Riley said enough is enough,” he said. “Unfortunately the laws had not been really enforced in the state before, but now we are cracking down on violators.”
In a press release from Jan. 11, Gov. Bob Riley announced his campaign on illegal gambling.
He cited two cases, which ruled gaming machines that appear to be slot machines illegal.
“Well, the Alabama Supreme Court has already ruled that slot machine gambling, no matter if it’s called “bingo” or something else, is illegal (Barber v. Jefferson County Racing Association, 2006),” he said. “After this ruling, another court ruled specifically that electronic bingo was an illegal slot machine (VFW v. Green, 2008).”
Stacy said a press conference will be held Friday morning in Montgomery to notify the public of the exact findings from the Whitehall raid.
In Riley’s Jan. 11 press release he pointed to the past votes where Alabama residents have voted down gambling in the state.
“The people of Alabama have spoken time and again about gambling, he said. “Every time its expansion has been brought before all the voters, they have overwhelmingly rejected it. What the people want is for our laws against gambling to be uniformly enforced. With the help of this task force, our local law enforcement officers will have the help they need to consistently enforce these laws throughout the state.”
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Posted by Liberty (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That's right... let's just keep sending money to Florida and Mississippi.
Good job.
*yawn*
Posted by Newswatcher (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 1:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree....you can't make people do anything...if they want to do it, they will find a way.....and when they do...all of that money leaves Alabama just like they say......it could be helping us.
Posted by Liberty (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If you are OF AGE, you should LEGALLY be able to do whatever it is you want, so long as you aren't encroaching on anyone else's rights.
WE DO NOT NEED NANNIES.
Idiots. What a total and complete waste of time, effort, energy, MONEY...
Posted by eyeonyou (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 1:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That's right...ENFORCE those morals and ethics on everyone. Might as well take away the alcohol too since it's not the "Christian" thing to do. Nothing like the government imposing their christian values upon US. Let's keep sending our tax money to Georgia, Tenn., Miss., Florida to build up their new road, schools, etc. All the while...go sit in church on Sunday...then run over to Miss. Casino's on Saturday...then vote NO on the gambling bill.
Posted by Liberty (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 2:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The trouble is, this is one of MANY, MANY, MANY nanny laws...
People are happy being coddled by the government...
Wake up sheeple! The MORE you let the government control, the less freedom we will have!!
IF YOU WANT NO FREEDOM - GO TO CHINA! They will be GLAD to tell you how to run your life.
America is the LAST place to be free - and people are BEGGING for the government to take control of everything.
Posted by bamafan42 (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
These business are not paying the proper taxes on this so called bingo. So either way the tax dollars are not coming to Alabama. By the way were you all aware that there is a machine in Whitehall that accepts EBT cards as debit/atm cards? Therefore if you work and pay taxes, your tax dollars are being used to gamble instead of buying food for their families. Wake up people gambling should be strictly regulated before it gets any more out of control! People should not put their faith in a machine but instead into the Lord Jesus Christ to provide for them. How about they take that money and tithe it and give it as an offering and see how God blesses them. Read Malachi Chapter 3! If you all are so concerned about taxes going to FL, MS, GA, TN then why don't you donate money to a school so they can purchase things they need oh wait that would be to logical instead you want to get on here and complain about stuff. Wake up and YOU be the change you want to see in the world!
Posted by justtopost (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 3:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, lets put our faith into an invisible man in the sky that watches over us. Sounds like a plan to me!
Posted by bamafan42 (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 3:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow! God is not some invisible man in the sky, God is everything on earth. I would suggest you read the Bible or consider talking to someone who has a relationship with Him. I would be glad to talk to about it if you would like! God Bless and I will pray for you!
Posted by nobody45 (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 3:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How can any person (or nation) under the sun, ask God to continually bless them, yet never consider if their lives or behavior would offend that God? "Bless us, bless us, O God" is the cry that rings forth from across this nation and in many homes. Yet heaven forbid we have to give up anything that would not be pleasing to Him. I am not against funding for schools or money for the state. I am, however, against getting it by means that would offend a Just and Holy God. I am glad that there is a person in a position of authority that is not afraid to do the right thing. Gambling is just one thing that is ungodly, it is nothing but perversion of the poor. The people as a whole rejected gambling in this state, so how is that "enforcing" moral values? Is that not democracy, to do the will of the majority of the people? Please tell me one good thing that ANY vice has accomplished? Funding for the state is just a mask to hide the fact that thousands of families will fall victim to this perversion. How many homes are broken up because of gambling issues, or excess of alcohol? How many people fall into addiction and end up depressed or suicidal because they have "lost everything"? Is all this really worth it?
"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." Isaiah 59:1-2
I use scripture to back my claims because any other measure is a false measure. My opinion may change, but the Word of God doesn't.
Posted by Dogbert (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 3:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's not just that they aren't paying proper taxes on the "bingo"" proceeds. Law allows "Charity bingo" and I'd like to know exactly what charties have benefited from Whitehall's operations to date. That is why they should be closing them down - not becuase of the type of machine they are using. 'Liberty' called it right in the very first comment - while Alabama prorates education funding, Alabama residents are pumping millions of dollars - probably more like hundreds of millions - into Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee for their lotteries and casinos. We should be getting Christmas cards from all the schoolchildren in Mississippi we've bought textbooks for and all the Georgia kids we've sent to college while the PACT program has been going under.
Posted by Dogbert (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Anyone who thinks legalized gambling was voted down purely on the votes of the conservative/religious right has a terrifically short-sighted view on Alabama politics. And yes, it is legislating morality. Whether 10 percent or 90 percent approve or disapprove, it is STILL legislating morality if the primary objection, as you apparently believe, is on moral grounds. Still, the people as a whole did not reject gambling - otherwise the bingo halls around the state wouldn't be raking in as much as they do and Victoryland would be a ghost town. Not to mention the traffic between Alabama and Biloxi et al. Surely it had nothing to do with a shoddily written plan for how the proceeds would be handled, and the business community dropping their support for totally unrelated reasons. The people as a whole did not reject gambling - they rejected a plan that did not clearly demonstrate how the money, and how much of it, would benefit education. And surely it is no more of a perversion than promising families a college education for their child if they paid into this marvelous plan only to turn around 15-18 years later and say, 'well, maybe not.' At least with the lottery you KNOW you are gambling.
Posted by eyeonyou (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 4:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That's right Dogbert. The people voted it down because of the ambiguous nature of the small print. PEOPLE WANT TO GAMBLE, believe me. It's somebody like "Nobody45" that would rather impose his/her moral code on everyone. Like I say, if you don't drink....stay your ^$# out of the beer isle. Give people that do drink or gamble the opportunity to do so. Just because ultra christian extremist don't agree with it doesn't mean it's wrong. Just because you see it as a "religious wrong" still doesn't imply that NO ONE should do it. Does your church have a cake raffle? That's gambling. Too many hypocrites.
The oldest excuse I hear is about the "Poor" gambling. If they are poor, where did they get the money to step into the casino or buy a lottery ticket then? If they could get their hands on that money, then that's what they choose to buy. You can't legislate someone's right to do what they want to with their first or last dollar. If it wasn't that, it would be something else. If church's would worry about doing their share with the poor and stay out of politics, then this world would be a better place for both.
Posted by justtopost (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 4:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Amen brother.
Posted by nobody45 (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 5:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If you would have read my post at the end, I did not use "my moral code". I used "the moral code" the Word of God. My opinion does not matter and will fade away when all things are judged. But His opinion does matter, even if some here on this planet do not think so. I have never "imposed" MY opinion on anyone. I share it, like you do. If I used your reasoning, you would be "imposing" your "immoral code" on me. But I do not believe that sharing views is the same as "imposing". My problem is with people (may/may not include you) who want God to bless this country, yet don't call into account the things they/we do that violate His laws (or as you put it, moral code). So you can say that alcoholism is a good thing? What about putting excess money in something "hoping" to get a fraction back, is that good? It seems that with the economy in the shape it is in, wasting money on things like that are selfish. But if they wish to do so.. by all means do it, but don't expect God to bless you (the word "you" is not inclusive).
"Just because ultra christian extremist don't agree with it doesn't mean it's wrong." -------If they base their disagreement with the Word of God, yes it is. That means they are not basing their "opinion" on themselves, but on what God said. Some "religious" folks disagree just to disagree, but if they do so with the motive of glorifying God, that is something different.
"If church's would worry about doing their share with the poor and stay out of politics, then this world would be a better place for both"------Any person that separates their faith from their political views is a hypocrite. A person's faith should shape their way of life and thinking. Any person that believes one way and lives another is a double minded hypocrite. A person of faith is just that, a person that is controlled by a belief system that they strongly believe is true. Any faith that does not change a person's life is not a real faith, but just a passing thought.
No, my church doesn't have a cake raffle, or any other type of raffle.
Posted by saveselma (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 7:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What some of you fail to realize is that Lowndes is one of the top 10 poorest counties IN THE NATION (yes, in the WHOLE UNITED STATES) and yet they have a gambling casino. Just a few years ago, the state of Alabama had to step in because SO MANY residents in Lowndes County did NOT HAVE SEPTIC TANKS!!! This means they had to go to the bathroom outside in a hole that they dug themselves. How very sad! The state stepped in and put in septic tanks for many residents. Now my friends, that sounds like a county that deserves the right to have a gambling casino in their back yard.
How in the world can these poor people be expected to resist the "get rich" (NOT) mentality that so many of them have?
You don't offer a beer to an alcoholic, do you? No. Likewise, their children are going without food so mama and daddy can gamble their grocery money away.
I will end with this: I went ONE TIME to the White Hall gaming center. I wish I had a camera. There was an EBT machine in the corner. My friends and I were AMAZED!!!
Posted by nowhining (anonymous) on March 19, 2009 at 11:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Milton McGregor has too many friends in the Legislature. He was on T.V. tonight talking of being the largest employer in Macon County. He also said his machines are legal. Is their really a difference in his "bingo" machines, and the "Bingo" machines in Whitehall. By the way, Macon County is also a poor county. McGregor said he could not survive with just dog's racing, that he had no choice but to expand to "Bingo", and said that all of the patrons are playing against each other at the casino. He said that is how his "Bingo" machines work, making them "BINGO" machines. I don't know how several hundred people putting money in different machines are playing each other, but someone should ask Milton McGregor. By the way, he also said he is giving away an Escalade tomorrow night.
Posted by justtopost (anonymous) on March 20, 2009 at 7:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The "Bingo" based slot games are server-based, and match 2 players together to share a single bingo ball draw on the server. Was this the case at Whitehall? Who knows...
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