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13 Dead in California Gambling Junket Crash, Bus Driver Suspected of Possible Alcohol Consumption

13 Dead<span id="more-3556"></span> in California Gambling Junket Crash, Bus Driver Suspected of Possible Alcohol Consumption

A Ca gambling bus tour ended in tragedy, when during the early morning hours of Sunday, October 23, a trip bus slammed into the back of an 18-wheeler semi-truck on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs. The motorist of the coach neglected to break traveling in to a construction zone where state maintenance crew had deliberately slowed up traffic.

USA Holiday, the gambling bus tour operator involved in a deadly crash in California that killed 13 people, reportedly hit the back of a semi truck while going 65 mph on Sunday.

The crash killed 13 people and left 31 other people hurt, rendering it one of the bus crashes that are deadliest in Golden State history. All those killed were over 50, meaning likely it was a seniors tour group.

Operated by United States Of America Holiday, a tour bus company that had one automobile and one driver according to regulators that are federal was returning from its gambling excursion from l . a . to Red Earth Casino in Salton City, California.

The driver of the bus, 59-year-old Teodulo Vides, ended up being one of those killed. And now the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is attempting to find out if Vides was inside the casino prior to operating the bus, and whether drugs or alcohol were mixed up in deadly result.

CHP officials said the semi-truck ended up being traveling at 5 mph through the construction zone if the bus collided with it at near to 65 mph. Investigators state there is certainly no evidence of the coach breaking whatsoever.

’In almost 35 years, i have never been to a crash where there is been 13 verified [fatalities],’ California Highway Patrol Border Division Chief Jim Abele said. ’It’s tough. You never become accustomed to this.’

Coach Driver, Operator Formerly Sued

The tragedy was maybe not the time that is first USA getaway was tangled up in bus crashes. In reality, the operator has been previously sued, and in one 2007 incident, three individuals destroyed their lives, though it’s not clear if these had been passengers or in adjacent traffic. Vides was the driver in that crash.

A lawsuit surrounding the full case was ultimately dismissed when one of many plaintiffs failed to reply to discovery requests by the defendants’ legal teams. Similarly, two other lawsuits were also launched against USA getaway and Vides, in 2004 and again during 2009, but were ultimately dismissed.

Casinos Rely on Bus Tours

Casinos across the nation routinely partner with tour bus operators to bring in gamblers, especially during off-peak hours as well as on weekdays. In return for transporting customers with their floors, gambling enterprises often provide free potato chips and other incentives to patrons, and compensate the coach operators.

As an example, Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania has an arrangement with Trans-Bridge Lines to charter gamblers from new york to the resort. Five daily services occur on weekdays, and six operate on the weekend.

One-way tickets are priced at $28, but riders get $45 in free slot play at the casino.

It’s unclear whether Red Earth Casino had any such arrangement with USA getaway. The casino said the bus arrived sometime after 11 pm on night and departed around 4 am saturday.

The 44 passengers regarding the bus each paid $20 for round-trip transportation from la to Red Earth, a 135-mile each real way commute. USA Holiday says on social media marketing that it has over 25 years of tourism experience planing a trip to neighborhood casinos in Southern California.

Is Bus Travel Safe?

Although the USA Holiday bus crash will likely make patrons think twice before hopping aboard a touring vehicle in the coming months, the fact remains that bus crash fatalities are still relatively rare into the US.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier protection management’s most recent data 12 months, busses were involved in the fatal deaths of 281 persons in 2014.

Vehicle crash fatalities per 100,000 people for ’large truck occupants’ came in at 587 in 2014. That pales in comparison to passenger vehicles at 21,202. Sixty-five % of crash fatalities involved passenger vehicles in 2014, while just two percent involved big trucks or busses.

Mount Airy Casino Threatens Additional Lawsuits Against Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania home Gaming Oversight Committee Chairman John Payne, seen here with his hand raised, is one of the main state lawmakers scrambling to produce sure the state’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of Mount Airy Casino doesn’t price towns that are local of dollars. (Image: pctours.com)

Mount Airy Casino in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, is fresh off its win that is monumental in state’s Supreme Court, and today the resort is flexing its muscles.

In late September, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state’s $10 million minimum gambling tax, or two percent of a casino’s gross slots income, whichever is greater, was at violation of the Uniformity Clause.

Since no casino has ever taken in $500 million from slots in an offered year, gaming companies are all writing varying tax checks at unequal rates.

The $10 million charge goes towards local counties that allow casinos to operate inside their urban centers and towns.

The high court stayed its decision cool cat casino no deposit bonus code 2018 for 120 days to give the state legislature time to amend the tax law since the Supreme Court ruling comes with grave consequences for communities that heavily rely on the tax revenue.

But Mount Airy said this week through its legal team that the current negotiations in Harrisburg won’t suffice.

’What we are hearing is they’re coalescing around the thought of carrying out a flat dollar amount, as an alternative for the current levy of two percent, or $10 million, whichever is greater,’ Michael Sklar, a lawyer for Mount Airy, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. ’We’ll be right back in court. We’re willing to register the litigation again.’

The Four Percent

Sklar believes a tax that is flat for casinos still violates the Uniformity Clause because the tariff wouldn’t be considering revenues, and therefore isn’t uniform. Pennsylvania’s Uniformity Clause dictates, ’All fees shall be uniform upon the class that is same of.’

’Imagine that individuals are getting to replace the current tax by having a flat $5,000 tax,’ Sklar told the Pocono Record. ’If you appear at an individual making $20,000 a year, that is an effective taxation rate of 25 percent. An individual making $500,000 is paying an effective taxation rate of 1 per cent.’

Mount Airy is recommending that the legislature amend the casino income tax law to need gambling enterprises to pay for four percent of their gross slot revenue to their neighborhood municipalities.

In 2015, Mount Airy generated $139.1 million in slot income. As opposed to paying $2.78 million to Mount Pocono considering the two percent income tax rate, it paid $7.22 million more to reach the $10 million threshold.

Should politicians in Harrisburg take Mount Airy’s suggestion, Mount Pocono would be out about $4.4 million considering 2015 revenue.

Casino Said, State Said

It appears additional legal action might be forthcoming. Though Sklar believes a tax that is flat be unconstitutional, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has proposed precisely that.

’We’re going doing whatever we can to make sure these municipalities which have counted on this money for ten years don’t end up with a gap in their spending plans,’ State Sen. Pat Browne (R-District 16) told The Morning Call, a newspaper that is daily in Allentown. ’That’s our goal.’

Their state will do everything in its power to keep casinos in the hook for $10 million. But Mount Airy, armed using the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on its side, is going to do everything in its power to lessen its tax burden.

UK Government Launches Review which could Shake Up Betting Industry

Tracey Crouch MP says that the review will strike the right balance between enabling the gambling industry to play a role in the economy and ensuring that vulnerable folks are protected. (Image: Kent News)

The UK government, as promised, established its review into the nation’s wagering industry this week, because it puts fixed-odds wagering terminals (FOBTs) and gambling advertising on TV and social news under the microscope.

Minister for the Department of community, Media and Sport (DCMS) Tracey Crouch said that the review would look for to strike the right balance between ’allowing the industry to play a role in the economy and allowing individuals to bet responsibly whilst ensuring consumers and communities are protected.’

The DCMS will seek proof on the impact that is social controversial FOBT machines in local communities, and will in particular view whether the stakes available are too much.

It will evaluate measures to protect against problem gambling and whether laws are sufficient to safeguard kids and people that are vulnerable.

Industry under Fire

But the industry is nervous in regards to a possible shake-up of what is becoming, in recent years, the world’s biggest managed market that is betting.

The Association of British Bookmakers has urged that the review needs to be ’evidence-based and not unfairly penalize the majority who gamble responsibly and enjoy their leisure pursuit’.

It has additionally noted that FOBT’s have been in use for approximately 15 years yet problem gambling levels have remained stable, and are, in fact, lower than in many countries throughout the world.

The industry that is betting been beset by aggressive media promotions raging against FOBTs, on which it will be possible to bet £100 ($122) every 20 seconds, in addition to the proliferation of sports betting advertising around big sports occasions.

Just week that is last it was stated that Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had opened an investigation into whether online betting organizations were breaching UK consumer protection rules after some consumers raised complaints about bets being cancelled, odds being altered after bets happen accepted and ’misleading sign-up promotions.’

’Government Has Woken Up’

The gambling industry emphasizes that, according to the government’s own numbers, it employs around 100,000 people in the UK and contributed more than £10 billion ($12.1 billion) to the economy year that is last.

But Labour’s culture spokesman Tom Watson, welcomed the review. He told the BBC that the has finally ’woken up’ towards the reality that it has not ’done enough to curtail the proliferation of FOBTs, which are now a blight on lots of our high streets.’

’They can cause real and damage that is lasting gamblers as well as are becoming a big problem for communities which are frequently struggling to manage with under-investment and high unemployment,’ he stated.

One unnamed politician that is senior told the Times newspaper that the ’the gambling industry’s luck has come to an end.’

New John Grisham Novel, ’The Whistler,’ Paints Picture of Corrupt Tribal Casinos

Bestelling writer John Grisham’s brand new novel The Whistler, just released today, shows the master of the legal thriller in rare form. The guide deals utilizing the theme of corruption in US tribal casinos, as well of the very most hot subject of judicial misconduct.

The timely topic of corruption in the American justice system, particularly as it applies to the gaming industry, is the main theme of bestselling author John Grisham’s novel that is latest, ’The Whistler.’ But does it ring true? (Image: Doubleday)

The whistler, i.e., whistleblower, in the title is really a disbarred attorney who tips investigators of Florida’s Board of Judicial Conduct within the direction of ’the most corrupt judge into the history of American jurisprudence.’

The judge, it transpires, happens to be protecting an area casino that is tribal the vicious gangster who provides it protection in return for a sizeable chunk of their profits.

Grisham is clearly both fascinated and appalled by the apparent lawlessness of Indian casino gaming, and the perception as he explained to CBS News’ Charlie Rose this week that it often operates beyond the control of either state or federal laws.

Perfect Storm for Corruption

’Indian casinos now gross more cash than regular casinos that are commercial. There’s 250 of these across the country, and they’re positively massive. They printing money,’ Grisham told Rose.

’Ninety percent of all the money that comes in is in cash, plus it’s unregulated, nobody’s watching, they are doingn’t pay taxes. There isn’t any oversight. I’m not saying here’s corruption, but it’s a storm that is perfect corruption. No one knows simply how much they make, they don’t really have to report to anybody.’

The tribal casino sector is now beginning to outstrip the income associated with commercial casino sector, but only because there are more tribal casinos than commercial ones. The number that is actual 489, operated by 243 distinct Native American tribes across 28 states.

But exactly what of the charge that they are unregulated? Well, they pay no taxes that are federal and they are perhaps not obliged to report their funds to the IRS. It’s also true that they are largely ungoverned by state gaming regulators.

They truly are certainly more gently overseen compared to casinos of Las Vegas and Atlantic City, which are, incidentally, among most heavily managed casinos in the world. But tribal gambling enterprises are nonetheless accountable, albeit to a separate regulatory agency.

 

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