LOUISIANA – Anti-gambling speakers held nothing back Tuesday night as they implored the Slidell City Council to reject a resolution seeking support for a legislative bill that would allow a parishwide vote on a casino. A casino, they said, will wreck lives and ruin the community.
Some pounded on the lectern, others cited poverty statistics in communities with gambling. One man held aloft a Bible, warning of God’s displeasure, as the boisterous crowd cheered, clapped and punctuated the public hearing with cries of “Amen.”
They faced off against casino advocates — representatives of business groups as well as a some residents — who were fewer in number but just as determined as they urged the City Council to support the measure.
