As competition increases from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, West Virginia casinos are losing customers.
And the lost revenue is poking a hole in the state’s tax base and budget.
Nowhere is that better exemplified than at Charles Town. When they first opened, business boomed beyond expectations, and tax revenue flowed into the state’s coffers.
West Virginia’s two panhandles were situated to draw out-of-state dollars – the Northern Panhandle drew gamblers from Pennsylvania and Ohio, while the Eastern Panhandle, where Charles Town is located, drew bettors from Maryland, Virginia and the D.C. region.
Pennsylvania’s foray into casino gambling weakened the northern casinos in Wheeling and Mountaineer Park, but Charles Town continued for a number of years to keep its monopoly on the D.C. market.
That changed when Maryland legalized casino gambling.
Tag: Arts & Culture
Wild Ramp Continues to Succeed in Huntington
Since opening in July 2012 the farmers market in downtown Huntington has injected nearly $350,000 back into the Huntington community.
Charles Barton sells organic lamb meat at the Wild Ramp local foods market in downtown Huntington. The farmer from Bakerton, West Virginia in the Eastern Panhandle is the perfect example of why the small market has succeeded.
“They were looking for people to join in and I was looking for a market I could be comfortable with and besides it gets me home more, Huntington is my home,” Barton said.
From July 2012, when the market opened, to December 2013, the market has paid more than 345 thousand dollars to a total of 121 farmers and producers. Shelly Keeney is the Market Manager.
Keeney said they have been surprised at how a small idea has turned into something that so many in the area depend on for locally grown food. She said they didn’t expect it.
“What surprises me is the amount of customer support, not just customers coming in buying product, but the business support we’ve gotten from businesses that surround us and now we have the attention of the agriculture department as well because it’s gone really well,” Keeney said.
It’s that support from city of Huntington officials and the West Virginia Department of Agriculture— and the need for more space– that made the Wild Ramps want to expand. After having their bid selected by the city to take over the Central City Market in Huntington’s west end, the market is preparing for a spring move that will provide much more space than they are used to. Gail Patton is the President of the Board of Directors for the Market.
“We have outgrown this space very quickly, we actually outgrew it a year ago and have been thinking about moving for a while now and we decided to go for it and see if we could get a bigger building with better access,” Patton said.
The larger space in the Central City market will allow them to work with farmers on techniques for season extension so they can produce more into the cold months and will allow for others things such as classes.
“One of the big ones is we’ll be able to have classes right in the store, we’ll be able to have cooking demonstrations and cooking classes, we’ll be able to have gardening classes out behind the building and we’ll be able to expand what we can do onsite, now we’re having those classes, but always having to find somewhere to have them,” Patton said.
Patton says with the support they have from the community the move will work.
Can Marshall be a Top 25 Team in 2014?
A 31-20 victory over the University of Maryland in the Military Bowl has many around the Marshall Football program excited about next season.
With much of the team returning for the 2014 season after finishing 10-3, expectations are high for Thundering Herd Football. Many have predicted top 25 rankings for the squad. Others have predicted they’ll win the conference. Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday said high expectations are good for his team.
“Bottom line is someone telling you you’re going to be a top 25 team is not what gets you there, it’s the work and everything that goes along with it, but we can’t become complacent,” Holliday said.
The 10 win season was the first time since 2002 that a Marshall team finished with double-digit victories. It also marked the first Conference USA East Division crown for the school and trip to the Conference USA championship game, where they would lose to Rice. In the final USA Today Coaches Poll the Herd finished 29th. Holliday said three things will determine how successful the team can be next year.
- Staying away from complacency.
- Not becoming selfish.
- Being accountable for their actions.
The 5 win improvement from 2012 to 2013 has many wondering what could happen in 2014 with a schedule that looks favorable for an experienced team like the Herd to make a serious run. With non-conference matchups with Ohio University, Miami Ohio and Kent State University, fans are looking forward to the season. Holliday said when he looks at his team this offseason he sees a vastly different group than last offseason.
“I just thought to myself we’re so much further ahead than this time last year, I looked out there a year ago and I didn’t see what I see right now which is a good thing and it’s going to be important,” Holliday said..
Holliday hopes that the success of this past season mixed with high expectations have an impact as he and his coaches hit the road to finish up recruiting for next year before the national signing period begins February 5th. That’s when athletes can sign on the dotted line committing themselves to a college football program.
“One of the things about Marshall University Football is it has great tradition, you can walk into almost every home out there they can tell you about the number of wins they had in the 90’s and the 2000’s and the Randy Moss’ and Chad’s and Byron’s and on and on and we’re getting back to that,” Holliday said.
The Military Bowl was Marshall’s second bowl win in three seasons. The Herd beat F FIU in the 2011 Beef O’Brady’s Bowl.
WVU Basketball Hoping for Big Things in Second Big 12 Season
West Virginia’s men’s team is coming off of a season last year where they only won 13 games. It was the worst season in a decade for the program, and one of Coach Bob Huggins’ worst as a head coach.
One problem the team endured was an exhaustive travel schedule, traveling more than 30,000 air miles, since many of the Big 12 schools are in Texas. Huggins says an adjusted travel schedule this year, which allows for the team to stay in that state for two games instead of flying back and forth, has helped.
West Virginia’s women’s team is performing better than last year. Last year, they finished with 17 wins and 14 losses. This year, the women’s team is red hot, as they have won 13 games in a row.
State Sets Christmas Tree Recycling Event
The state is providing a useful way for West Virginians to dispose of their Christmas trees.
The Department of Environmental Protection will collect trees and sink them in four West Virginia lakes to provide fish habitat. The Register-Herald reports that the department’s ninth annual Christmas tree recycling event is set for Jan. 4 at the Capitol Market in downtown Charleston.
According to the department, thousands of trees have been put in lakes across West Virginia to give fish a safe place to reproduce. Warmwater Fisheries Management assistant chief Bret Preston says the sunken trees also provide hiding places for small fish and attract bigger game fish for fishermen.
The trees will be placed in Beech Fork, Burnsville, Stonewall Jackson and Summersville lakes.
Bald Eagle from W.Va. Bird of Prey Center Dies
The most prominent resident of a bird rehabilitation center in Fairmont has died.
Liz Snyder of the West Virginia Raptor Rehabilitation Center says the bald eagle Thunder died Dec. 21 — exactly 21 years after arriving at the center with a gunshot wound that left her unable to survive in the wild.
According to the Times-West Virginian, Thunder was being treated for a respiratory infection before dying in the arms of center director Michael Book, who had taken care of the bird since 1992.
Snyder says Thunder was the center’s most visible symbol. Her picture appeared on the center’s website, and Snyder says that when people thought of the center, they thought of Thunder.
Book says he will always remember Thunder as “proud, intelligent and fearless.”