Tyson Reacts To Casino Fallout

When I went to Dothan earlier this week, I found a man so disgusted with the loss of his wife’s job at Country Crossing; he's letting drivers know with car decorations.

“Alabama's the fastest growing rate of unemployment so it's kind of hard to find a job and we've got a kid on the way she's six months pregnant with our first kid,” says John Speer Jr. The head of the governor's gambling task force, John Tyson Jr. says they don't want to wreck people's employment and says they're offering an array of state services to help. He says Alabama’s law and order attitude actually helps the job climate here.

“More jobs are threatened if we don't stop the attack on the rule of law than if we let a few bullies push us around,” says Tyson. Country Crossing was only in operation two months before closing. It took more than a year to build. If it's illegal, why wasn't the project just stopped? Tyson says the developer cut corners and didn't allow machines to be screened before Houston County issued bond money.

“I think there are some profound problems going forward with a financing scheme that's basically illegal,” says John Tyson Jr. A Country Crossing official strongly disagrees. The developer says they followed all due diligence every step of the way.

“The county's attorney, everyone said this was legal with regard to electronic bingo in the state of Alabama,” says developer Ronnie Gilley. He says the task force declined to see their machines before they opened.

“They would rather conduct midnight raids at the cost of the taxpayers of millions of dollars,” says Gilley. For now, country crossing and other gaming halls remain locked in a court battle with the state, leaving hundreds unemployed.