Thursday casino fallout

Oh, the weeping and wailing! Oh, the celebration and looking-ahead! Oh, the punditry!

• The Inquirer starts us off with an overview of who won the five slots licenses statewide and how the news is being received. Both Philadelphia winners say they could have casinos built and running by 2008. Of course, that's after an appeals process that could stretch into next summer...
  
  
• The Daily News also offers a main story, focusing on the bookends that the two new Philadelphia casinos would create for the main city riverfront on the Delaware. [They also note that, although the Gaming Board won't release its rationale for a few weeks yet, all votes were unanimous. Perhaps a decision of the closed earlier sessions?]
  
  
• Sandra Shea at the DN says that most consultants ranked these two finalists last among the choices, and assesses the impact of political connections on the outcome.
  
  
• The Inky casino blog includes the report of one financial group that picked the winners based on their financial reports and public presentations. [This report is worth reading, for its assessments of what else factored into the choices (they thought it a fair process) and also what comes next on several fronts.]
  
  
• The group behind Foxwoods (the S. Philly winner) also owns a large casino development in Connecticut, whose employees are airing grievances about work conditions on a dedicated website. Perhaps Philadelphia is the right place to get an early unionization effort underway! [unearthly cackling...]
  
  
• The Inky has a short piece recapping where the revenue will go, according to the bill passed this past summer. Property tax reductions (often by changing the source of school funding) are the big thing.
  
  
• Another piece points out that a chunk of casino revenue will fund local charities and neighborhood activities.
  
  
• Fishtown residents offer mixed reactions to the SugarHouse go-ahead.
  
  
• The DN notes a swell of opposition, not least a promised lawsuit by riverfront district City Councilman Frank DiCicco (also noted here and somewhat more snarkily here).
  
  
• One pol, at least, celebrates the Nicetown activists who "slew the Trump dragon" that threatened their part of town.
  
  
• Inga Saffron has a piece in the Inquirer lambasting the choices for design, amenities, and location.
  
  
• The Inky editorial page decries the distressing duo of winners, noting that both of its top picks fell by the wayside.
  
  
• The DN also looks at reactions around the state by/to license winners. Apparently at least Rendell was pleased with the whole process.
  
  
• Related by the merest of threads: Trump may have lost his casino bid, but he won a court ruling that would make a journalist provide evidence that Trump is only a millionare, and not a billionare as he claims. Definitely an issue I'm losing sleep over. feh.