April - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
CLEVER, THESE KANSANS
Slots for tracks is an issue in Kansas, as it is in
most places with racing. The Woodlands is located
in Kansas City, and it would like to have slots. So
far, the legislature has not agreed. The governor,
however, has agreed to support slots at tracks, and
he has leaped into the battle in full armor after the
Senate minority leader came up with a new approach
to the issue. The senator, Anthony Hensley,
a Topeka Democrat, has put forward an idea that
avoids the difficult legislative problem of how to
split the spoils. He proposed to the Senate Federal
and State Affairs committee, and the committee
agreed to introduce the measure, a plan
whereby residents of any county with a track could
petition for a vote on whether to create a commission
to draft a plan to legalize slots in that county.
Or county commissioners could order an election
on their own. If voters agreed to create a commission,
its seven members would be appointed by
the governor.
While Senators seem to like the idea, the House
has been unyielding on the issue. Its Tourism committee
was to meet earlier this week and send a
new slots for tracks bill to the House floor for debate,
but opponents refused to attend the session
and without a quorum the panel was forced to adjourn.
The Tourism committee had endorsed a
slots bill, but the House rejected it. The chairwoman
of the committee called the latest ploy “a
boycott.”
The governor, Bill Graves, likes the Hensley proposal.
According to the Kansas City Star, he wants
action on it, and he wants it quickly. The paper
reported that a leading Republican backer of the
slots for tracks bill told it that the governor had
spoken to him and to the Republican
Speaker of the House and told both of
them that he wanted some action on the proposal
in 48 hours.
April 12, 2002
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES
Michael Strauss is a former sports writer for the
New York Times, who retired to Florida and -- unable
or unwilling to sit around idle -- became the
sports editor of the Palm Beach Daily News.
Strauss covered harness racing for the Times during
the heyday of the sport in New York, and when
The Society of the Four Arts unveiled an exhibit
of 33 Currier & Ives lithographs Strauss knew what
to do. He joined forces with Lou Barasch, former
public relations director at Roosevelt Raceway and
a consultant for Yonkers Raceway, who is another
Florida retiree, and swung into action. Barasch’s
wife, Grace -- better known in the sport as Bunny
-- volunteered to give a gallery talk, and the curator
of the Four Arts program, Nancy Mato, enthusiastically
agreed. Thirty-three Currier & Ives
trotting prints were provided by the Harness Racing
Museum in Goshen, NY, and Mrs. Barasch
gave a presentation called The Story of Harness
Racing. Despite heavy rain, an overflow turned
out, and the gallery was forced to add extra seating.
To add to the success, the Daily News devoted
the entire front page of its Arts section to a
full color spread on the exhibition, headlined “The
Charm of the Sporting Life,” with four large Currier
& Ives prints displayed along with half a page
of text. A wonderful job by all concerned, and a
wonderful score.
BIG BOOK SALE IN GOSHEN
The Harness Racing Museum in Goshen, NY, is
launching a used book sale that will enable the
museum to rebind and repair the treasures of harness
literature now in its library stacks. To finance
that project, the museum is accepting used books
on harness racing, which will be sold or -- if the
museum doesn’t already have a copy -- will be
added to its library. It’s a chance to get rid of old
harness books, and help preserve our history
at the same time. Call the Museum 845-
294-6330 for details.