Groups uniting push for slot machines

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A group that wants to put slot machines at Ohio's horse racetracks has decided to support a competitor's proposal, a move that could lead to only one gambling issue on the November ballot.
Penn National Gaming Inc., owner of Toledo's Raceway Park, said Monday that it was joining the Learn and Earn campaign after that group dropped Cincinnati as a potential gambling site. It was a reversal for Wyomissing, Pa.-based Penn National, which said last week that it had no partners in its effort and plan to underwrite the issue alone.
Penn National operates the Argosy riverboat casino in Indiana, a short drive from Cincinnati.
Revised plan
Learn and Earn filed ballot language on a revised plan last month that would establish slots-like facilities at Ohio's seven racetracks and allow two 3,500-machine locations in downtown Cleveland. The group said it changed its proposal in hopes of winning the support of Penn National and the Greater Cleveland Partnership, another group interested in bringing slot machines to Ohio.
Gambling proceeds would be used to pay college tuition for high school graduates and to fund local economic development.
David Hopcraft, a spokesman for Learn and Earn, said Tuesday that Greater Cleveland Partnership has dropped its competing proposal and merged its plan with Learn and Earn.
Messages were left Tuesday with officials of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, a business support organization.