Celebrities lend support to casino effort

CLEVELAND (AP) — An ad campaign featuring Jamie Farr, Vicki Lawrence and other TV stars is urging voters to support an initiative to allow a privately owned casino in southwestern Ohio.

The radio and television ads began Monday. They’re sponsored by developers who are planning a $600 million casino between Cincinnati and Columbus that they say would create 5,000 jobs.

One of the sponsors of the ads, Brad Pressman, was involved in pushing a failed ballot issue in 2006 that would have legalized slot machines at racetracks and two proposed parlors in Cleveland. The latest initiative has yet to qualify for the November ballot.

Lawrence played Mama on the “Carol Burnett Show” and on “Mama’s Family.” Farr, a Toledo native, played Corporal Klinger on the television series “M.A.S.H.”