The Arkansas Racing Commission, which regulates casino gambling in Arkansas, will meet at 11 a.m. Wednesday to discuss a final order in the matter of who should get a permit to open a casino in Pope County.
Where we last left it, the Commission had decided to award the permit to Gulfside Casino Partnership of Mississippi over Cherokee Nation Businesses of Oklahoma. There are too many legal and political intrigues to recount here, but a final decision was delayed by a Cherokee appeal.
Ongoing court cases and other complications delayed a final order in the case, plus the Commission’s interest in resolving some unrelated thoroughbred racing issues, recently completed.
The Pope County permit is the sole item on the agenda tomorrow. Both casino applicants had said from the beginning that whatever occurred before the Racing Commission would be appealed in court.
