Entries associated with the tag "10th casino license"

The Chicago Reader reports:

Amid a bit of uncertainty about who, if anyone, is actually running state government, the Illinois Gaming Board voted today to award a casino license to Midwest Gaming, a firm run by real estate and gambling baron Neil Bluhm.

It probably won't shock anyone to hear that Bluhm, his business partners, and his family have shown a keen interest in state politics over the years, or at least a willingness to be charitable with the state's most important elected officials.

Since the mid-1990s Bluhm himself has donated at least $231,500 to political candidates and causes in Illinois, including $36,500 to state comptroller Dan Hynes; $18,500 to attorney general Lisa Madigan; $13,000 to state rep Lou Lang, who chairs the House gaming committee; $10,500 to Chicago alderman Ed Burke, chairman of the City Council's finance committee; $10,000 to governor Rod Blagojevich; $10,000 to House speaker Michael Madigan; and even $500 to lieutenant governor Pat Quinn.