Month: April 2021

Hollywood Casino revenues rebound

Gaming revenues at Hollywood Casino at the Kansas Speedway are showing a rebound, according to figures released Wednesday afternoon at the Kansas Lottery Commission meeting.

The Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas, showed gaming revenues of $13.29 million for March, according to Keith Kocher, director of program assurance and integrity for the Kansas Lottery.

Good March revenue reports also were turned in by the three other state-owned casinos, Boot Hill in Dodge City, Kansas, $4.38 million; Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kansas, $17.56 million; and Kansas Crossing Casino, Pittsburg, Kansas, $3.64 million.

“All four casinos had their best months since the pandemic closures a year ago,” Kocher said during the meeting.

Kocher said the numbers reflected pent-up demand from players. The state of Kansas receives 22 percent of the gaming proceeds, while the Unified Government of Wyandotte County receives 3 percent of the local casino gaming proceeds.

Stephen Durrell, executive director of the Kansas Lottery, said local municipal governments have lessened some of the COVID-19 restrictions in communities, and some have relaxed closures of restaurants and bars.

Durrell said the Kansas Lottery is considering different reopening requests from the casinos on an individual basis. The Lottery Commission and Kansas Department of Health and Environment have granted some changes, he said.

Durrell praised the casinos for the safety and health precautions they took over the last year to protect patrons and staff.

The casinos were closed for part of March last year because of the pandemic.

In a written report to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, Rick Skinner, Hollywood Casino vice president and general manager, said March 2021 admissions were up 60.4 percent compared to March of 2020.

Gaming revenue this March was an increase of 108 percent compared to last year and a 43 percent increase over February 2021, Skinner stated.

Gaming revenues at Hollywood Casino were $6.3 million in March 2020 and $14.3 million in March 2019, according to state figures.

The casino has several upcoming events planned including the $25,000 mychoice App of Cash on April 17 and the $150,000 SlotPlay Bouquet on April 24, according to Skinner’s report.

At the Hollywood Casino, masks and social distancing are required, with Plexiglas installed for safety. The casino is running a promotion where any MyChoice member with a completed COVID-19 vaccination record card can get $10 of free slots play in a one-time offer, according to the casino website.

Durrell also reported that a sports wagering proposal in the Kansas House was voted down and did not go to conference committee recently. It appears the bill is dead, but it is possible something could return during the veto session.

Powerball is changing, Durrell reported. At the national level, it was voted to add Mondays to the days when there will be a Powerball drawing, he said.

KCKCC’s PTK chapter recognized for increasing membership

The Mu Delta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at Kansas City Kansas Community College has been recognized as a 2021 REACH Chapter.

The REACH (Recognizing Excellence in Acceptance and Completion with Honors) Awards program recognizes Phi Theta Kappa chapters that excel in membership development and recruitment campaigns.

The program rewards chapters for maintaining or increasing their membership acceptance rate by 15 percent or higher during the 2020 calendar year. As part of the recognition, KCKCC will receive three Phi Theta Kappa graduation stoles, which can be distributed to chapter officers or members to be worn during graduation. The Mu Delta Chapter was one of 28 in the state of Kansas to be recognized this year.

“In light of COVID and having fewer Phi Theta Kappa students on campus, I was shook,” said Dr. Stacy Tucker, director of the Honors Education Program – Phi Theta Kappa at KCKCC of the recognition. “It is an honor to be a chapter that was named among the 1,081 chapters listed as a REACH Chapter.”

PTK is an international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs. It also includes associate degree-granting programs offered by four-year college. To be eligible for membership, students must have completed at least 12 hours of associate degree course work with at least a 3.5 grade point average.

Tucker said PTK offers a variety of benefits for students including transfer scholarships, an official PTK seal on a student’s diploma, notation of PTK membership on a student’s transcript, recommendations for college and job applications and having the privilege of wearing a PTK gold stole and tassel at graduation. In addition, once students are a member of PTK, they are always a member.

“In Fall 2020, our chapter decided to offer membership applications online, so students could join PTK without coming to campus,” she said. “This application also gave students the ability to learn more about Phi Theta Kappa.”

For more information about Phi Theta Kappa, visit www.ptk.org.

  • From Kelly Rogge, KCKCC public relations manager

Kansas AG asks for more federal funding for police to fight hate crimes

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today participated in a bipartisan effort in pressing Congress for increased funding to provide the necessary tools for state and local law enforcement agencies to identify, report and prevent hate crimes in their jurisdictions.

Schmidt co-authored a letter to congressional leaders with District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine to urge passage of the Jabara-Heyer No Hate Act.

The legislation would provide federal grants to improve hate crimes reporting and increase penalties for federal hate crimes in an effort to stem the rise in hate, extremism and bias-motivated crimes across the United States.

Schmidt and Racine were joined by the attorneys general of 33 other states and territories in their message.

The grants would be used to train employees on identifying, classifying, and reporting hate crimes in the FBI’s national database; assist with states’ development of programs to prevent hate crimes; increase community education around hate crimes; and create state-run hate crime hotlines.

“For more than two decades, thousands of city, county, college and university, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies have voluntarily submitted hate crimes data to the FBI,” Schmidt and Racine wrote. “However, based on the FBI’s 2019 report, most law enforcement agencies did not participate or reported zero incidents. Exacerbating this gap, less than 25% of law enforcement agencies are using the FBI’s current reporting system, which took effect this year. This lack of data creates critical gaps that inhibit our understanding of the hate problem.”

Schmidt said the bill creates incentives, not mandates, to encourage and assist states to improve their data-collection systems.