Table Games - Lawsuit Plans Dropped (Updated)

The West Virginia Family Foundation will not sue over table games in federal court, after all, The Associated Press reports.

After the state Supreme Court turned away its legal challenge in May, the group had repeatedly vowed to bring its case to federal court. "But further research showed a federal lawsuit likely would not be successful, said Ray Lambert, a spokesman for the conservative Christian activist group."

Also in the AP article, Lambert said that "lobbying the Legislature to void the act would be 'a waste of time.'"

With the fourth and final racetrack county slated to vote Saturday on the question, Lambert said the foundation will instead focus on defeating table games in Kanawha County.

The Register-Herald of Beckley was the first with the story.

In other table games news, the first batch of student card dealers has graduated from West Virginia Northern Community College, the Wheeling News-Register reports. Those who completed the six-week course must now audition for jobs at Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center, which expects to debut its table games later this year.

Update: The Charleston Daily Mail hears from church-going workers at Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in Nitro who are "questioning why some table games opponents are invoking God into the discussion and painting the track as a house of sin."