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THE BASICS GAMING CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT AGREES TO PAY $100,000 FINE By Steve Green senior staff writer C complaint says. The minor eventually was arrested by to realize the players were under age. aesars Entertainment Corp. has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine after in- vestigations found minors gambled and drank at four of its Las Vegas casinos. Newly Commission records show that nine incidents were documented between January 2010 and May 2012 at Caesars Palace, the Rio, Harrah's and the Fla- mingo. They involved customers between the ages of 17 and 20. In some cases, they weren't asked for identification. In oth- ers, they produced identification show- ing they were underage but were al- lowed to gamble anyway, records show. The state Gaming Control Board filed the complaint July 10 with the Nevada Gaming Commission. Jerry Markling, chief of enforcement for the board, said it appeared that none of the incidents involved casino person- nel knowingly allowing underage pa- trons to gamble and drink. Rather, casi- no workers who asked for identification likely didn't look at it closely enough None of the instances involved false Metro Police on a warrant. identification, he said. "They weren't focused enough on what they were doing," Markling said. In at disclosed Nevada Gaming "misread" a passport and permitted a 19-year-old to gamble. Markling said several of the incidents were self-reported by the casinos, cluding instances where the underage gamblers tried to cash in their chips and were carded at the cage, where workers determined they were under age. In one incident, a 17-year-old drank and gambled at craps tables at Harrah's for more than five hours on Aug. 3, 2011, the complaint says. The minor was served at least six al- coholic beverages by four Harrah's em- ployees, the complaint says. The minor was in contact with the four drink servers, at least two dealers, a floor supervisor and at least 10 other in- least one instance, a dealer "If Metro had not arrested the minor, it is possible the minor would have left Harrah's of his own volition and the Gaming Control Board would not have learned of this incident," the complaint says. The complaint says Caesars had been put on notice about problems with un- derage gambling after four incidents between January 2010 and September 2011. It says enforcement efforts were stepped up with the filing of the com- plaint with the Gaming Commission because the problems continued. "Respondents' (the casinos) continued failure to maintain compliance with the law necessitates that the board file this complaint with the Nevada Gaming Commission," the complaint says. Harrah's employees, none of whom premises of asked for identification, the complaint says. POLITICS LAWMAKERS BICKER OVER DEMISE OF NEVADA SOLAR PANEL COMPANY On that much, Republicans and Dem- By Karoun Demirjian staff writer A representatives the closure of what was to be the region's largest solar manufacturing in Washington plant, are wrestling with a question: Is Amonix's failure a black mark on President Ba- rack Obama's fiscal policies, or just the disastrous end of a company waylaid by personal tragedy at the top? It depends who you ask. other "This is just another example of an- failed stimulus project," Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said. "CEO Brian Robertson was tragically killed in a plane crash," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "Unfortunately, the company was unable to recover from this difficult time." Amonix's North Las Vegas facility was approved for $5.9 million in federal tax credits under the stimulus plan, to underwrite early production of four 11- ton, 50-by-72 feet solar cell arrays per day. That tax assistance never materialized though, according to the firm, because the facility never made any money to offset through tax credits. 8 Heller cites his "no" vote on the stimu- lus in 2009 as proof of how fervently he opposes "big government spending." "I opposed the stimulus, and (that's) the reason why," Heller said. "Shame on Sen. Dean Heller," said Rep. Shelley Berkley's campaign spokes- woman Xochitl Hinojosa. "While Shel- ley Berkley and Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval are working to make Nevada the clean energy jobs capital of Ameri- ca, Sen. Heller is cheering the fact that hundreds of Nevadans have just their jobs because he thinks it will help his political campaign." lost | 30 JULY 2012 | s hundreds of Nevadans reel from ocrats agree. But Nevada's representa- tives are arguing over why the company eventually failed — and whether Demo- crats should have seen it coming. "Some people will be tempted to use today's unfortunate news for political gain," Reid said. "But I am hopeful that the bipartisan support for this project and the public-private partnership that helped make this and many other proj- ects possible will not be degraded by dirty energy supporters for their own profit or political gain." "This failure of measures taken by Caesars to prevent minors from con- suming alcohol and gambling on the its licensed subsidiaries reflects or tends to reflect poorly on the reputation of gaming in the state," the The conduct at the casinos also "acts as a detriment to the development of the gaming industry and/or reflects dis- credit upon the state of Nevada or the gaming industry," the Gaming Control Board alleged. In agreeing to pay the $100,000 fine to settle the complaint, Caesars Enter- tainment admitted the allegations and agreed to file a report with the board spelling out steps that have been taken to deal with the problems for which it was cited. The Gaming Commission will consid- er the settlement at a future meeting. Caesars Entertainment spokesman Gary Thompson said July 18 that the company couldn't comment extensively on the complaint. "We have a very strict policy against underage gambling, as exemplified by our commitment to the Project 21 un- derage gambling program," he said. That program includes employee training and public awareness about underage gambling.