Developers To Make Bid For Fifth Ohio Casino

Two developers plan to seek voter approval of a fifth casino in an increasingly crowded Ohio gambling environment. Rick Lertzman says he and a partner, Brad Pressman, hope to get a referendum question on the Ohio ballot in November to allow a casino in the Youngstown area in northeast Ohio. It would compete with a proposed race track offering video slots. Ohio's first casino will open in May in Cleveland, with another to open weeks later in Toledo. Casinos also were approved for Cincinnati and Columbus in a statewide vote in 2009. Lertzman and Pressman have backed three failed gambling drives in Ohio, most recently in 2008 in Clinton County in southwest Ohio. He said excitement about casino jobs would help get voter approval for a fifth casino.