This is what St. Clair County and specifically Ashville wants for its area and its citizens?

What Walker County has?

Bingo pallors, Quick Loan shops, Pawn shops, and crime.

Electronic bingo still a thorn for Walker County

Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Jasper, also sees the opportunity for corruption with several million dollars being generated through what he thinks is “illegal gambling.”

He added that history teaches that large amounts of cash, which are almost impossible to track, create corruption.

“You need not look any further back than Phenix City,” Bishop said, referring to the city’s rampant crime, corruption, gambling and prostitution of the 1940s and early 1950s. “In the end, there were even people that got killed there. Walker County, to me, is awfully close to being another Phenix City. … It’s not a pretty site.”

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In the mean time, Bishop, Rizzo, Taylor and other area leaders plan to continue fighting the bingo halls they say are hurting families and business throughout the county.

“It’s a joke what’s going on in this county,” Bishop said. “Fast-loan places and pawn shops are the only new industries we are getting. It’s tearing the county apart.”

Taylor asks that Christians in Alabama make this a matter of prayer.

Bingo proceeds in Walker County, Alabama, aren’t being accounted for

As The News’ readers learned Sunday, most of Walker County’s electronic bingo operations aren’t reporting their finances every year to the sheriff as required by law. That means authorities haven’t a clue how much money these businesses are bringing in and what portion of it is going to the so-called beneficiaries.

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“We may be getting 5 percent. We may be getting 20 percent … Nobody knows but them,” said Harold Beasley, who gets bingo money for the charity he set up in memory of his son.

At least one charity is in litigation with a bingo operator over this issue. The Yerkwood Volunteer Fire Department says the bingo operators are claiming unreasonable expenses that diminish the cut going to charities. It says it has been denied access to the financial information.

See also:

Planning to Fight City Hall …You Can Be A Loser, TooBingo in Ashville, Alabama

Bingo in Other Counties in Alabama