"The rumor scurries into town every few years, old-timers say, and it’s back again, lurking this time in that cauldron of get-rich-quick schemes so expertly stirred by our impressive local army of scam artists and swindlers.
Sorry, I mean alleged swindlers. The rumor: An Indian casino is headed for the currently casino-less San Luis Obispo County. The cauldron: An allegation in the bankruptcy case of Kelly Gearhart that mentions such an effort by the Salinan tribe. I’m not going to get into the allegations. I leave that to my colleague Melanie Cleveland, whose reporting over the past year about Gearhart, Hurst Financial and other “entrepreneurs” has peeled the skin off a hair-raising series of putrid economic enterprises. My purpose here is to explore what my chances are of winning some money at the tables in this county. The answer: Not very good. Even if the Salinans had had a reliable sugar daddy to back their efforts, as they erroneously believed they had with Gearhart, a casino might never have come to pass. Not to discourage folks whose right arms are twitching with the desire to pull down on a slot machine, but starting a casino is no easy matter." Get the Story: