Pritzker administration won't sale state land for casino
CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration says it won't sell state-owned land in a Chicago suburb to further development of a proposed combined race track and casino.
In a Tuesday letter, administration officials told Tinley Park leaders they're no longer looking to sell the shuttered Tinley Park Mental Health Center. That land was floated for development by video gambling entrepreneur Rick Heidner and Hawthorne Race Course general manager Tim Carey.
It was revealed last week that FBI agents went looking for "items related to" Heidner and his video gambling company Gold Rush Gaming last month when they searched the Springfield office of Democratic state Sen. Martin Sandoval. Heidner was also mentioned in the search warrant released Tuesday for McCook Mayor Jeff Tobolski's office.
Heidner appeared Tuesday at an Illinois Racing Board meeting asserting he is not a "mob affiliate." He hasn't been accused of wrongdoing.