By JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — After teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for well over a year, the owners of Lincoln's Twin River casino finally toppled over yesterday, asking a federal judge to bless a “prepackaged, consensual plan” to square up with their creditors.

In exchange for reducing their debt almost in half, from an estimated $590 million to about $300 ,illion, the principals of BLB Investors will cede ownership of the greyhound racetrack and slot parlor.”
The good news for gamblers is that under the proposed agreement, the state would allow Twin River to be open all night every day — 24/7 — for slot players.
Gov. Donald Carcieri, legislators, Rhode Island Lottery Director Gerald Aubin and a spokeswoman for Twin River all took pains to say the bankruptcy filing would have no effect on the current operation of the facility
But another part of the bankruptcy petition filed yesterday morning calls on the General Assembly to allow the elimination of dog racing at the facility, an activity that Twin River officials say is a money loser that drains cash out of the operation.
The state would also have to pay $1.4 million a year toward the “management fee” that would go to the new operators of Twin River, who would be selected by the new owners after the agreement is approved by the court. Taxpayers would also be on the hook for a portion of the marketing and advertising costs to promote the facility — once the state's revenue from the VLTs exceeds the amount that it will take in this year — splitting with the owners an amount between $4 million and $10 million.
While the Senate disagrees, House leaders and the Carcieri administration have said that the authorization to extend Twin River's hours to 24/7 could be done administratively by the executive branch without legislation.
Sen. Paul O'Neill, an independent who represents the part of Lincoln where Twin River is located, was miffed that he heard about the 24/7 proposal for the first time while sitting
in on Tuesday's news conference by the governor.
“At what point do the people of Lincoln have a say in what is going on in their town?” O'Neill asked, noting that “first we started out as a horse track, then a dog track, then off-track betting came in somehow, then we went to slots, then more slots then we went to 24/3, then we went to video (blackjack), now we've got more slots and now it's 24/7.
“I'm speaking for the people of the town who live in the vicinity of the casino because as a resident of Lincoln and someone who has seen this happen over a number of years, we have never been asked to vote on any of this. The closest we've ever come is a non-binding referendum where people voted to not expand to 24/3. What I'm afraid of is we will wake up one morning like we woke up today and find we have a full-scale casino authorized by the Lottery Commission, so at what point do we draw the line.”
In the House Rep. Peter Petrarca represents the portion of Lime Rock where Twin River is, he said the 24/7 “is not an issue with me, but I don't know how my constituents are going to go for it.” Petrarca allowed that 24/3 “is running very well.” The extra revenue, which Lincoln would share in using the same percentages as the 24/3 calculations, “would be a boon for the state,” Petrarca said.
Petrarca said the management team for BLB “stunk, their communications skills were terrible. They did whatever they wanted without regard to anyone, either the town or the state.”
Doing away with the dogs could be a trickier proposition.
Unlike extending the hours, eliminating the dog racing requirement would need legislative approval and leaders of both chambers were decidedly cool to the idea.
“We have never said we would get rid of the dogs,” House Speaker William Murphy told The Times Tuesday.
Murphy chose his words carefully when asked whether that means the House would oppose ending dog racing if that is required to make the bankruptcy deal fly. “The law is, that for you to have a (VLT) facility, you have to have racing. No one in the House has seen any movement, nor have I heard any movement to eliminate racing in Rhode Island.”
State law requires that video slot machines must be operated at a facility that also offers pari-mutuel betting, but several years ago, Newport Grand won General Assembly approval to end jai-alai games at that facility.
“No!,” snapped Sen. Frank Ciccone when asked whether the Senate would go along with eliminating greyhound racing, “I'm not going to help the national banks kill the economy.
“Screw the banks,” added Ciccone, who authored legislation that passed the Senate to extend the number of greyhound racing days mandated at Twin River from the current 125 to 200, “We're going to help them out again. I don't see them coming in here with any money to help us out. They are going to lay 225 people off. That is not right.”
Senate Majority Leader Daniel Connors of Cumberland pointed out that the Senate passed Ciccone's bill 31-1 with one abstention. “I think that makes it pretty clear where the Senate stands.”
But, he added, “like many issues between the House and Senate this is subject to discussion and negotiation over the coming weeks. But I think that vote speaks for itself.”
While the bankruptcy court could have the power to change Twin River's contract with the RI Greyhound Owners Association, it was not clear at press time if it could do anything about the law requiring Twin River to conduct dog races on a specified number of days.
The agreement anticipates the Carcieri administration to “support the repeal of the statutory requirement that the facility operate the dog track for a specified number of days each year, or an alternative, mutually acceptable, arrangement.”