Venetian Casino Resort Announces Retention of Goldman, Sachs & Co. - 2004-01-13
Venetian Casino Resort LLC (the "Company") announced that it has retained Goldman, Sachs & Co., as financial advisor, to look at an assortment of strategic alternatives available to it relating to the Grand Canal Shoppes, the Venetian-themed mall attached to the Venetian Casino Resort.

No decision has been made as to whether there will be a sale or any other transaction involving the Grand Canal Shoppes. The matters described in this press release include forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
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Casino Tax Falls Short Of The Goal - 2004-01-13
A large tax increase on Illinois' most successful casinos has earned the state an extra $42.6 million in tax revenue, but state officials and casino executives disagree on whether that indicates success or failure. The extra revenue from the tax, enacted six months ago, is short of the $200 million a year that state budget officials had estimated. And some of the state's gain appears to be at the expense of local communities that share casino revenue. The communities' share of casino taxes dropped by $6 million in the last six months of 2003, compared with the same period in 2002.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich defended the tax increase last week. While projections haven't been met, the "money that everyone is talking about is new revenue on top of what we were getting in previous years," Abby Ottenhoff said.
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