For two years, we have been covering efforts to get casinos in our area.

Less than a month after Worth County got its casino license... the reality has been really hard hit. Today, the Diamond Joe Casino broke out.

Everyone who attended the groundbreaking ceremony got what they had hoped for. But others, or local businesses, still want more. Teresa George, owner of Shade Tree Liquors, hopes for more business as well as casino customers.

She told KIMT News Channel 3, "I definitely hope they buy their booze from me. I'm the only liquor store in Worth County." Because that was the plan from the beginning.

Kim Miller of the North County Development Authority said on KIMT News Channel 3, "When we chose the Diamond Joe, it was one of the things we talked about with them, and we wanted a lot of companies in North County to benefit from this."

This is because customers alone cannot bet on the business. "I think you're going to let people travel. And they're going to stay there, but I'm still going to have locals," George says.

It is the locals who continue to run her business, but the casino can offer a little extra. She says, "I would be very disappointed if that didn't happen. I definitely hope that they will help the county and help the business of the county."

And they certainly need it. "We had the second-highest retail leak in the state because people were shopping in Albert Leana Mason City. So we were really hurt in that way," Miller says.

But Theresa George and many others hope that a new child on the block will be able to clean up the wound. Diamond Joe Casino is scheduled to open in early 2006.

The 60,000-square-foot facility has more than 500 slot machines, table games and poker rooms, as well as an entertainment lounge, restaurant, fast food court and gift shop. The hotel nearby has 100 rooms.

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