* Could Chris Kelly’s indictment kill the gaming expansion bill? I’m not so sure, but my syndicated column this week takes up the issue…

It could have been worse, I guess. Gov. Rod Blagojevich wasn’t named or even alluded to in last week’s federal tax fraud indictment of one of his best friends, closest advisers and biggest fundraisers, Chris Kelly. Blagojevich does appear to be fingered in a different indictment, but that got lost in the shuffle.

Whatever, last week wasn’t good. Blagojevich now is in the awkward position of pushing for a massive gambling expansion while the political world discovers the last time the governor did so, in 2003, he put his buddy Kelly in charge of the project.

* The Daily Herald emphasized Speaker Madigan’s statement last week in its look at the issue…

The political fallout from the indictment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s friend and gambling adviser began Friday as a potential vote next week on a massive state gambling expansion was canceled.

House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, sent a letter to lawmakers saying “in light of subsequent developments this week, the legislative process will be better served by holding session on these topics at a later date.”

* Another take from the DH…

With Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s gambling point man now accused of placing millions of dollars in illegal bets and breaking the law to cover it up, state lawmakers face the question of whether they’re willing to entrust Blagojevich with a massive gambling expansion plan.

“Given how close Mr. Kelly is to the governor as an adviser … it certainly gives you pause,” said state Rep. Paul Froehlich, a Schaumburg Democrat, expressing a sentiment shared by many suburban lawmakers.

* But some expansion proponents are skeptical…

[Senate President Emil Jones] spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer insisted she didn’t see how the Kelly indictment might affect ongoing consideration of gambling expansion by state leaders.

“The indictment is a personal matter,” she said.

* And Finke, who often reflects convetional press room wisdom in his column, doesn’t think the gaming bill would pass anyway…

In fact, the latest gambling bill was already in a world of hurt before the Kelly indictment was made public. Representatives from both parties had a number of problems with the bill - how much Chicago would have to pay the state for a casino license, how to ensure minority investment, how to handle slot machines at horse racing tracks, and on and on. The feeling among many was the bill was going to fail in the House if it was called for a vote. The Kelly indictment gave Madigan a convenient excuse to avoid that vote.

* Crain’s looks at Detroit as an example of how a Chicago casnio might not do as well as advertised…

Three casinos near downtown Detroit, the first of which opened in 1999, have done little to attract more visitors or otherwise boost the city’s struggling economy, according to Donald Holecek, a Michigan State University professor emeritus of tourism development. “People would come in for a day and stay in the casino,” he says.

Chicago casino boosters cite a potential impact of as much as $950 million a year in annual revenue and 2,500 new jobs from a casino with 4,000 gambling positions, figures that could grow to $1.2 billion and 3,200 jobs for the hospitality industry as a whole. But critics say much of that would not be new money.

“The good thing (about casinos) is they make a lot of money,” says William Thompson, a University of Nevada at Las Vegas professor of public administration. Casinos “pay a lot of taxes. The bad thing is they make the money off local residents. It’s a zero-sum game.”

Thoughts?