Talk about SHODDY REPORTING.
This station has been on some rampage concerning executive director Robert Ficano for months now. Last week on July 27th Mary Conway’s entire story was how Bob Ficano threw away $35 Million on Pinnacle Race Course.
I addressed that unfair attack in a blog.
And all I’m addressing is stories they are doing on Pinnacle and nothing else. But again on Wednesday’s 6:00PM news cast they managed to again drag Pinnacle into another one of their stories over the hiring of another Wayne County official for the airport. Video in the backdrop of Pinnacle with our horsemen and horses.
Heather Catallo did this story.
How in the hell do you take a story about an individual you don’t feel has the experience for the position they’ve been hired to do at the airport and somehow within that story bring up the race track again.
Same rant on both of these stories within 10 days of each other. Pinnacle failed to produce the number of jobs expected.
Look WXYZ if you want the heads of Ficano and any other appointee for a position within Wayne County that’s one thing, but if you want to start talking a bunch of untrue bunk about Pinnacle’s failure to do this or that. Then damn it let’s talk about why Pinnacle was unable to fulfill these job expectations fairly and with truth.
You want to talk Horse Racing Industry let’s get down to it.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board that Horse Racing was forced to be placed under when Gov. Granholm decided to dissolve The Office Of Racing Commissioner allotted this Thoroughbred track 84 days in 2010. That number went from 84, to 31, to 8 then to just 3 DAYS.
3 Days and WXYZ has the gall to repeatedly report Pinnacle Race Track failed, failed, failed to produce the number of jobs it said it would produce. Excuse me here but can this news source tell the truth? Apparently not. They just keep pounding the drum on people they don’t like and in that crossfire the Industry in-which I’ve been a part of since 1976 keeps getting dragged through the mud with this unfair reporting from this station.
Well I’ll tell you something Ms. Conway & Catallo it’s not like we haven’t been there in it before. We got caught in it between Gov. Engler & Ladbroke who owned The Detroit Race Course. It was us the Horsemen & Women that ended up the casualty and they bulldozed 49 years of our heart and soul along with that track.
None of us have completely or partially for that matter have agreed with Jerry Campbell’s method of management of the track he built. He had the vision to build a Race Track, he just never seemed to have the capabilities in managing the business. But at the time he chose to take a chance on building Pinnacle came the collapse of the entire country’s financial meltdown since the depression. And nobody seemed to know it was coming. For that reason alone Investors walked out on Pinnacle and only phase I of three got built.
Just 600 stalls out of what would have been 1,200-1,500 planned were put up. In 2008-09-10 requests for stalls exceeded what they could accommodate. They just couldn’t continue financially with the investors that were left to complete Pinnacle. Nobody ever thought Governor Granholm would turn around in Sept. of 2009 and literally dissolve the ORC, then take Horse Racing from where it had been since pari-mutual wagering was legalized in 1933 Agriculture and place us under GAMING.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board only concern was Casinos before we got placed under them, and their only concern after as well. The State of Michigan slaughtered us leaving us with only 3 days on the calendar in-which to race. Not only Insane but totally unacceptable.
Pinnacle was the only Thoroughbred track in the State. We should have been allotted the same number of race days as the Harness tracks put together. Yes their dates were slashed as well but they have 3 race tracks in-which to race their dates with two different entities running at Northville Downs. Completely unfair.
Whatever Hazel Park Raceway, Northville Downs, Northville Racing Association & Sports Creek Raceway had combined in dates, the same number totalled should have been what our one Thoroughbred track received.
From 84 to 3, and your reporters have the nerve to report multiple stories stating how Pinnacle failed to produce the jobs promised. WXYZ IS A JOKE.
The HBPA bought back their race dates with their own money in 2010 and they conquered every single road block thrown at them from every which way but loose. I believe the MGCB looked for any way possible to bring Pinnacle to a halt.
In Sept. of 2010 Michigan tells horse racing industry to pay officials’ costs.
The horsemen had already given up almost a million dollars buying back their dates. The MGCB wanted another $57,000 and we had until 12 Noon Sept. 9 to either pay more or be shut down.
The HBPA issued a statement on their site:
MICHIGAN HBPA FILES AN “EMERGENCY” MOTION TO STOP THE MGCB FROM CANCELLING LIVE RACING AT PINNACLE RACE COURSE DUE TO OVERSPENDING BUDGET TO REGULATE LIVE RACING. MOTION IS EXPECTED
TO BE HEARD EARLY FRIDAY MORNING TO MEET THE 12 NOON DEMAND OF THE MGCB. MOTION WAS FILED AT
3:45PM THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
NEXT thing posted:
MOTION WAS DENIED FRIDAY AT APPROX. 10AM, JUDGE SCHEDULED A HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 21
Then:
THE MICHIGAN HBPA, WITH ASSISTANCE FROM MTOBA, HAVE MADE AN AGREEMENT WITH MGCB TO ALLOW LIVE RACING THIS WEEKEND
PINNACLE OPEN THIS WEEKEND
A CHECK WAS DELIVERED TO THE MGCB TO SAVE RACING THIS WEEKEND!
End of message
We were literally held for ransom and had to pay that ransom to be able to continue to race and finish the T.B. meet.
And WXYZ reports Pinnacle Failed.
But refuses to give the viewers the entire whole story here.
Did Pinnacle Fail??? Or did the State of Michigan Fail us?
This State is surrounded by others who had the brains to give their states Horse Racing Industry legislation to fairly compete with Casinos. Windsor, Ont. – Canada, Indiana and Illinois & Ohio just one signature away from full-blown gaming at their Race Tracks.
What the hell has Michigan given this Industry here? Nothing that’s what a big giant nothing. With now a Governor who has some big talk about reinventing the State and leaving no one behind.
I just received this today in an email:
Reinvention News – A Message from Gov. Rick Snyder
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 11:25 PM
From: “Rick Snyder”Add sender to Contacts
Michigan’s outlook upgraded to positive
For the past few weeks the nation’s economy has been paralyzed by uncertainty over whether the federal government would be able to pay its bills on time and avoid default.
The story in Michigan could not be more different. Here, we approved a structurally balanced budget that eliminates the state’s $1.5 billion deficit. We are paying down our long-term debt and for the first time in nearly a decade, we are saving for the future.
These steps are putting Michigan in a stronger financial position, and people are taking notice. In fact, just last week Fitch Ratings upgraded Michigan’s outlook from stable to positive, based on our “prudent budgeting.”
Why is this important? For one thing, eventually restoring Michigan’s AAA credit rating will save taxpayers money because it will cost the state less to borrow. Ultimately, though, putting Michigan’s fiscal house in order means we will have a more stable environment for businesses to create jobs.
We can all take pride in the good progress our state is making and the work we are doing to Reinvent Michigan.
Gov. Rick Snyder
Find the governor on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rickformichigan
Follow the governor on Twitter: @onetoughnerd
Sign up to receive email updates
Email the governor at rick.snyder@michigan.gov
Call the governor at 517-335-7858
~~~~
You bet I will be emailing him about what this State has done to this Horse Racing Industry here and how the legislators DO NOTHING while other States prosper with more generated revenue the Racinos bring to those that surround Michigan.
Pinnacle Failed To Bring The Jobs? Or Michigan?
You tell me what business could survive on 3 days a year? Or what employees would actually kick in their own damn money to keep the business a float for more.
Because that is what the Thoroughbred Horsemen & Women did in this Pathetic State the last year of Pinnacle. Most of the Horsemen left this Michigan this year, some had a brain storm to add one disaster on top of another going to Mt. Pleasant.
The Harness is loving every minute of it and as far as I’m concerned so is the MGCB. The Harness tracks rejoiced when DRC went down and the Thoroughbreds were out of the Metro Detroit area for 10 years. They have made any trouble they can think of since Pinnacle got put up.
Real easy for WXYZ to take pot shots at this Race Track but in doing so refusing to give the ALL THE FACTS concerning why Pinnacle was doomed to fail from the start.
As stated at the beginning of this blog you want the heads of those you dislike for whatever reason, Fine. But on Pinnacle Bob Ficano was not at fault or anybody else who did their damnedest trying to help this Race Track get built. It never got completed the way it was planned.
Wall Street and All the Banks got their Bailout. Where the hell is Horse Racing’s Bailout in the State Of Michigan?
Windsor, Indiana, Illinois & Ohio get it. Will Michigan?
The Thoroughbred Horsemen have been in the cross fire long enough. We’ve suffered enough casualties since 1998.
WXYZ put together two reports by two different reporters and they got them both wrong when they stated that Pinnacle Race Course failed to produce the jobs promised. Knowing the State chopped us to just 3 days of racing. Even Nolan Finley of the Detroit Free Press weighed in on our side.
With a fully completed track and somebody who actually knows how to manage it, Pinnacle would be thriving.
1,200 stalls would be filled and if Michigan ever comes into the 21st century like others we will have the race dates that DRC once had. 160 days a year instead of chopping us to 3.
If anything is a failure here it’s WXYZ’s reporting. They want to approach one story while dragging in another one full of holes eluding facts. Because the two you got from these reporters left out 99% of the Real Story about Pinnacle.
I’ve just given you the TRUE ONE.
Pinnacle didn’t fail on its promise, The Michigan Gaming Control Board did anything they could to stop us and succeeded in 2011 with what some were willing to settle for.
Me, I’d be swinging back.
Time for the Thoroughbred Horsemen to stop taking the crap, Time for Michigan to get off its ass and Time for News Reporter’s to tell the whole damn story. The one that contains all the facts of what is actually the truth.
Drag who you want through the mud but leave our Race Track out of your shoddy reporting unless your willing to tell who really failed here.
Isn’t that what JOURNALISM IS SUPPOSE TO STAND FOR…TRUTH.
Erik Smith & Steve Wilson should be glad that they’re gone from this station. They had way too much experience, hard work and class for them anyway.
~
Investigative Reporter who doesn’t Investigate on what she states: Heather Catallo hcatallo@wxyz.com, http://twitter.com/HeatherCatallo
Reporter Mary Conway: mconway@wxyz.com
And Contact your Legislators and tell them to save the Industry that stood alone from 1933 on generating Millions for Michigan. Long before the lottery and casinos.
HORSE RACING
Contact your Representative:
http://www.house.mi.gov/mhrpublic/
Contact your Senator: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/fysenator/fysenator.htm
Contact Governor:
rick.snyder@michigan.gov
~
We didn’t Fail, They have.
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Longshot's Blog 
WXYZ Detroit Full Of Holes Reporting Concerning Pinnacle Race Course.
Talk about SHODDY REPORTING.
This station has been on some rampage concerning executive director Robert Ficano for months now. Last week on July 27th Mary Conway’s entire story was how Bob Ficano threw away $35 Million on Pinnacle Race Course.
I addressed that unfair attack in a blog.
And all I’m addressing is stories they are doing on Pinnacle and nothing else. But again on Wednesday’s 6:00PM news cast they managed to again drag Pinnacle into another one of their stories over the hiring of another Wayne County official for the airport. Video in the backdrop of Pinnacle with our horsemen and horses.
Heather Catallo did this story.
How in the hell do you take a story about an individual you don’t feel has the experience for the position they’ve been hired to do at the airport and somehow within that story bring up the race track again.
Same rant on both of these stories within 10 days of each other. Pinnacle failed to produce the number of jobs expected.
Look WXYZ if you want the heads of Ficano and any other appointee for a position within Wayne County that’s one thing, but if you want to start talking a bunch of untrue bunk about Pinnacle’s failure to do this or that. Then damn it let’s talk about why Pinnacle was unable to fulfill these job expectations fairly and with truth.
You want to talk Horse Racing Industry let’s get down to it.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board that Horse Racing was forced to be placed under when Gov. Granholm decided to dissolve The Office Of Racing Commissioner allotted this Thoroughbred track 84 days in 2010. That number went from 84, to 31, to 8 then to just 3 DAYS.
3 Days and WXYZ has the gall to repeatedly report Pinnacle Race Track failed, failed, failed to produce the number of jobs it said it would produce. Excuse me here but can this news source tell the truth? Apparently not. They just keep pounding the drum on people they don’t like and in that crossfire the Industry in-which I’ve been a part of since 1976 keeps getting dragged through the mud with this unfair reporting from this station.
Well I’ll tell you something Ms. Conway & Catallo it’s not like we haven’t been there in it before. We got caught in it between Gov. Engler & Ladbroke who owned The Detroit Race Course. It was us the Horsemen & Women that ended up the casualty and they bulldozed 49 years of our heart and soul along with that track.
None of us have completely or partially for that matter have agreed with Jerry Campbell’s method of management of the track he built. He had the vision to build a Race Track, he just never seemed to have the capabilities in managing the business. But at the time he chose to take a chance on building Pinnacle came the collapse of the entire country’s financial meltdown since the depression. And nobody seemed to know it was coming. For that reason alone Investors walked out on Pinnacle and only phase I of three got built.
Just 600 stalls out of what would have been 1,200-1,500 planned were put up. In 2008-09-10 requests for stalls exceeded what they could accommodate. They just couldn’t continue financially with the investors that were left to complete Pinnacle. Nobody ever thought Governor Granholm would turn around in Sept. of 2009 and literally dissolve the ORC, then take Horse Racing from where it had been since pari-mutual wagering was legalized in 1933 Agriculture and place us under GAMING.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board only concern was Casinos before we got placed under them, and their only concern after as well. The State of Michigan slaughtered us leaving us with only 3 days on the calendar in-which to race. Not only Insane but totally unacceptable.
Pinnacle was the only Thoroughbred track in the State. We should have been allotted the same number of race days as the Harness tracks put together. Yes their dates were slashed as well but they have 3 race tracks in-which to race their dates with two different entities running at Northville Downs. Completely unfair.
Whatever Hazel Park Raceway, Northville Downs, Northville Racing Association & Sports Creek Raceway had combined in dates, the same number totalled should have been what our one Thoroughbred track received.
From 84 to 3, and your reporters have the nerve to report multiple stories stating how Pinnacle failed to produce the jobs promised. WXYZ IS A JOKE.
The HBPA bought back their race dates with their own money in 2010 and they conquered every single road block thrown at them from every which way but loose. I believe the MGCB looked for any way possible to bring Pinnacle to a halt.
In Sept. of 2010 Michigan tells horse racing industry to pay officials’ costs.
The horsemen had already given up almost a million dollars buying back their dates. The MGCB wanted another $57,000 and we had until 12 Noon Sept. 9 to either pay more or be shut down.
The HBPA issued a statement on their site:
MICHIGAN HBPA FILES AN “EMERGENCY” MOTION TO STOP THE MGCB FROM CANCELLING LIVE RACING AT PINNACLE RACE COURSE DUE TO OVERSPENDING BUDGET TO REGULATE LIVE RACING. MOTION IS EXPECTED
TO BE HEARD EARLY FRIDAY MORNING TO MEET THE 12 NOON DEMAND OF THE MGCB. MOTION WAS FILED AT
3:45PM THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
NEXT thing posted:
MOTION WAS DENIED FRIDAY AT APPROX. 10AM, JUDGE SCHEDULED A HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 21
Then:
THE MICHIGAN HBPA, WITH ASSISTANCE FROM MTOBA, HAVE MADE AN AGREEMENT WITH MGCB TO ALLOW LIVE RACING THIS WEEKEND
PINNACLE OPEN THIS WEEKEND
A CHECK WAS DELIVERED TO THE MGCB TO SAVE RACING THIS WEEKEND!
End of message
We were literally held for ransom and had to pay that ransom to be able to continue to race and finish the T.B. meet.
And WXYZ reports Pinnacle Failed.
But refuses to give the viewers the entire whole story here.
Did Pinnacle Fail??? Or did the State of Michigan Fail us?
This State is surrounded by others who had the brains to give their states Horse Racing Industry legislation to fairly compete with Casinos. Windsor, Ont. – Canada, Indiana and Illinois & Ohio just one signature away from full-blown gaming at their Race Tracks.
What the hell has Michigan given this Industry here? Nothing that’s what a big giant nothing. With now a Governor who has some big talk about reinventing the State and leaving no one behind.
I just received this today in an email:
Reinvention News – A Message from Gov. Rick Snyder
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 11:25 PM
From: “Rick Snyder”Add sender to Contacts
Michigan’s outlook upgraded to positive
For the past few weeks the nation’s economy has been paralyzed by uncertainty over whether the federal government would be able to pay its bills on time and avoid default.
The story in Michigan could not be more different. Here, we approved a structurally balanced budget that eliminates the state’s $1.5 billion deficit. We are paying down our long-term debt and for the first time in nearly a decade, we are saving for the future.
These steps are putting Michigan in a stronger financial position, and people are taking notice. In fact, just last week Fitch Ratings upgraded Michigan’s outlook from stable to positive, based on our “prudent budgeting.”
Why is this important? For one thing, eventually restoring Michigan’s AAA credit rating will save taxpayers money because it will cost the state less to borrow. Ultimately, though, putting Michigan’s fiscal house in order means we will have a more stable environment for businesses to create jobs.
We can all take pride in the good progress our state is making and the work we are doing to Reinvent Michigan.
Find the governor on Facebook: www.facebook.com/rickformichigan
Follow the governor on Twitter: @onetoughnerd
Sign up to receive email updates
Email the governor at rick.snyder@michigan.gov
Call the governor at 517-335-7858
~~~~
You bet I will be emailing him about what this State has done to this Horse Racing Industry here and how the legislators DO NOTHING while other States prosper with more generated revenue the Racinos bring to those that surround Michigan.
Pinnacle Failed To Bring The Jobs? Or Michigan?
You tell me what business could survive on 3 days a year? Or what employees would actually kick in their own damn money to keep the business a float for more.
Because that is what the Thoroughbred Horsemen & Women did in this Pathetic State the last year of Pinnacle. Most of the Horsemen left this Michigan this year, some had a brain storm to add one disaster on top of another going to Mt. Pleasant.
The Harness is loving every minute of it and as far as I’m concerned so is the MGCB. The Harness tracks rejoiced when DRC went down and the Thoroughbreds were out of the Metro Detroit area for 10 years. They have made any trouble they can think of since Pinnacle got put up.
Real easy for WXYZ to take pot shots at this Race Track but in doing so refusing to give the ALL THE FACTS concerning why Pinnacle was doomed to fail from the start.
As stated at the beginning of this blog you want the heads of those you dislike for whatever reason, Fine. But on Pinnacle Bob Ficano was not at fault or anybody else who did their damnedest trying to help this Race Track get built. It never got completed the way it was planned.
Wall Street and All the Banks got their Bailout. Where the hell is Horse Racing’s Bailout in the State Of Michigan?
Windsor, Indiana, Illinois & Ohio get it. Will Michigan?
The Thoroughbred Horsemen have been in the cross fire long enough. We’ve suffered enough casualties since 1998.
WXYZ put together two reports by two different reporters and they got them both wrong when they stated that Pinnacle Race Course failed to produce the jobs promised. Knowing the State chopped us to just 3 days of racing. Even Nolan Finley of the Detroit Free Press weighed in on our side.
With a fully completed track and somebody who actually knows how to manage it, Pinnacle would be thriving.
1,200 stalls would be filled and if Michigan ever comes into the 21st century like others we will have the race dates that DRC once had. 160 days a year instead of chopping us to 3.
If anything is a failure here it’s WXYZ’s reporting. They want to approach one story while dragging in another one full of holes eluding facts. Because the two you got from these reporters left out 99% of the Real Story about Pinnacle.
I’ve just given you the TRUE ONE.
Pinnacle didn’t fail on its promise, The Michigan Gaming Control Board did anything they could to stop us and succeeded in 2011 with what some were willing to settle for.
Me, I’d be swinging back.
Time for the Thoroughbred Horsemen to stop taking the crap, Time for Michigan to get off its ass and Time for News Reporter’s to tell the whole damn story. The one that contains all the facts of what is actually the truth.
Drag who you want through the mud but leave our Race Track out of your shoddy reporting unless your willing to tell who really failed here.
Isn’t that what JOURNALISM IS SUPPOSE TO STAND FOR…TRUTH.
Erik Smith & Steve Wilson should be glad that they’re gone from this station. They had way too much experience, hard work and class for them anyway.
~
Investigative Reporter who doesn’t Investigate on what she states: Heather Catallo hcatallo@wxyz.com, http://twitter.com/HeatherCatallo
Reporter Mary Conway: mconway@wxyz.com
And Contact your Legislators and tell them to save the Industry that stood alone from 1933 on generating Millions for Michigan. Long before the lottery and casinos.
HORSE RACING
Contact your Representative:
http://www.house.mi.gov/mhrpublic/
Contact your Senator: http://www.senate.michigan.gov/fysenator/fysenator.htm
Contact Governor:
rick.snyder@michigan.gov
~
We didn’t Fail, They have.
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Filed under Commentary, Detroit Mi., Detroit News, Governor Snyder, Huron Township Michigan, Mi. Governor Rick Snyder, Michigan Agriculture, Michigan Horse Racing, Michigan Horse Racing News, Michigan Legislators, Michigan News, Michigan Politics, Michigan Thoroughbred Horse Racing, Michigan Thoroughbred Horse Racing History, New Boston Michigan, News, Pinnacle Race Course, Politics, Racinos, The Michigan Gaming Control Board
Tagged as Heather Catallo, Mary Conway, Robert Ficano, Shoddy Reporting, wxyz, WXYZ Detroit