COLUMN: A good sign

     I was making the lengthy trip to Camanche for the Panther football game Sept. 1.

     Heading along Highway 30, I had the same thought I have every time I approach the end of that 80-mile sojourn: “What on earth did Camanche ever do to Clinton?”

     By that I mean, why is there not a single sign along Highway 30 indicating that there is a small town, just four miles off the path, that you can find by taking a right at the intersection of 30 and Central Steel Road?

     Would it kill them to post even one of those tiny signs, like the one on Highway 13 south of Central City that tells you Alburnett is that-a-way?

     On Highway 30, you can even see the Camanche water tower off in the distance, a few miles before you need to turn. But unless you knew that’s what it was, you’d think it belonged to Clinton.

     It didn’t matter much to me, of course. I’ve been there enough that I know the way. But there was another sign, one I wasn’t expecting, that caught my attention as I drove. It had a picture of horses racing, with the words, “off-track betting.”

     I almost drove off the road.

     See, in Clinton – actually near the same intersection you take to get to Camanche, only the other direction – there is a Wild Rose Casino, one of three in the state. In the past year or so, Wild Rose was granted authorization to add off-track betting on horse racing to its gaming options.

     I had forgotten this. Had I thought of it before I set out, I might have left a couple of hours early, turned left at that intersection instead of right and enjoyed some racing before the football game. As it was, I didn’t have time. And after the game, I didn’t feel like it. I just wanted to get back to town.

     Wild Rose has gotten some press recently in the Gazette, for wanting to build a “boutique casino” in Cedar Rapids. Another outfit, Cedar Crossing, wants to build a larger one. You may recall that the first efforts to allow a casino in CR, back in 2014, failed by a 4-1 vote of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

     They’re trying again, and a decision is expected this fall. I won’t get into the issues surrounding this decision. But if the effort somehow succeeds this time, I think you know which side I hope gets to start construction.

     I’ll bet there will be plenty of road signs for it, too.