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Jessica Hume, National Bureau Jul 4, 2014

, Last Updated: 6:09 PM ET

OTTAWA The U.S. ambassador to Canada says his main priority is "enhancing the bilateral relationship between our two countries" and observers say Bruce Heyman has his work cut out for him.

Heyman, speaking ahead of a Fourth of July party at his official residence, assured that Canada's relationship with the U.S. is "complex, enduring" and that he is "trying to find a place where we can together find resolutions and move on."

"I want to listen," he said.

But his comments belied the frosty and often frustrated relationship of late, where the feeling north of the border is that the American administration has dropped the ball on issues most important to Canada and Canadians.

"I've never seen things as bad as they are today," economist Jack Mintz told QMI Agency. "In the past it's been us -- there's some anti-American sentiment here -- but lately it's all on them."

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U.S. ambassador sheds no new light on shaky Canadian, U.S. relations

Amazon Room loses its charm at World Series of Poker 6 July 2014

By Vin Narayanan

LAS VEGAS -- This is the 10th year the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino has hosted the World Series of Poker. For the bulk of those years, the Amazon Room was the living, beating heart of the WSOP.

You could hear the chips clacking before you walked into the room. Friends, family and poker fans crowded the rail, standing just inches away from famous players and loved ones alike. And there were tables everywhere. The WSOP felt big in the Amazon Room.

Players joked and laughed. They were playing in the Amazon Room! Heartbreak and bad beats reverberated through the room, as did shouts of triumph. For players who started their tournament in the outer rooms of the WSOP, reaching the Amazon Room was a major tournament milestone. You hadn't really played in a WSOP tournament until you reached the Amazon Room. The Amazon Room was special. And everyone knew it. At least, everyone knew it until this year.

The Amazon Room isn't special anymore. The Amazon Room has become poker's biggest sound stage, enabling the production of a high-quality, immensely profitable televised event for ESPN.

Large swathes of tables in the Amazon Room have been replaced by areas with significantly fewer tables, significantly more room for TV cameras and operators to move around and significantly more distance between the audience and the players. In addition to the main TV stage, there are now four TV-friendly tables in the middle of the Amazon Room and another six in one corner. The room's unique charm has given way to the needs of the television audience. The beauty and joy of more than a thousand people playing poker at once have yielded to the modern needs of broadcasting, live streaming and reaching a global audience. The WSOP -- and the Amazon Room by extension -- have embraced progress and modernity. And that's OK. The world changes, and the WSOP needs to change with it. But it's important to mourn what has been lost -- because much has been lost.

One of the special TV-table areas in the Amazon Room. (photo by Vin Narayanan, Casino City)

There wasn't a lot of room to navigate between tables. Just enough space for the massage therapists to do their work and photographers to take a few pictures. And a producer and cameraman to race around the room shooting video. But that was it. And as a result, the WSOP Main Event felt like a poker tournament that happened to be televised -- and not an event built for television.

Fans on the rail had easy access to about 34 tables, not including the featured TV tables. So they could watch some of their favorite players from up close. When you're standing on the rail, you can reach out and touch the players closest to you. You're right on top of the action. You can see the cards, hear the players talk and live every moment as if you were at the table. And there were always a few prominent players in those outer tables. Fans were excited that they were "this close" to their favorite players.

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Amazon Room loses its charm at World Series of Poker

GIBSON CITY A new obstetrics department at Gibson Area Hospital is intended to create a more intimate and personalized environment for mothers and their babies.

"Its a special time and we want to make it as positive as possible," said Dawn Merkle, the department's director.

The new unit, built in what had been a 10,000-square-foot empty shell on the second floor above the emergency department and some added space, is part of a $6 million expansion and renovation project that began in fall 2012. The addition will open when the state certifies it.

The new department has five private labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum rooms, which will allow expectant mothers to stay in the same room for their entire hospital stay. There also is a Caesarean-section operating room that is housed at the end of the second floor of the wing.

The new rooms feature infant care centers in which physicians and nurses can complete baby care without taking the baby from the room.

The new wing also features up-to-date remote monitoring technology, and one room also features a labor tub, which offers natural pain relief option during labor.

Each room is equipped with an in-room refrigerator, flat-screen television, Wi-Fi, and a foldout bed and linens for fathers.

While many of the rural hospitals have closed their obstetrics departments because of a lack of doctors trained in that specialty, Gibson Area Hospital has been able to expand because it has eight family physicians practicing there, said Rob Schmitt, CEO of Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services.

The remainder of the second floor houses six new private rooms, which will be used primarily for patients receiving hip and knee replacements and for some general surgery patients.

Those new private rooms feature bathrooms with showers, bathroom and room doors that open in and out, bedside medicine scanning and charting and communication boards.

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Personalized environment is key to new OB room at Gibson

SLOAN, Iowa | WinnaVegas Casino Resort unveiled its spacious new poker room last week.

At some point, it likely will be the only legalized game in town for poker players, said officials with the tribal casino, located just west of Sloan, Iowa.

The Argosy Sioux City riverboat casino has long had a poker room. But the floating casino is fighting for its life. An Iowa judge is expected to decide this month whether the boat must comply with a state order to close because it longer holds a state gaming license.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City is scheduled to open Aug. 1. While the downtown casino's 30,000-square-foot casino floor will offer a variety of table games, poker won't be among them.

WinnaVegas marketing director Travis Morgan said the hopes to draw more players with eight new poker tables -- double the previous number.

"We recognized there is a poker boom still going on," Morgan said. "Is it as big as it was eight years ago ... ? Probably not, but it's still very, very big."

The new poker room, located in a former slot machine area, will not only allow more players to compete at the same time, but also permit the casino to add more games, such as Omaha, Texas Hold 'Em, and Seven Card Stud, Morgan said.

WinnaVegas also expects to add more poker tournaments with large cash purses.

John Blackhawk, chairman of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, which owns and operates the casino, said one goal is to become a stop on such industry tournaments as the World Poker Tour.

A large tournament, Blackhawk said, would help attract thousands of visitors to the casino. For such a large tournament, the casino could set up additional tables in its new 2,500-seat events center.

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Expanded poker room opens at WinnaVegas

By Linda Mckay

Published: 03:12 EST, 5 July 2014 | Updated: 03:12 EST, 5 July 2014

I am have just recently taken in a lodger and need to know whether I have to register for the rent-a-room scheme to avoid paying tax.

I have Paye employment and live in east London in a small 2-bed property.

The house does also have a driveway so I am also considering offering this for rental too. If the income I take from the lodger is under the limit for rent a room, can I rent the drive too without tax implications?

I would appreciate the help of your experts. SR via email

Driving profits: Income from a lodger can be free of tax - but what about money you make renting out your driveway?

Linda McKay of This is Money replies: Those who live near the centre of large cities or close by a railway station may consider renting their driveway for income as parking costs have driven motorists to look for cheaper places to leave a vehicle either while at work or at weekends.

There is tax relief for individuals to rent rooms in their homes to lodgers, but does this extend to driveways?

Original post:
Do I need to register my lodger with the rent-a-room scheme - and can I rent out my driveway and use the same tax break?

Hialeah Park Racing and Casino officials announced an "immediate and ongoing expansion" this week that will cost $60 million and be completed by the end of 2015.

President John J. Brunetti said plans include expansion and enhancement of the poker room, renovations to the Fountain Terrace outdoor entertainment venue and the eventual addition of 235 slots.

Those machines will be installed in the other half of the existing grandstand. Hialeah had remade half of the grandstand in order to open its current area, which houses 839 slots.

The poker room will grow from 25 tables to 37. Brunetti cited the recent closing of Studz Poker Club at Calder as a reason to start now. Studz closed as collateral damage in an agreement that allowed Gulfstream Park to take over racing at Calder, which will run only 40 dates a year at the Miami Gardens track.

"We believe this is the perfect time to increase the size and amenities of the poker room," Brunetti said, adding that Hialeah also will expand the dining facilities and sports bar in the poker room area.

The outdoor bar, lounge and entertainment venue at Fountain Terrace located outside the south entrance of the casino will get an overhead covering because the heat shoos away daytime business. Officials said the covering will help with night-time events as well.

Also in the plans are a simulcasting theater, where fans can bet on horses, dogs and jai-alai from around the country.

"The Brunetti family remains committed to the long term goal of revitalizing this iconic landmark and returning Hialeah Park The "Grand Dame" to her past glory," Vice President Randall Smith said.

Hialeah Park Chairman John J. Brunetti Sr. repeated Hialeah Park's goal to see thoroughbred horse racing return. For now, the track offers only quarterhorses, which sprint for about 25 seconds down the straightaway. It's not much, but it's enough to make them eligible to offer slots and poker.

Hialeah opened its slots in August and averages more than $5 million per month in revenues, about the same as Casino Miami Jai-Alai, but about $1 million per month less than Calder Race Course and Magic City Casino in Miami-Dade. But it led the four in poker revenues, crossing $600,000, barely surpassing Magic City and well ahead of Casino Miami and Calder.

Continued here:
Hialeah Park announces $60M expansion

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