Have you ever gotten in line at 4:30 in the morning to apply for a job?

One person did that Saturday for a chance to work at Maryland Live! Casino, said Lynn Norris, the company’s vice president of human resources.

The casino’s job fair, which was held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and hosted in conjunction with the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation, drew 1,015 people, she said.

As of Monday evening, there are 69 positions posted on the company’s website.

The casino opens in its first phase in June, at which point it will have 850 employees. At full capacity, which will happen in the fall, the casino will employ 1,500.

So far, the company has filled more than 100 positions, with a few dozen more slated to start soon, and others still who have been sent offer letters, said Carmen Gonzales, Maryland Live! Casino spokeswoman.

The casino has received about 30,000 job applications total, she said.

That’s about 25,000 applications in two months: When the casino opened its Employment Center in January, they had about 5,000 applications.

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Since I have edited so many stories about it, I decided to stop in at the Hollywood Casino Perryville on my way home from Philadelphia Saturday night.

(Quick aside … when I hit the lotto, I’m going to open the Perryville Casino Hollywood in Los Angeles. All employees will be dressed in Orioles and Ravens jerseys. Beehive wigs will be worn. Crab cakes will dominate the menu. Natty Boh will flow from the taps. But, I digress.)

One of my biggest complaints about the facility, as the reporters here can tell you, is the lack of signage on I-95. There is one small sign going north, and one billboard (in Delaware) and another small sign going south. You have to know that the casino is there. Nobody is making a spontaneous decision to stop.

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The classic example of the Yiddish word “chutzpah” has always been the guy who murders his mother and father, then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he’s an orphan.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new contender.

After Landow Partners contested Penn National Gaming’s winning $10.25 million bid for Rosecroft Raceway during an auction last week, attorney Richard G. Mason actually said this at Wednesday’s bankruptcy hearing:

“This has to stop now. [Landow Partners] have turned out to be sore losers, so let us move forward.”

Excuse me? An attorney for the company that bankrolled the opposition to the approval process for Cordish Cos. Arundel Mills casino for years so that it could protect its gambling franchise in West Virginia and try to change the rules of the game after it didn’t follow those rules and lost its chance to put slots at Laurel Park, calls another company “sore losers” and wants to “move forward?”

I’ll bet David Cordish had a good laugh when he read that.

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Last week’s top five business stories by The Daily Record staff was dominated by real estate. A multibillion-dollar, state government-backed development gets thrown a roadblock. A multibillion-dollar, mixed-use project in Prince George’s County gets its first apartment stock. And an author who’s sold millions of books gobbles up coveted penthouses at a prime Inner Harbor address.

1. Downtown Baltimore property owners sue to halt State Center development
A group of downtown property owners is seeking to halt the massive $1.5 billion redevelopment of State Center by claiming the state failed to follow its own procurement rules in hiring a developer for the project.

2. Maryland Lottery negotiates way around ban on freebies at casinos
Maryland’s gaming growing pains could ease next month when the state gets its first taste of a staple of the casino industry — booze and a seat at the buffet, on the house.

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With lots of news in Maryland’s slots and horse racing industries this week, stories from The Daily Record’s government reporter Nicholas Sohr dominated our staff business content. The Daily Record also made news as our publisher, Chris Eddings, was promoted within the Dolan Company and our associate publisher, Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, was selected to take his place.

1. Racing panel rejects Maryland Jockey Club plan by Nicholas Sohr

The state rejected on Monday a “stop-gap” plan for Maryland thoroughbred racing that featured a drastically reduced racing schedule, a decision that fractures the ownership of Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park and injects more uncertainty into the future of the industry.

The corporate parents of the Maryland Jockey Club were expected to present a comprehensive business plan as the final step in gaining Maryland Racing Commission approval of the partnership. But, commissioners said what the club offered lacked details and members of the horse industry called for them to vote it down.

2. Fischer-Huettner named Daily Record publisher by Daily Record Staff

Suzanne Fischer-Huettner has been named publisher of The Daily Record.

A 37-year-old Maryland native who has been the newspaper’s associate publisher and vice president, Fischer-Huettner is the first woman publisher in the company’s 122-year history.

The announcement was made Thursday night at The Daily Record’s Leading Women event, which recognizes the achievements of Maryland women under 40, by Christopher A. Eddings, who is stepping down as publisher.

3. $12.4M spent on Anne Arundel slots referendum by Nicholas Sohr

The high-stakes battle over the right to build a casino in Anne Arundel County cost $12.4 million, according to a report published Wednesday by the state.

The Maryland Jockey Club spent $7.5 million on its failed referendum campaign to derail development of a casino at the Arundel Mills shopping mall. Subsidiaries of The Cordish Cos. — the casino’s developer — and the mall owners spent $4.9 million.

4. Eddings named publishing director for Dolan by Daily Record Staff

Christopher A. Eddings, publisher and president of The Daily Record, has been named director of publishing operations for The Dolan Company, owner of The Daily Record.

In his new role, Eddings will oversee the company’s business and legal newspaper and electronic publishing platforms throughout the country. He will continue to be headquartered in Baltimore with The Daily Record.

5. Racing plan for Laurel Park, Pimlico stuck at the starting gate by Nicholas Sohr

With Maryland thoroughbred racing and the Preakness Stakes in jeopardy, Penn National Gaming Inc. said Tuesday it will continue to work with its corporate partner to develop a plan for Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in 2011.

Penn National and MI Developments Inc. were dealt a setback Monday evening when the Maryland Racing Commission threw out their plan to slash live racing, opting to send the companies back to the drawing board rather than settle for an option the state’s horsemen said would spell doom for the industry.

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Here’s a rundown of this week’s five most-read business stories at thedailyrecord.com. It’s heavy on real estate, with some gambling thrown in — come to think of it, real estate is pretty much a gamble these days, right?

1. Listings pulled for more than 100 foreclosed homes in Maryland

Ben Mook reveals that 109 properties, most listed by government-sponsored mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, were switched from foreclosure sales to temporarily off-the-market status over two days earlier this week. “It’s just another speed bump in the road to recovery, I guess,” one real estate agent said. (*Subscription required)

2. Construction of Fairfield power plant to begin in December

Energy Answers International will start construction of a $1 billion, waste-fueled power plant in December and begin selling electricity in late 2013. Those involved with the development of the 140-megawatt plant on East Patapsco Avenue said they hope it will be the cornerstone of new industrial development on a 90-acre site that used to produce agricultural chemicals, Nick Sohr reports.

3. Deal for Chesapeake Restaurant approved

The restaurant, a long-vacant landmark at 1701 N. Charles St., had been the focal point of a bitter controversy over ownership for the past five years, Melody Simmons reports. Legend has it that city residents got their first taste of a tender grilled steak and tangy Caesar salad at the restaurant in the 193Os.

4. Perryville slots casino takes in $2 million in first four days

Hollywood Casino Perryville opened Sept. 27 with little more than 12 hours notice, and despite the last-minute decision to open early, easily outperformed state expectations, state officials told Nick Sohr.

5. Baltimore real estate shows signs of thaw

Despite figures from the third quarter of 2010 that show a historically high vacancy rate of 18 percent in Baltimore’s downtown business district, some experts tell Melody Simmons the worst of the frozen real estate market is over.

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You may have already seen the well-produced ads by the coalition trying to halt developer David Cordish’s casino project at the Arundel Mills mall.

The first ad (watch it below this post) describes the mall as “a family friendly environment — and a slots parlor just doesn’t belong there.”

In his interview with The Daily Record last week, Cordish said he was definitely getting ready to strike back at his opponents — the Maryland Jockey Club, Stop Slots at the Mall and other citizens groups that are against his casino. The jockey club in particular wants to see slots built at its race track, Laurel Park, which is just down the road from the mall.

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Hotels love ‘em. Gas station operators are big fans of the extra customers at the pump. But West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania casinos, which I describe in today’s story about table games as “islands of gaming,” don’t have much of a direct impact on other surrounding businesses.

At the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, the co-owner of the nearby Turf Motel is ecstatic about the new gaming that’s attracting more gamblers. That means more customers for the Motel, which is planning an expansion to accommodate the expected boom.

After the casino opened, the Turf’s occupancy rates shot up from about 45 percent to 65 percent, said Ron Marcus.

“With table games my only hope is it’s going to increase another 20 [points],” he said.

At the Holiday Inn Express, occupancy averages 90 percent on the weekends — at about $160 per night.

“Most of time what they’re here for is the casino,” said General Manager Nelson Parkinson.

But hop in the car and drive a half-mile into town and the businesses on sleepy Charles Town’s main drag seem unaffected by the excitement just up the road. Unlike the casino’s parking lot, the cars parked here all boast West Virginia license plates.

The storefronts are mostly service firms (like law offices), eateries and consignment shops. Not much to sway the casino crowd, who can chow down in one of Charles Town’s five restaurants or the food court for a bite. (The casino is also opening a high-end steak restaurant this fall.)

“I don’t get a lot of casino traffic,” said Dan Vaira, the owner of The Dish, a farm-to-table bistro. “They have food at the track.”

For a little further “investigation,” photographer Max Franz and I dipped into the new ice cream shop on Washington Street to go spoil our dinners. There we found people taking a break from work, friends chattering about their days, moms with kids … but no tourists. Except us, of course.

Table games? What table games?

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The group attempting to block developer David Cordish’s casino near Arundel Mills  is getting closer to its goal.

Last week the coalition of petitioners, made up of anti-slots community and civic groups and the Maryland Jockey Club, filed 16,702 additional signatures with the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections. The signatures are in support of a referendum to allow county citizens to vote on whether to permit zoning for the slots casino.

So far, the board has validated 13,136 signatures from 23,702 filed last month; 18,790 signatures are needed to place the zoning ordinance on the November ballot.

The Maryland Jockey Club is bankrolling most of this operation, and at last count, has paid $377,000 to the firm it hired to collect the signatures. Just a little coincidence here — the jockey club filed the additional signatures on the anniversary of the day its parent company declared bankruptcy. I wonder if Magna Entertainment Corp. sent them a card …

After the first set of signatures was filed, Cordish did a little filing of his own with a lawsuit that claims the signatures are not valid because they were collected in a fraudulent manner. Rob Annicelli, president of Stop Slots at Arundel Mills is not fazed.

“Neither two blizzards nor a baseless lawsuit by a casino developer could stop the extraordinary will and tireless efforts of county residents to place the slots zoning ordinance on the ballot,” he said in a statement. “Filing the baseless lawsuit is just another example of the kind of intimidating and bullying tactics that certain advocates of the zoning ordinance have employed. The people of Anne Arundel County really resent those kinds of intentionally intimidating and threatening tactics.”

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If and when David Cordish’s slots casino at Arundel Mills opens, how will nearby Laurel Park’s business be affected? That seems to be the million dollar question — and we may find out part of the answer next month when Maryland’s thoroughbred tracks are auctioned off.

The Maryland Horse Council sent out an e-mail this week after Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold approved zoning legislation that allows Cordish to move forward at Arundel Mills. In it, the MHC says that the state racing commission’s chair John Franzone estimated that the value of Laurel “would plummet from about $250 to $50 million if Arundel Mills gets the slots license.”

If that’s true, is Laurel Park’s value just as land and not as a race track? But (I can’t resist) hold your horses — the horsemen still say they can block Cordish’s casino project.

Here’s what they say are their options: 1) to take advantage of a county law that allows them to put the issue on the November ballot if they can collect 19,000 signatures in 45 days, 2) campaign in the upcoming legislative session to “hit the re-set button” on slots implementation.

“Nobody intended for the [Video Lottery Terminal] Location Commission to deliver the death knell for Maryland racing,” the e-mail says. “Legislators and the governor can choose to start over if their constituents demand it.”

After the governor implored the county council for months to vote on the zoning issue and the county executive quickly signed the bill, how fast do you think people are ready to do it all over again? If Laurel’s owner, Magna Entertainment, hadn’t messed up in the first place and just filed the $28.5 million application fee for a slots license, the racing industry might not be in this situation in the first place.

But then again, I don’t think anybody wants to see racing decline even more than it has in Maryland, and I agree with the horsemen that many assumed the slots site in Anne Arundel County would be at Laurel Park. But at what point do we have to move on?

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