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VictoryLand owner plans to reopen despite losing legal fight, Tax season in Alabama

VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor says he will reopen his casino later this year despite losing a three-year legal battle over the legality of electronic bingo machines.

McGregor hopes to have the casino open by early summer.

McGregor criticized last week's Alabama Supreme Court ruling that electronic gambling machines that had been seized are illegal.  The court ruled that the state could keep 1,615 gambling machines seized from VictoryLand in a 2013 raid.

McGregor said he has agreements with machine manufacturers to provide machines for the reopening.

The casino's planned reopening could set off a new legal battle over the machines.

The deadline for people to file their federal income taxes is fast approaching.  But, taxpayers will get a slight break this year.

The IRS says the traditional deadline of April fifteenth is now the eighteenth. That’s because Friday the fifteenth is a holiday in Washington, D.C. However, that doesn’t change the penalties for not having health insurance this year, which will be higher than in 2014. 

Greg Rosica is a contributing author to the EY Tax Guide 2016 and partner with the tax preparation website EY.com. He says knowing the changes people had in their lives this past year will make an impact on their taxes.

“And I think they key is to narrow it down to your personal situation. You know, think about what life changes you had over the last year, financial but personal as well and so maybe you bought a house, you have a new job, you got married, you had a baby. I mean all of those have tax implication to them.” 

Rosica also says it’s still important   for people to educate themselves either on the internet or using a tax guide so they can make filling their taxes easier.

Portions of the Mobile Bay are now open for business for oyster fishermen following some heavy rainfall in late February. Areas 1 and 3 were inspected for potential contamination, and have now been cleared for farming.

Ron Dawsey is deputy Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services for the Alabama Department of Public Health. He says the department worked to ensure the safety of the affected regions. 

“We take water samples of the actual water in the growing areas itself, and do lab tests on them for bacterial contamination. When they are within standards they’re allowed to open. As far as the Department of Public Health is concerned it just means the water quality is okay for harvesting the oysters.” 

Dawsey says closures, due to rising waters, are not unusual. People can check the Alabama Department of Public Health’s website for a map of the reopened areas.

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