Brief: Panel will take casino application from Lyon County

ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — State gambling regulators have agreed to consider casino applications after hearing from officials in five counties where voters have approved the move.

The applications must be submitted to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission by Oct. 1. It likely will be next year before any decisions are made.

Delegations from Franklin, Lyon, Tama, Wapello and Webster counties made their pitches Thursday to the commission, which agreed to accept formal applications for gambling licenses. The panel could have stopped the process for any of the counties by declining to accept applications.

Officials from all the counties said expanded gambling was a key to rebuilding sagging local economies and generating more tax revenue.

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