Vote nears on Foxwoods as Ken Burns fights Gettysburg casino

Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board could make two key decisions at its monthly meeting next week.When it meets Dec. 16, the board will likely decide whether to pull the plug on Philadelphia’s financially troubled Foxwoods casino proposal, which was awarded a license in 2006, but has yet to get off the ground.The panel may also award a smaller-scale resort casino license to one of four applicants.As a possible vote nears, opponents of a Gettysburg casino are ramping up their effort, releasing a new slate of ads featuring high-profile historians such as Ken Burns.”I think it all begins at Gettysburg. And I think the placing of a casino approximate to this battlefield is profane,” says Burns in one of the ads. “We are responsible stewards of this land.”The bard may delay its resort casino vote until an early January meeting.  One “no” vote could stop any of the four applications, since the four board members appointed by legislative leaders effectively have veto power over a licensing decision.In addition to the Gettysburg proposal, the board is also weighing possible casinos outside Harrisburg, in the Poconos and in Fayette County.