It doesn’t look like Jim Rafferty’s dreams of a casino on Main Street is going to happen. The legislature rejected gambling as the way to balance the budget less than 12 hours before I interviewed the Berlin police chief to get his views on the subject. He said he didn’t think the discussion was over; it is likely people will continue to push for a casino locally. Mr. Rafferty said he spent $10,000 on the architectural drawing he brought to the city council and the casino meeting. That sort of investment dies hard. The vote does end one chapter in the debate, however, and at least pushes any facility back from the “best case scenario” time frame of Fall 2010.

So it still leaves the question open — what is Berlin going to do?