Digital Bulletin

CRANSTON -- The opposing faces of the casino debate met today inside Channel 10 WJAR's studio. And it wasn't pretty.

There was plenty of finger pointing, shouting and feisty one liners to go around during the debate between Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and former governor Lincoln Almond, who heads the casino opposition group Save Our State.

And the cameras never stopped rolling.

Thomas: "The problem with the governor is that he's got an eight-track mentality in a CD world."

Almond: "This is all hocus pocus."

During the half-hour exchange, the opponents largely recycled the arguments that have been presented on television and radio ads in recent weeks. Thomas said the casino would provide property-tax relief. Almond said it would end up costing taxpayers in the long run because of a loss of tax revenue from Lincoln Park and the Newport Grand.

The debate will be aired on Channel 10 tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. and again Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m.

Voters will be asked in one month to amend the state Constitution to allow a casino in West Warwick.

-- projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples with reports from Journal staff writer Scott Mayerowitz