This is what is known as 'bad news'

Did you see the Tri-Valley Herald? I was interested by an article about a recent study published on the effects of gambling, particularly the statistics about crime. We've heard how crime increases in areas where urban casinos exist, but here's some of the data, according to the Herald:

Grinols study shows that 9 percent of all serious crimes can be connected to gambling in counties with banked card games, slots, craps, electronic and video gambling and parimutuel horse race wagering.

That accounts for 615 more larcenies, 325 more burglaries, 272 more auto thefts, 10 more rapes, 65 more robberies, and 100 more aggravated assaults in an average county with 100,000 population, according to the study.

Another study by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has a completely different take. The study analyzed social and economic changes between 1980 and 1997 in 100 non-tribal sample communities within a 50-mile radius of a casino.

Get the rest of the story here.