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Missouri Gaming Commission chairman to step down

Jim Mathewson, the chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission will step down Friday. Matthewson chose not to stay for a second three-year term in order to spend more time with his family.

During Mathewson’s tenure with the Gaming Commission, Missouri’s 13th casino license was awarded to developers in Cape Girardeau and disassociated gamblers were provided a pathway to reinstatement.  He says the main challenge now is raising enough revenue to help K-through-12 schools.

“Yes, the revenues are going down, but then I go one step further and wonder what would have happened if the casinos had not been here,” Matthewson said.

Mathewson also spent 30 years in the Missouri General Assembly, six in the House and 24 in the Senate.  Gov. Jay Nixon has not yet announced a new chairman for the Gaming Commission.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.
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