This week, Maine's Gambling Control Board threw up its hands and withdrew its two-year-old, non-binding resolution that there be an intermission on the introduction of new casino-style gambling operations.

The white flag came out because the group recognized that those pushing for gaming in Maine didn't have any desire to take a breather. And in recent days, the pace of gambling-related news has been fairly breathless.

In western Maine Thursday, Rumford selectmen narrowly threw their support behind the idea of building a casino in Oxford County. Supporters of a plan to bring a casino to the county say that such local support is crucial to their effort to pass a statewide referendum this November that would permit the facility.

Two days earlier, Pat Lamarche, a former Green Party candidate for governor and vice president, quit her job as spokesman for Evergreen Mountain Enterprises, the corporation set up to run the campaign. Lamarche said that she had ethical concerns about continuing in that role, though she still supports the idea of bringing a casino to Oxford County.

In southern Maine, Gene Beaudoin, a partner in Feldco Development Corp. of New Canaan, Conn., has begun a petition drive to bring a casino -- and new town center -- to Scarborough Downs in Scarborough.

Meanwhile, Casinos No! has begun fighting these proposals, as it has opposed other gambling proposals in years past.

And to the north, Hollywood Slots has been chugging along in its new facility, taking in a gross handle of $5.6 million just on its first day of operation on July 1 in its arger Bangor locale.

In the face of that kind of activity, it's not hard to see why the Gambling Control Board # which hadn't been able to get funding for a study of casinos impact in Maine, anyway # decided to throw away the caution flag.

The chips will fall where they may.

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