A gambling ban in Clinton was lifted Monday night for devices approved by the State of Illinois.

Establishments with approved machines in their place of business prior to the ban being lifted claimed their places of business would suffer from the elimination of the revenue that these machines would generate. President of the Clinton Eagles Club, Bill Rentmeister presented the Clinton City Council with their figures from last year's revenues, and this year's. This year the Eagles face an approximate $9-thousand deficit.

[audio:9612gamblingeagles1.mp3] [/audio]

The Eagles has always been an active member in the Clinton community, but Rentmeister says the donations they are able to give come from their general fund, which would take a big hit if the gambling ban would have been left in place.

[audio:9612gamblingeagles2.mp3] [/audio]

Rentmeister says the numbers he presented to the Council were the high end of their figures, and he does not believe other businesses in Clinton do the amount of business they do. Because of that, he says people would leave town if the gambling ban did not pass. He says people had already begun to leave.

[audio:9612gamblingeagles3.mp3] [/audio]

Rentmeister said a vote to lift the gambling ban would be a vote for Clinton, and to keep jobs and people in the city.

The Council approved lifting the gambling ban in favor of bringing in machines that will be regulated by the state of Illinois.