On the mid-April day when the Virginia General Assembly was voting on whether to give the city of Petersburg permission to pursue a casino, Sen. Lashrecse Aird sent a text message to a top city official saying she needed a document sooner rather than later.

City Manager March Altman texted Aird on the morning of April 17 to tell her he’d send a signed letter of intent saying the city was picking Bally’s as its private-sector casino partner. A week later — after Petersburg got what it wanted from the legislature — city officials declared the Bally’s letter meant nothing, canceled the competitive bidding process they had been following and picked a competing casino developer, Baltimore-based Cordish Companies.

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