YOU'RE FIRED! If Donald Trump were one of his own apprentices, he'd say those magic words to himself. Trump Hotels & Casinos are going into chapter 11 bankruptcy to refinance his debt. It is the second run at bankruptcy for his gambling operations. He took 3 casinos into bankruptcy in 1992. I guess gambling is not a sure bet.

Speaking of gambling, I had a weird experience last night. A young man came to my door selling raffle tickets and said he was from Hallmark Baptist Church. That suprised me, as HBC is very conservative, and most conservative Christians consider raffles to be a form of gambling, something they strictly oppose. I asked him why and he said it was to raise money for a needy family. He had a big plastic bag full of money and a roll of those pre-printed tickets you can buy at the store. He showed me a piece of construction paper with cut out pictures of two of the three prizes. One supposedly did not come out.

It is hard for me to resist a needy family, so I was pulling money out of my pocket at the first, but began to slide it back in as he talked. My suspicions aroused, I asked him where the church was. He could not tell me. He said he actually did not go there, his cousin did, and he was helping her. I should have such good cousins.

I declined his offer, shut the door, and called an aquaintance who is on the board at HBC. He was shocked and said they would never do that. So, I called the police. They came out, found the guys, and spoke to them. Unfortunately, I do not know what happened to them.

So, it will be interesting to see: did I foil a crime or did HBC succomb to the ways of the world to raise money? Wanna bet?