With the Connecticut legislature expected to vote early this year on whether to approve a third casino, Essex author and former U.S. Congressman Bob Steele will speak on the impact of casino expansion on the state and the nation. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2 p.m. at the First Congregational Church in Essex, 6 Methodist Hill.

Steele is on an author’s tour for his book, “The Curse: Big-Time Gambling’s Seduction of a Small New England Town,” which has gone into its second printing. A fact-based novel, it’s set against the explosion of casino gambling in Connecticut during the 1990s.

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