So is the oppressive heat a problem for local restaurant business?

One of the busiest dining rooms in town is also one of the biggest: the Horizon’s Buffet at the Ameristar Casino. There’s typically a long line to get into the modestly priced — and air-conditioned — buffet restaurant on weekend nights. But there was no line at 6:30 p.m. last Friday. “The hot weather has really cut into our business,” the cashier said. “I guess people get too hot to eat.”

But not to gamble, I noticed, looking at the players huddled over the clanging slot machines on the first level of the casino. Still, the temperature was well over 102 degrees outside during the early evening. Even I wasn’t hungry.