RALEIGH, N.C. — Some state lawmakers are trying again to limit video gambling operations in North Carolina while struggles over the games' legality crawl through the courts.

Proposal violated town ordinance; Council upheld ordinance

GASTON — The Gaston Board of Commissioners unanimously upheld its ordinance requiring that sweepstakes businesses be at least 500 feet from churches and residential structures.

Jerry Kontos didn’t set out to become an expert on video poker and the sweepstakes parlors that spread like kudzu through strip malls and downtrodden retail centers in the last five or so years.

State and local authorities searched four Internet sweepstakes businesses in Forsyth County last week after the businesses had been notified in 2015 they were operating illegally.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Investigators are starting to crack down on businesses that operate “fish games,” large scale table-mounted video games that pay cash rewards to players, after a pattern of violent crimes associate with the businesses.