other localities. A judge agreed with them in May 1994, enjoining the Gaming Commission from issuing licenses. The Indiana Supreme Court overturned that ruling six months later, but some developers had already withdrawn their proposals because of the stalled process. Four more local referendums were held in 1994, with Crawford, Harrison, and Perry counties approving casinos, and Jefferson County rejecting them. The Gaming Commission issued its first preliminary licenses, for the two boats in Gary, in December 1994. One went to Donald Trump's company, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, and the other went to a joint venture between Detroit businessman Don Barden and President Casinos. The commission next visited Evansville, awarding a license to Aztar Corp. in February 1995, and then southeast Indiana in July, where it selected a Hyatt-affiliated project in Rising Sun and a group led by Argosy Gaming and Conseco to build a casino in Lawrenceburg. In Hammond, the panel gave the nod in November to Empress River Casino, operator of two riverboats in Joliet, Illinois. Development of the Gary boats was delayed by disputes over the acquisition of land at Buffington Harbor and the withdrawal of President Casinos from its partnership with Barden. As a result, Casino Aztar Evansville was the first riverboat to open, on December 7, 1995. The Gaming Commission continued its work in 1996, approving in January the only applicant for the East Chicago license, a group led by Showboat, Inc., a Michigan City casino in April, to be built by the operator of an East Dubuque, Illinois riverboat, and in May, a Caesars World casino in Harrison County. The two Gary riverboats, Trump Casino and Barden's Majestic Star, opened on June 11, 1996, and the Empress Casino in Hammond followed weeks later. They were initially prevented from leaving dock by the Johnson Act, a federal law prohibiting gambling on U.S. territorial waters such as the Great Lakes. The boats ran "phantom cruises", allowing gamblers to board only at scheduled cruise times. Congress amended the Johnson Act in October, allowing the boats to cruise as required by Indiana law. With three Ohio River casinos set to open, the Gaming Commission postponed a decision on granting the fifth Ohio River license to Crawford or Switzerland County, deciding to wait to observe the results of the other casinos. Hyatt opened its Grand Victoria II casino in Rising Sun in October 1996, and the Argosy Casino