That’s the word on Beacon Hill.

After months of closed door discussions with other state leaders, House Speaker Robert DeLeo is holding out hope that he can get a gambling bill passed and signed by the governor in July.

After months of battling it out over whether racetracks should be allowed to have slot machines, DeLeo and Gov. Deval Patrick, if not on the same page yet, are slowly getting there, State House insiders say.

By the way, both want casinos - it’s the racetrack slots they can’t seem to agree on.

OK, not to get too deep in the muck here, but it’s the kind of arcane dispute that Beacon Hill insiders revel in while the general public sits looking on, mystified and disgusted.

Here’s a quick synopsis. DeLeo has the politically connected Suffolk Downs racetrack in his district, while a key legislative backer is a big supporter of the Raynham-Taunton racetrack.

The fact is, DeLeo could get a gambling bill signed tomorrow if he just stuck with casinos, which Patrick clearly wants as well.

But, sadly, he probably can’t ditch his racing industry pals and remain speaker.

However, Patrick, while he’s talked a good talk about compromising lately, is only going to bend a little here. Frankly, he’s wary, as he should be, of doing anything that would look like a giveaway to politically radioactive racetrack owners, such as doling out lucrative slot licenses without some sort of bidding process.

The compromise that both leaders are looking at would authorize three casinos while putting a single slot parlor out to bid. Track owners would then be free to compete for it, letting both the governor and speaker declare victory at the same time.

We’ll see – we’ve had several promising casino bills collapse at the 11^th hour over the past several years. And there is certainly no guarantee that we won’t see yet another gambling bill fiasco at the State House come July.

Once known as America’s Technology Highway, Route 128 is fast adding retail to its list of attractions.

WS Development and National Development are rolling out the welcome mat to a range of retailers getting ready to sign up for the highway’s newest shopping complex: MarketStreet Lynnfield.

Whole Foods, Kings, and the Legal C Bar have all recently signed leases at the nearly 400,000-square-foot complex slated for development at exits 42 and 43.

Construction crews have begun infrastructure work on the site, with 128’s newest retail attraction set to start taking shape early next year.

It is the second major 128 retail venture for WS Development, which rolled out the Legacy Place lifestyle center at the junction of Route 128 and Route 1 in Dedham a few years ago.

Drop in for a pair of Boston Harbor Association panel discussions next week and find out. The waterfront guardian group will be celebrating the harbor’s miraculous rebirth while also taking a look at its future as billions in new development projects take shape.

On tap:

• Aerial photographer Alex MacLean will kick things off on the evening of June 14 with a presentation of his work, “Boston Harbor in Photos.” Former state environmental chief Doug Foy and Ken Greenberg, an internationally recognized urban planner, will follow with their own comments before opening up the floor to the audience. The event, to be held at the New England Aquarium’s Imax Theater, will run from 6-8 p.m.
• The waterfront’s future will be the focus of the discussion on June 15, to be held 8:30 a.m to12:30 p.m. at the Moakley U.S. Courthouse on Fan Pier. Michael Marrella, project director for New York City Planning Commission’s “Vision 2020”, and Brent Toderian, Vancouver Planning Director, will kick off the opening session. Roger Berkowitz, Legal Sea Foods, Alison Nolan, Boston Harbor Cruises, Mime Love, Utile Architecture + Planning, and Kairos Shen, Boston’s chief planner, will follow with their own observations. There will be an open mike session for public comments and suggestions, as well as time to network and chat over box lunches.

At least for now it has, suggests a new survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The nation added just 259 new shopping centers – OK that sounds like a lot to me – in 2010. However, given we now have 108,000 malls across the country, that’s growth of 0.2 percent – the slowest since 1971, according to the ICSC, which relied on figures compiled by CoStar Group.

And so far, 2011 doesn’t look much better, with just 50 new shopping centers in the first four months.

Still, how many more malls do we need? After all, with 108,000 and counting, that is one for every 3,000 Americans.