March 18, 2010
The Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine reached a tentative agreement with two gaming companies over a initiative on the November ballot.
The proposal would authorize slot machines and table games for tribes in Washington County, a resort casino for Black Bear
Entertainment in Oxford County and table games at Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway, owned by Penn National Gaming.
The deal averts a competing ballot measure that the Penobscot Nation, the
Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point and the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township wanted to place on the ballot against Black Bear's proposal.
The new ballot question requires approval by the Maine Legislature.
Get the Story:
Three-way deal could put expanded gambling options to vote
(The Bangor Daily News 3/18) Casino trio reaches ballot agreement (Mainebiz 3/18)
The Tohono O'odham Nation slammed the Arizona House is for approving HB2297, a bill that seeks to prevent the tribe from pursuing an off-reservation casino.
The tribe called the bill illegal because it allows the city of Glendale to annex 135 acres of tribally-owned fee land without consent. “HB 2297 is unconstitutional and a
direct attack against the Tohono O'odham Nation," Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said in a press release. "It is also an affront to all Arizona tribes and indeed, all Arizonans. It undermines the basic constitutional rights afforded to all of us as Americans."
The tribe asked former U.S. Solicitor General Seth Waxman for an opinion on the bill. Waxman, who served during the Clinton administration and now works in private practice, concluded it would violate several clauses of the U.S. Constitution and would interfere with existing federal law.
“The manner in which the bill strips a tiny group of landowners of the
rights accorded to all other landowners, without any apparent justification for the distinction, suggests that it is not rationally related to a legitimate government purpose," Waxman said in the opinion. “Both the purpose of
HB 2297 and the means it employs to achieve that purpose raise significant due process questions. ... Frustrating Indian tribes’ ability to exercise their rights under federal law is not a legitimate purpose for state legislation.”
The House voted 31-26 in favor of the bill. According to The Arizona Capitol Times, it barely received the minimum votes to pass.
The tribe acquired the 135-acre site in 2003. Normally, land acquired after the passage of the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 can't be used for gaming.
But the law contains an exception for land acquired in connection with a land claim settlement. Congress passed the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act that says the Tohono O'odham Nation can acquire "unincorporated" land.
The city of Glendale believes if it annexes the tribe's fee land, it can stop the casino.
Last week, a state court judge ruled that the city already annexed about a third of the tribe's property.
The tribe plans to build the $550 million West
Valley Resort on the land.
Get the Story:
House OKs bill to block casino
(The Arizona Capitol Times 3/17)
House approves bill to casino near Glendale (AP 3/17) Bill backs Glendale in casino fight (Capitol Media Services 3/18) City prevails over tribe in annexation suit (The Glendale Star 3/18)
Earlier Stories: Vote planned on bill targeting Tohono
O'odham casino (3/16) Tohono O'odham
Nation loses ruling in gaming site case (3/12) NCAI joins Tohono O'odham off-reservation
casino fight (3/9) Tohono
O'odham off-reservation casino bid still at BIA (3/8) Bill affects Tohono O'odham off-reservation
casino bid (2/26) Bill targets
Tohono O'odham off-reservation casino bid (2/3) Tohono O'odham Nation 'more committed' to
casino (1/28) Sen. Kyl voices
opposition to Tohono O'odham casino (1/27) McCain joins opposition to off-reservation
casino bid (1/21) Tohono O'odham
Nation won't drop off-reservation bid (1/20)
March 17, 2010
The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut plans to add table games to its gaming facility in Pennsylvania by June or July.
The state Gaming Control Board unanimously approved the games for the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The board imposed several conditions, which the tribe is working to meet.
The tribe operates slot machines at the racetrack. Table games were legalized last year.
Get the Story:
Mohegan Sun among first Pa. casinos to receive approval for table games
(The Pocono Record 3/16)
State deals Mohegan Sun table game win (The Wilkes Barre Times-Leader 3/17)
Tonya Roop, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has risen through the ranks to become the general manager for two of the tribe's casino.
Roop started working for the tribe 17 years ago. That's when the casino in Roland was just a bingo hall.
The facility is now the third largest in the Cherokee Nation Entertainment empire. Along with another casino in Sallisaw, Roop is overseeing nearly 500 employees and nearly 900 electronic gaming machines.
“I work whenever I need to 24/7. I really enjoy being here on a Friday or Saturday night when the place is full of people having a good time,” Roop said in an Indian Country Today story. “The environment and the crowds remind me why I love what I do.”
Get the Story:
Employee’s promotion example that hard work pays off
(Indian Country Today 3/16)
The mayor of Richmond, California, says the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians will bring "more crime, robbery, drugs, domestic violence, prostitution and of course, gambling addictions" to the city with an off-reservation casino.
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin has long opposed the tribe's proposal to turn the Point
Molate Naval Fuel Depot into a $1.2 billion casino. She said the facility won't generate the kind of economic development the city needs.
“It’s really just a false vision that’s being painted,” McLaughlin told The Contra Costa College Accent Advocate. “This kind of business does not even create a positive product for anyone. It’s taking money from those that can afford it least and putting it into the hands of the casino owners.”
Most of her colleagues, however, support the Point Molate Resort or have agreed to negotiate. The tribe has promised $17 million to $20 million a year to the city and says it will reserve 70 percent of jobs for county residents.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs
has released a draft
environmental impact statement and environmental impact report for the
project.
Get the Story:
Casino sparks debate
(The Contra Costa College Accent Advocate 3/16)
The Seneca Nation is waiting for the economy to improve before building a permanent off-reservation casino in Buffalo, New York, tribal leaders said.
The tribe halted work on the $333 million Seneca
Buffalo Creek Casino last year. There's no concrete word on when construction might resume.
"We promised a few years ago that Buffalo Creek would be one of our future casino enterprises, and we continue to work on that," President Barry Snyder told reporters, The Buffalo News reported. "Hopefully, some day shortly, when the economy changes, we'll see the fruition of the casino downtown."
For now, the tribe is celebrating the $9 million expansion at the temporary Buffalo casino. The 10,800 square-foot casino now boasts 455 slot machines.
Get the Story:
Senecas still thinking big in Buffalo
(Business First of Buffalo 3/16)
Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino adds slot machines (The Buffalo News 3/17)
A lawsuit that was filed in North Carolina state court says the governor lacks the authority to negotiate a Class III gaming compact with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The tribe's original compact was negotiated in 1994 but a non-Indian company says the agreement was never ratified by state lawmakers. Amendments weren't ratified either, according to New Vemco Music, which used to operate video poker machines before they were outlawed.
The tribe wants to amend the compact again to authorize live card dealers but talks are on hold pending the resolution of legal challenges like the one filed by New Vemco. The company has another lawsuit that says the state can't ban video poker machines while allowing the tribe to continue operating them.
In December 2009, the state Court of Appeals upheld the ban and the exemption for the tribe. New Vemco has asked the state Supreme Court to hear the case.
Get the Story:
Lawsuit threatens talks on live dealers at Cherokee casino
(The Asheville Citizen-Times 3/17)
NC Court of Appeals Decision:
New Vemco Music v. Perdue (December 22, 2009)
March 16, 2010
A board that will distribute gaming revenues from the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians is weighing four suggested plans.
One plan was submitted by the tribe. The tribe's representative on the board said it was meant to benefit schools and areas that are most affected by the FireKeepers Casino.
The FireKeepers Local Revenue Sharing Board will ask local governments to comment on the plans before making a final decision.
The tribe's Class III gaming compact calls for 2 percent of slot machine profits to be shared with the community. The first payment was $1.93 million, double what was expected.
Get the Story:
Revenue board seeks outside input
(The Battle Creek Enquirer 3/16)
A California man was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for stealing more than $7 million from tribal casinos and non-Indian gaming facilities across the nation.
Phuong Quoc Truong, who once worked at a tribal casino, led what authorities called the "Tran Organization." He bribed card dealers and supervisors to perform false shuffles that allowed people who were a part of the scam win hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Truong and his associates targeted a total of 27 tribal and non-Indian facilities in seven states and in Canada. He was ordered to pay $5.7 million to some of the casinos. He is also forfeiting $2.8 million to the federal government.
Get the Story:
Calif. man sentenced for bilking $7M from casinos
(AP 3/15)
Mastermind sentenced in tribal casino scheme (The Christian Science Monitor 3/16)
The Arizona House is expected to vote tomorrow on HB2297,
a bill that seeks to prevent the Tohono O'odham Nation from developing an off-reservation casino.
The bill allows municipalities to annex fee land owned by tribes "if the landowner has requested that the federal government take ownership of the territory or hold the territory in trust."
The land can be annexed without tribal consent.
The Tohono O'odham Nation is seeking to build the $550 million West
Valley Resort on 100 acres it owns in Glendale. The bill would allow the city to annex all of the tribe's property.
The tribe acquired the site in 2003. Normally, it wouldn't be eligible for a
casino but the tribe says it qualifies for an exception in the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act that applies to land acquired in connection with a
land claim settlement.
Congress passed a land claim settlement act that says the tribe can
acquire "unincorporated" land. If the city of Glendale annexes all of the land,
it would no longer meet that definition.
A judge ruled last week that Glendale already started the annexation process for about a third of the property.
Get the Story:
House delays vote affecting Glendale casino
(AP 3/16)
Ruling cuts odds for Casino in Glendale (Capitol Media Services 3/13)
Earlier Stories: Tohono O'odham Nation loses ruling in
gaming site case (3/12) NCAI joins Tohono
O'odham off-reservation casino fight (3/9) Tohono O'odham off-reservation casino bid
still at BIA (3/8) Bill affects
Tohono O'odham off-reservation casino bid (2/26) Bill targets Tohono O'odham off-reservation
casino bid (2/3) Tohono O'odham
Nation 'more committed' to casino (1/28) Sen. Kyl voices opposition to Tohono
O'odham casino (1/27) McCain
joins opposition to off-reservation casino bid (1/21) Tohono O'odham Nation won't drop
off-reservation bid (1/20)
The Seneca Nation of New York unveiled a $9 million expansion of its off-reservation casino in downtown Buffalo.
The tribe added 5,300 square-feet to the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino. There will be nearly double the number of slot machines at the facility.
The casino has been operating in a temporary facility. Plans for a permanent facility were put on hold amid the faltering economy.
The gaming site was acquired in connection with a land claim settlement.
Get the Story:
Bigger Buffalo casino to open
(Business First of Buffalo 3/15)
Seneca Nation unveils casino expansion (WIVB-TV 3/16)
Connecticut's two federally recognized tribes saw a drop in their slot machine revenues for the month of February.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal
Nation, owner of Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods, reported $51.6 million in slot revenues. That's down 11.1 percent from February 2009.
The Mohegan Tribe, owner of Mohegan Sun, reported $58 million in revenues. That's down 7.7 percent from last year.
A Mohegan executive attributed the numbers to bad weather that kept customers away.
Get the Story:
Weather bogs down slot revenue
(The Norwich Bulletin 3/16)
February slot revenues are off at local casinos (The New London Day 3/16)
The Nooksack Tribe of Washington reached a settlement over a $26 million casino debt.
The tribe owed Marshall Bank of Minnesota for construction and equipment at the Nooksack Northwood
Casino. The bank, which has since been shut down, said the tribe was behind on more than $1.2 million in interest and late fees.
Chairman Narz Cunanan said the tribe negotiated new terms for the loan, although details were not released.
Get the Story:
Nooksack Tribe settles lawsuit over Northwood casino loan
(The Bellingham Herald 3/16) Press Release: Marshall Bank and Nooksack Tribe Reach Agreement (Nooksack Tribe 3/15)
March 15, 2010
"It's been five years since Broward County voters approved slot machines at four pari-mutuel sites, ushering in a new era of gambling in South Florida.
The three Broward racetracks that have since opened casinos — Gulfstream Park, Mardi Gras (formerly Hollywood Greyhound Track) and the Isle at Pompano Park — haven't exactly failed, but they've had a tough slog. And one site, Dania Jai-alai, hasn't bothered to launch slots, its Las Vegas-based owners preferring to wait for better conditions.
The three Broward casinos have produced $340 million in state tax revenues since opening, far short of the $800 million that state economists projected they would have by this point from four casinos in a 2006 forecast.
"We're underperforming because the state handcuffed us," said Adkins, who now employs 700 people, up from 111 when the site was just a dog track.
After battling Bush, legislators, the sovereign Seminole tribal casinos, a 50 percent tax rate and the Great Recession, the pari-mutuels now face the prospect of even more competition. The cash-strapped Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist are considering full-fledged Las Vegas-style casino resorts throughout the state."
Get the Story:
Michael Mayo:
Gambling’s evolution in South Florida leading to full-blown casinos
(The South Florida Sun-Sentinel 3/13)
"American Indian casinos are big business in the United States, with an estimated 280,000 people employed across more than 400 sites.
That huge workforce is largely unorganized. Only a few such casinos recognize union contracts. Among them is North America's largest gaming center, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.
Its dealers recently struck a deal after a lengthy dispute with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. What makes this agreement different is that it was brokered under tribal law.
Denise Gladue has been a blackjack dealer at Foxwoods Resort Casino for 15 years. She's among the vast majority of Foxwoods workers who are not tribal members. Back in the day, she says, it was a great place to work, but in late 2006 that began to change.
With the start of the recession more than two years ago, casinos across the country were struggling, and so were their employees.
"It just made a lot of us upset and angry that we were losing these good benefits that we had when the company was still making money," Gladue says."
Get the Story:
UAW Brokers First Union Contract Under Tribal Law
(National Public Radio 3/14)
The casino owned by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians of California has had a rocky start.
The Red Hawk Casino opened in December 2008. Since then, the tribe has eliminated about 14 percent of the workforce and the company that manages the facility has replaced nearly the entire management team.
"Many of the senior management positions at the property have either been eliminated or replaced," Lakes Entertainment CEO Lyle Berman said in a conference call with investors, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Lakes is taking a more active role at the casino, Berman said. He said some changes in the games at the casino and in marketing have resulted in some improvements recently.
Get the Story:
Shingle Springs casino continues to miss financial targets
(The Sacramento Bee 3/13)
Four people were arrested in connection with a shooting at the Jackson Rancheria Casino in northern California.
A teen was shot in the neck and another person was shot in the face early Sunday morning. Authorities said the incident was gang-related.
The four who were arrested were reported to be Hispanic males in their late teens to early 20s. One was the shooter.
Get the Story:
County rocked by gang shooting at Rancheria, arrests made
(The Amador Ledger-Dispatch 3/14)
March 12, 2010
The city of Glendale, Arizona, annexed some of the land that the Tohono O'odham Nation wants to use for an off-reservation casino, a judge ruled on Thursday.
The tribe plans to build the $550 million West
Valley Resort on a 100-acre site that was acquired in connection with a land claim settlement. Congress approved the settlement through the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act.
Glendale says the law requires the land that the tribe acquires to be "unincorporated." The city argues that the tribe's land-into-trust application can't be approved because a portion of the gaming site has been annexed.
The tribe said it might appeal the judge's decision.
Get the Story:
Glendale wins round 1 in casino battle
(The Phoenix Business Journal 3/11)
Earlier Stories: NCAI joins Tohono O'odham
off-reservation casino fight (3/9) Tohono O'odham
off-reservation casino bid still at BIA (3/8) Bill affects Tohono O'odham off-reservation
casino bid (2/26) Bill targets
Tohono O'odham off-reservation casino bid (2/3) Tohono O'odham Nation 'more committed' to
casino (1/28) Sen. Kyl voices
opposition to Tohono O'odham casino (1/27) McCain joins opposition to off-reservation
casino bid (1/21) Tohono O'odham
Nation won't drop off-reservation bid (1/20)
March 11, 2010
The White Earth Band of Ojibwe Indians of Minnesota continues to impose a wage freeze for employees of the Shooting Star Casino.
Chairwoman Erma Vizenor implemented the freeze over a year ago. In her State of the Tribe address, she said it might continue for another year.
"I wish more than anything to say ‘the wage freeze is over,’ but I cannot lift the wage freeze until the Tribal Council analyzes casino revenues and program funds over the next several months," Vizenor said, The Detroit Lakes Tribune reported.
Gaming revenues fell 6.5 percent last year but Vizenor said the tribe's are strong. The tribe has paid off $32 million that was used to build an event center at hotel at the casino.
The tribe also won a battle with the county over property taxes that were being imposed on the land used for the casino.
Get the Story:
White Earth chairwoman gives 'State of the Tribe address
(The Detroit Lakes Tribune 3/11) Username: indianz@indianz.com, Password: indianz
Tribal members protest outside State of the Tribe speech (The Detroit Lakes Tribune 3/11)
Melanie Benjamin, the former chief executive of Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
in Minnesota, has been charged in connection with improperly using more than $52,000 in casino "comp" privileges.
Benjamin illegally obtained a high-roller card and used it for meals, hotel rooms and bingo cards at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley, according to the tribe's solicitor general. She was charged with theft of property or services, misconduct of a public officer or employee and misconduct of a public official or employee.
Benjamin was ousted from office in October 2008.
Get the Story:
Former Mille Lacs tribal exec charged with theft, misconduct
(The Minneapolis Star Tribune 3/11)
The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians reached an agreement to pay the city of Temecula, California, at least $52 million over 21 years to address the impacts of its gaming facility.
The tribe will share at least $42 million in revenues from the Pechanga Resort & Casino. An additional $10 million will go towards transportation improvements, The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
The agreement also calls for an environmental study if the tribe plans to expand by the casino by more than 10 percent or operate more than 5,000 slot machines. The tribe's compact authorizes up to 7,500 machines.
Get the Story:
Pechanga tribe pleased with pact
(The Riverside Press-Enterprise 3/11)
Temecula council approves deal for payments from Pechanga (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 3/10)
"American Indian casinos bring more than the negative economic effects and social problems of all gambling casinos. They rely upon people who, for the most part, cannot afford to lose their money and many who become addicted to slot machines which provide 85 percent of the casino revenue.
American Indian casinos can operate without complying with almost all state and local laws — laws that were enacted to protect the public from injury and damages and laws that protect the workers in these Indian casinos and businesses.
American Indian casinos and businesses refuse to pay needed taxes even though they place great demands upon public services and infrastructure provided regularly and paid for by non-Indian taxpayers. They cannot be sued for their misconduct no matter how outrageous it is because of an outdated court created “legal immunity doctrine” sometimes called the “sovereign immunity doctrine.”"
Get the Story:
Jim Marino: Casinos not good for people or government
(The Wilsonvile Spokesman 3/10)
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians passed a resolution to look for a sites for a new Class II gaming facility and secure financing for development.
The tribe plans to build the facility in Cherokee County, North Carolina. The tribe owns 5,367 acres in the county, The Andrews Journal reported.
A tribal council member said a casino in the county could draw gamblers from Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama.
The tribe offers Class III gaming at the Harrah's Cherokee Casino and is planning a major expansion of the facility.
Get the Story:
Tribe wants gaming facility here
(The Andrews Journal 3/11)
Class II Gaming eyed in Cherokee County (The Cherokee One Feather 3/10)
March 10, 2010
A board that will determine how to share gaming revenues from the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan met on Monday.
The tribe's Class III gaming compact calls for 2 percent of slot machine profits from FireKeepers Casino to be shared with the community. The first payment was $1.93 million, double what was expected.
According to the compact, the money must be distributed in three tiers. First, local governments should be reimbursed for costs directly attributed to the casino.
Second, local governments or schools that can't collect taxes due to the casino's trust status will receive money. Finally, the FireKeepers Local Revenue Sharing Board can distribute the remaining money as it sees fit.
The board has six members and is expected to start making distributions within 90 days.
Get the Story:
Politics at play in maneuvering for casino funds
(The Battle Creek Enquirer 3/10)
Casino board meets today (The Battle Creek Enquirer 3/9)
Correction: Daniel Little is not a member of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. He is hte manager of national governmental affairs for the tribe.
The National Indian Gaming
Commission could soon have a third member.
President Barack Obama named Daniel J.
Little, an employee of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal
Nation of Connecticut, to serve on the commission. The comment period on the appointment closes on March 29.
George Skibine, a member of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma,
serves as acting chair of the NIGC. Steffani A. Cochran, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma,
serves as permanent vice chair.
Skibine started his post on October 2. He has said he will stay for seven months, so his appointment is due to expire in early May.
Obama has yet to name a permanent chair for the NIGC, which oversees the $27 billion Indian gaming industry.
Get the Story:
Obama nominates Pequot man to fill NIGC seat
(Indian Country Today 3/9)
Federal Register Notice: Proposed
Appointment to the National Indian Gaming Commission (February 25, 2010)
The Seneca Nation named a new general manager of its off-reservation casino in Niagara Falls, New York.
Neil Walkoff is a gaming industry veteran with over 16 years of experience. He has worked for casinos in Las Vegas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama and Indiana.
The Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel opened in 2003. It is one of two off-reservation facilities operated by the tribe.
The land for both facilities was acquired in connection with a land claim settlement.
The Senecas were the first tribe in the history of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to gain approval for a gaming facility under such circumstances.
Get the Story:
Seneca Gaming picks new N.F. GM
(Business First of Buffalo 3/9)
Five First Nations have signed agreements with Saskatchewan to collect a liquor tax at their casinos.
The tribes are collecting the same 10 percent tax as the province's. The revenues will be used to fund local projects.
A pilot project with the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, owner of the Dakota Dunes Casino, resulted in $15,000 in revenues in one month.
Get the Story:
Casino liquor tax money will go to First Nations
(CBC 3/9)
First Nations to levy liquor fees (The Regina Leader Post 3/10)
March 9, 2010
Officials in Sonoma County, California, say the Mishewal Wappo
Tribe will try to build a casino if it wins federal recognition.
The county wants to intervene in the tribe's lawsuit against the Interior Department. The tribe says its interests will be affected by a decision or a settlement in the case.
The tribe says its first goal is to regain recognition. "We are trying to get back what was taken from us," Chairman Scott Gabaldon told The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for April 19.
Get the Story:
County: Alexander Valley tribe wants authority to build casino
(The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat 3/9)
Earlier Stories:
Judge delays hearing over Mishewal Wappo recognition
(2/2) Mishewal Wappo Tribe not thinking about
casino for now (1/20)
The Seminole Tribe of Florida confirmed it signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a Hard Rock with a group of 10 First Nations in Saskatchewan.
In a statement, the tribal council said it wasn't involved with the Independent First Nations of Saskatchewan. But there was apparently some "confusion" over the deal, said the president of the Seminole Tribe of Florida Inc., the tribe's economic development arm.
The $1.2 billion project in downtown Regina includes a stadium for the Roughriders, a hotel and a casino. The complex is designed by Douglas Cardinal, a Native architect.
The deal hinges on the sale of province-owned casinos in Regina and Moose Jaw. The tribes want the province to contribution a portion of the sale towards construction of their facility.
Get the Story:
Seminoles all in: American tribe committed to stadium proposal
(The Saskatoon StarPhoenix 3/8)
New stadium would need Ottawa's help, premier says (The Saskatoon StarPhoenix 3/8)
Important Update: The website linked below has removed the story from its server. Also, the tribe clarified in an email that it has not been named a defendant in the lawsuit.
Two gamblers say the Seminole Tribe of Florida owes them money for "illegal" card games that were invalidated by the state courts.
The gamblers are trying to recover the losses they incurred while playing the games. State law allows people to sue anyone connected to "illegal" gaming activities, according to ABC Action News.
The tribe signed a Class III compact that authorized slot machines and card games at its casinos. The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the compact but the Florida Supreme Court subsequently said Gov. Charlie Crist (R) overstepped his authority
Get the Story:
Gamblers sue Seminole tribe to recover losses
(ABC Action News 3/8)
An Opinion:
Editorial: In defense of ideological opposition to gambling (Florida Baptist Witness 3/8)
A member of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians must pay state income taxes on her tribe's per capita payments because she lived on another reservation, the California Court of Appeals ruled.
Angelina Mike received $345,000 in revenues from the Spotlight 29 Casino. But she was living on the Agua Caliente Reservation at the time so the court for the 4th district said she owes taxes.
Mike's attorney is planning an appeal and believes the case will go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Mike v. Franchise Tax Board.
Separately, the tribe filed its own lawsuit against the state.
Get the Story:
Court rules tribe member must pay taxes
(The Palm Springs Desert Sun 3/9)
Court of Appeal Upholds Ruling in Indian Tribe Tax Case (The Metropolitan News-Enterprise 3/8)
The National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution last week that opposes HB2297,
a bill that seeks to prevent the Tohono O'odham Nation from developing an off-reservation casino in Arizona.
NCAI said the bill discriminates against tribes and interferes with the federal-tribal relationship. The bill "would provide municipalities with the unilateral authority to annex fee
land owned by a tribe when the tribe has requested that the United States take the land into trust for the tribe’s benefit," according to the resolution.
The bill allows the city of Glendale to annex a 100-acre site already owned by the Tohono O'odham Nation. The tribe acquired the land in 2003 and plans to use it for the $550 million West Valley Resort.
Usually, land acquired after the passage of the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 can't be used for a casino. But the law contains an exception for land acquired in connection with a land claim settlement.
Congress passed a land claim settlement act that says the Tohono O'odham Nation can acquire "unincorporated" land in Arizona. If the city of Glendale annexes the tribe's site, it would no longer meet that definition.
HR2279 is not tribal specific so any tribe in Arizona could have their fee land annexed by a local government without the tribe's input.
Get the Story:
Association of tribes opposes land measure
(The Arizona Republic 3/9)
Earlier Stories: Tohono O'odham off-reservation casino
bid still at BIA (3/8) Bill affects Tohono
O'odham off-reservation casino bid (2/26) Bill targets Tohono O'odham off-reservation
casino bid (2/3) Tohono O'odham
Nation 'more committed' to casino (1/28) Sen. Kyl voices opposition to Tohono
O'odham casino (1/27) McCain
joins opposition to off-reservation casino bid (1/21) Tohono O'odham Nation won't drop
off-reservation bid (1/20)
March 8, 2010
"Connecticut may be desperate, but not so desperate that it has to plug a considerable chunk of its budget shortfall with a new game of chance.
Whether keno is determined to be a lottery or casino pastime - a debate under way between the state and its two casino operators - it's a lousy way to raise revenues.
Adding keno could also jeopardize the existing revenue stream and current good relations the state has with the two casino operators - the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Indian tribes. The tribes contend that keno is not a lottery, but a casino game, as spelled out in federal law governing gambling on American Indian reservations. Furthermore, they maintain that their compacts with the state prohibit keno competition off the reservations.
Why pick a fight with the two casinos that contributed $378 million in slot machine earnings to state coffers last year?"
Get the Story:
Editorial: Keno, cynical solution to budget woes
(The New London Day 3/6)
Earlier Story: Connecticut tribes hope to avoid fight
over Keno games (3/4)
The Upper Sioux Community of Minnesota plans to spend $10 million on an expansion of the Prairie’s Edge Casino Resort.
The tribe plans to add a 15,000 square-feet to the casino, add 80 hotel rooms and renovate other areas of the facility.
The tribe secured a $9 million loan and $1 million grant from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota.
Get the Story:
Upper Sioux to receive financing for casino addition from Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
(The Granite Falls Advocate Tribune 3/8)
The Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island is being sued by its former gaming partner.
Capital Gaming International says the tribe owes $10 million when it started accepting a share of revenues from Twin River, a non-Indian gaming facility.
The tribe says the deal required the repayment of the loan only if it opened its own casino.
An attorney for the gaming company told The Westerly Sun a trial was likely.
Get the Story:
RI gambling dispute headed to trial
(AP 3/8)
Lawmakers in the Florida Senate introduced a bill to dictate the terms of a Class III gaming compact for the Seminole Tribe.
The bill authorizes slot machines at all of the tribe's seven casinos and blackjack at four casinos. The tribe would be required to share revenues with the state, estimated to be at least $150 million a year.
To make sure Gov. Charlie Crist (R) doesn't stray, the bill says he isn't authorized to negotiate a compact with different provisions.
Get the Story:
Senate pushes to end gambling talks with take-it-or-leave-it plan
(The South Florida Sun Sentinel 3/6)
An Opinion:
Editorial: We the people want blackjack (The Palm Beach Post 3/6)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs still hasn't decided whether to approve an off-reservation casino for the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
The tribe wants to build the $550 million West
Valley Resort on unincorporated land near Glendale. The 100-acre site was acquired in connection with a land claim settlement, meaning it should qualify for an exception in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
During the National Congress of American Indians winter session in Washington, D.C., last week, Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. pressed Assistant
Secretary Larry Echo Hawk to make a decision on the project.
He said land-into-trust actions dropped from 24 in 2008 under the Bush administration to just four in 2009 under President Obama.
Since IGRA's passage in 1988, only two tribes -- the Seneca Nation and the Wyandotte Nation -- have been able to open casinos in connection with a land claim.
Get the Story:
Fight over planned Phoenix-area casino spreads to Arizona Legislature
(AP 3/7)
Earlier Stories: Bill affects
Tohono O'odham off-reservation casino bid (2/26) Bill targets Tohono
O'odham off-reservation casino bid (2/3) Tohono O'odham Nation 'more committed' to
casino (1/28) Sen. Kyl voices
opposition to Tohono O'odham casino (1/27) McCain joins opposition to off-reservation
casino bid (1/21) Tohono O'odham
Nation won't drop off-reservation bid (1/20)
"Sorting out the unforgivable mess of the Foxwoods casino project will take years. The South Philadelphia site on Columbus Boulevard, with enough commercial congestion already, was by far the worst of those considered by the state (and wait to see what happens when there is a Phillies game). Let's not even get into the sad truth that Pennsylvania, once the nation's greatest industrial state, has no choice but to turn to the opiate dens of casinos to raise revenue.
Ever see anything more grim than glum-eyed souls playing glum-eyed slot machines in obsessive-compulsive catatonia? Those screams you hear are from delighted casino owners as they strip senior citizens of money they can't afford to lose. The city morgue offers more enthusiasms.
But none of that mattered. The project was a fait accompli from the beginning (the phrase on the tip of my tongue is politically connected). So it is still hard to believe that three businessmen as savvy and successful as Lewis Katz, Ed Snider, and Ron Rubin, the main local investors in the project on behalf of charitable family trusts they represent, could have handled anything worse.
The three are more politically connected than most politicians. They acted with requisite arrogance because of those connections, so it was lovely justice to see them assume the submissive position last month and turn over control of the project to gambling magnate Stephen Wynn, who has acted thus far with such an utter lack of diplomacy and preparation that you have to wonder if he is merely a big-name straw man for the three amigos as they continue to try to buy time.
Given the location, Foxwoods never should have gotten the license in 2006. Nearby residents had a right to be livid. The projected infrastructure costs were obscene. But the three amigos never seemed particularly worried. Why would they be? They had the swag and swagger that come with always getting what you want because of who you know. When Ed Rendell was mayor, they plumped themselves into his office with more comfort than Rendell himself, and I doubt it was much different in the governor's office. They acted from the beginning of the casino-licensing process with the odiferous cologne of their power because it's force of habit."
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Buzz Bissinger: Half Empty: Casino investors have lesson to learn
(The Philadelphia Inquirer 3/7)
"The secret card club gang bankrolling the disturbing anti-Indian casino ad blitz in Richmond has failed to acknowledge basic city psychology: It's OK for us to criticize us but it's not OK for outsiders to do it.
The eight-page mailer and 30-second TV spot from a group calling itself Stop The Mega Casino features some of Richmond's most unseemly neighborhoods.
The text paints a nightmare scenario, in which the opening of a Las Vegas-style Indian casino at Point Molate will render permanent the presence of drug dealers, loan sharks, poverty and crime.
Richmond residents are outraged. And with good reason. They know they have problems.
And many folks are rightfully concerned about how the city will balance the negative social impacts of a full-blown gambling institution against the economic benefits.
But the last thing Richmond residents want is an overblown depiction of the city as a cesspool from an outside group that won't disclose its members and stands nowhere close to moral ground.
Like casinos, card rooms are gambling establishments, only smaller and with less flashy ways to lose your money. They don't care about Richmond. They don't want the competition. It's pure hypocrisy, plain and simple."
Get the Story:
Lisa Vorderbrueggen: Card clubs' secret dealings
(The Contra Costa Times 3/6)
Earlier Story:
Card clubs implore Richmond residents to oppose “mega casino” (KALW News 3/2)
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