Slot Machine Bill Clears Committee
4/25/2008, North County Times
Opponents, including the Pala band in NorthCounty, say the bill is unfair to them. The Pala tribe and several others renegotiated their agreements with the state in 2004 to get more slots in exchange for paying larger fees to Sacramento. "It is an attempt to illegally rewrite the 1999 compacts retroactively for tribes to exceed the device limit and compete unfairly with tribes" that agreed to pay more, according to Pala's statement opposing the bill.The bill would also undermine Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to get more money from casinos, one of the key selling points for the agreements he has renegotiated, including four approved by voters in the Feb. 5 election.

Guest at casino jumps to his death from hotel
4/24/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
VALLEY CENTER: A 28-year-old guest at Harrah's Rincon Casino jumped to his death from the 21-story hotel yesterday, sheriff's officials said. Two witnesses reported seeing the man leap from a 16th-floor balcony about 12:20 p.m. Cal Fire paramedics and sheriff's deputies responded to the incident on Harrah's Rincon Way. The man was declared dead at the scene. His name was not released. -P.R.

Casino meeting draws light crowd
4/23/2008, The Desert Trail
TWENTYNINE PALMS - About 20 people were on hand at the community services building on Joe Davis Drive on Thursday, April 17 for a public meeting on the environmental assessment being prepared for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians' proposed casino and RV Park. The tribe, which operates a casino on tribal land in Indio, is planning to open a casino, complete with 350 slot machines and some table games, an RV park and a hotel, along with restaurants and a bowling alley, on 160 acres of tribal land south of Baseline Road and east of Adobe Road.

Deal to up number of slots clears hurdle
4/23/2008, The Desert Sun
SB 1201 opponents said signers of the 1999 compacts knew they placed limits on individual tribes and on machines statewide. Changing it now could be illegal and would be unfair to competing tribes whose renegotiated compacts place more environmental and community responsibilities on them, critics said. 'We are just picking and choosing sections we want to negate'' with SB 1201, complained Fred Jones, attorney for the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion. A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he had no position on the bill.

NIGC opposes bill to mandate tribal consultation
4/23/2008, Indianz.com
National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Phil Hogen eagerly admitted last week that his agency can do a better job when it comes to consulting tribes. "There is a problem and we are continually working on it," Hogen told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Thursday. But Hogen, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, slammed a bill in Congress that would require agencies like the NIGC to engage in "regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration" with tribes. He said the proposal would only lead to more litigation. "I think the proposed act of Congress -- that is, the House bill -- would do a disservice to us, the regulators who have a job to do," Hogen said.

INTERNET GAMBLING OPERATOR ARRESTED IN FLORIDA
4/23/2008, Online-Casinos.com
Police detectives in Tampa, Florida have reported the arrest this week of an Apollo Beach resident for illegal Internet gambling activity at his business address in Sun City Boulevard. Jon P. Monson (40) was charged with the third degree felony of running an illegal gambling operation and the first degree misdemeanor of holding gambling equipment in the Sun City Centre after detectives alleged that people were entered his business to gamble on the Internet, receiving payouts on internet poker, slots and keno.