Planners oppose casino's request for liquor license8/12/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
EAST COUNTY - An East County planning group voted unanimously last night to oppose a request for a liquor license by Sycuan Casino, saying drunken drivers would be too dangerous on the winding road leading from the gambling hall. Wally Riggs, chairman of the planning group for the Dehesa area, noted that Sycuan Casino's previous request for a liquor license was rejected by an administrative law judge 15 years ago. "All the things they listed in that judgment have not changed," Riggs said. "They've gotten worse." Sycuan, one of the largest casinos in San Diego County, is the only casino in the county without a liquor license. Casino officials say that by limiting when and where alcohol is available, they can deal with concerns that led to the rejection.

Endangered Species Act Changes Give Agencies More Say8/12/2008, Washington Post
The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.
 

Soboba tribe meets on shootings, law enforcement8/11/2008, San Jose Mercury News - The Associated Press
SAN JACINTO, Calif.-The Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians held a daylong meeting Monday with leaders of other California tribes on a federal law that gives local law enforcement criminal jurisdiction on tribal lands. The 55-year-old law has been criticized by Soboba Chairman Robert Salgado Sr. since three tribal members were killed in two shootouts with Riverside County sheriff's deputies in May. Leaders from at least a dozen Indian tribes attended the meeting, which was designed to raise awareness of the limits of the law, called Public Law 280, and review legal options.

Soboba-sponsored forum argues pros and cons of keeping Public Law 2808/11/2008, The Press-Enterprise
SAN JACINTO - The federal law that gives states the right to enforce criminal law on Indian reservations is an antiquated rule that should be repealed, Indian law experts said Monday. The experts addressed dozens of tribal leaders from across California at the Country Club of Soboba Springs as part of a daylong meeting on Public Law 280. The 55-year-old federal law puts reservations in California and a handful of other states under the authority of state and local law enforcement. "Why do we still have this damn law on the books? Why don't we repeal it?" said Joe Myers, executive director of the National Indian Justice Center. "It deserves some consideration."

 

200 turn out for forum about deputies on reservations 8/11/2008, The Desert Sun
ASome 200 people gathered for today's public forum organized by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians to discuss a federal act giving sheriff's deputies the power to enforce laws on reservations in Riverside County -- but no sheriff's officials ttended. The focus of the meeting, held at the Soboba Springs golf club, was Public Law 280, which was passed in 1953. Representatives of the Pauma, Pala, La Jolla and other tribes attended, as well as officials from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Justice Department and other government entities, but sheriff's deputies stayed away.

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