Casino Staffing Challenges Run High When Economy's Chips Are Down9/1/2008, San Diego Business Journal
If you're a human resources manager for a casino in the San Diego County region during an era when customers are spending less, you and your competitors could be shedding jobs by attrition. Boy, do you have your work cut out for you. True, there were challenges during the boom period, when you had to fill jobs in your fast-growing organization. And granted, you are still hiring for certain positions. Yet the market is contracting. The Pechanga Resort & Casino near Temecula said in early August it had to lay off 400 of its 4,700 employees.

Charities would lose machines, boost prizes8/30/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers yesterday agreed to revolutionize "grandma's bingo" with bigger games and prizes in exchange for an explicit ban on electronic bingo machines unless they are in Indian casinos. Advertisement A 24-9 vote in the state Senate sent the legislation to the governor, who is expected to sign it. The hastily drafted measure pitted charities against charities. Most nonprofits, however, aligned with the Catholic Church, which in the end struck a compromise with one of the state's most powerful special interests, the gaming tribes. "We are providing stability and certainty for all charities," said Sen. Gil Cedillo, a Los Angeles Democrat who carried the bill.

Brothers sentenced in murder plot; one identified as Mexican Mafia leader for Inland area8/29/2008, The Press-Enterprise
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records filed in court show Hernandez was collecting "taxes" from Inland Hispanic gangs and making a methamphetamine deal at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino. Another DEA document said investigators fear the Mexican Mafia has infiltrated the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and is extorting money from tribe members, who each receive at least $100,000 a month from casino profits.

Shooting at Pala reservation being investigated
8/29/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
PALA INDIAN RESERVATION - Sheriff's deputies are investigating the fatal shooting of a woman Friday near state Route 76 and Lilac Road, officials said. The shooting was reported at 11 a.m. The woman was pronounced dead about an hour later, said sheriff's Lt. Mike McClain. Authorities have been told the shooter may be in a white, full-size pickup truck. A white pickup was later stopped on Lilac Road near the shooting scene and several individuals detained, but it was not immediately clear whether they are suspects in the shooting, McClain said.

Potluck serves up reminder to Soboba tribe, Riverside County sheriff's personnel8/29/2008, The Press-Enterprise
As a dispute lingered over police access to the Soboba Indian Reservation, the two sides met this week to literally break bread. As part of a mutual understanding agreement signed in May, the tribe and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department held a potluck dinner and cultural night to keep the conversations going and to bridge any gaps in their relationship. The Soboba Band of Luiseņo Indians and the Sheriff's Department signed the federally mediated agreement to include a plan for reviewing policies and procedures and for forming a strategy for better communication. During the festivities at the Masonic Lodge in San Jacinto on Thursday night, tribal members performed native bird songs and dances before about 30 tribal members and sheriff's personnel, Riverside County sheriff's Lt. Patty Knudson said.

Calif. Senate approves ban on electronic bingo
8/29/2008, The Associated Press
A bill that would prohibit charities from using electronic bingo games was approved Friday by the state Legislature at the insistence of California Indian tribes. The compromise by Democratic Sen. Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles prohibits the games, which work like slot machines. But it lets many charities employ so-called remote-caller technology, which uses audio or video equipment to run bingo games at multiple locations simultaneously. California's attorney general and Indian tribes say electronic bingo violates state agreements that give tribes sole use of slot machines.

Massive Coyote Valley criminal case shrivels8/29/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Four years after more than 100 law enforcement agents descended on the Coyote Valley Reservation north of Ukiah in search of evidence of embezzlement, the case has fizzled. Six of eight former tribal officials indicted in 2006 after the 2004 search of their homes, offices and Shodakai Casino have been dismissed from the case, five of them this month, according to documents from U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

River Rock moves to fund expansion8/29/2008, The Press Democrat
River Rock Casino's tribal gaming authority is offering to purchase $30 million of its senior debt, giving the gaming business more flexibility to finance a $300 million expansion project. River Rock, which is owned by the Dry Creek Pomo tribe, issued $200 million in senior notes at 9.75 percent in 2003. Under the tender offer announced Thursday, it will pay a premium of up to $51.25 for each $1,000 of note principal.  

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