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Stand Up for California! is a statewide organization with a focus on gambling issues including tribal gaming, card clubs, horse racing, charitable gaming and the state lottery. | |
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Wealth breeds 'poverty of soul'
10/5/2008, The Sacramento Bee
But CEO and Chief Marshall McKay sees trouble behind the opulence. The demons of the past that have plagued his tribe since they lived in trailers and scrounged for work haunt them still: diabetes, substance abuse, fierce family feuds and chronic apathy. "I call it wealth shock the poverty of the soul," said McKay, who's fighting to save his nation by pushing cultural rebirth and education. "I stress to members we can do a lot of damage by providing too much." Only three tribal members have finished high school since the casino money started rolling in. They know they'll never have to work as long as they stay out of jail. Wealth shock in Indian country is a largely untold story - members fiercely guard their privacy, and their finances.
Mitchell Rosen: Lost in Gambling10/4/2008, The Press Enterprise
They fed their slot machines and puffed on cigarettes. Even when the bells went off meaning they won, there was little if any emotion. Puff, pull, plop. Puff, pull, plop. I said to my wife, "If I didn't know better, I would swear it was the same people in every casino. Middle-aged, blank expressions, slightly depressed and void of human emotion." | |
Casino sewer project to stay on course10/3/2008, Union Democrat
Tuolumne County Superior Court Judge James Boscoe will not halt work on a $6 million sewer project designed, in part, to facilitate growth of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians' Black Oak Casino. Boscoe issued his decision this week, nearly four months after Dos Palos-based contractor Clark Bros. Inc. filed papers seeking an injunction. Father-and-son team Allen and Lawrence Clark claimed that the Tuolumne City Sanitary District unlawfully awarded the project in May to local contractor Sierra Mountain Construction Inc. because of its local ties, even though it submitted a bid roughly $74,000 higher than Clark Bros, the lowest bidder.
Betting on a Winner - Jackson Rancheria
10/3/2008, Amador Ledger Dispatch
It's been rising for months - steel beams, iron rods and new freeway exits cutting a swath through the grassy hills of El Dorado County. The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians is planning to make the Red Hawk Casino a gambling mega-force. With its ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for December - and with the Buena Vista Band of Me-Wuk Indians rapidly preparing to break ground on its own gaming facility near Ione - Jackson's casino may be staring at a future in which it's geographically cut off from every major population area in the region.
Off-reservation gaming policy survives lawsuit10/3/2008, Indianz.com
The Bush administration's controversial off-reservation gaming policy survived a legal challenge this week with the dismissal of a Wisconsin tribe's lawsuit. The St. Croix Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued the Bureau of Indian Affairs in December 2007, anticipating changes in the agency's off-reservation casino policy. A month later, former assistant secretary Carl Artman issued a "guidance memorandum" that makes it harder for tribes to acquire land away from existing reservations. The memo was developed without tribal consultation or public notice. A day after it was issued, Artman used it to justify the denial of 11 off-reservation casino projects.
Places Quechan Tribe (CA) Rtgs on Watch Negative
10/3/2008, Business Wire - Fitch
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has downgraded and placed the following ratings of The Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation (Quechan) on Rating Watch Negative: --Issuer Rating to 'CCC' from 'B+'; --$110 million Gaming Enterprise revenue bonds series 2008 to 'CCC+' from 'BB-'; --$45 million Governmental Project bonds series 2007 (Tax-Exempt) to 'CCC' from 'B+'.
River Rock expansion on hold10/3/2008, The Press Democrat
Plans for a $300 million resort hotel and casino in Alexander Valley were in limbo Thursday after the Dry Creek Pomo tribe said it can't finance the project in today's tight credit market. The tribe's River Rock Entertainment Authority on Wednesday said it was postponing plans to raise $126 million "until market conditions improve." The financing package would have paid for the first stage of casino expansion. Harvey Hopkins, chairman of the 975-member Dry Creek Pomo tribe, declined to say when the project will get back on track.
Emergency summit called over poker domain 10/5/2008, Poker Listings.com
The word that Kentucky governor Steve Beshear had been granted the ability to take control of 141 online gambling sites' domain names hit last week, and since then there has been an uproar of media attention surrounding the story. Beshear called the online gambling sites "leeches on our communities," with no real benefits for anyone in Kentucky. The commonwealth of Kentucky was uniquely positioned to bring action against Internet gambling operators because it considers domain names to be forfeitable under its gambling laws.
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Upcoming Conference
INDIAN COUNTRY'S WINNING HAND, October 16-17, 2008, Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino Scottsdale/Fountian Hills, Arizona. Register online: www.law.asu.edu/ilp
8 Killed in California Bus Accident
10/7/2008, New York Times
Eight people died and dozens more were injured when a charter bus bound for a casino north of Sacramento flipped over and rolled into a ditch Sunday evening. The bus, carrying approximately 45 passengers, crashed at 6:10 p.m. on a rural road in Williams, Calif., a few miles east of Interstate 5, Rich Wetzel, a California Highway Patrol media information officer, said in an interview Monday morning. It had left Sacramento and was headed to Colusa Casino Resort, an Indian Gaming Resort.
Kansas appeals dismissal of challenge to 7th Street Casino in KCK10/6/2008, The Kansas City Star
Kansas' 12-year-old legal challenge to the 7th Street Casino in Kansas City, Kan., isn't dead yet.The state since 1996 has unsuccessfully sought resolution of the key issue in the case. The state contends that the tribe improperly bought the old lodge building and half-acre tract in downtown Kansas City, Kan., with federal funds that were not allowed to be used for such purposes. "Federal law provides that only very specific lands may be used for Indian gaming," said Ashley Anstaett, a spokeswoman for Kansas Attorney General Steve Six. "We are appealing because we believe this land does not qualify, and no court has yet decided that question. We would like an answer to that question."
Feds withdraw opinion on Akela casino plans10/5/2008, S C Sun
LAS CRUCES - The federal government last week withdrew a legal opinion outlining its argument about why the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma can't conduct gaming on land in Akela, N.M. The National Indian Gaming Commission in a court document said it was "in the process of reviewing and reconsidering" the opinion because of a new argument being presented by the tribe. Fort Sill Apache Chairman Jeff Houser said the move is a positive step for the tribe in its attempt to open the Apache Homelands Casino, east of Deming off Interstate 10. "I believe it means they're reconsidering their decision the land was not appropriate for gaming," he said.
Decision Complicates Seminole Gaming Pact10/5/2008, FL - Tampa Tribune
THE STATUS QUO: A U.S. Department of Justice attorney testified during McCollum's court case in January that if the state Supreme Court were to find that the governor lacked authority to enter into the compact, "the compact is deemed invalid" and the tribe "can't do the things they want." But the fact remains that only the feds can enforce tribal gaming law, and neither the Justice Department nor federal gaming authorities havebeen eager to intervene or even talk about the Seminoles case since the state Supreme Court's ruling. McCollum asked the National Indian Gaming Commission last month to stop the games. McCollum also has contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Florida, since both the U.S. Department of Justice and federal gaming authorities have jurisdiction.
State Legislation to Watch
December 1- the 2009 Legislative Regular Session Convenes for Organizational Session
Federal Legislation to Watch
H. R. 2963 - Congressman Issa Transfers without regulatory environmental process 1,178 ac. in Riverside and San Diego Counties to the Pechanga Band. AMENDED TO INCLUDE:
No Gaming. Maintained as open space and construction consistent with this purpose.
No existing right of ways or right of use prior to the date of enactment are affected.
H.R. 3490 - Congressman Radanovich Declares that specificed federal lands are to be held in trust by the US for the benefit of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuik Indians for non gaming purposes.
H.R. 5608 Congressman Rahall - mandates that adminstration directly consults with tribes on policies that directly affect their lives.
H. R. 5680 Congressman Grijalva - A bill to extend leases for Morongo and transfer money to CRIT.
S. 2676 - Senator Vitter - Common Sense Indian Gambling Reform Act of 2008. To make technical corrections to IGRA. Consultation with local government.
S. 3320 - Tribal Law and Order Act - to be introduced in early 2009.
LINKS and Legislation
Stand Up For California - Library
Stand Up For California - Helpful Links
Compulsive Gambling Institute www.gamblingaddiction.cc 1-800-GAMBLER 24 Hour Problem Gambling Help Line - Tom Tucker, Chief Executive Officer
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