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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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Evaporating Credit:
Quechan resort in danger of loan default10/7/2008, Yuma Sun
Funding sources for the Quechan Indian Tribe's new casino resort west of Yuma have been downgraded to junk bond status, and officials for a financial ratings company say the tribe faces the possibility of default if it cannot secure $25 million in private funding. A global credit squeeze led Fitch Ratings to downgrade $155 million in bonds issued for the new casino and report that the tribe is likely to be in jeopardy of default if it cannot gain the final $25 million of a $214 million project. A Business Wire report read that "due to adverse market conditions, the tribe has not been able to secure the financing externally. As a result, a project fund deficiency is occurring under the gaming enterprise bond indenture."
Credit chill may put new Indian casino on ice 10/6/2008, San Diego Union Tribune SACRAMENTO - The global credit squeeze has chilled sources of financing needed to complete a new Indian casino resort in Imperial County, a major credit-rating agency has warned. Fitch Ratings late Friday downgraded $155 million in bonds issued for the new Quechan casino and said the tribe faces "a real possibility" of default on the bonds if it is unable to secure a final, $25 million source of external funding for the $214 million project. Quechan President Mike Jackson said Monday the tribe is exploring other options and expects to have the financing in place by the end of the week. | |
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Casino Bus Junkets:
California struggles to inspect private tour buses10/8/2008, Sacramento Bee
The fatal crash Sunday of a casino-bound bus in Colusa County has raised concerns about the state's ability to regulate a growing trade of mom-and-pop companies ferrying thousands of gamblers daily to local casinos. Investigators said Tuesday they are still piecing together basic information about the Sacramento bus company and rookie bus driver behind California's worst intercity bus crash in at least 15 years. Eight people were killed Sunday evening when a Cobb's Bus Service coach carrying 43 people tumbled into a watery ditch on a thin, straight stretch of rural road south of the Colusa Casino Resort.
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.
Road is popular -- and problematic -- route to casino10/7/2008, Sacramento Bee
It was only a matter of time before a bus shaving a little travel time off the trip to Colusa Casino would crash on Lone Star Road. Jeff Gilbert, fire chief for the city of Williams, just a short distance from the road, said conditions there seemed to guarantee problems. Sunday's crash that killed eight people and hurt dozens of others bore out that apprehension.
A look at previous crashes involving casino buses10/6/2008, Mercury News
Some crashes involving casino buses in the past decade: - Oct. 5, 2008: A casino-bound charter bus from Sacramento, Calif., crashes near Williams, Calif., killing eight people. - Aug. 11, 2008: A shuttle bus swerves off a freeway near Las Vegas and slams into the center divider, injuring 29 casino and mall employees. - Aug. 10, 2008: A casino bus full of tourists flips over in a median in Tunica, Miss., killing three people and injuring several others.
After Aquired Lands for Gaming:
Land-into-trust approval for Habematolel Pomo10/7/2008, Indianz.com Land-into-trust approval for Habematolel Pomo The Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake will be able to operate a casino on 11 acres of land being taken into trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Notice of the acquisition was published in today's Federal Register. The BIA said the land was being taken into trust under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The tribe plans a $35 million, 20,000 square-foot casino with 349 slot machines and some table games on the land. The BIA issued a finding of no significant impact for the project in July. Interested parties have 30 days to challenge the decision before it becomes final. Internal Tribal Dispute - Des-enrollment: Protesters block Win-River construction10/7/2008, Record Searchlight Protesters stood in the driveway along the road leading to Win-River Casino this morning, blocking ongoing road construction and drawing a call from casino officials to the sheriff's office, the latest in a long-standing dispute involving tribal lineage at the Redding Rancheria. About a dozen members of the Foreman family and their supporters blocked a construction project that would remove the driveway to the rancheria and widen the road to the casino. Sheriff deputies this morning told the protesters that they needed to move. Members of the Foreman family said they merely want to see the permits for the work. CA State Lottery: No to employee gifts10/6/2008, Contra Costa Times Borucki said a party like that, where employees took home such gifts as a Nintendo Wii console, iPods and cameras among other goodies, will not happen again. But under this new bill, who needs a party? The gifts keep coming to lottery employees. BELIEVE IT OR not, some people actually made out pretty well when California lawmakers reached an agreement on the budget. While others felt the sting of cuts, employees of the state lottery did just fine. | |
California Litigation:
Fed appeals court sides with tribe 10/6/2008, North County Times A federal appeals court on Monday said the San Pasqual tribe in North County can sue the state for limiting its number of gaming devices. The decision bolsters San Pasqual's bid to add 400 slot machines to its Valley Center-area casino. The tribe is fighting the state's interpretation on the number of slot machines allowed under a 1999 agreement that gives the OK to Indian gaming. Last year, a federal trial court judge ruled that San Pasqual could not sue the state over the issue unless the more than 60 tribes who signed the 1999 Indian gaming agreement were involved.
Federal Litigation:
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."
U.S. wants constitutional issues dropped 10/7/2008, Oneida Dispatch - New York New Interior Department motion in land-into-trust appeal to be heard Nov. 7 WAMPSVILLE -The United States doesn't want to argue the Constitution. The Department of Interior is asking the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss any complaint in the land into trust lawsuits that refer to the U.S. Constitution. The DOI made the decision to take 13,004 acres of land in Oneida and Madison counties into trust for the Oneida Indian Nation. Following that decision, the state, counties and some private organizations filed lawsuits against the DOI.
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
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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