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In this issue:
    Double-digit crime increase marks casino anniversary
    The only good thing is, business is bad
    No well monitoring in 2015?
    The quote the Press Democrat wouldn't let you see
    The tip of the iceberg


NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF
November 16, 2014

DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASES IN CRIME MARK ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF GRATON CASINO
Sometimes being right is not a happy thing
When it comes to crime and the casino, you heard it from Stop Graton Casino first.

Today's Press Democrat story on the one year anniversary of the Graton casino reveals that Stop Graton Casino's predictions were right, all the way down the line. 

The predictions we made have come to pass. We predicated an increase in crime after the casino opened and that is what has happened.

Stop Graton Casino never predicted huge numbers in this increase , but I'd say the numbers are pretty significant. Double-digit increases such as  

  • a 13.5% increase in DUI's;  
  • a 22% increase in narcotics arrests;  
  • a 40% increase in car thefts;

  • a 15% increase in fraud, including identity theft.

Rohnert Park Police Chief Masterson is quoted as saying, "We've always had prostitution. There's more now because of the casino, I definitely think."  

 

Over a decade ago, Stop Graton Casino were the ones who advised local government of a two to five year period in which the full impacts on crime in the county would become known.  Rohnert Park police now admit to learning of this from police in other casino towns, yet our warnings were dismissed by the City. 

 

The only good thing is that business at the Graton casino is really bad (see below!). If business were as Station Casinos and Greg Sarris had expected it to be, traffic would absolutely be a problem, and crime would be even worse.  

 

We didn't predict that the casino would be a flop, but did we make dire predictions about crime? Yeah! Did they come to fruition? Yeah! 

 

Sometimes being right is not a happy thing....

 

 

WHY HAS STATION CASINOS GONE SILENT ON GRATON EARNINGS?
The only good thing is, business is bad!

Hidden in today's PD article is this: "Through two quarters, the casino reported $190 million in net revenue, according to Station Casinos. Indian casinos are not required to make their earnings public but Station Casinos, which has publicly held debt, must file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In Station's report on its third-quarter earnings, released last week, the company did not disclose revenue from the Graton Casino. Station did not respond to a request for an explanation as to why it excluded Graton revenues from its third-quarter report. An investor conference call to talk about Graton's third-quarter earnings was not open to the public."

  

Why didn't Station Casinos include Graton earnings in its last quarterly report? Because earnings were down again is my bet. That's three quarters is a row, and this quarter's figures must be really bad. 

 

A Decade of Debt:  The lack of business is a problem for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.  The tribe has a crushing burden of debt imposed upon them by Station Casinos and the poor business decisions of their tribal leadership. Graton casino will be many years paying back that debt, because the debt is larger than just the $850 Million construction loan they got in August 2012.  

 

In court papers filed in 2008, Greg Sarris said that the interest on the money's advanced to Graton by Station Casinos was accruing at the rate of about $19,000 a DAY.  That includes the $100 Million paid for the casino site in 2005 and about $20 Million for such miscellaneous expenses advanced to the tribe by Station Casinos since 2003.   

 

Just start the clock at 2008, and you have.....  You'll have to do the math.  My calculator doesn't have enough zeros. 

 

NO WELL MONITORING IN 2015?
The promise of well monitoring just a wolf in sheep's clothing?

Today's PD story discussed the issue of well monitoring, saying, "

"Residents said the Graton tribe held community meetings and assured neighbors that they would deepen their wells if the casino caused them to go dry. Jerry Greiner, who lives with his brother one block from the casino, said he has seen little impact from the casino. The next phase of the casino's development, a planned 200-room hotel, could have a greater impact on groundwater, he said. "Once they build a hotel, it's really going to affect the water,' he said." The Press Democrat, November 16, 2014

 

NEWS FLASH:  WE HAVE LEARNED FROM MULTIPLE, RELIABLE SOURCES THAT THE FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRATON RANCHERIA'S CONTRACT WITH SOTOYOME CONSERVATION DISTRICT FOR THE MONITORING OF NEIGHBORING WELLS HAS ENDED, AND HAS NOT YET BEEN RENEWED. 

 

The federal government required monitoring to be done in the Record of Decision, and in public meetings, Graton and the County promised area residents it would do so.  Whether or not area wells will be monitored in 2015 has been up in the air for about two months.

 

SH-H-H-H!  IT'S A SECRET! Only time will tell if Graton's leadership will keep their promise, because, as usual, the Graton Rancheria is keeping the facts about its contract with Sotoyome a big secret.   

 

THE QUOTE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT WOULDN'T LET YOU SEE
The Press Democrat asked us for a quote for today's story, which we happily provided. However, it failed to print the full statement we asked them to use. Here's what was left out of Pastor Chip Worthington's quote in today's story:

"My mother's caregiver spent my mother's social security check at the Graton casino, and this destroyed both the relationship and the trust."

Pastor Chip thinks it important that the public be aware that this can happen to anyone. That's why he wants to share it with you.

 

Chalk up another two victims of the Graton casino, Pastor Chip's mom and the lady who used to be her trusted friend and companion. 

 

MORE VICTIMS
Everybody just hates it when we try to discuss gambling addiction, but please bear in mind that it's not just the addicts who are impacted. So are their friends, family and employers. Read the comments section of the Press Democrat story to see how people's family and friends have become gambling addicts out of the blue, gambling everything the Graton casino.

  

Here are some quotes from the story: 

"I have watched my friends go from" having it together" to being a "complete losers". One guy is complete slave to the casino, now unemployed because he could tear himself a way to go to sleep at night to work his regular job ."

 

"a friend of mine has become so addicted to gambling because of graton casinos proximity. He was an ssu student athlete on the verge of graduating, now he's nothing of his formerself basically. Saddled with an extreme amount of college debt, he is a no degree dropout with less than a semester to graduate, begs all of his friends for food and gas money, zero optomism about his future anymore (except that he believes he's going to hit the jackpot inside graton one day)...."

 

This is the tip of the iceberg.