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Spiiyay Tymoo, Wdi-m Springs, Oregon Page 7 January 4-, 2 0 0 7 Spokane Tribe reaches gambling deal with state, feds SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)— After years of operating casi nos in defiance of the law, the Spokane Tribe of Indians on Thursday announced it had reached a tentative deal with federal and state regulators to bring its gambling offerings under their control. The proposed compact calls for the Spokane Tribe to have much greater freedom than other tribes in the state, and may prompt some of those tribes to seek the same deal. Under the agreement, the Spokane Tribe can operate up to five casinos, with a total of 4,700 video gambling machines. That is a number in harmony with other tribes in the state. But the Spokanes can offer much higher stakes at some tables, and will be allowed to operate video gambling machines that will ac cept coins or currency, rather than paper tickets. The Spokanes are the last tribe in Washington that runs a casino without a compact. There are currendy 25 Indian casinos in the state, which generate about $1.2 billion a year using machines that take paper tickets instead of cash. “We have reached a proposed compact that will serve the tribe and state well,” Spokane Chair man Richard Sherwood said in a news release. The deal, after 15 years of conflict, will provide economic benefits to the tribe and region, and ensures that gambling will remain limited and well-regu lated, Sherwood said. Gambling revenues will be used to improve health care and provide higher education for tribal members, as well as law enforcement and government services, he said. The deal was reached be tween the tribe, the Washington State Gambling Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior, and still must be ap proved by all the entities. “I’d like to thank the Spokane Tribe and state negotiators for their hard work to reach this ten tative agreement,” Gov. Chris Grégoire said in a news release. The Spokane Tribe has op erated several casinos for years on its reservation north of Spo kane. The tribe and the state were not previously able to reach agreement on the terms of a compact. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1998 that the state was not negotiating in good faith with the tribe and dropped a federal injunction against tribal gambling opera tions. The state and the tribe resumed talks in 2004. From here, the deal will be the subject of a public hearing within 30 days of the Legisla ture receiving the proposal. The state Gambling Commission will hold a public hearing Feb. 8 to decide whether to send the proposal to the governor. The tribal chairman, governor and secretary of the interior must all sign the compact. Under the deal, the Spokane Tribe would be the first allowed to offer cash-operated, single push-button video-gambling machines. State Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, who sits on the Gambling Commission, was sharply critical of the deal. On Wednesday, she told The Seattle Times the proposal was “really offensive” and a much greater expansion of gambling than the public wanted. She did not return telephone messages from The Associated Press on Thursday. Gregoire last year rejected a proposal that would have al lowed the tribe to run 7,500 machines in return for giving the state a cut of the proceeds. The new proposal provides no cut for the state. The proposal would allow the tribe to raise betting limits on 15 percent of its slot-style machines from $5 to $20 a turn. The tribe can also have no more than 2,000 video machines at any one location. The tribe can also operate up to 75 gambling tables at one facility, and up to 50 at other casinos. The Spokanes, also for the Potential Lake Tahoe casinos anticipate competition RENO (AP)— A casino planned east of Sacramento along could drain $75 million a year from Lake Tahoe’s south shore economy, but casinos there plan to tap into new mar kets to buoy business. “It is pretty clear that, for the community, it is definitely a threat, not just to gaming, but to tourism in general and many businesses in South Lake Tahoe—lodging, stores that sur vive and thrive on tourism,” said John Packer, director of com munications at Harrah’s and Harveys in Stateline. The new casino is expected to save gamblers from the Sacra mento area who would head to Lake Tahoe some 67 miles of driving over Echo Summit, which can be treacherous in winter. Lakes Entertainm ent of Minnesota plans to develop and manage the casino for the Shingle Springs Racheria of Miwok Indians. A similar situation occurred when the Thunder Valley Ca sino opened off Interstate 80 in June 2003, saving gamblers a drive over Donner Summit to Reno and Sparks. That casino had 1,900 slots and 100 table games, almost exactly what is planned at Foothill Oaks. Thunder Valley took the blame for a slump in Reno and Pioneer of Native education programs dies JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)— Emma Olga Olsen, a pioneer of Native education pro grams and a longtime Alaska Native Sisterhood leader, died Tuesday. She was 87. A funeral service was planned Friday at the Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall. Olsen didn’t have much chance to advance her edu cation after eighth grade since the high schools were segre gated. “She wanted to go to a high school, but could not do that,” said Marie Olson, Emma’s niece. “That was one of her goals later in life, to support many of the children that wanted to go to high school.” Olsen was born July 22, 1919, in Dundas Bay to Sam and Sally Hopkins. She was a Yaashundoosteen, of the Tin.aa.Hit (Copper Shield House) of the Kiks.adi, Frog Tribe. Her parents brought her up in the Alaska Native Brother hood and instilled a deep appre ciation for her culture, Olson said. “(Her parents) were not only performers for special events, but also at potlatches,” Ebona said. “Emma could speak the Tlingit language fluently. She always knew what was happen ing when people were speaking publicly or at potlatches.” Olsen married her husband of 61 years, Oscar P. Olsen, on April 12, 1945, in Juneau. She served 15 terms as presi dent of Alaska Native Sister hood Camp 2, where her fo cus remained on education. She began the Tlingit Tea for Teachers program and sup ported the Juneau’s Indian Studies programs. She also talked about revitalizing the Tlingit language. “She had an interest in education that included ev eryone, and particularly the Alaska Native child,” said her nephew, Andy Ebona. “She was obviously interested in the high dropout rate and felt that those issues needed to be addressed more firmly. The alternative forms of educa tion were also a priority, es pecially for those kids that were not succeeding in the regular school system.” Sparks casinos that they only appear to be recovering from more than three years later. In May 2003, the month before Thunder Valley opened, Washoe County casinos re ported $93.6 million in revenue. This year, they reported $91.2 million, not quite back to the pre-Thunder Valley level, but up 3 percent from 2005 be fore the recovery. So far this fis cal year, the casinos’ revenue is flat with last year. Companies operating in the region with public stock still cite the casino as a drain on revenue during slow months. “Casinos in Northern Ne vada have dealt with the initial blow that came when California casinos, particularly Thunder Valley, opened,” said Packer, whose parent company, Harrah’s, also has a Reno casino. “They have found different ways to work around it. Cer tainly, there was some loss in business, untracked casino play, but it has been offset for Harrah’s in our ability to use our database and Internet marketing to backfill where those losses occurred, to some extent.” H arrah’s and Harveys at Tahoe could use the same strat egy of direct marketing to Harrah’s registered gamblers first time in the state, could of fer high stakes betting on table games such as poker and black jack for 120 days a year at a few tables at one location. Those high wagers would be available only for players who pass finan cial screening and aren’t known to be problem gamblers. The compact will make it easier for the tribe to secure fi nancing for a proposed 40,000- to-60,000-square-foot casino and hotel with at least 100 rooms at Chewelah, north of Spokane. It already operates a casino there. The tribe also wants to open a retail complex at Airway Heights, a Spokane suburb, with a $67 million casino-hotel and a 2,500-seat entertainment venue. It would need separate federal approval to operate a casino off its reservation. nationwide and charter flights into Reno-Tahoe International Airport to replace business lost to Foothill Oaks. “But the impact could be greater for those that depend more on retail players,” Packer said. “The Lakeside Inn, Hori zon and Montbleu don’t have the database of players that Harrah’s has. They are more dependant on the drive-up mar ket.” Columbia Sussex owns the Florizon in Stateline. It recently bought the former Caesars Tahoe for $45 million and spent another $45 million redesigning it into Montbleu, debuting the new property this year. Big Foot High School to reconsider logo, nickname WALWORTH, Wis. (AP) - Big Foot High School is named after Chief Big Foot, the last chief of the Geneva Lake Potawatomi. The school uses his image as one of its logos and uses Chiefs as a nickname. School officials plan to consider if any changes need to be made after teacher Marsha Ries pre sented a letter to the school board in December protesting the use of the chief s image on logos and the use of Chiefs as a school nickname. Big Foot High School is one of 39 high schools in Wisconsin that use an American Indian related team name. Happy Hew Hear ' \ Thomo/ Sole/ & Service of Aladra/ 169 SE 5th Street, Madras, OR 97741 475-2333 _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ V 7
