News from Indian Country
Page 9
Spilyay Tymoo
January 17, 2008
Kansas tribe opens casino, discounts legal challenge
K A N S A S C IT Y , K a n .
(AP)— It took 11 years, b ut the
O k la h o m a -b a s e d W y a n d o tte
N ation finally opened its dow n
to w n 7 th S tr e e t C a s in o o n
T h ursday night.
W h eth er it stays o p en is still
un kn o w n as state o fficials co n
tin u e to p ursue a d ecad e-lo n g
le g a l fight.
S ta n d in g b e fo re a p a c k e d
house, C h ief Leaford B earskin
co n ducted a pipe cerem o ny and
then joined M ayor Jo e R eardon
in cutting the ribbon and w el
co m in g guests into the fo rm er
M asonic lodge that has un der
gone a S20 m illio n facelift into
a 1920s-them ed speakeasy.
“B eing here tonight, it makes
m e feel like I’m com ing home,”
Bearskin told the crowd, noting
the tribe first came to Kansas in
1843. “We w ant to welcome you
to our casino,” he said, adding with
a smile, ‘W h e n you come _ bring
money.”
The nation opened a more-lim
ited casino on the site in 2004,
h o u sed in a series o f m o b ile
homes. T hat operation was raided
and quickly closed by state and
local law enforcem ent, claiming
the tribe had no right to offer gam
bling on the property.
W hile a federal appeals court
sided w ith the W yandotte N a
tion last fall, state officials said
T h ursday they still b elieve the
casino is illegal.
‘W e think it’s som ewhat irre
sponsible to be opening this ca
sino when there are questions that
are still pending on the legality of
the g am b lin g o p eratio n ,” said
M ike Leitch, deputy Kansas at
torney general for civil litigation.
T h e trib e’s atto rn ey, D avid
Iowa casinos on pace this
year for record revenues
JO H N S T O N ,
Io w a
(AP)— Iowa’s casinos are m ak
in g m oney at a record pace,
though analysts are concerned
that m ost o f the facilities are
seeing flat or declin in g rev
enues this fiscal year.
Iowa’s 17 state-licensed fa
cilities— three race tracks and
14 riv erb o at casin o s— co l
lected $700 million in adjusted
gross revenues from slot m a
chines and table gam es in the
first h alf o f fiscal 2008.
The num ber represents a
$43.1 million increase from the
sam e July-D ecem ber period a
year ago and puts the industry
on pace to break the record
$1.32 billion set last year.
M eanw hile, 12 o f the fa
cilities are seeing reduced or
stagnant revenues, raising con
cerns diat the Iowa gam bling
m arket m ay be topping out.
T h e r e v e n u e a t th r e e
Io w a tracks w as d o w n $4.6
m illio n fo r th e f ir s t s ix
m o n th s o f fiscal 20 0 8 , and
n in e riv e rb o a ts p o ste d fi
n an cial n u m b ers in the red.
O verall, how ever, receipts at
Iow a’s riverboat casinos are up
by nearly $47.4 m illion this year,
acco rdin g to figures co m piled
by the state R acing and G am
ing Com m ission.
T h e b ig reaso n for the in
crease has b een Iow a’s new est
or upgraded casinos, in cluding
the Isle C asino & H otel in W a
terloo, w h ich generated n early
$38.7 m illio n since opening in
late Jun e.
T he Riverside Casino & G o lf
R e s o rt, so u th o f Io w a C ity,
posted a $15.2 m illion increase
in th e Ju ly -D e c e m b e r p erio d
over the p revio us year, w h ich
in clud ed o n ly fo ur m onths o f
business after the facility opened
on L abor D ay w eekend in 2006.
“T h ose all have elevated the
totals as to w hy w e’re 7 to 8 p er
cent up,” said Jack K etterer, ad
m inistrator o f the state R acing
and G am in g C om m ission. “I f
y o u rem o v ed the g ain s fro m
those facilities and looked at the
rest, th ey’re flat or down.”
Iowa also has three casinos
operating on Am erican Indian
lan d n ear T am a, Slo an and
O nawa that are not subject to
state regulation.
T he R acing and G am ing
C om m ission has p u t o ff any
d e c is io n u n til M a r c h o n
w hether to accept m ore ap
plications for state gam in g li
censes. T he hope is to have
enough tim e to study the fi
n ancial im p act o f n ew casi
nos on existing operations.
C o m m ission C h air K ate
C utler o f C ouncil B luffs said
the panel plans to allow in
terested com m unities— m ost
n o ta b ly O ttu m w a , F o rt
D odge and Tam a— to m ake
th eir cases at th e M arch 6
m eeting for expansion.
“ T h e r e a l q u e s tio n is
w h e th e r w e fe e l w e ’ve
r e a c h e d th e s a tu r a tio n
point,” she said.
C u tler said the co m m is
sio n ers m ay o rd er an o th er
ec o n o m ic im p a c t stu d y if
M cC ullough, has denied th at a
legal challenge is still pending.
B ut Thursday was a night to
celebrate for tribal m em bers who
have planned a casino for the site
since buying the form er Scottish
Rite temple and surrounding half
acre o f land in 1996.
“W e’re very glad to get to this
point,” said Second C h ief B illy
Friend. “It’s been v ery frustrat
ing. W e feel like w e’ve alw ays
follow ed the rules and w e w ere
the only ones doing that. It was
very satisfying.”
T h e th r e e -s to r y b u ild in g ,
w h ic h
a ls o
in c lu d e s
a
s te a k h o u s e , fe a tu re s aro u n d
400 C lass II w ag erin g gam es,
w hich play like slot m achines but
pit players against each other in
networks based on bingo odds.
The Class II is a limitation of
federal Indian gam ing laws, but
Friend said the tribe has sought
form al n ego tiatio ns w ith Gov.
Kathleen Sebelius for a compact
that would allow regular Class III
slot m achines and table gam es.
Sebelius has said she wouldn’t con
sider the com pact until the legal
issues are resolved.
T h e state co n ten d s th at the
m o n e y th e trib e u se d to b u y
th e la n d w a s n ’t a llo w e d fo r
su ch p u rp o se s , d is q u a lify in g
th e lan d for a casino.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in October ruled that a
legal challenge o f the casino came
after the land had been placed into
trust by the federal governm ent
on b eh alf o f the tribe, thereby
insulating the governm ent from
the state’s lawsuit and leaving the
federal courts with no jurisdiction.
The diree-judge panel agreed and
dism issed the case.
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