News

• Tribes see slower growth in gaming
  8/19/2008, The Desert Sun
  Indian gaming was not immune to the sputtering economy last year, as the $26.5 billion industry posted a modest 5 percent gain in revenues in 2007. Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report by Alan Meister, an economist with Analysis Group, noted that tribes in California led the nation with $7.8 billion in gaming revenues. But California's growth rate — 1.6 percent — was the lowest it has been in years. That's down markedly from two years before. Indian gaming revenue in California grew 9.2 percent in 2006 and by 19.5 percent in 2005. “This is not to say that Indian gaming has performed poorly,” the report released Tuesday noted. “It has just not performed as well as it has in the past.”
  
  
• Casino revenue growth slows
  8/19/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
  California Indian casinos experienced relatively flat growth last year, but still managed to pull in a record $7.8 billion, according to an independent financial analysis being released today. The revenue from the state's 60 tribal casinos grew significantly less in 2007 than in recent years, partly as a result of the weak economy, according to Alan Meister, an economist with Analysis Group, a Los Angeles consulting firm. But Meister said the market for tribal gambling in California, as well as the rest of the country, appears far from saturated and the outlook for Indian gaming as a whole remains positive. "The economy will improve in time, bringing back consumer confidence, disposable income and spending on casino gambling," he said in his report.
  
  
• Annual Indian Gaming Industry Report being released
  8/19/2008, Indianz.com
  The annual Indian Gaming Industry Report is being released by the Analysis Group today. Economist Alan Meister says tribal casinos took in $26.5 billion in 2007. That's an increase of 5 percent from 2006 but down from the 10 percent jump seen in 2006 and the 15 percent jump seen in 2005.
  
  
• Economy affecting casinos' cash flow
  8/19/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  Indian tribes are finding that gambling isn't as recession-proof as once thought. Two new reports indicate that some of the same forces causing problems for retailers and manufacturers are hitting casinos as well. “Native American casino operators are not immune,” Jacques Ouazana, a financial analyst for Moody's Investors Service, wrote in a report released last week.
  
  
• Church, gaming tribes reach deal on bingo machines
  8/18/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  SACRAMENTO – The Catholic Church and California's Indian gaming tribes have struck a compromise that would permit a major expansion of conventional bingo while outlawing electronic versions played on machines that look and act a lot like slots. Amendments outlining the agreement were inserted into a bill Monday, with lawmakers scrambling to wrap up business before adjourning for the year at the the end of the month. If approved, Senate Bill 1369 would end a legal battle over bingo machines, a dispute that threatens hundreds of millions of dollars the tribes pay the state every year for the exclusive right to offer slots and other electronic gaming devices.
  
  
• Jackpot For The Many
  8/18/2008, San Diego Metro News
  Millions of dollars a year in gaming revenue are spent by county Indian tribes on hundreds of charitable organizations and causes that benefit a wide segment of San Diego’s population. Schools, chambers of commerce and groups that serve the poor, the elderly, the handicapped and victims of abuse are a few of the many organizations benefiting from Indian casinos and resorts. But the tribes also help one another. Earlier this year, the Pala Band of Mission Indians, which operates the Pala Casino Resort and Spa, spent $1 million to purchase 10 new mobile homes for members of the neighboring La Jolla Band whose homes were lost in last year’s Poomacha wildfire.
  
  
• Southern California tribes call for repeal of P.L. 280
  8/18/2008, Indian Country Today
  SAN JACINTO, Calif. - After more than 50 years in effect, southern California Indian tribes are saying it's time to repeal a law that gives jurisdiction of criminal offenses in some reservations to the state. The who's who of the region's Indian country gathered Aug. 11 at the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians reservation to denounce Public Law 280, which they say is a ''throwback'' to a different era and nowadays archaic in a new day for American Indians.
  
  
• Felons shot 21 times at bounty hunters in 2004 incident on Soboba reservation, jurors told
  8/18/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  Two convicted felons fired 21 shots at four bounty hunters who went to a mobile home on the Soboba Indian Reservation in 2004 to arrest a man already charged with evading arrest, a prosecutor told jurors Monday. The lead bounty hunter kicked down the home's door Aug. 25, 2004, in an attempt to arrest Dino Allen Moreno, now 42, unaware that there was a small arsenal inside the home. The bounty hunters took cover when Moreno and his girlfriend opened fire with semiautomatic weapons and Moreno was able to get away, prosecutor Chris Bouffard told jurors during opening statements in the trial of Moreno and Shaundeen Theresa Boniface. "He was more than prepared ... Mr. Moreno was telling people he wasn't going back to jail this time around," Bouffard said.
  
  
• State backs tribe for federal status
  8/17/2008, Redding Search Light
  State lawmakers have said the Winnemem Wintu Tribe should be recognized again by the federal government. But leaders of the small north state band of American Indians said the call will only be ceremonial unless it is heard by members of the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., and the tribe gains recognition once again with the federal government. The status would bring federal aid for health care and housing, reserving 42 acres that was once the site of a tribal village in Jones Valley near Lake Shasta as trust land, and sovereignty for the tribe of 123 people, said Mark Franco, the tribe's headman.
  
  
• Slumping California Lottery searches for a winning hand
  8/17/2008, Sacramento Bee
  On Oct. 3, 1985, you could have stood in a long line outside a liquor store a few blocks from the Capitol for a chance to buy a small piece of cardboard and win a big sum of money. Today, you can do the same thing – only with no line. That, in 50 words, is the story of the California Lottery – a 23-year-old anachronism that is among the worst performing of the country's 42 state lotteries. While many other states' lotteries set sales records in the fiscal year that ended June 30, California lottery officials announced that revenues for the Golden State's games would be $275 million lower than the previous year. The slump comes at an inauspicious time for California. Desperate for new revenue sources that aren't direct tax increases, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for leveraging future lottery revenues into current cash to help plug the state's gaping budget hole.
  
  
• Unimaginable debt and the lottery
  8/16/2008, Red Bluff Daily News
  What will happen in California depends on three things: the ability to create a new addiction for many more people to the state lottery; the fate of an endangered species: politicians with both intestinal fortitude and fiscal discipline; and a turn around in the economy. I am not a betting person, but I do not think that any of those three possibilities will likely happen in time to make our budget sound, and the convergence of all three is less likely than the harmonic convergence predicted for Mr. Shasta at the end of 1999. By the way, the Governator is not the first person to think about using a lottery to bail out a state, or at least a colony. That first person would be Sir Edwin Sandys who had the charter for the colony of Virginia changed in 1611 to allow for the use of lotteries to finance the colony.
  
  
• Citizens groups want Gov. Schwarzenegger to look into Soboba casino dispute
  8/15/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  A couple of citizens groups asked Gov. Schwarzenegger on Friday to investigate whether the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians is in violation of its state gambling agreement. The organizations said recent criminal activity on the reservation has placed gamblers, law enforcement and the community in danger. The groups said that activity puts the tribe in violation of its state gambling agreement -- known as a compact. Stand Up for California!, a statewide gambling watchdog group, and a San Jacinto-area citizens group called Save Our Communities sent the letter in response to a series of recent violent events involving tribal members, including two police shootings that left three tribal members dead. "Whether or not the recent gun battles have taken place in the casino itself does not dismiss the responsibility of the state to act to protect the public," they wrote.
  
  
• Volunteerism, help of friends speed recovery of La Jolla tribe
  8/15/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  The La Jolla Indian band, one of the poorest tribes in San Diego County, has used volunteerism, timely planning, gifts from wealthy tribes and a bureaucracy-averse reservation government to jump ahead of many devastated communities in recovering from last fall's wildfires.
  
  
• Metlakatla decision still haunts NIGC chairman
  8/15/2008, Indian Country Today
  THE CLASS II GAMING DEBATE: The congressmen were responding in large part to a pair of decisions Hogen made June 4. One of them, announced in Oklahoma June 5, ''set aside'' classification standards that tribes ''were going to litigate until the cows came home,'' Hogen said. The other denied a modifying amendment to the gaming ordinance of the Alaska Native village of Metlakatla, in effect outlawing ''one-touch'' bingo games for Class II gaming tribes as actual electronic facsimiles of Class III games of chance. Under terms of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Class III games of chance are legal for tribes only in light of a tribal-state compact. Class II games are not subject to a compact. But Class II tribes overwhelmingly, almost unanimously, reject Hogen's definition, arguing instead that technological advances in machines have made electronic bingo more entertaining than in the past, without evolving the game itself from the realm of bingo into a game of chance.
  
  
• Tensions escalate at Soboba Reservation
  8/15/2008, Inland News Today
  SAN JACINTO--State parole agents are having second thoughts about entering the Soboba Indian Reservation as tensions escalate between local law enforcement agencies and tribal leaders. Parolees living on the reservation are being asked to leave. Parole agents routinely meet with offenders to make certain they abide by their parole terms.
  
  
• Public Law 280 crux of debate
  8/15/2008, The Valley Chronicle
  Disagreement over the implications of Public Law 280 on the Soboba Indian Reservation can be solved easily, a UCLA law professor told a gathering of tribes at the Soboba Country Club clubhouse last week. Retrocession is the answer, Carole Goldberg told the audience, an end to Public Law 280, which she and other speakers said has not only provided little protection for reservations in the Western states in which it applies, but has been the vehicle for police abuse of power.
  
  
• Court sides with Colusa gaming tribe
  8/15/2008, Appeal-Democrat
  A federal appeals court has allowed the tribe that owns the Colusa Casino Resort to continue its battle with California for more slot machines. The 9th Circuit's three-judge panel in Pasadena ruled last week the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians does not need backing from other Native American tribes to press its demand for hundreds of new slot-machine licenses. The tribe operates 864 slots at its casino and hotel north of Colusa. The case will return to U.S. District Court in Sacramento. George Forman, a San Francisco lawyer for the Cachil Dehe, said the court could rehear the case within three months.
  
  
• Citizens cite Soboba breach of compact
  8/15/2008, Inland News Today
  SAN JACINTO--The citizens group ‘Stand Up for California’ has joined in a call for the closure of the Soboba Casino because of recent violence on the Indian Reservation. Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff initially asked for the casino’s closure saying his deputies could not guarantee the public’s safety. A pair of shootouts near the casino between deputies and three tribal members last spring proved fatal to all three. The citizens group pointed out in a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger that the tribe may have breached its gaming compact by not ensuring the safety of the public.
  
  
• River Rock Casino aided by liquor license
  8/14/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
  River Rock Casino’s revenues declined in the second quarter, although its new liquor license helped to blunt the impact of a slowing economy, the Geyserville casino reported Thursday. "In June we began offering alcohol to our guests, and we believe that this has begun to have a positive impact on our business,” said Shawn Smyth, CEO of River Rock Entertainment Authority. The tribal casino reported $33.7 million in sales for the quarter ending June 30, down about $1 million from the same period last year.
  
  
• Report: Indian casinos not immune from hard times
  8/14/2008, The Day - Conn.
  Moody's Investors Service released a report Wednesday that says American Indian gaming enterprises are not immune from the nation's economic downturn. And while four of the 19 “Native American Gaming Issuers” that are rated by Moody's have received negative rating actions since the beginning of the year, which includes both the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, the report concluded that many of the tribal enterprises have the ability to weather the economic downturn. ”A prolonged, nationwide, consumer-driven recession could result in some negative rating actions for Native American gaming operators,” said Jacques Ouazana, the author of Moody's report. “But many operators possess sound financial profiles that should see them through.”
  
  
• Parolees don't have to move off Soboba Reservation after all, state says
  8/14/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  State parole officials have reversed their position on parole visits to the Soboba Indian Reservation and will now allow five parolees to continue living there. Last week, parole agents ordered the parolees to leave the reservation and find other housing, citing concerns for agents' safety and access to the reservation to make parole visits. After meeting with the Soboba Tribal Council on Tuesday, parole officials said they had reached an agreement with the tribe that would allow parole agents to make unannounced visits to parolees and not require them to have an escort.
  
  
• Teen from Inland tribe accuses deputies of making racist comments while detaining him
  8/14/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  The Riverside County Sheriff's Department confirmed Thursday it is investigating allegations of racial harassment by some of its deputies against a teenager from an Inland tribe. Michael Malone, 19, accused deputies of pointing a Taser at him and making racist remarks during a recent encounter in the Temecula area. Malone, who identified himself as a member of the Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, said he believes the deputies detained him because he's American Indian.
  
  
• California Supports Winnemem Wintu Tribe: Senate passes Joint Resolution
  8/14/2008, Bay Area Indy Media
  Sacramento, CA – The Winnemem Wintu Tribe drew one step closer to righting years of historic wrongs today. The Senate passed a Joint Resolution urging the federal government to restore federal recognition status to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. The resolution, authored by Assembly Member Huffman, passed with 24 votes. "California has sent a clear message today: our state stands in solidarity with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to correct a terrible injustice by the federal government," said Assemblymember Jared Huffman. "It's not time for the federal government to acknowledge its mistake and once again recognize the Tribe."
  
  
• Tribes, bingo operators at war
  8/14/2008, Capitol Weekly
  Who knew bingo was so controversial? In recent months, Sacramento has seen a legal and media battle over charity bingo halls. The California Tribal Business Alliance (CTBA) and the Attorney General have been trying to shut down several charity bingo halls they say aren't complying with the rules set out for the game in state law. These so-called bingo parlors, they say, resemble Vegas casinos, with electronic "bingo" machines that look and play like slot machines or video poker. The California Charity Bingo Association has fought back with an ad campaign accusing "powerful special interest groups" wanting to cut off money for disabled veterans and sick children. Charity bingo was legalized by a voter initiative in 1976. Over the last 30-plus years, it has provided millions of dollars for charities, according to Bingo Association lobbyist Ravi Mehta.
  
  
• Deadline passes for casino measure
  8/13/2008, ARGUS-COURIER
  The deadline has passed for the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to put an advisory measure regarding the proposed Rohnert Park casino on the Nov. 4 ballot, but they might discuss putting one on a subsequent ballot if legislation being proposed by a North Bay assemblyman is passed by the state Legislature. The legislation, proposed by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, would require either local voter approval of state casinos or an intergovernmental agreement between the tribe and the immediate area involved to offset environmental impacts. Huffman is in the process of refining the bill, and if passed, it would affect the decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs — part of the Department of the Interior — to take land in Rohnert Park planned for a casino into federal trust for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
  
  
• Planners oppose casino's request for liquor license
  8/12/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  EAST COUNTY – An East County planning group voted unanimously last night to oppose a request for a liquor license by Sycuan Casino, saying drunken drivers would be too dangerous on the winding road leading from the gambling hall. Wally Riggs, chairman of the planning group for the Dehesa area, noted that Sycuan Casino's previous request for a liquor license was rejected by an administrative law judge 15 years ago. “All the things they listed in that judgment have not changed,” Riggs said. “They've gotten worse.” Sycuan, one of the largest casinos in San Diego County, is the only casino in the county without a liquor license. Casino officials say that by limiting when and where alcohol is available, they can deal with concerns that led to the rejection.
  
  
• Endangered Species Act Changes Give Agencies More Say
  8/12/2008, Washington Post
  The Bush administration yesterday proposed a regulatory overhaul of the Endangered Species Act to allow federal agencies to decide whether protected species would be imperiled by agency projects, eliminating the independent scientific reviews that have been required for more than three decades.
  
  
• Quechan elders take fight against casino resort to Washington
  8/12/2008, Indian Country Today
  WASHINGTON - In the teachings of their ancestors, the mountain named Avikwalal spoke to the Quechan people and warned them of dangers to come. Now, as construction continues on a $200 million casino resort that some in the Quechan nation hope will bring prosperity, others have taken their fight to save what they are convinced is sacred land to the halls of Congress. ''We have always been told generation to generation to stay away from that area, to leave it alone. Part of my teachings is that it is a medicine mountain,'' said Priscilla Prettybird.
  
  
• Soboba leader wants California police training for tribe members
  8/12/2008, Los Angeles Times
  The chairman of the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians wants tribe members to receive state law enforcement training so that they can patrol the reservation instead of Riverside County sheriff's deputies, whom the tribe has clashed with in recent months, according to City News Service. Chairman Robert Salgado Sr. told a news service reporter during a break in a public forum Monday night that he planned to send eight tribal security officers to qualify for California Police Officer Standards and Training certification, a requirement for deputies, police and other law enforcement officers. The forum was called to discuss a federal law that gives local law enforcement agencies the authority over a number of tribes. Salgado did not return calls this afternoon.
  
  
• Win-River kicks off $75 million expansion with groundbreaking
  8/12/2008, Redding Recorder
  Win-River Casino’s scaled-down expansion of its south Redding gaming center got a ceremonial groundbreaking Monday. The casino plans to invest $75 million that will include a four-story, 121-room hotel, a 930-space parking structure, a new 100-seat fine-dining restaurant, a remodeled 200-seat buffet and a remodeled casino that will accommodate a 20-table poker room. Monday’s ceremony came three months after casino officials reported the slow economy — which has hit the gaming industry hard — forced them to downsize original plans.
  
  
• Q&A: Tribal lawyer says there’s a united front on California gambling
  8/11/2008, Sacramento Bee
  Howard Dickstein is a tribal lawyer who fought major casino expansions that voters approved for four Southern California tribes. He is sounding an alarm over prospects of an initiative to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling by restoring state lottery Keno games. The Bee talked with him about gambling in California. Gov. Schwarzenegger's office is now adamant it doesn't support overturning the ban on Keno games for the lottery despite the fact the suggestion was made in a draft of the governor's lottery plan. Do you take him at his word, and does a revamped lottery pose concerns for Indian casinos?
  
  
• 200 turn out for forum about deputies on reservations
  8/11/2008, The Desert Trail
  ASome 200 people gathered for today's public forum organized by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians to discuss a federal act giving sheriff's deputies the power to enforce laws on reservations in Riverside County -- but no sheriff's officials ttended. The focus of the meeting, held at the Soboba Springs golf club, was Public Law 280, which was passed in 1953. Representatives of the Pauma, Pala, La Jolla and other tribes attended, as well as officials from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Justice Department and other government entities, but sheriff's deputies stayed away.
  
  
• Soboba tribe meets on shootings, law enforcement
  8/11/2008, San Jose Mercury News - The Associated Press
  SAN JACINTO, Calif.—The Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians held a daylong meeting Monday with leaders of other California tribes on a federal law that gives local law enforcement criminal jurisdiction on tribal lands. The 55-year-old law has been criticized by Soboba Chairman Robert Salgado Sr. since three tribal members were killed in two shootouts with Riverside County sheriff's deputies in May. Leaders from at least a dozen Indian tribes attended the meeting, which was designed to raise awareness of the limits of the law, called Public Law 280, and review legal options.
  
  
• Soboba-sponsored forum argues pros and cons of keeping Public Law 280
  8/11/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  SAN JACINTO - The federal law that gives states the right to enforce criminal law on Indian reservations is an antiquated rule that should be repealed, Indian law experts said Monday. The experts addressed dozens of tribal leaders from across California at the Country Club of Soboba Springs as part of a daylong meeting on Public Law 280. The 55-year-old federal law puts reservations in California and a handful of other states under the authority of state and local law enforcement. "Why do we still have this damn law on the books? Why don't we repeal it?" said Joe Myers, executive director of the National Indian Justice Center. "It deserves some consideration."
  
  
• Sheriff a No Show at Tribal Law Enforcement Forum
  8/11/2008, KESQ.com News Services
  Some 200 people gathered for Monday's public forum organized by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians to discuss a federal act giving sheriff's deputies the power to enforce laws on reservations in Riverside County -- but the sheriff stayed away. The focus of the meeting, held at the Soboba Springs golf club, was Public Law 280, which was passed in 1953. Representatives of the Pauma, Pala, La Jolla, Barona and other tribes attended, as well as officials from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Justice Department and other government entities. Retired Riverside police Lt. Alex Tortes, the sheriff's Tribal Liaison, was in attendance, though he did not sit on the panel and did not speak during the morning session. Reporters were not allowed to attend the afternoon, question-and-answer session.
  
  
• Actions on Indian gambling termed dishonest
  8/10/2008, Tulsa World, Ok
  WASHINGTON — Just weeks after dropping a controversial Indian gambling proposal, a key federal agency is being accused of using a dishonest backdoor approach that could cost Oklahoma and its tribes $1 billion and thousands of jobs. Moreover, the new effort to address what constitutes a Class II game was triggered by a small Alaska tribe whose leader claims not to know who is paying for its request to the National Indian Gaming Commission. That mysterious factor, the commission's linking the Metlakatla Indian Community's rejected request for authorization of "one-touch" electronic bingo machines to its move to set aside the proposed regulations, and the speed with which the tribe's request was handled have led to the allegations.
  
  
• Fool me once, etc., etc.
  8/10/2008, Politickerca.com -- blog
  Come on! Ya gotta love the complete ineptitude being exhibited by government in the management of the state's financial matters. Love it or cry is what I say. That was my attitude as I lounged next to the pool in Coronado last week and read this headline that could be found only in the San Diego Union-Tribune: "Voter-backed gaming deal with Sycuan in jeopardy." Remember that whole deal? The Sycuan tribe was one of four that had a gaming deal with the state that California voters had to approve as they considered different ballot initiatives last February. It turns out that the Sycuans, from the gambling Mecca known as El Cajon, had not themselves formally approved the deal. That cost the state coffers about $30 million in fees that the tribe would have owed. As I wrote back on June 30 on this site: As the story goes, the Sycuan Indian tribe "has avoided paying the cash-strapped state $30 million in gambling profits." The money is supposed to be paid at the end of July as part of the deal that we voters approved allowing four Indian tribes to expand their casinos for which they would pay to the state a larger share of the take. The state that is more than $15 billion in the hole. The state whose governor told the Sycuans that they could wait to pay the $30 million after "the Sycuan gave $45,000 to the campaign for a November redistricting initiative promoted by Schwarzenegger," the Los Angeles Times reported. "Quid" meet "Quo?"
  
  
• Inland casinos send more than $65 million to state
  8/10/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  Three Inland tribes have paid more than $65 million to California as part of their agreements to share slot machine money with the state. The payments reflect a portion of the tribes' slot-machine net revenue for the first few months under their new tribal-state gambling agreements. Each tribe previously was capped at 2,000 slot machines and needed state approval to add more. Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature approved deals with the tribes allowing them to add a combined total of 14,000 slot machines to their casinos this year. In exchange, the tribes promised to share a portion of their profits with the state. Voters approved the deals in February.
  
  
• Appeals court sides with Rincon tribe
  8/9/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  FEDERAL COURT – A federal appeals court agreed with the Rincon Indian band yesterday that a lawsuit against the state over the number of slot machines allotted to the tribe was incorrectly tossed out. The tribe and state officials disagree over how many machines are allowed under compacts negotiated in 1999 with then-Gov. Gray Davis. Those compacts with about 60 tribes said no tribe could have more than 2,000 slot machines and also said there would be a statewide limit on the total number.
  
  
• Sheriff's officials won't attend Soboba forum on law enforcement
  8/9/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  SAN JACINTO – Days before a public forum organized by the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians to discuss a federal law that gives local authorities the power to enforce laws on reservations, sheriff's officials have reiterated their intention not to attend. The meeting, set for Monday at the Soboba Springs golf club, is intended to clarify Public Law 280, passed in 1953 by the federal government.
  
  
• Santa Anita could be sold to reduce Magna's debts
  8/8/2008, Courier Journal
  The founder and chairman of Magna Entertainment Corp., a racetrack operator and business partner of Churchill Downs Inc., suggested this week that major assets such as California's Santa Anita Park -- the home of the Breeders' Cup World Championships for the next two years -- might be sold in an effort to reduce the company's debt. How serious that possibility is, though, wasn't clear when Frank Stronach addressed investors this week in a conference call to discuss Magna's second-quarter results, which saw a loss of $21.25 million compared with a $23.44 million loss during the same period last year.
  
  
• Sessions Introduces HR6663
  8/8/2008, Congressman Pete Sessions
  In America, Texas Republican Pete Sessions has introduced his House of Representatives Bill 6663 (HR6663) for consideration when Congress returns from its August holidays. Also known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Clarification and Implementation Act of 2008, the proposed legislation would diagnose exactly what constitutes ‘unlawful’ in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. Three high-powered fellow Congressmen, all Democrats, have already backed the Bill as co-sponsors, Marion Berry of Arkansas, Jesse Jackson Jr of Illinois and William Delahunt of Maryland. The Bill describes a major ambiguity of UIGEA as to whether online poker and games like virtual blackjack are legal within the United States.
  
  
• California Association of Tribal Governments
  8/8/2008, Press Release
  (SACRAMENTO, CA) – Today, August 8, 2008, California Indian tribes announced the establishment of the California Association of Tribal Governments (“CATG”), a non-profit consortium of federally recognized Indian tribal governments in the State of California, chartered to promote mutual cooperation and to represent their common interests with federal, state and local governments. The CATG non-profit corporation is to be chartered under the tribal code of the Hoopa Valley Tribe.
  
  
• Assembly OKs tribal deal with Porterville
  8/8/2008, Visalia Times Delta
  SACRAMENTO — The Assembly cleared the way Thursday for the Tule River Indian Tribe and Porterville to become business partners. Lawmakers authorized the tribe and city to create a joint powers authority that can issue bonds and promote development on 1,200 acres near the city's airport. "This is to develop some area around the airport ... for the development of commercial properties and businesses creating jobs," Assemblyman Bill Maze, R-Visalia, told the floor in a brief statement. No one spoke against the bill. Assembly Bill 1884 is ready to go to the governor, but it will be held in the Legislature because the governor has said that he won't sign any bills until a budget is enacted.
  
  
• Tribe accepts deal to buy Clover Valley land for open space, culture center
  8/8/2008, Sacramento Bee
  A Placer County Indian tribe has tentatively sealed a deal to buy 65 acres from the developer of Rocklin's Clover Valley for public open space and a cultural center. Two ongoing lawsuits over the developer's housing project could delay recording of the purchase agreement and conservation easement. "Depending on the outcome of the lawsuits, things could drag out for a while," Rocklin City Manager Carlos Urrutia said. "But I would hope the outcome would be favorable and we could move ahead."
  
  
• Casino Celebrates its 25th Year
  8/8/2008, The Eastern Group Publications
  On the day Commerce Casino opened its doors, Hector Reza was trying not to sweat. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” he says. He had been hired as a security guard a couple weeks prior while finishing touches were still going up on the casino, which had been Western-themed at the time. The casino opened on the first of August in 1983, and he was in charge of a long line of people clamoring to get in.
  
  
• Indian casinos facing threat of boycott push from Catholic charities
  8/8/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  SACRAMENTO – Catholic churches and charities say they will urge Californians to boycott Indian casinos if tribes don't step aside and allow nonprofits to launch a new form of bingo that could bring in millions of dollars for struggling social service programs and religious schools. The threat escalates what has been an already nasty political battle in the Capitol between charities and gaming tribes over the types of bingo games that nonprofits can offer.
  
  
• Casino impact money closer to valley
  8/8/2008, The Desert Sun
  SACRAMENTO — Coachella Valley and other Riverside County communities moved closer Thursday to regaining $13 million to offset increased traffic and other impacts of tribal casinos in Riverside County. “That is good news,” said Sen. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, who helped shape the program. The money “was promised by the tribes (to communities) and it will have a great impact.” The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Assembly Bill 1389 to provide a total of $30 million, including the $13 million for Riverside County, all of which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stripped out of the 2007-08 budget.
  
  
• Casino Pauma to Launch Fully Integrated PlayAway System
  8/7/2008, Business Wire - biz.yahoo.com
  Integration with Casino Management System Enables Integrated On-Property / At-Home Bonusing WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GameLogic, Inc., a provider of interactive casino player acquisition and retention solutions, today announced that Casino Pauma has launched the Company's PlayAway(TM) system, beginning with its web-based Fun Play(TM) product. With the launch of GameLogic's Bonus Play(TM) later this month, Casino Pauma will become the first casino to fully integrate its on-property casino management system with GameLogic's PlayAway system to create a seamless on-property and off-property player bonusing experience.
  
  
• Valley needs Madera casino more than ever to improve struggling economy
  8/7/2008, Fresno Bee - Op Ed
  The North Fork Rancheria has worked in a partnership with local, state and federal entities to bring jobs and economic opportunity to our region through a proposed casino resort project. At the local level, every Madera jurisdiction has joined our partnership. Every business chamber has embraced the promise of jobs, business opportunity and community investment. Labor unions, civic groups, ethnic organizations, the majority of local tribes and thousands of Madera citizens have endorsed the project and process.
  
  
• Amendments to SB 331 - Tresspass on Indian lands
  8/7/2008, California State Legislature
  GREATLY IMPROVED: The provisions would apply only to Indian tribes that have authorized their application through a duly adopted tribal law, ordinance, or resolution, as specified. (b) The civil-regulatory laws of the State of California generally do not extend to Indian lands located within the State of California. (c) It would serve the public interest, and the interest of some Indian tribes, to authorize the State of California and its political subdivisions to enforce the state's trespass laws on Indian land.
  
  
• Federal inspectors visit Soboba Casino
  8/7/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  Representatives of the National Indian Gaming Commission spent Thursday inspecting the Soboba Casino, tribal council member Rose Salgado said. The one-day visit started in the morning and was expected to take most of the day, Salgado said, adding the inspectors spent most of their time behind the scenes reviewing policies and guidelines of casino operations at the facility near San Jacinto.
  
  
• County OKs $38 million agreement with Pauma
  8/6/2008, North County Times
  The county Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved an agreement with the Pauma Band of Mission Indians worth $38 million in road improvements. Of the $38 million, $25.5 million would pay for improvements to Highway 76, including passing lanes, turnouts, shoulder widening and intersection improvements. The tribe also would pay more than $600,000 a year for law enforcement, programs for problem gamblers and public safety programs. "We believe as a tribe that we've put something together that is to the benefit of all of us," Pauma Chairman Chris Devers said during the meeting.
  
  
• Online poker in California? Not really
  8/6/2008, Online Poker Junkie
  Well, there is a bill pending in the Legislature called the California Gambling Control/Intrastate Legalization Act, AB 2026, introduced by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, a Van Nuys Democrat. Originally the bill was intended to study the issue of whether California wanted to comply with a fairly recent federal law which would allow states to legalize gambling on online poker for residents within a state. The bill was amended to actually allow poker, then re-amended, and as it now stands, it remains strictly a study
  
  
• Breeders Cup-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to serve as chairman
  8/6/2008, The Seattle Times
  ARCADIA, Calif. — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to serve as chairman of the host committee for the 25th running of the Breeders' Cup. The international horse racing event is scheduled for Oct. 24-25 at Santa Anita Park, which in 2009 will become the first to host the Breeders' Cup in consecutive years. There are 14 races with purses totaling $25.5 million in the event's fourth appearance at Santa Anita and seventh in California.
  
  
• Horse racing fading into oblivion in California
  8/6/2008, San Mateo County Times
  When the movie "Seabiscuit" rekindled America's love for horse racing in 2004, the sport's insiders hoped it would bring fans back to the tracks. But attendance in the grandstands of Bay Meadows and other California tracks continued to follow a dismal course. In fact, horse racing is fading in the consciousness of sports fans and becoming less and less viable as a business, industry observers say.
  
  
• New UIGEA Clarification Bill: A Mixed Bag At Best
  8/6/2008, PokerRoad.com
  H.R. 6663, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Clarification and Implementation Act (UIGECIA) is a new bill introduced by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) which attempts to fix the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by finally defining it’s scope. The bill, which is co-sponsored by three democrats including Marion Berry (AR), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL), and Bill Delahunt (MA), clearly states that the UIGEA is intended primarily for sportsbooks and online sportsbetting. The language of H.R. 6663 may conceivably help get sites like PartyPoker, PokerRoom, and Titan Poker back in the US, as it clarifies that the UIGEA is not to target any type of gaming which doesn’t have “authoritative court decisions” proving it’s illegality. However, despite this seemingly good news, the Poker Players Alliance and others in the poker community are upset with the UIGECIA due to what it seems to imply in it’s language.
  
  
• Voter-backed gaming deal with Sycuan in jeopardy
  8/6/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  Overview Background: In February, voters approved expanded gambling compacts for Sycuan and three other tribes. The trade-off – and main pitch to voters – was that the state would receive billions in new revenue. What's changing: Though the governor, Legislature and voters have approved the agreement, Sycuan has yet to ratify its own compact, a move likely to cost the state at least $30 million. The future: The federal government is looking at whether to rescind its approval of the compact because Sycuan hasn't ratified it.
  
  
• State orders parolees living on Soboba reservation to leave
  8/6/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  The state parole office announced Wednesday it has ordered all parolees living on the Soboba Indian Reservation to leave for their own safety and because of concerns of escalating violence that could affect the safety of parole agents. In a move that Tribal Chairman Robert Salgado Sr. called discrimination, the regional and state parole office has ordered five members of the tribe currently on parole to leave and find new housing immediately. No deadline has been set for their departure, said Gordon Hinkle, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
  
  
• Multimedia Games sees stock price drop on lower earnings
  8/6/2008, Austin Business Journal
  Multimedia Games Inc. earned $200,000, or a penny a share, in its fiscal third quarter, down from $700,000, or 2 cents a share, a year ago.Shares of Multimedia Games were down nearly 5 percent just before the closing bell Wednesday to about $5.35 a share. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $3.50 to $10.35.
  
  
• Give 'em a break! They work so hard
  8/6/2008, Sacramento Bee
  Bass, Cogdill and Villines received an editorial reprimand from our sister Bee for cavorting during a budget crisis. But there are two sides to every story. Legislators haven't received any pay for a month and have been working under staggering political and financial pressure. Who can begrudge them time to conduct bipartisan research on Indian casino expansion? We only hope that lawmakers were able to avail themselves of Serenity Springs, the deluxe spa at the resort. According to the casino's Web site, Serenity "is a state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled. It's your island of tranquility in the midst of hustle-and-bustle." How soothing – for the legislators, if not their constituents.
  
  
• Poker groups split on bill
  8/6/2008, Las Vegas Review Journal
  WASHINGTON -- A new bill that would limit the Internet gambling ban to sports betting while exempting poker and other online wagering is splitting poker advocates. The Poker Players Alliance, a group that lobbies Congress against the ban, is opposed to the bill. Former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., who is the alliance chairman, said it does nothing to clear up confusion about the definition of unlawful Internet gambling.
  
  
• Problem Gambling: SR bank heist suspect phones home
  8/5/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
  He said that earlier this year he was living in Marin County and doing clerical work at a drug-and-alcohol treatment facility in San Rafael. "But the rent was going up and I couldn't afford to live in Marin County any more on the salary that I made," he said. He said he returned to Santa Rosa and to his mother's house and for the past six months looked for work, without luck. Wenmoth also offered that at the time he left the job at the treatment facility, he stopped playing poker at card clubs. "I used to play poker frequently in Petaluma and Emeryville," he said, adding that at one point he entered a self-help program but didn't stick with it. He declared, "I do have a gambling problem. I realized (early this year) I had a pretty serious problem and I stopped. I haven't played poker since the end of January." Santa Rosa police said they do know that Wenmoth has frequented Bay Area card rooms.
  
  
• Public Law 280 Codified at Title 18 Section 1162
  8/5/2008, Cornell University law School
  (a) Each of the States or Territories listed in the following table shall have jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against Indians in the areas of Indian country listed opposite the name of the State or Territory to the same extent that such State or Territory has jurisdiction over offenses committed elsewhere within the State or Territory, and the criminal laws of such State or Territory shall have the same force and effect within such Indian country as they have elsewhere within the State or Territory: California All Indian country within the State.
  
  
• Soboba Band to hold meeting on P.L. 280
  8/5/2008, Indian Country Today
  SAN JACINTO, Calif. - The Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, whose turbulent relationship with local sheriffs reached a tense high point earlier this year, is holding an open forum to assess the adequacy of a 1950s law that gives jurisdiction of criminal offenses to the state. Indians, BIA officials and legal scholars are expected to attend the event, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 11 at the Country Club at Soboba Springs, said Mike Hiles, public information officer for the southern California tribe.
  
  
• Valley View Casino operator seeks to calm investor worries
  8/5/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  Save This amicably,” said Joe Navarro, the organization's CEO. “Valley View Casino will continue to thrive.” On Friday, the local superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs told tribal leaders that their government had collapsed over a membership rift and only tribal governments can operate businesses. The National Indian Gaming Commission, which oversees tribal gambling operations across the country, is looking into the situation with the tribe.
  
  
• Roundtable Responds to Lakes Entertainment Casino Proposal
  8/5/2008, News Press Wire
  "The Ohio Constitution was not designed to be a tool for private companies to set up exclusive monopolies and drag money out of Ohio. The Lakes Entertainment casino proposal is the worst of the four casino issues that have been placed before Ohio voters. We urge all Ohioans to carefully read the language of the amendment, which they can find at http://www.votenocasinos.com."
  
  
• Mediator sought to resolve tribal dispute
  8/5/2008, North County Times
  VALLEY CENTER ---- A federal mediator has been asked to help the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians' governing board repair a rift centered on the disputed lineage of about 80 tribal members. Without a settlement that restores stability to the five-member governing council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs says continued management of the tribe's Valley View Casino and other operations are subject to federal intervention. The council split last month when one tribal group voted to have the 80 people removed, contending they are descendants of a man they said did not have San Pasqual blood.
  
  
• Public won't vote on casinos, but supervisors will hold hearing
  8/5/2008, Chico Enterprise Record
  OROVILLE — A proposed advisory vote on future Indian casinos in Butte County was pretty much dead on arrival before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, but the panel has decided to hold a comprehensive hearing on the impact of gambling on both the public and private sectors. Oroville Supervisor Bill Connelly had asked the board to consider an advisory ballot measure for the November election that would have asked whether the county should support additional casinos. Tuesday he made clear his proposal wasn't aimed at any tribe or specific casino proposal. "This was just an idea to let the public voice their opinion for or against gaming in general," said Connelly. The county is currently involved in federal lawsuit where it is seeking to block a proposed Chico Rancheria Mechoopda casino to be located off Highway 149, about two miles east of Highway 99.
  
  
• Judge: Duroville officials have "failure to communicate"
  8/4/2008, The Desert Sun
  At a status hearing today regarding conditions at a dilapidated Thermal mobile home park the federal government is seeking to shut down, a judge said park officials' ``failure to communicate'' was threatening to undermine efforts to keep the facility open. ``There's a crisis of confidence here,'' said U.S. District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson. ``The government needs to see actual documents'' showing ``substantial compliance'' with conditions established by the court, he said.
  
  
• Access to Indian land varies
  8/4/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  In a fight over who can control law enforcement access to the Soboba Indian Reservation, both sides are using the same public law to claim they are right. Public Law 280 mandates that California and a handful of other states police Indian reservations. In states not covered by that law, a tribe's status as a sovereign nation means the tribe enforces laws through its own police agencies or leaves it to federal authorities to do so. The Soboba tribe's relationship with local law enforcement has become increasingly contentious. Deputies killed three tribal members in shootouts this spring on the reservation. County leaders called last week for the tribal chairman to step down.
  
  
• Butte County supervisors to ponder ballot measure on Indian casinos
  8/4/2008, Chico Enterprise Record
  OROVILLE — Butte County residents may get a chance to express their feelings about additional Indian casinos in the area. A late addition to Tuesday's Butte County Board of Supervisors' agenda is a potential ballot measure that would allow the citizens to weigh in on the question. The advisory measure, which if approved today would be on the Nov. 4 General Election ballot, asks whether "the County of Butte should support proposals for additional Native American gaming casinos within the unincorporated areas of the county?"
  
  
• Red Hawk owners post $5M loss
  8/4/2008, Sacramento Business Journal
  Revenue was up but earnings turned to losses for Minneapolis-based Lakes Entertainment Inc., the casino development company that is the management partner with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok, currently building a highway overpass and Red Hawk Casino just west of Placerville. In the first half of the year, the company lost $5.4 million on revenue of $10.5 million, compared to earnings of $2.4 million on revenue of $887,000 in the first half of 2007. In the second quarter, Lakes lost $1.3 million on revenue of $5.9 million, down from earning $10 million on revenue of $409,000 in the second quarter of 2007. Lyle Berman, chief executive of Lakes, said the prospects for the new Red Hawk Casino in El Dorado County are good now that it is awaiting a new compact for slot machines from California.
  
  
• Indian country offers rural anchor communities for equity under tax code
  8/4/2008, Indian Country Today
  WASHINGTON - Gaming revenues have turned some Indian tribes into anchor communities for their impoverished rural regions. According to witnesses before the Senate Finance Committee on July 22, other nongaming tribes could fit that description, given equal treatment with states and municipalities under the tax code.
  
  
• County's strategy over tribe's casino is a prudent wager
  8/4/2008, Marin Journal
  MARIN supervisors were wise to strike an agreement with a local Indian tribe to limit it to a single casino in Marin and Sonoma counties. It is a practical measure designed to place some limits on one tribe's federal right to build a casino in what U.S. officials have confirmed to be its historical tribal territory. Rather than risk federal authorities giving the tribe even broader rights, Marin supervisors struck a deal with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. The county agreed that it will not join a lawsuit challenging the tribe's right to build a giant casino and hotel complex in Rohnert Park.
  
  
• Protest to target casino's alcohol bid
  8/4/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  EAST COUNTY – Opponents of a liquor license for the Sycuan Casino are mobilizing and planning a letter-writing campaign they hope will persuade state officials to reject alcohol sales at the East County gambling hall. “We're trying to put together a case and information to send in a protest and get as many people that are interested in it to protest,” said Pat Riggs, president of the Dehesa Valley Community Council.
  
  
• Bingo halls' plan gets tribes back on same side
  8/3/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  The February voter referendum fight over four Southern California tribes' amended casino agreements split the state's gambling tribes in one of the costliest campaigns ever. Only months later, the tribes on both sides of the fight have joined forces. The tribes are trying to ban devices in some nontribal bingo halls that critics say are illegal slot machines. Legislation is in the works and could come to a vote before lawmakers adjourn for the year Aug. 31.
  
  
• Editorial: Not a time to gamble
  8/3/2008, Sacramento Bee
  Gambling on gambling is a big gamble. So it is more than a little alarming that gambling is such a big part pf Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to close the state's $15.2 billion budget gap. As luck would have it, the state's first payments from expanded new gambling deals that the governor negotiated with Indian tribes are set to arrive just as the gambling industry is beginning to feel the effects of the recession, both nationally and at California's Indian casinos .
  
  
• San Pasqual trouble threatens SD County casino
  8/3/2008, Sacramento Bee - Associated Press
  VALLEY CENTER, Calif. -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs says the tribal government of the San Pasqual Indian band has collapsed, which could force the closure of the Valley View Casino in San Diego County. Tribe officials in late June said about 50 of the tribe's 300 members face exclusion because they are descendants of a man who was not a full-blooded Indian. Tribal members each receive about $4,000 a month in casino profits. James Fletcher, the bureau's local superintendent, wrote in a letter Friday that he is "unable to recognize any tribal government for the San Pasqual" and the tribe should "take immediate action" to address the problem. The bureau and the National Indian Gaming Commission say only legitimate governments can operate tribal casinos.
  
  
• Rift with tribe worries sheriff
  8/3/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  Riverside County Sheriff Stanley Sniff said Sunday he does not want to arrest security officers or tribal leaders who have been delaying his deputies as they attempt to enter the Soboba reservation and worries that such confrontations could escalate into violence. Sniff said the restrictions implemented by the leadership of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians could lead to conflicts at the security booth near the entrance to the reservation, because law enforcement officers for other agencies have the right to arrest anyone who impedes them. Given the recent history of violence on the reservation, Sniff said, the situation easily could escalate.
  
  
• No budget? Let's party!
  8/2/2008, Fresno Bee
  There were so many influential state legislators at the party celebrating the expansion of the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino the other night in Coarsegold that they could have solved the state's budget mess in between cocktails and gambling. Instead, we are 33 days into the fiscal year and there's no budget as required by law. It must be nice to be able to party instead of doing your job.
  
  
• Morongo Casino bets on classic Vegas action
  8/2/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  The Morongo Casino Resort, which first sought to be a hip alternative to Vegas, now is more in line with "old" Vegas, focusing on gambling and cheaper rooms. For four years, the resort has attempted to find its identity, and for the first time, the entire resort is wholly managed by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Now that its restaurants and nightclubs are under its control, the resort finds itself sharing the principles of classic Las Vegas: cheaper rooms, affordable dining and entertainment that appeals to an older crowd with extra money to spend.
  
  
• Tribe gives up little but gains much
  8/2/2008, Press Democrat - Opinion
  What would the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors do if Station Casinos, a Nevada casino operator, were to buy land close to Highway 101 in Rohnert Park and seek to construct a massive new casino that would generate thousands of car trips a day on already overcrowded Highway 101?
  
  
• Sheriff seeks Soboba Casino's closure
  8/1/2008, The Valley Chronicle
  Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff has petitioned the National Indian Gaming Commission to shut down the Soboba casino “until the Tribal Council allows unhindered and unrestricted access by law enforcement authorities onto the reservation to enforce State of California criminal statutes.” Sniff's action drew an immediate and virulent reaction from Robert Salgado, tribal chairman for the Soboba band of Luiseño Indians.
  
  
• County deal with tribe starts controversy
  7/31/2008, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF
  The casino agreement reached by the Sonoma County board of supervisors and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria last week raised some eyebrows and left local officials and leaders at odds over how much the county and tribe really gained. Under the agreement, the tribe stated that it would not build more than one casino in Marin and Sonoma counties, and that for any additional ventures, it would comply with the county zoning code and General Plan, and undergo a complete environmental review. The tribe also agreed to resolve environmental disputes through binding arbitration, if necessary.
  
  
• El Dorado County LAFCO defers action on Indian casino's water supply for now
  7/31/2008, Sacramento Bee
  The commission responsible for approving annexations in El Dorado County will allow a citizens group its day in court before pursuing legal action over an El Dorado Irrigation District decision to supply water to an Indian casino. The El Dorado Local Agen- cy Formation Commission had on its agenda last week a proposal to seek a state attorney general's opinion on the validity of the Shingle Springs Rancheria's annexation to the irrigation district 20 years ago and restrictions approved by LAFCO as part of the annexation agreement.
  
  
• Bush signs $2B boost for Indian Country into law
  7/31/2008, Indianz.com
  Indian Country will benefit from a $2 billion infusion in law enforcement, health and water funds under a bill signed into law on Wednesday. · $10 million for cross-deputization or other cooperative agreements between state, local, and tribal governments.
  
  
• Soboba tribal chairman vows to stop Riverside County deputies at reservation gate
  7/31/2008, Los Angeles Times
  Despite the threat of arrest and possible closure of their casino, leaders of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians said Wednesday that they would continue stopping law enforcement officers at the gates of their reservation unless they were responding to an emergency. The move sets up a possible confrontation with Riverside County sheriff's deputies who have shot and killed four tribal members in altercations and gunfights since December. "We hope it doesn't hit a crisis point, but I am fairly certain it will," said Chief Deputy Jim Domenoe. "We are going to be reasonable about this, but if they cause us significant delay, that could be grounds for arrest."
  
  
• California tribe fears a return of Keno
  7/30/2008, Sacramento Bee
  Indian gambling interests are concerned that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to bring back Keno, a popular bingo-like game banned 12 years ago for violating state gambling law. According to a draft of the governor's lottery plan obtained by The Bee, Schwarzenegger would propose a state constitutional amendment that tribes say could override a California Supreme Court decision that outlawed the game. "This attempts to walk right to the edge by trying to preserve the tribe's revenue" while expanding the lottery, said attorney Howard Dickstein, who represents the United Auburn tribe near Sacramento. "It's a bold and dramatic departure from the status quo."
  
  
• Key step for new Lake casino
  7/30/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
  A Lake County Pomo Indian tribe has passed a significant milestone in its quest to build a casino near the shores of Clear Lake. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has determined there would be no significant adverse social or environmental impacts to placing 11.24 acres of land just east of Upper Lake into trust for the 202-member Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, department officials said.
  
  
• PECHANGA: Tribe makes $30.8 million payment to the state
  7/30/2008, North County Times
  PECHANGA INDIAN RESERVATION -----The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians made its first payment Wednesday to the state of California under the terms of its amended tribal compact. Pechanga's payment to the state's general fund totaled $30.8 million, tribal officials said. That amount covers the tribe's payment to the state for the period of early February through the end of June.
  
  
• HOOPA-Strategies for civil disobedience the topic of workshop
  7/30/2008, Triplicate
  Activists fighting to remove hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River and restore the waterway will host a civil disobedience workshop today in Hoopa. Event organizers say the goal of the workshop is to empower local people with the tools necessary to protest peacefully in the mold of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. "The real focus is on nonviolent strategies for affecting change," said S. Craig Tucker, who is the Klamath Campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe.
  
  
• Soboba tribal leader says sheriff deputies' access limits will remain
  7/30/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  SOBOBA INDIAN RESERVATION - Soboba Tribal Chairman Robert Salgado on Wednesday defended his tribe's policy of questioning sheriff's deputies when they visit the reservation, saying officials can arrest him for the practice if they want. Salgado said he's well within his rights to have tribal security guards briefly delay sheriff's deputies who serve search warrants or conduct other business at the reservation. His remarks, made in a news conference at the tribe's administration building near San Jacinto, were in response to Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff's comments Tuesday that anyone interfering with police business could be arrested.
  
  
• Intertribal court moves to Rincon
  7/30/2008, North County Times
  RINCON INDIAN RESERVATION ---- The fledgling Intertribal Court of Southern California has a new home at the Rincon Indian Reservation. The 3-year-old court deals with legal issues that arise on local American Indian reservations, such as civil disputes and land use, housing and family matters. It serves as an appeals court, mediator and arbitrator for 10 San Diego County tribes. Until earlier this month, the court was housed in an office building in Escondido. The Rincon tribe offered to remodel a building at its reservation on Golsh Road. The building was formerly occupied by the Indian Health Council, a clinic serving local tribal communities.
  
  
• Indian Country advocate hindered by top DOJ aides
  7/29/2008, Indianz.com
  A well-respected federal prosecutor was blocked from working on Indian issues because Department of Justice political appointees believed she was lesbian, according to an investigation released on Monday. Leslie Hagen was as assistant U.S. Attorney in Western Michigan assigned to violent crimes in Indian Country. She worked on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse cases affecting 11 tribes in the state. Hagen ended up on a detail to a higher-level office to work on national Indian issues as part of the Native American Issues Subcommittee at DOJ. She won an "outstanding" rating on her performance reviews, the highest possible appraisal.
  
  
• Sheriff wants Soboba band's gaming license pulled
  7/29/2008, The Desert Sun
  Riverside County Sheriff Stanley Sniff, citing the Soboba band’s “propensity to violence” and apparent reluctance to allow deputies on tribal land, said Tuesday that the tribe should have its gaming license pulled. Sniff told the county Board of Supervisors that he sent a letter Monday to the National Indian Gaming Commission, requesting that it suspend the gaming license for the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians.
  
  
• Riverside County sheriff asks U.S. to shut Soboba Casino
  7/29/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  Riverside County Sheriff Stanley Sniff has asked the federal government to shut down Soboba Casino on the San Jacinto-area reservation where three tribal members were fatally shot by deputies earlier this year. Sniff said Tuesday that tribal leaders have instructed reservation security guards to block deputies serving search warrants or conducting other nonemergency business on the reservation. The tribe has a guard shack and gate at the entrance to the reservation's residential area. The guards required deputies to wait for tribal approval to enter the reservation in one instance a few weeks ago, the Sheriff's Department said.
  
  
• Tribe says it will put millions into roads
  7/29/2008, San Deigo Union Tribune
  The Pauma Indian band in North County has reached a tentative agreement to pay for $38 million in road improvements and take other steps to minimize the effects of a luxury resort it is building.
  
  
• Pauma band agrees to fund $38M in road improvements
  7/28/2008, San Diego Union Tribune
  Charles Mathews, one of the local residents who spoke with Devers and other tribal leaders about his concerns with the initial plans for the resort, said he was satisfied with the changes Pauma made. “Obviously the neighbors would prefer that there would not be a casino, but the reality is that there will be a casino,” he said. He said he was happy about the planned improvements to Route 76, the main artery through the Pauma Valley. “Some of that cash has a fuse on it, it has to be spent before 2011,” he said. “Clearly the onus now moves to the county and to Caltrans to make sure that available money is spent, is well spent.” The agreement drew praise from Cheryl Schmit, a gambling watchdog who works with community activists across the state and encouraged Pauma's neighbors to express their concerns to county and tribal leaders. “Wow!” she said. “This is a comprehensive agreement that should become the model for all tribes in San Diego County.” Schmit particularly liked the fact that the agreement can be revisited in one and three years to ensure it's working.
  
  
• Habematolel Pomo casino plans get federal approval
  7/28/2008, Lake County News
  UPPER LAKE – The Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake have received approval from the federal government to place land in trust, a decision tribal representatives say is a crucial step in moving forward with plans to build a $35 million casino. The US Department of the Interior's Office of the Secretary has issued a “finding of no significant impact” – or FONSI – on the tribe's proposal to place an 11.24-acre site on Highway 20 in trust, said the tribe's attorney, Robert Rosette.
  
  
• Plans move forward for fourth casino in county
  7/28/2008, Lake County Record Bee
  UPPER LAKE -- Plans for a fourth casino in Lake County are a step closer to becoming reality after federal approval that allows the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake to establish 11 acres of vineyard land as Indian lands. The U.S. Department of Interior issued a finding of no significant environmental impact July 18, according to a Thursday press release. The approval was the last step in the Upper Lake tribe's decades-long effort to regain its federally recognized status and restore its land base.
  
  
• Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians Announce Memorandum of Understanding With County of San Diego on Resort Expansion
  7/28/2008, Press Release
  PAUMA INDIAN RESERVATION, Pauma Valley, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the County of San Diego. The agreement provides financial contributions to the County to be used primarily towards quality of life improvements for County and Tribal residents. The money will also be used to mitigate the possible impacts of the Tribe's new destination casino resort. The agreement is in accordance with the state of California Tribal-State Gaming Compact.
  
  
• Sycuan trying again after 1993 rejection
  7/26/2008, San Deigo Union Tribune
  SACRAMENTO – Reopening what promises to be a noisy debate, the Sycuan band of El Cajon has applied for a state license to serve liquor at its remote casino in the Dehesa Valley. The tribe, which operates the only Indian casino in San Diego County that cannot serve alcoholic drinks, has proposed a number of conditions on its license to allay fears of drunken gamblers on the winding, two-lane road to its busy gambling complex. “Our application strikes a delicate balance between the wishes of our customers and the need to assure the public safety,” said Adam Day, Sycuan's assistant tribal manager. “I think you will find it is unprecedented. We have asked the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to impose a number of conditions and requirements.”
  
  
• Promises of casino revenue fail to pan out for state
  7/26/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  Just a few months ago, images of smiling children, police officers and firefighters filled TV screens and mailboxes across the state, urging voters to support major casino expansions for four Southern California tribes. Gov. Schwarzenegger and other government officials promised that the tribes would help balance the state's troubled budget with an influx of gambling dollars. The casino riches would help protect state funding for schools, police and fire departments, health care and roads, the tribes and their supporters said. Voters approved the deals, but recent signs suggest the promises may not pan out. Deals touted as a sure-fire way to help the state weather economic slumps are now struggling themselves.
  
  
• lawyer accuses Riverside County Sheriff's Department of negligence in death
  7/25/2008, Los Angeles Times
  A lawyer for the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians has accused the Riverside County Sheriff's Department of inadequate training and negligence and of killing a tribal member partly because of his ethnicity. Attorney Jack Schwartz recently filed a tort claim notice with the county Board of Supervisors and vowed to follow up with a federal lawsuit if the panel ignored or denied the claim. Schwartz is representing the family of Gordon Davis Arres, who died after being shot by deputies in December. He is one of five Soboba members killed in altercations or gunfights with law enforcement in a six-month period.
  
  
• New laws apply on the Rincon reservation
  7/25/2008, North County Times
  At the Rincon Indian Reservation, kids hang out all night getting into fights, people shoot guns in the streets and trespassers dump furniture, oil drums and puppies ---- all with relative impunity. But that's changing. A new set of tribal codes that took effect July 1, along with a maturing tribal court system, may succeed in reining in the kind of behavior that most cities and counties have regulated with ordinances, tribal spokesperson Nikki Symington said. "The reservations have gained a reputation for lawlessness, and it's been true," she said. "For the first time, we've got due process that protects individual rights while establishing community standards of behavior."
  
  
• Indian Affairs hearing addresses tribal courts
  7/25/2008, Indiaz.com
  The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing on Thursday on tribal courts. Tribal witnesses testified in support of S.3320, the Tribal Law and Order Act that was introduced on Wednesday. They said it will help tribal courts address crime on reservations through more funding, additional powers and greater coordination with federal authorities.
  
  
• Thunder Valley expansion kicks off
  7/24/2008, Sacramento Bee
  The landscape between Lincoln and Roseville changed five years ago when Thunder Valley Casino sprung up on Industrial Avenue next to Highway 65. It's about to change some more. A 24-story hotel, a performing arts center and a new parking structure are among new features coming to the casino in the next two years. Members of the United Auburn Indian Community, which owns the casino, and local governmental officials celebrated the expansion with a groundbreaking ceremony July 16.
  
  
• Time is running out to stop R.P. casino -Editorial
  7/24/2008, Argus Courier
  The latest, best hope to stop a gargantuan Las Vegas-style casino from being built in Rohnert Park may come from Assem-blyman Jared Huffman.
  
  
• Casino deal-Editorial
  7/24/2008, Press Democrat
  Opponents of a proposed Rohnert Park casino may be dissatisfied, but Sonoma and Marin county supervisors won important concessions from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Credit also goes to the leaders of the tribe, who agreed to give up considerable political leverage without getting much in return.
  
  
• Tribe to hold public forum
  7/24/2008, The Desert Sun
  The Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians will hold a forum next month to discuss issues surrounding an old federal law that gives six states latitude with law enforcement on Indian reservations. Public Law 280 was enacted in 1953, but opinions differ as to what it means in terms of sheriff's patrols on the Soboba Tribe's sovereign land, according to Mike Hiles, tribal information officer.
  
  
• The 800-pound gorilla that lives in the Capay Valley
  7/24/2008, Daily Democrat
  The casino has made members of the Rumsey tribe wealthy beyond their imagination, if they had a gold mine when they built the bingo parlor, they now own a diamond mine with the casino/resort. I say good for them, as someone whose wife is a member of a Native American tribe, the American Indian has received the short end of every stick they were ever offered. Now it is they who are wielding the largest club in the County; money, political power and sovereignty. However, with great power comes greater responsibility.
  
  
• Bill aimed at settling San Jacinto Valley Indian water rights dispute headed to president
  7/24/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  A bill to resolve a decades-old San Jacinto Valley Indian water rights dispute is headed for President Bush's signature with passage of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Settlement Act late Thursday in the U.S. Senate. The bill, introduced by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, passed the House of Representatives in May. The legislation implements a 1991 federal government settlement and another settlement with San Jacinto Valley water suppliers that took about eight years to resolve.
  
  
• Casino's big layoff to strain resources
  7/24/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  The county agency that helps retrain laid-off workers usually manages to find new jobs for more than three-quarters of them. But the ones laid off by the Pechanga Resort & Casino this week face a job market already glutted by growing numbers of unemployed blue- and white-collar workers and businesses worried that adding new employees might damage their already-bruised bottom lines. Felicia Flournoy, director of workforce development for the Riverside County Economic Development Agency, said the agency was able to find jobs for about 85 percent of the people who walked in the door last year. Usually the success rate is between 75 percent and 85 percent, she said. "But the economy has changed a lot this year," Flournoy said. "This is probably going to be a tough year."
  
  
• Point Molate Casino Backer to Help Fund Cleanup
  7/24/2008, The Berkeley Daily Planet
  The mysterious financial angel bankrolling a planned billion-dollar casino proposed for Richmond's Point Molate has emerged from the shadows. The Rumsey Band of Wintuns, operators of one of California's richest casinos, is the backer of the controversial project proposed by Berkeley developer James D. Levine and the Guidiville Rancheria band of Pomos. The Wintuns own and operate the Cache Creek Casino in Yolo County's Capay Valley, where they are proposing a $300 million expansion plan, including a 10-story hotel. They would serve as operators of the casino.
  
  
• Texas files response in Indian gaming case
  7/23/2008, Indiaz.com
  The state of Texas is urging the U.S. Supreme Court against hearing a case that tests a long-contested provision of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Twenty years after IGRA's passage in 1988, tribes have created a $28 billion industry in their communities. But some tribes are still being left out and Texas wants to keep it that way. The Kickapoo Tribe has tried to negotiate a Class III compact but Texas officials -- including former governor and current president George W. Bush -- have repeatedly refused, citing a ban on casino-style gaming in the state. Two other tribes have been rebuffed for similar reasons. GO TEXAS!
  
  
• Tribe renews pact with sheriff
  7/23/2008, San Bernardino Sun
  SAN MANUEL INDIAN RESERVATION - They are just words on a stack of paper. The growing trust, respect and shift in perception of the goings-on at American Indian reservations weren't evident in the ink. But they were readily apparent Tuesday as the tribal chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians lauded the importance of a renewed contract with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department at a news conference. "It shows a relationship we worked hard for to gain mutual respect from both sides," said James Ramos, who was elected tribal chairman in March. "It shows a workability, it shows trust, it shows a model for working with tribal communities." That model stands in stark contrast to the strained relationship between the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians.
  
  
• County signs pact with Graton tribe on land use
  7/23/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
  An agreement approved Tuesday between Sonoma County supervisors and the Graton Indian tribe indicates the county is parting ways with opponents of the tribe's Rohnert Park gaming casino.
  
  
• Casino law would call for voters' OK
  7/23/2008, Press Democrat
  The bill authored by Huffman, D-San Rafael, would require a tribe with newly acquired land to have its compact for gaming approved by voters in the county where the casino would be located.Attorneys who deal with Indian law and gaming also said Huffman's bill could backfire. "The lawyers will feed off it like sharks on chum," said Tom Gede, a former special policy adviser on Indian issues in the state Attorney General's Office. He noted that federal law requires the state to negotiate "in good faith" with a tribe that is eligible for Class III, or Las Vegas-style gaming. If the governor agreed to the compact and the county or city disapproved it, the tribe might file a lawsuit claiming the state failed to complete the contract in good faith, according to Gede, who also teaches federal Indian gaming law at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.
  
  
• Pechanga to lay off hundreds of workers
  7/23/2008, The Desert Sun
  The Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, one of the largest Indian gaming industry employers in California, announced plans Tuesday to lay off up to 400 of its 4,700 employees, a move that trims its workforce by nearly 9 percent. The economy was blamed. “For months, we have resisted the pressure to lay team members off,” Amy Minniear, president of the Pechanga Development Corp., said in a statement. “But because of the prolonged economic downturn, we must downsize in order to adjust to the current market conditions and position ourselves for success once the economy recovers.”
  
  
• Class II gaming decimation is feared in wake of Metlakatla decision
  7/23/2008, Indian Country Today
  WASHINGTON - On June 4, only six days after receiving a request to review and approve a game-specific amendment to the Metlakatla Indian Community Tribal Gaming Ordinance, National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Philip N. Hogen disapproved the amendment because the ''one-touch'' game it describes in detail as Class II bingo is actually a ''facsimile'' game of chance, he stated. ''This game is therefore Class III and cannot be operated without a compact.''
  
  
• Elk Valley Rancheria, California, Selects Hnedak Bobo Group to Design
  7/22/2008, New Blaze
  The Elk Valley Rancheria, California announces that Hnedak Bobo Group (HBG) Architects has been chosen from an extensive pool of designers to plan and design the Elk Valley Resort and Casino, a new destination resort on the Tribe's 203.5-acre Martin Ranch property in Crescent City. The development will be nestled on trust land among the scenic Redwood National Forest and the rugged Northern California coastline about 20 miles south of the Oregon border. The Tribe envisions the resort's long-term success will be driven by the lure of the surrounding majestic landscape, drawing customers traveling along the scenic Pacific Coastal Highway.
  
  
• Accord angers Rohnert Park casino foes
  7/22/2008, Press Democrat
  An agreement approved Tuesday between Sonoma County supervisors and the Graton Indian tribe indicates the county is parting ways with opponents of the tribe’s Rohnert Park gaming casino. The agreement itself has little to do with the tribe’s proposed Rohnert Park casino because it prohibits the tribe from establishing a second casino and puts any other development proposals from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria under county planning review.
  
  
• Senate Finance hearing on Indian tax policy
  7/22/2008, Indianz.com
  The Senate Finance Committee held a a hearing this morning on Indian tax policy. The hearing started at 10am and lasted about an hour. You can download audio clips below:
  
  
• Sen. Kyl: Tribes face public safety and health crisis
  7/22/2008, Indianz.com
  "Native Americans are facing a public safety and health crisis because of a lack of federal funding. A 2004 report by the Interior Department Inspector General stated that “some [Indian detention] facilities we visited were egregiously unsafe, unsanitary, and a hazard to both inmates and staff alike. [Bureau of Indian Affairs’s] detention program is riddled with problems . . . and is a national disgrace.” A 2008 Interior report confirms that tribal jails are still grossly insufficient, stating that: “[o]nly half of the offenders are being incarcerated who should be incarcerated, the remaining are released through a variety of informal practices due to severe overcrowding in existing detention facilities.”
  
  
• Pechanga casino to lay off 400, citing market conditions
  7/22/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  The Pechanga Resort & Casino announced Tuesday it is laying off about 400 workers because high gas prices and the struggling economy are keeping customers away. The casino, owned by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, is the second-largest private employer in Riverside County and the largest in the Temecula area. The hotel and casino, with 4,700 workers, is second only to Stater Bros. Markets in private sector employment in the county. The cut amounts to nearly 9 percent of the resort's workforce. The tribe was one of the first in the region to expand and open a resort after voters approved Las Vegas-style Indian casinos in 2000. The tribe draws gamblers from across Southern California. Amy Minniear, president of the Pechanga Development Corp., said in a statement that laying off workers was "the most difficult decision" the tribe has had to make in the 13 years of its casino business.
  
  
• Tribe seeking Point Molate casino resort scores new financing
  7/22/2008, Contra Costa Times
  Financing from the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians will help the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians through an arduous federal approval process in its bid to build an 1,100-room resort with a casino, theater, convention center, retail and housing on the land at the foot of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge, said tribal spokesman Michael Derry. Rumsey would operate the casino, he said.Guidiville has agreed to pay Richmond $20 million a year if the plan materializes.
  
  
• Single casino plan detailed
  7/22/2008, Desert Dispatch
  BARSTOW — The Los Coyotes Band of Indians have decided to go it alone in pursuing a casino in Barstow. Shane Chapparosa, a spokesman for the tribe, and Tom Shields, a spokesman for developer BarWest, outlined a new plan at Monday’s City Council meeting for one casino in Barstow linked to only one tribe, the Los Coyotes.
  
  
• Proposed Cloverdale casino site triples in size
  7/21/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
  A public meeting on the proposed casino's upcoming environmental review is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. July 30 at the Cloverdale Citrus Fairgrounds. The Cloverdale Rancheria's proposed casino and hotel site has increased in size with the tribe more than tripling the acreage it acquired last year for the venture. The hotel/spa and casino resort could occupy up to 596,000 square feet, according to a tribal consultant. "In little Cloverdale? There goes our small-town charm," said City Councilman Gus Wolter, reacting Friday to the scale of the project. The casino is still considered to be at least five years away from construction, assuming it gets the approval of federal and state officials. But if it does get built, Sonoma County could potentially have three of the largest Indian casinos in Northern California.
  
  
• Meet Barney Frank - Gambling Enthusiast
  7/21/2008, On Line Casino Reports
  Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has proposed legislation that would legalize online gambling, a reversal of US law which outlawed the industry. In 2006, President Bush signed a law that bars banks and credit card companies from accepting payments to online gambling websites, making it virtually impossible to place bets. Online lotteries, fantasy sports and horse racing were excepted from this ban and they are all well and thriving.
  
  
• Huffman warns about casino deal
  7/21/2008, Marin Journal
  A deal that Marin County supervisors have negotiated with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria regarding casino development in Marin and Sonoma is misguided, Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said. The legal agreement, which supervisors will consider approving Tuesday, would preclude Marin from legally challenging a Bureau of Indian Affairs decision that allowed the tribe to take into trust 254 aces of land in Rohnert Park. The decision would let the tribe build a casino, large hotel and entertainment center without being subject to local zoning laws or environmental review.
  
  
• Huffman Introduces Bill on Indian Gaming
  7/21/2008, Assembly Member Jared Huffman
  San Rafael, CA- Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) has authored a bill, AB 1741, that will provide that legislative ratification of a compact for gaming on land that was taken into trust by the United States on behalf of an Indian tribe on or after January 1, 2008, and on which gaming was not being lawfully conducted on the date of ratification, shall not be effective unless one or both of the following occur: 1) the voters of the county or counties in which the land is located have approved the compact; 2) one or more intergovernmental agreements have been executed by the tribe and certain cities, counties, or cities and counties, as specified.
  
  
• County, Graton tribe deal on future growth
  7/21/2008, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
  Although the memorandum of understanding has no practical effect on the proposed casino and hotel, the county and Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are edging closer to accommodations on measures to mitigate effects of the tribe's plans for the 254-acre site adjacent to Rohnert Park. "It applies to future projects, independent of the current casino and hotel project," said Jeffrey Brax, deputy county counsel. "If they do build that project, they will start making money and spending it on other things. It is intended to get a handle on future development." Supervisors will discuss the proposed agreement at their regular Tuesday session at 8:45 a.m. Marin County supervisors will also take up the proposal because it prohibits the tribe from establishing a second casino in either county.
  
  
• Straight ahead, traffic circles in Cabazon, other Inland areas
  7/20/2008, The Press-Enterprise
  CABAZON - They are common in Europe and on the East Coast, but with few exceptions are rare in Southern California. Their scaled-down versions are a frequent feature of some gated communities and newer commercial shopping areas in the Inland area. But now more drivers will get a chance to try one out. A new pair of two-lane roundabouts, sometimes called traffic circles, opened July 11 at the Apache Trail exit to Interstate 10 in Cabazon by factory outlet stores and the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa.
  
  
• SEN. DEAN FLOREZ: Reservation shopping in Madera County demands investigation
  7/20/2008, Fresno Bee
  As such, I am hereby calling for the Department of Interior to begin an investigation and questioning of those "in charge" at the regional BIA -- whose decisions can set a dangerous precedent. If we don't demand integrity of the process in Madera, no community in our state is safe from moneyed interests making a mockery of the voters' noble intent.
  
  
• San Pasqual tribe could expel about 80 members
  7/19/2008, North County Times
  About 80 members of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, which owns Valley View Casino, will be expelled from the Valley Center tribe if an internal effort to "disenroll" them is successful. It is the latest in a long-standing, bitter feud among factions of the 300-member tribe that calls into question what it means to be American Indian and who gets to benefit from the spoils of casino wealth. A week ago, members of the tribe held separate meetings on the disenrollment matter. One was held at the reservation and another at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Escondido.
  
  
• The Blue Lake Casino will soon be the site of a new hotel.
  7/19/2008, Eureka Reporter
  The Blue Lake Casino will soon be the site of a new hotel. The Blue Lake Rancheria held a ground-breaking ceremony outside the casino Friday to mark the kick off of the expansion project. At four levels, the hotel will contain 104 rooms, including two junior and two deluxe suites, a 1,700 square foot non-smoking casino addition and an outdoor swimming pool. Blue Lake Rancheria officials said they hope the hotel will become a destination, adding to the The Play Station 777 and entertainment options offered by Blue Lake Casino.
  
  
• Supervisors craft deal to limit tribe's gaming
  7/19/2008, Marin Journal
  Marin County supervisors are considering a deal with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria that would limit the tribe, which is already seeking a casino in Rohnert Park, to one casino in either Marin or Sonoma county. In May, county officials learned that the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs had approved the tribe's 2006 application to take into trust 254 acres in Rohnert Park, according to a memorandum from Patrick Faulkner, the county's top lawyer. The bureau also said federal law requires it to accept into trust any Marin or Sonoma property upon application by the tribe - and that its actions are not subject to any public or environmental review. This interpretation alarmed county officials, who feared the tribe could establish numerous casinos with little local review. So officials from Marin and Sonoma met with tribal representatives and struck an agreement that limits the tribe to a total of one casino between the two counties. If the tribe builds a casino in Rohnert Park, it would not seek one in Marin, under the agreement. Sonoma County, for its part, wouldn't see its tax revenues diluted by a casi