From the Kalamazoo Gazette: “Both sides said they were optimistic after arguments were presented Friday before the U.S. Court of Appeals over the future of a proposed Indian casino in Wayland Township.James Nye, a spokesman for the Gun Lake Tribe of Potawatomi Indians, said the group is prepared to begin casino construction before year’s end if the three-judge panel ejects a challenge by Michigan Gambling Opposition, or MichGO.”
3 thoughts on “Gun Lake Casino Oral Argument Report”
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Turtle Talk 
Hello, please tell me how the plans for the casino are going……..
Keep watching the paper, but am seeing no news.
Hopefully it’ll finished this spring.
Shelly C,
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
The following is a response to the Grand Rapids Press, January 27, 2009 – front page article: “Fight fizzles, but casino foes reap rewards”
With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies?
Nancy Crawley the Grand Rapids Press Business Editor wrote a regrettable front page ‘We Stuck it to em’ Good’ article reference the Gun Lake Tribal Casino: “Fight fizzles, but casino foes reap rewards; January 27, 2009.” No longer cloaked in the holier-than-thou rhetoric that the “Casino foes” never failed to crawl out from under (a moot issue with lotto tickets on every street corner), they have at long last shown their hoary heads in the light of day and declared for all the world “Greed is Good.” In fact, it’s so good that we can declare that bullying and legally harassing a poor, destitute, and otherwise utterly marginalized Gun Lake Tribe for well over ten years (more like 20, plus ) is somehow a virtue. Or, that denying “thousands of people…good career opportunities, with good pay and health benefits” is somehow a community objective. Give me a break. Talk about “twisted.”
The only real threat to downtown Grand Rapids is the continued Zero Sum, ‘your gain is my loss’ mentality that has totally forgotten the concept of free enterprise and the Reagan mantra “a rising tide lifts all boats.”
Ms. Crawley even dredged up the despicable and evocative term “cannibalize…” as she gloated in what is at best a Pyrrhic victory and most likely a defeat at the hands of the little David, Gun Lake Tribe against the Goliath of Grand Rapids. She even goes so far as to arrogantly invoke the term “magnanimous.” Ha! Even a sidelong glance at a dictionary would inform her that “magnanimity” is a noble trait associated with victory over a base and common foe. She’s gotten her script completely flipped!
One is left to wonder exactly what alternative universe Ms. Crawley is in if she can associate unmitigated defeat with “magnanimity.” Leaving the little Gun Lake Tribe with absolutely nothing for 10 or 20 years is no “important victory” in my book; it is a shameful refusal to share in opportunity and growth. It is a heartless, brutal, oppression of a small and destitute population left to the tender mercies of “Grand Rapids business leaders.“ There is nobility in long-suffering for a just cause, not in causing someone else to suffer.
Finally, I could only howl with laughter at the gall of her final pitiable ‘all of a sudden we’re friends’ plea: “Now maybe the winnings can be spread around…” Ah, yeah, sure Nancy, I’m sure the tribe will be more than happy to discuss that in say, around 10 or 20 years?