Michigan Indian – Page 135

LTBB to Assist in Bay Harbor Cleanup

October 30, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

PETOSKEY — A local tribe could become involved in plans to treat large-scale pollution at Bay Harbor Resort on Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay.

CMS Energy is responsible for treating contaminated groundwater at Bay Harbor Resort and may turn to the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians for help.

CMS currently trucks wastewater to Grand Traverse County’s septage treatment plant in Traverse City, but wants to treat the pollution closer to the contamination site in Emmet County.

Tribal officials aren’t specifying what role they could play.

“This is our bay as well as it is the community’s. I want to be proactive about this. I see possibilities and responsibility,” said Ken Harrington, tribal chairman.

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Hannahville Proposes Casino in Romulus

October 27, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

From the Freep:

A group of American Indians from the Upper Peninsula again is proposing to build a casino development in Romulus that will include a 200-room hotel and retail space.

The Hannahville Indian Community has resubmitted its application to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Ken Meshigaud, chairman of the Hannahville community, said Monday at the Romulus City Council meeting.

Meshigaud told the council that he’s “more confident than ever” that the $300 million project will go through.

The previous administration in Washington, D.C., was against off-reservation gaming and last year dismissed 27 applications, including Hannahville’s, according to its attorney, Raj Wiener.

The 800-member community runs the Chip-In Island Resort and Casino in Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula.

Hannahville is asking the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to place a portion of a 27-acre site at Vining and Wick into trust — allowing tribal members to own the land and use it for gaming, as a sort of extension of their 5,500-acre reservation near Escanaba.

Past opponents of off-reservation gaming, who have included Gov. Jennifer Granholm, have expressed concern that such developments are far from the people who are supposed to be benefiting from them. Granholm’s spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, did not have an immediate comment Monday night.

According to Meshigaud, the proposed Romulus casino would draw as many as 6 million visitors annually, including many from nearby Detroit Metro Airport, and generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year for the Hannahville community.

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Detroit City Council Rejects Greektown Bankruptcy Deal

October 21, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From FREEP:

The Detroit City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday to reject a $15.3-million settlement for the city that would have transferred ownership of Greektown Casino to a new company after the casino emerges from bankruptcy.

The vote came after a group of local investors, including former Highland Park Emergency Financial Manager Arthur Blackwell, made its case to the council that the investors deserve some form of payment in the bankruptcy.

“I’ve never heard of a deal where the casino has never lost a dime” being in bankruptcy, said Blackwell, an investor who sold most of his stake in Greektown to casino mogul Don Barden, but retains $5 million in Greektown options. “By voting ‘No’ … we’ve got hope for something.”

But Mayor Dave Bing said he will ask the council to reconsider its vote.

In a statement, Bing decried the vote as “an attempt to force the Greektown bankruptcy court to make payments to a small group of casino investors” that violates U.S. bankruptcy rules.

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News Coverage of Pokagon Band Casino Revenues

October 21, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians continues to report strong slot machine revenues at its casino in Michigan. The Four Winds Casino took in $311 million on slots from August 2008 to August 2009, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board. That’s slightly more than the $309 million reported in the casino’s first year of operation, from August 2007-August 2008.

“It’s still a new property. People still are coming to test it out,” spokesperson Tom Shields told The South Bend Tribune. The tribe shares 6 percent of slot revenues with the state and 2 percent with local communities.

Get the Story:
Four Winds rakes in $1 million per day in 2nd year (The South Bend Tribune 10/21)

Univ. of Michigan Finally to Review Repatriation Policy

October 17, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From CBS via Pechanga:

Facing criticism for still holding the remains of about 1,400 Native Americans in its archaeological collection, the University of Michigan will be reviewing its policies on how to properly deal with Indian bones and artifacts.

A committee charged with looking at the legal, ethical and scientific concerns involved will meet for the first time next week and “will hear all sides of the story,” said Stephen Forrest, vice president for research at the Ann Arbor school.

“We want to have a very balanced approach,” he said Friday. “We are actively seeking to understand all the aspects of the problem.”

At issue is the conflicting interests of researchers and museums in studying and teaching about earlier human cultures and that of native peoples to have their religions and ancestral remains respected.

Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act passed by Congress in 1990, federally supported institutions must catalog the remains and burial items they hold and return them, when requested, to groups that have a “cultural affiliation” to them. Continue reading →

Majority of Creditors Approve of Greektown Casino Reorganization

October 15, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Freep:

Greektown Casino said Tuesday its plan of reorganization was supported by a majority of creditors, paving the way for it to emerge from bankruptcy after confirmation hearings next month.

Charles Moore, a turnaround expert for the casino’s estate, told the Michigan Gaming Control Board on Tuesday that 80.6% of pre-petition lenders representing $220.7 million in claims voted to accept the casino’s plan.

Voting results on the alternative plan offered by Luna Greektown LLC and Plainfield Asset Management LLC were not available Tuesday.

Creditors representing much smaller amounts owed voted overwhelmingly to reject the Greektown reorganization plan, according to a filing Tuesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit. Confirmation hearings on the plan are to begin Nov. 3 and are expected to last four days.

The pre-petition lenders will receive equity in the new casino and be the new owners, Moore told state regulators. Fine Point Group would continue to manage the casino, he said.

The board also was told of a settlement between the City of Detroit and Greektown Casino that would give the city a $15.3-million payment and free the casino to seek a 5% tax rollback from state regulators.

Moore said that Greektown would approach the board at its next meeting Nov. 10 for approval. That would give the casino time during confirmation hearings the prior week to receive court approval for the rollback first.

The casino, under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, would reduce its annual city and state taxes by $15 million with the rollback.

The city had argued that Greektown Casino was not eligible for the tax break already extended to MotorCity Casino and MGM Grand Detroit casino because it violated its development agreement.

The casino, which opened its hotel in February, had argued that it met the requirements for its permanent facility then.

Moore also told the state gaming board that Greektown’s goal is to emerge from bankruptcy by Dec. 31.

City of Detroit OKs Greektown Bankruptcy Plan

October 13, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Detroit News via Pechanga:

Detroit — A plan to hand control of Greektown Casino-Hotel to its largest group of creditors has been tentatively approved by the city of Detroit and could get the casino of out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the end of the year.
The tentative agreement was unveiled this morning at a meeting of the Michigan Gaming Control Board. The casino would be in the hands to the largest group of secured creditors, represented in the case by banking and investment giant Merrill Lynch.

“This is a major milestone,” said attorney Daniel Weiner of Bloomfield Hills-based Schafer and Weiner, who represents the debtors. The tentative agreement was reached with the city Friday, but needs approval by City Council, Mayor Dave Bing, the gaming board and U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Walter Shapero. A confirmation hearing in bankruptcy court is set for Nov. 3, which would be followed by a vote of the gaming board.

The other suitor for the hotel and casino was an effort lead by Bloomfield Hills business man Tom Celani, in partnership with Connecticut-based hedge fund Plainfield Asset Management.

Greektown’s owners, the Sault Tribe of Chippewa, filed for Chapter 11 protection on May 29, 2008. The Detroit casino has more than $777 million in debt.

Chuck Moore, a financial advisor working on the Greektown case, said he anticipates that the tentative bankruptcy agreement will ultimately be approved.

“We anticipate a contested confirmation hearing, but it will be approved,” Moore told the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

FMLA Claim against Soaring Eagle Casino Dismissed

October 13, 2009Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the court order in Sober v. Soaring Eagle Casino (E.D. Mich.), dismissed on grounds that the plaintiff failed to exhaust tribal court remedies (she did not appeal tribal court’s dismissal of her claim to the tribal court of appeals) — Sober v Soaring Eagle DCT Order

Here are the materials:

SCIT Motion to Dismiss

Sober Tribal Court Order