From MLive:
BATTLE CREEK, MI – The owners of FireKeepers Casino plan to hold an informational meeting for area community leaders about a statewide ballot proposal that would amend the state constitution to allow eight new privately owned casinos to be built in Michigan.
In a press release, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Pottawatomi [sic] said the meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in the Bingo Room of FireKeepers Casino.
From the Battle Creek Inquirer via Pechanga:
Four months after the opening of FireKeepers Casino, local police say crime hasn’t risen as some casino opponents had feared.
While some critics feared the casino would lead to an increase in burglaries, embezzlement and crimes of that ilk, that hasn’t materialized, police and residents said.
Increased traffic is the thing most residents near the casino are going to experience, said Emmett Township’s acting Public Safety Director Kenneth Cunningham. Gamers at the casino might see the occasional drunken and disorderly conduct, but nothing more than would be expected at a place selling alcohol, Cunningham said.
Cunningham and casino officials said data on the number of incidents near FireKeepers and on casino grounds were not immediately available. Those statistics are tracked by the Huron Potawatomi Police Department, the force for the Athens Township-based Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, FireKeepers’ owners.
Residents living near the facility say its impact has been minimal.
“It’s not really been a problem,” said Sue Bess, 67, who lives on Ackerson Drive, directly east of the casino property. “Traffic’s not really been much different. Everything’s moved pretty smooth.”
The tribe in October 2008 signed a $1.1 million agreement with Emmett Township for Emmett to police the casino around the clock for three years. The tribe pays for five cross-trained police, fire and emergency medical public safety officers and a new patrol car for the township, which is housed at the casino. Fire or medical calls are handled and paid for on a per-call basis.
Four months after the casino’s opening, “Things are going very good,” Cunningham said.
From the Battle Creek Enquirer:
Officials at Pine Creek Reservation, the Emmett Township Department of Public Safety and FireKeepers Casino are scrambling to get public safety agreements in place before the casino’s early August opening.
That’s because the agreements “have hit a last-minute snag,” township Supervisor Gene Adkins said at the board’s meeting Thursday.
The township board on Thursday postponed approval for the second time on a cross-deputization agreement between their public safety department and the Huron Potawatomi Police Department. In June, trustees wanted the township attorneys to review the language before voting on it.
The contract would deputize tribal police to act with authority on township property. Without the agreement, tribal police couldn’t leave the casino grounds, which are sovereign Indian land, in pursuit of criminals.
From Indianz:
Despite a lack of construction activity, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians says its casino near Battle Creek, Michigan, will open in June 2009.
The tribe was supposed to start work on the FireKeepers Casino this spring. But spokesperson Donna Halinski promises that construction will begin before the summer. “We haven’t set a date yet,” Halinski told The Battle Creek Enquirer. “There are still some internal things going on. … The design work is all done. … Everything’s in place.” The tribe’s land-into-trust application for the casino was held up in court for eight years. Get the Story:
Casino project awaits start (The Battle Creek Enquirer 4/28 )
by Chris Killian | Special to the Gazette
Saturday February 09, 2008, 6:32 PM
Two area gambling hubs could open by late next year, pending court ruling
Mark Bugnaski / GazetteKristine Albers checks new decks of cards at The Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo in August. By mid-to-late 2009, southwest Michigan could have two more casinos.
Two Native American casinos could be open in Southwest Michigan by the middle to end of next year, bringing with them an estimated 3,000 casino jobs, another 2,600 spin-off jobs and the potential for millions of dollars in annual local-revenue sharing. They would become the 22nd and 23rd casinos in the state, and both would be within an hour’s drive of Kalamazoo.Ground could be broken as soon as this spring on both the FireKeepers Casino in Emmett Township, just east of Battle Creek, and the Gun Lake Casino, in Wayland Township, about 35 miles north of Kalamazoo on U.S. 131.
From the NIGC:
Washington DC, December 17, 2007 — On Friday, December 14, 2008, National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) Chairman Phil Hogen approved a gaming management contract between the Hurron Band of Potawatomi Indians and Gaming Entertainment (Michigan) LLC.
From the Citizen Patriot:
Leaders of the of Potawatomi Indians announced Monday a Lansing contractor will build its $270 million casino in Calhoun County.
Turtle Talk 