From Economics Letters, a study on Indian gaming and tribal member employment: “Is gaming the optimal strategy? The impact of gaming facilities on the income and employment of American Indians”: Article
From the abstract:
Indian gaming
New Studies Show Pequot and Mohegan Casinos are Good*
From the Connecticut Economy, a journal published by the University of Connecticut.
The first article, “Spill-Free Gaming,” demonstrated that the operation of the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos had no adverse effect on local crime rates. A second article, “The State of Play in New England Casino Gaming,” argues that the enormous revenues generated by gaming Connecticut means that legalized gambling in Rhode Island and Massachusetts is inevitable. Another article, “Got Game?” demonstrated that these two casinos contribute $430 million a year to the Conn. general fund.
St. Croix Chippewa Gaming & Trust Lands Suit
From Indianz [complaint and motion for TRO at the bottom of the post]:
Wisconsin tribe sues BIA over off-reservation gaming
Monday, December 10, 2007
A Wisconsin tribe sued the Bush administration on Friday, accusing two political appointees of changing the land-into-trust process to block off-reservation casinos.
CECGAC v Hogan (W.D. N.Y) — Seneca Nation of Indians Gaming Case
Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County v. Hogan [NIGC] is proceeding. The Seneca Nation of Indians just filed an amicus brief in the matter. Here’s a news article on the question.
Here are the materials (so far):
Michigan Potawatomi Gaming News
From the Western Michigan Business Review (H/T Indianz):
Casinos to finance diversified economies
Thursday, December 06, 2007By Lynn Stevens
lynns@mbusinessreview.com
Both the Nottawaseppi Huron Band and the Gun Lake Tribe see the opening and continued success of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians’s Four Winds Casino as inspiration. They are sure that it’s only a matter of time until they, too, can open financial engines.
Suit in Navajo Tribal Courts Over Gaming
From the Las Cruces Sun-News (h/t Indianz):
Group to legally challenge Navajo Nation’s plan for first casino
ALBUQUERQUE – Months before the Navajo Nation’s first casino is scheduled to open, a group is planning to sue over the validity of legislation that provides for financing the development of that casino and others.
Pokagon Casino Revenue Sharing
From Mlive:
NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The American Indian tribe that owns the new Four Winds Casino Resort in extreme southwestern Michigan is withholding its first revenue-sharing payments from local governments and school districts.
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians says it has concerns about the organization of the board that is to oversee the distribution of the estimated $3 million a year in payments.
Article on the Impact of New Mexico Indian Gaming & Crime
In short, not much. From the article, “evidence of a measurable impact of casino gambling on crime is inconclusive.” And, “While there may be a perceived increase in crime by the public, it cannot be attributed directly to the state’s casinos.” However, it seems clear that the researchers here looked hard to find a link and are no friends to Indian gaming. It appears their research started with the 1999 National Gambling Impact Study Commission Report — anti-tribal gaming as anything — and went from there.
Saginaw Chippewa’s Second Casino to Open Dec. 31
From the Bay City Times:
Experience in Manistee suggests Standish casino will grow fast, add jobs and a few problems
Sunday, November 18, 2007By Helen Lounsbury
STANDISH – Rumored for decades, Northeast Lower Michigan’s first casino stands just six weeks from its scheduled Dec. 31 opening.
Yet even as construction crews put finishing touches on what has finally become a certainty for rural Arenac County, little else here is certain. Questions and few answers, loom about how the casino will change this industry-poor, farmland-rich community. Here, in open pasture, the casino marks Arenac’s biggest development project in years.
”People hope it creates good jobs. People hope it makes us a destination. People hope it means more revenue for the area,” muses Curt Hillman, a Standish businessman who has spent a lifetime serving on local economic development boards.
Four Winds Casino Review in Chicago Tribune
From the Chicago Tribune:
New Buffalo casino brings a crowd to Harbor Country
Four Winds Casino and Resort has a half-dozen restaurants and a 165-room hotel. (Four Winds Casino and Resort photo / November 22, 2007)
|Tribune staff reporter
- November 25, 2007
-
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. – First thing’s first: Gambling can be dangerous.Casinos, on the other hand, are fascinating.Think about it: Top-notch restaurants, well-appointed hotel suites, luxurious spa services, live entertainment, boutique retail outlets, free-flowing alcohol and, of course, gaming galore — in most cases, at all hours. Minus the whole “experience nature” thing, casinos essentially provide all the major amenities of a luxury vacation under one neon-clad roof.They’re also not without their annoyances: that steady hum of ringing slot machines tuned to the pleasant key of C major, which can get stuck in your head for days; and, despite advanced air filtration systems, the lingering stench of smoke.But it’s all part of the experience. Staying at a casino — even just for a weekend (I wouldn’t recommend any longer) — means immersing yourself in a culture that may be foreign from your own. Which, when you think about it, is the whole point.So, where to go? The obvious destination for experiencing casino culture is Las Vegas.
And then there’s New Buffalo.
About 2 miles from downtown New Buffalo (population 2,200) lies the brand-new $180 million Four Winds Casino Resort, which opened its doors Aug. 2. The place is huge. It boasts 130,000 square feet of “gaming positions” (actual seats at slot machines or gaming tables) which, were it located in Las Vegas, would make it the second-largest casino on the Strip; plus a half-dozen restaurants and a modest 165-room hotel.
And, when I visited two weeks ago, all of its grandeur seemed absolutely necessary, due to the sheer volume of visitors. As I approached the long, winding drive leading to the casino nestled in the woods, I encountered something I’ve never before experienced in New Buffalo: traffic. People were lined up in their cars, waiting to park in one of the 2,120 spots in the heated, four-level parking garage and commence spending money. And after hanging out for a few days, it’s easy to see why: The place is beautiful — and, perhaps more importantly, resembles nothing of the gaudy glam of Vegas.
Designed by Urban Design Group (which counts Disney among its clients) and owned by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Four Winds has the look and feel of a regal North Woods lodge, situated far enough back from Interstate Highway 94 that the “woodland retreat” facade is believable.
Just inside the entrance, a grand rotunda (on which a local Pokagon artist will soon begin a mural project) is flanked by two ridiculously huge fireplaces; the beams lining the arcades (leading to shops and a bus terminal at one end, the hotel at the other) were carved from dead standing cedar and birch trees, which are often used in tribal ceremonies for the Pokagon band.
At the heart of it all is the gaming floor itself, which, despite the refreshing lack of neon, looks like a casino (darkly lit, maze-like carpet, banks and bars at every turn), but the restaurants tucked within could stand alone — even in Chicago.
Turtle Talk 
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