People Against a Casino Town
News of Interest
National Opposition to Casinos

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  • Also see:  USPACT - nationwide listing of groups fighting casinos in their community
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ISSUE:  GROUPS FIGHTING CASINOS

7/31/07 - 2007 NCALG / NCAGE NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER
October 12-13, Washington, D.C. - Visit Your Congressional Delegation - Learn more about what YOU can do for your community Be part of of this dynamic, growing national movement * Nationally Recognized Speakers * Expert Presentations * Latest Research and Studies * Networking With Experienced Leaders * Contact NCALG for registration
http://www.ncalg.org/Current%20Events.htm

05/01/07 - Casino in LaCenter, Washington?  Time to take a stand - Opponents such as Tom Hunt, spokesman for Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS), say opposition from elected officials would carry weight with federal officials who ultimately will decide if a casino complex may go in at the La Center junction on Interstate 5.   ...  it is long past time for those who ask us for their votes to take a stand in this four-year-old dispute. There are better ways to use that land - ways that would keep it on the tax rolls (unlike a reservation for a tribe that is based closer to Toledo, Wash., than La Center)  and provide higher-end jobs without the gambling addiction and the problems it fosters.  (5/1/07, Get off the fence)

01/09/07 - UCE will seek closing of casino - A New York citizens group (Upstate Citizens for Equality) that won a court ruling declaring Turning Stone casino is operating illegally plans to go back to court to get the casino shut down. The first suit sought only a ruling that the agreement between the state and the Oneida Indian Nation had never been ratified by the state Legislature and was thus invalid. A state judge ruled in UCE's favor in 2004, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that decision in December. Peterman told the group Monday that UCE hadn't thought it needed to ask for a shutdown of the casino in the original suit. "We were naive enough to believe that once we determined it was illegal, lo and behold, our politicians would do their job and uphold the law," Peterman said. Since the U.S. Supreme Court decision last month to uphold the ruling, UCE has called on politicians to shut down the casino. Gov. Eliot Spitzer has declined to say what action he will take. Also see: Letter from Cornelius Murray to NY Office of Attorney General re: Peterman v. Pataki, 12/12/06)
10/07/06 - Billionaire to spend $1 million on anti-casino ad campaign - Billionaire businessman B. Thomas Golisano plans to spend more than a million dollars on an anti-casino marketing blitz, an announcement that kicked off a two-day forum against legalized gambling. Conference participants applauded when Golisano also announced that his hockey team - the Buffalo Sabres - will not sign any new contracts with the New York State Lottery for advertising during games in HSBC Arena.
Radio commercials will hit local airwaves soon. They tell casino patrons "the odds are stacked against you" and that they're showered with free food and other casino perks because "they pegged you as a big loser." Even if lawsuits fail to block construction of the casino, Golisano said the ad campaign will continue with messages that casinos fuel crime and personal bankruptcies, and hurt other businesses.
One woman later asked Golisano what people who don't have money to bankroll an ad campaign could do to help. He encouraged them to write letters to newspapers and to call elected officials, including Brown.
"Bug the hell out of them," he said.

9/10/06 - National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion (NCAGE) NCAGE says a competing bill is much better. "We will continue to support Congressman Rogers' bill (HR 4677), which calls for a two-year moratorium on off-reservation tribal
casinos and new tribal recognitions. There were some positive features in the initial Pombo bill, but most of those were recently amended out.

9/6/06 - NEW YORK - Regional Conference -  October 6 and 7, 2006, Buffalo, New York - National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, hosted by Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County

07/12/06 - NEW YORK - Western New York Coalition for Progress issues statement opposing proposed Buffalo Creek Casino.

06/07/06 - WASHINGTON - New group holding protest June 10 - A citizens group opposing the Nooksack Indian Tribe's planned Lynden-area casino will hold a protest rally Saturday morning. The North County Community Alliance, formally called ag YES casiNO, says the casino threatens farmland preservation and feels the community was shut out of the process. Protesters will meet at the Deming Library parking lot, 5044 Mount Baker Highway, and then assemble at 11:30 a.m. across from the tribe's Nooksack River Casino.

06/01/06 -  PENNSYLVANIA - Rally Launches 'Casino Free Philadelphia' on Eve of Deadline for Feedback - A rally was held yesterday to launch Casino Free Philadelphia, a citywide grassroots initiative to protest Act 71 and say no to casinos in Philadelphia.  As Dianne Berlin of Casino Free PA put it, “It’s an open invitation to corruption.”  “Gambling is not economic development nor is it ordinary business,” said Berlin. Well-documented costs far outweigh the suggested benefits. “There are serious negatives associated with gambling and among these are bankruptcy, crime, corruption, divorce and suicide. These costs are not covered by the casinos. These costs are dumped on the public either via government programs and services or community and faith organizations.” Additionally, the profits these casinos generate would come by and largely from the pockets of Pennsylvanians and the majority of the money would end up out of state, in Atlantic City or Las Vegas.

ISSUE:  POMBO BILL

09/15/06 - Pombo Reservation Shopping Bill - Rush Job - Beware the devious politicians who try to miscast some of those votes. They might try, for example, to portray Reps. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, or David Wu, D-Ore., as pro-casino because they opposed a bill that would restrict off-reservation casinos. Nothing could be further from the truth. ... And Wu had one key amendment in mind. He said: "The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area is our Yosemite, our Grand Canyon. It is wrong to build a 600,000-square-foot casino drawing 3 million people and 1 million additional cars each year for non-gorge purposes into the gorge. I will not be silent while our crown jewel gets trashed."

9/10/06 - Anti-gambling group opposes Pombo reservation shopping bill  - Gambling watchdog group says 'Let it Drown!' "Congressman Pombo's bill is so watered down, we need to let it drown," said National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion chairman Dr. Guy C. Clark as he announced his group will oppose the passage of HR 4893. Pombo's once popular bill to restrict off-reservation tribal casinos, will likely appear on the floor of the House of Representatives this week. But NCAGE says a competing bill is much better. "We will continue to support Congressman Rogers' bill (HR 4677), which calls for a two-year moratorium on off-reservation tribal casinos and new tribal recognitions. There were some positive features in the initial Pombo bill, but most of those were recently amended out. Pombo's current bill just isn't worth
saving."
  Clark says Pombo (R-CA-11) started with a "pretty good bill," but extraordinary pressure from the tribal gambling interests resulted in the House Resources Committee amending the bill in the following, "unfortunate ways."

* In July the committee removed the possibility of local citizens being able to give meaningful input on off-reservation casinos. "If tribes are going to export toxic product to areas off their reservations, it is absolutely essential that citizens in these target areas should get a voice in that process," Clark said.
* Also removed by amendment was a target state legislature's ability to exert its influence over the decision. The gambling tribes constantly call for "government to government" relationships, but they don't want to include the state legislatures as "governments" worthy of their negotiations. "If tribes expect others to deal with their tribal councils, then it's perfectly reasonable for tribal councils to deal with city councils, county commissions and state legislatures," Clark said.
* The third change allowed the "grandfathering" in of off-reservation applications made prior to March 7 of this year. That caused a glut of applications to be filed shortly before the cut-off date so that they wouldn't have to comply with the new, more stringent regulations. "All applications, whether new or old, should be subject to the more rigorous standards. That's the whole point of amending IGRA," Clark said.

"We know that compromise is necessary in most legislation and that 'half a loaf is better than none,' but HR 4893 is nothing but crumbs from the table."   NCAGE is urging all members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against HR 4893 and insist on legislation that would protect U.S. citizens from the depredations of reservation shopping. "States have rights, and so
do communities whose citizens will ultimately pay for these proposed casinos with their losses, the losses of their businesses, and the costs of crime and addiction." (9/10/06 News Release, National Coalition Against Gambling - NCALG - http://www.ncalg.org)

ISSUE:  SENATE BILL 3064 (Akaka Bill)

 06/07/06 - "Hawaii Bulletin Board" Radio Program this Coming Sunday, June 9th.  Topic will be the Akaka Bill.  Host is Calvin Griffin.    Listen live: http://www.hawaiibbp.com/page3.html Click on "Listen To Show"  This program airs from 9:05am to 10:00am Hawaii time, which isfrom 12:05-1:00pm Pacific time & 3:05 pm-4:00 pm Eastern time.  Call In Lines:  Hawaii: (808) 524-1080; Mainland US: (toll free) 1-877-848-0546.

06/06/02 - The Akaka State? - The last time we wrote about the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, in July 2005, we called it secessionist, unconstitutional and un-American. And that was being kind. (6/2/06 Wall Street Journal, page A18)

06/01/06 - Your town could be next - message from One Nation United - We thought your website readers would like to know the actual experience of local communities in many states where tribes (like those in Texas) were granted federal recognition and then promptly opened tax-exempt gambling casinos -- even though they repeatedly promised, both in writing and verbally, that they would never do so. Remember, "sovereign" tribal nations can change their minds, elect new leadership, and decide to follow a different path than originally planned. Ethnic Hawaiians seeking federal recognition right now with the Akaka bill (S.3064) are making the same hollow promises.

ISSUE:  PETITION TO DEPT. OF INTERIOR RE: IGRA

04/02/06 - Petition Filed on Indian Gaming Regulatory Act -  On Friday, March 31, 2006, a group of concerned citizens groups and local governments joined together in sending a Petition for Rulemaking to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on the subject of Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
 
04/02/06 - Local groups push feds for say in Indian casinos - Anti-casino groups have petitioned the federal government to include state and local interests in crafting rules for some Indian casino proposals.  The Clark County groups Citizens Against Reservation Shopping, Stand Up For Clark County Citizens and American Land Rights Association want to make sure the government notifies communities and provides opportunities for comment when a tribe seeks to have an area designated as its initial reservation or as "restored lands."

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