Senecas
plan casino in Cheektowaga
As reported by The Buffalo News
CHEEKTOWAGA,
N.Y. -- A new casino planned near the Buffalo Niagara
International Airport is projected to be the most lucrative
of three casinos the Seneca Indians will operate, tribal
officials said.
The
Seneca Tribal Council on Saturday approved the purchase
of 57 acres near the airport to build a casino that will
be about twice as large as its casino in Niagara Falls.
Tribal leaders hope to open the new casino by New Year's
Eve, but said it may not be ready until next spring.
"The
studies show Cheektowaga is going to be our biggest gaming
spot, with the most revenues coming in," Bergal L.
Mitchell, a member of the Tribal Council and the board
of the Seneca Gaming Corp., told The Buffalo News in Sunday's
edition.
The
land purchase ends speculation that the Senecas would
open their third and final casino in Buffalo. The tribe
is getting ready to open a casino on reservation land
in Salamanca and opened one in Niagara Falls on Dec. 31,
2002.
Both
state government and the U.S. Department of the Interior
must approve various aspects of the Cheektowaga casino
plan.
Seneca
President Rickey Armstrong said the Cheektowaga casino
will start out with about 1,800 slot machines, 30 to 50
gambling tables, a couple of restaurants and entertainment
space. It would have the potential to eventually have
as many as 4,000 slot machines.
Tribal
leaders said the Cheektowaga site would open with about
800 employees and grow to about 1,500.
Jena
Choctaws looking at Creola for site of casino
As reported by The Town Talk
CREOLA
- The Jena Band of Choctaws are going to have a gambling
casino, and it just depends on whether it is here on land
already in tribal trust or in Logansport in DeSoto Parish.
That's
the strongly held view of Christine Norris, Jena Choctaw
chief, and Julie Wilkerson, the Alexandria attorney who
represents the tribe.
Their
view is that the decision on where a Jena Choctaw casino
will go depends on Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
The
governor's agreement is critical to a Logansport site;
the Creola site does not need the governor's approval,
they say.
Norris
said she has written and made other attempts to arrange
a meeting with Blanco to discuss a compact, an agreement,
on putting a casino in DeSoto Parish.
She
says a compact with the governor is necessary for putting
a casino in Logansport, but since the Jena Choctaws have
40.49 acres of land in trust in Creola, it is possible
to get a casino there through agreement with the federal
department.
Ironically,
Norris plans to continue strong pursuit of a casino in
either Creola or Logansport even though she personally
is not a strong proponent of gambling.