Colorado
tribal casino backers
offer $1 billion
As reported by The United Press International
Denver,
CO. -- Investors hoping to develop an Indian casino
in Colorado have offered a deal to give the state $1 billion
in the gaming center's first 10 years.
The
Native American Land Group, acting on behalf of the Cheyenne
and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, offered the state 21 percent
of the casino's gross revenue, the Colorado Rocky Mountain
News reported.
"If
I were a homeowner, a parent, a student or a senior citizen,
I would be all over my elected officials to seriously
consider this," said Steve Hillard, the venture capitalist
who put together the proposal to parlay Indian land claims
into a gambling center.
Hillard
and the investors have filed land claims for 27 million
acres in Colorado on behalf of the Cheyenne and Arapaho
based on faulty treaties that exiled the tribes to Oklahoma.
"There
would be no gaming at this site, unless the state wanted
it," said Hillard.
None
of the state officials who received the mailing had read
the settlement proposal Thursday and were unable to comment.
Casino
Windsor Back In Business
As reported by The Associated Press
Casino
Windsor reopened on May 14, 2004 after union and company
officials reached a deal to end a six-week strike that
had shuttered the popular border resort.
Workers
gave 93 percent approval to the new contract in Thursday's
vote, said Gord Gray, a spokesman for Canadian Auto Workers
Local 444.
The
four-year deal includes across-the-board pay raises for
workers of 50 cents an hour the first year and 40 cents
an hour each of the following three years, as well as
signing bonuses of $1,500 for full-time workers, $1,200
for part-time workers and $750 for students and probationary
employees.
The
casino opened its doors at 10 a.m. with some extra promotions.
"The
last six weeks have been difficult for our customers,
for our employees and for the City of Windsor," the
casino's chief executive, Kevin Laforet, said in a statement.
"I am pleased that in concert with the CAW, we were
able to find a creative way to address a challenging situation."
According
to calculations based on 2003 revenues, the 41-day shutdown
cost the casino about $51.2 million.
However,
casinos across the river in Detroit were reaping the benefits.
Michigan reported Wednesday that April revenues at the
city's three casinos rose $19.5 million from a year earlier.
The MGM
Grand, MotorCity
and Greektown
casinos took in $112.1 million last month, compared with
$92.5 million in April 2003.