New Casino Seeks Approval - BILOXI, MS - The riverboat Biloxi Queen has docked at Clay Point in Biloxi as the owners prepare applications to open a new casino on the Gulf Coast.

The owners hope to get approval from the Gaming Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in time to open in the spring of 2003.

The site chosen for the casino is at the foot of Fifth Street near the Palace Casino, officials said. A projected gaming area of 25,000 square feet will be available on the boat, which arrived from an original berth in a Mobile shipyard, Bayview Partners President Ray Sims said. It will be one of the smaller casino operations on the Gulf Coast.

"We're currently developing the casino theme and logo, plus recruiting experienced gaming professionals to plan and run the operation," Sims said on June 5.

Casino Boosts Quality of Life for Cherokee - Since its opening in 1995, casino revenues from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina have been used to improve the quality of life for the Cherokee tribe. In addition to rebuilding the tribe’s 56,000-acre reservation, tribal leaders used casino revenues to improve Cherokee schools, child-care centers and medical facilities. For 12,500 tribal members, who receive $5,000 per capita disbursement annually, the $90 million casino - along with a new $62 million hotel - has provided employment to help lift the tribe from poverty. "To me…it’s about a pride in having a job, the pride in not having to have our hand out for help," says Joyce Dugan who works as a director of external relations and career development at the casino. Unemployment rates in Swain and Jackson counties, where the reservation is located, decreased by three to five percent respectively. Two new hotels are currently under construction in Jackson County, and planning and development director, Tamara Crisp, says the new developments were spurred in part by the casino’s nearby location.