"California Congressman Richard Pombo may never have heard of Fort Smith. But he's none too pleased about what's going on there.

Just this week the Republican from Northern California's 11th Congressional District introduced legislation that would put an end to what he calls "reservation shopping" -- the practice of Indian tribes purchasing non-reservation lands and putting them in federal trust for the purpose of building gaming establishments on them.

Down in Fort Smith, also just this week, a businessman named Bennie Westphal announced that he's selling 10 acres of riverfront property to the United Keetoowah Band -- a small, Oklahoma-based Indian tribe -- so that together they can develop a casino on the site.

Westphal and the Keetoowahs want to take advantage of a loophole in the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that allows a recognized tribe to buy property, have it placed in trust and then develop gaming operations on it -- even if the state where the land is located has strict limits on gambling."

Get the Story:
Fort Smith Casino Plan Faces Long Odds (The Springdale Morning News 3/10)