Sen. Carl Levin (D-Michigan) has decided to support H.R.2176, a bill that would authorize an off-reservation casino for the Bay Mills Indian Community.

Levin had been neutral on the issue for several years. But says he was swayed by the economic development opportunities that would be created by the casino.

The bill settles the tribe's claim to land at Charlotte Beach in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In exchange for dropping the claim, the tribe would get land in Port Huron, more than 300 miles away.

The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe opposes the bill because it says it has ancestral ties to Port Huron. The Bay Mills Indian Community is Chippewa.

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Levin support spurs casino hopes (The Port Times Herald 8/2)