Compacts signed for two casinos in Barstow

Monday, September 12, 2005  

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed two compacts allowing for two tribe to open off-reservation casinos in Barstow.

The Big Lagoon Rancheria is 719 miles from Barstow. The Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians is 157 miles away. Barstow is located along an interstate between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The compacts bar the Los Coyotes Band from engaging in gaming on its reservation in southern California. The tribe also must share its casino site with the Big Lagoon Rancheria, located in northern California.

The tribes will share between 16 to 25 percent of casino winnings with the state. The city of Barstow will receive an estimated $6 million a year. The state revenue-sharing provisions will terminate if another tribe opens a casino within 40 miles. At least one other tribe has expressed interest in Barstow while another tribe has ancestral land there.

State lawmakers have voiced opposition to off-reservation gaming. Some are influenced by tribes with on-reservation casinos while others are opposing to gambling in urban areas.

Get the Story:
Los Coyotes Casino Deal Has a Twist (AP 9/9)
Governor approves casino compacts (The Desert Dispatch 9/10)
Far-flung tribes reach casino deal (The Sacramento Bee 9/10)
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State alters casino terms (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 9/10)
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Governor OKs off-reservation casinos (AP 9/10)
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Governor announces gambling agreements (Copley News Service 9/10)