"There's certainly a lot of crummy economic news going around, mostly about the domestic automakers. But it appears there's at least one growth industry in Michigan -- casinos.

The state already has 21 of them, including the Four Winds, which opened just last week in New Buffalo in Berrien County.

Closer to home, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe is building a 32,000-square-foot casino near Standish in Arenac County that will open at the end of the year.

The big fellow, though, is the tribe's Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant. It's got 4,704 slot machines and 600 electronic table games and features national and international celebrities and performers on its stages. It attracts nearly 4.2 million bettors each year.

But that's just chump change compared to what the tribe has in store now.

Last week, it announced plans for what some are describing as a cross between Las Vegas and Disney World at Soaring Eagle and a nearby Holiday Inn it bought last month."

Get the Story:
Editorial: When tribe wins, we win (The Saginaw News 8/7)

Related Story:
Soaring Eagle's early plans draw support (The Midland Daily News 8/7)