Editorial: Judge off-reservation casino plans fairly

Monday, January 29, 2007  

"For those who have watched the Beloit tribal casino plan plod along for years through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, one question must come to mind in the wake of the positive recommendation this week for a Kenosha proposal.

Who hit the gas pedal?

Kenosha, literally, was years behind the Beloit plan in the application process. Yet there it is, already, with basically the same positive recommendation from the BIA that Beloit recently received. Now the two Wisconsin proposals begin the same process of working through the Washington offices in the BIA and the Department of the Interior. Decisions could be just weeks away. Or not.

At first glance, one might conclude the Kenosha proposal must have more muscle and money behind it than Beloit. It's billed as an $800 million project, on the site of the existing Dairyland Greyhound Park. Maybe there's a hidden political hand at work, maybe not.

The biggest question on Beloiters' minds is whether this hurts or helps.

Let's hope that's a moot question. Each proposal is different. And each proposal should be judged on its own merits. We do not wish Kenosha advocates ill. We assume they feel the same way."

Get the Story:
EDITORIAL: Judge casino plans by their own merits (The Beloit Daily News 1/26)