"The Narragansett Tribe has expressed an understandable interest in acquiring Twin River, the financially troubled slots emporium upon which Rhode Island relies for more than $250 million a year in revenue.

Native American tribes in other states have done well by owning casinos, in particular the Pequot Tribe in Connecticut, whose Foxwoods casino is the world’s biggest. Who can blame the Narragansetts for wanting to cash in on that action? Not us.

Today Twin River is owned by a private consortium struggling to avoid bankruptcy. Rhode Island taxpayers don’t really care who owns the facility as long as it is run honestly and efficiently. Ownership by the Narragansetts might help assuage feelings of guilt, warranted or not, over the state’s troubled historic relations with the tribe."

Get the Story:
Editorial: The tribe and the casino (The Providence Journal 4/30)

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