Artist's rendering of proposed First Light Resort and Casino. Image from Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is still waiting to see what happens with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the panel's chairman said. H.3702, the Massachusetts Expanded Gaming Act, reserved a casino in the southeastern part of the state for "a federally recognized tribe." The Mashpees are the only tribe pursuing the casino but they have run into delays with their Class III gaming compact and their land-into-trust application. As a result, the commission opened up the region to non-Indian bidders. Only one company, however, submitted a $400,000 application. "This is a complicated situation to which there is no easy answer," Steve Crosby, the chairman of the commission, told casino management students at Cape Cod Community College, The Cape Cod Times reported. The tribe remains confident that it will win approval for the $500 million First Light Resort and Casino. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has completed the draft environmental impact statement on the land-into-trust application, an initial step in the process. Get the Story:
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