Site in Barstow, California, where Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians wants to build an off-reservation casino. Photo from Barstow Casino and Resort
Voters in California rejected an off-reservation gaming deal on Tuesday but the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians isn't worried about its plan. The tribe wants to open the $160 million Barstow Casino and Resort in Barstow. The site is about 115 miles from the reservation but the project enjoys strong local support. “This casino would be tremendously beneficial to the city of Barstow and to the tribe,” spokesperson Tom Shields told The Desert Dispatch. “There has been a tremendous amount of support from the community.” Statewide sentiment, on the other hand, tells a different story. Some 61 percent of voters rejected Proposition 48, a ballot initiative that affects a controversial off-reservation casino for the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians. Despite the outcome, the Los Coyotes Band will continue working on its casino "as if the proposition never happened," Shields told the paper. The tribe has yet to gain approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the casino. The agency is still working on the environmental impact statement. Under the two-part determination provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, newly re-elected Gov. Jerry Brown (D) will have veto authority over the project. The tribe also needs to renegotiate its Class III gaming compact, Shields said. Brown approved the North Fork Rancheria casino under the two-part determination process and negotiated a compact with the tribe. Proposition 48 only overturns ratification of the compact at the state level. Get the Story:
Barstow Casino still has life (The Desert Dispatch 11/7) Federal Register Notice:
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Proposed Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeňo Indians 23-Acre Fee-to-Trust Transfer and Casino-Hotel Project, City of Barstow, San Bernardino County, California (April 18, 2014)
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