An artist's rendering, from 2012, that shows a proposed casino at the former Atokad racetrack in South Sioux City, Nebraska. The tribe plans to open an events center named Atokad Park at the site.
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The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is lobbying lawmakers to authorize casino-style gaming in the state.
The tribe wants to convert a former racetrack into a casino. That could happen as early as 2015 if lawmakers approve a constitutional amendment and voters enact it into law.
"In my mind, I think it's a question of when, not if," Lance Morgan, a tribal member who serves as president and CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., the tribe's economic development corporation, told The Sioux City Journal.
Class III gaming is legal in neighboring Iowa, where the tribe operates a casino. But non-Indian facilities are also legal there and a $128.5 million Hard Rock venue is going up just across the border, a development that heightens competition in Iowa and poses a risk to Nebraska.
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(The Sioux City Journal 1/27)