Oklahoma citizens may find themselves using the term “Indian giver” to describe Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). He’s planning to plunder the state’s rake of 
tribal gaming revenue to defend against a lawsuit brought by the state’s three biggest tribes. The Sooner State must not need tribal lucre as much as Stitt claims, if he can so cavalierly use it to bring in pricey Seattle legal talent to defend himself. It is, however, characteristic of Stitt’s me-me-me perspective on a sensitive issue: whether the state’s tribal compacts rolled over last Jan. 1 or must be renegotiated. While each tribe is required to pay the state $35,000 a year for “costs incurred in connection with the oversight of covered games,” Stitt seems to have a much more luxurious legal tab in mind.
Incidentally, if the $35K apiece were not enough, tribes are also required to pony up $50,000 startup costs for helping “the state in initiating its administrative and oversight responsibilities.” There’s $2 million in that kitty, money that Stitt apparently plans to blow through in a hurry. Using compact money for legal bills may not stand up in court. Also, Chickasaw Nation Senior Counsel Stephen Greetham 
was quick to spot a flaw in Stitt’s logic. “Given that Governor Stitt believes the compact expired with the New Year, it is unclear what he thinks the state’s ongoing compact-oversight responsibilities are,” he told the governor’s preferred megaphone, the Tulsa World. State Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Roger Thompson (R) also queried whether defending against litigation qualified as “compliance”-related. As we’ve said, Oklahoma must not need the $139 million terribly much if Stitt can throw it around at his personal discretion.
* A Bristol, Virginia, casino may not be a slam-dunk for Hard Rock International after all. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Johnson Commercial Development have disclosed plans to build one on 350 acres of undeveloped land. While the Hard Rock site at the former Bristol Mall is snugly inside city limits, the Cherokee project would be in unincorporated Washington County. That could be a problem: Bills currently before the Lege specify Bristol as a casino locale, meaning the county has a lack of standing. The Cherokee are calling for more study of the issue plus a competitive-bidding process.
“The problem with competitive bidding is you don’t know what you’re going to get. We all felt pretty comfortable with the Bristol proposal, the investment and things of that nature,” said state Del. Terry Kilgore (R, 
right), adding, “It’s a little bit late in the game for new projects.” The Cherokee could, however, revert to the IGRA land-into-trust process. “The location of the casino will be within the beloved ancestral home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians,” said Chief Richard Sneed. Hard Rock backer Jim McGlothlin, however, poured scorn on the new proposal. “We have a standing facility that we made a purchase of and it seems we would be the choice for the city. I would propose that we don’t need to make this two or three years of having RFPs and everybody in the world come here. We need the city to make that choice and let the referendum be voted on. Then the state would have to issue the license, and, at that point, if they don’t like the proposed operator, the state could turn it down. … We can’t wait years and years to do this.” Maybe not, but some patience wouldn’t come amiss.
* Las Vegas‘ biggest international market isn’t Hong Kong. Nor is it Mexico City. Try Toronto. One visitor from that august city chose Planet Hollywood for her stay because “I’m not really a gambler, but I love great restaurants and really good entertainment and Vegas has so much to 
offer, it seemed like a perfect fit.” Caesars Entertainment has been helped in tailoring its marketing to the Great White North by anchoring its resorts with headliners like Céline Dion and Shania Twain, distinguished Canadians both. “When we’re booking entertainment, our goal is to land the best talent, but it’s certainly a bonus in offering our Canadian guests an opportunity to support their fellow countrymen or women,” said Caesars President of Entertainment Jason Gastwirth.
Putting the “international” in MGM Resorts are those nonpareil Canucks, Cirque du Soleil, whose seven shows can pack in 20,000 of their countrymen per day. And don’t forget the Canadian national sport, hockey, as represented by the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Canadian-made TV series Stargate Atlantis even filmed its series finale on the Las Vegas Strip. Now if we could just get Amanda Tapping into town …
* Casino regulation in Japan kicks off tomorrow. That’s when the Casino Management Commission holds its first meeting, an important milestone in that shows Nippon means business about this casino thing. The Shinzo Abe administration is holding to its casino-
development pace, despite the evolving bribery scandal involving Chinese firm 500.com and a spate of Japanese lawmakers. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the scandal was ‘not directly relevant’ to casino development—although 500.com’s goal was to boost the number of approved gaming resorts from three to five. Early agenda items for the CMC are to set up its ground rules and allocate its $59 million budget. Other priorities are security matters, probity and background checks, as well as countering problem gambling. If all goes well with the first round of casinos, more are likely to be approved … although we won’t have results until 2025 at the earliest. Hang in there Hard Rock.
* As the Nevada caucus draws nearer, the second tier of Democratic presidential candidates is courting the Culinary Union. Already Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and—to no avail—Kamala Harris have been through town. On Jan. 11 the Culinary tees up a doubleheader, with conservative Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) at 10 a.m., followed by South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) at 11 a.m. Then, on the 16th, billionaire activist Tom Steyer (D) puts in a 10 a.m. appearance. Steyer’s rhetoric ought to be music to the Culinary’s ears but the local is playing its cards masterfully close to the vest. Anyway, staging these town halls where your constituents can get face time with The Man is an excellent demonstration of the Culinary’s clout.
I must take exception to your referring to Senator Amy Klobuchar as a conservative. Her political record and positions should be considered moderate, not conservative. Maybe you consider her conservative in comparison to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, but she is middle of the road.
This standoff in Oklahoma is the downside of electing someone who says “I am not a politician” and it is true. He is a conservative Christian IMO, and it drives his desire to make life difficult for the casino business. I talk to a fair amount of people, and the only group supporting his position are the Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening going to church crowd.