{"id":24191,"date":"2019-05-20T09:15:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T17:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=24191"},"modified":"2020-10-19T06:55:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T14:55:25","slug":"tribe-trumps-trump-rockford-pleads-for-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/tribe-trumps-trump-rockford-pleads-for-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribe trumps Trump; Rockford pleads for casino"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite being thrown off the fast-track legislative calendar by a blast of hot air<\/a> from Donald Trump<\/strong>, a bill to restore land-in-trust status to the Mashpee \"\"Wampanoags has sailed through<\/a> the House of Representatives<\/strong>, 257-146 in a bipartisan win.\u00a0\u201cWithout support from Congress it will be impossible for the Mashpee Wampanoag<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>to engage in any type of true self government because they won\u2019t own their own land.\u00a0No economic development, no tribal headquarters, no elder housing, no pre-k programs. It means being treated as secondhand tribe with no future,\u201d\u00a0said Rep. William Keating<\/strong> (D).\u00a0\u201cJust two\u00a0weeks ago we passed a parallel Republican-led bill for a tribe in California<\/strong> without a single member [of Congress] objecting.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Trump’s umbrage is suspect, as advisor Matt Schlapp<\/strong>\u00a0(husband to White House<\/strong> Strategic Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp<\/strong>) also moonlights as a lobbyist for nearby Twin River<\/strong>-branded casinos in Rhode Island<\/strong>, hardly an \"\"uninterested party. Rep. Tom Cole<\/strong> (R) seconded Keating’s emotions, saying,\u00a0\u201cThe real conflict here is between private gaming interests that don\u2019t want Native American competition.\u201d The Mashpee Wampanoag’s cause still must pass through the Senate, where Massachusetts<\/strong> Sens. Ed Markey<\/strong> (D) and Elizabeth Warren<\/strong> (D) have introduced supportive legislation. If the tribe prevails in that currently listless body and manages to get past the White House (a pretty tall order), then there’s a ghost of a chance for its Project First Light<\/strong>, whose future has been in much doubt since Genting Group<\/strong> bailed on it.<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

* \u201cWe have talked and talked and talked about casino expansion, literally since before I could drive. You hold all the power, we need you to take action.\u201d So said Rockford<\/strong> Mayor Tom McNamara<\/strong>, imploring the Illinois<\/strong> Lege to upsize \"\"the number of casinos in the state so that his city could get a leg up on a (still-unapproved) Ho-Chunk<\/strong> tribal casino in nearby Beloit<\/strong>, Wisconsin<\/strong>. Unfortunately for Hizzoner, no such bill language has been filed<\/a> in Springfield<\/strong>. \u201cWe cannot afford to be outflanked by our neighbors up north yet again,\u201d said McNamara, explaining, \u201cin the not-too-distant future, 100 percent of our annual property tax revenue will be going to our state-mandated pension contributions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor brought along Cheap Trick<\/strong> guitarist Rick Nielsen<\/strong> to lend a little star power to his casino pitch. \u201cI\u2019ve been there fighting for some sort of casino going on for 15 or 20 years, and I guess my legislative voice is not very strong, but now it is because I\u2019ve got these guys behind me,\u201d said Nielsen, although it would be a neat trick indeed if McNamara can pull his chestnuts from the fire.<\/p>\n

* The once and future Caesars Southern Indiana<\/strong> is progressing apace in\u00a0its rebranding from a Horseshoe<\/strong> (to which it was demoted in one of many dubious Gary Loveman<\/strong> decisions) and expects to complete the $85 million revamp next year. That’s when a new, land-based casino will open, presumably rendering the Glory of Rome<\/em> riverboat obsolete.<\/p>\n

* Las Vegas<\/strong> is on the cutting edge when it comes to proactive union negotiations to hedge against the increasing use of automation practiced by companies like MGM Resorts International<\/strong>. It was a central point of the most recent round of labor talks between Unite-Here, the\u00a0Culinary Union<\/strong> and the major casinos. As Unite-Here President D. Taylor<\/strong> puts it, without too much exaggeration, “the industry has to decide whether they\u2019re going to be a hospitality industry where they actually interact, or if it\u2019s going to be like the airlines where there\u2019s very little service and if [passenger] get a bag of peanuts then they\u2019re happy.\u201d (And they’re be a resort fee for the peanuts.)<\/p>\n

* A Paradise Valley<\/strong>, Arizona<\/strong> mansion rented by “someone named Ashley Beager, who lives in Las Vegas<\/strong> and works as a concierge to athletes” is being investigated as the possible site of a gang rape in which roofies were allegedly used. According to TV station CBS 5<\/strong>, “Beager was arrested in 2015 and charged with trafficking a schedule one substance in the same class as flunitrazepam<\/strong>\/GHB<\/strong>, which are date rape drugs. She pleaded guilty to drug possession and her conviction was set aside in 2018.” The alleged victim was lured to a party with “high-profile athletes” who she says victimized her<\/a>. At the very least, Ms. Beager should be drummed out of the concierge business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite being thrown off the fast-track legislative calendar by a blast of hot air from Donald Trump, a bill to restore land-in-trust status to the Mashpee Wampanoags has sailed through the House of Representatives, 257-146 in a bipartisan win.\u00a0\u201cWithout support … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106,244,151,42,120,58,68,189,53,112,207,8,20,196,170],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24191"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28547,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24191\/revisions\/28547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}