Tagged: lansing casino

State Attorney General Bill Schuette has officially lodged his opposition to a proposed Lansing casino with the federal government.

The attorney general sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior about the Sault Sainte Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians' casino plan.

The tribe is in the middle of a land deal with the city of Lansing. That's the first step toward a planned $245 million casino near the state Capitol.

In the letter, Schuette says the state "is gravely concerned about the consequences" of allowing the casino to operate. He says it would justify the operation of a casino far from the tribe's reservation lands. The same tribe - which is based in the Upper Peninsula - already operates a casino in Detroit.

Schuette's letter says the tribe's plan violates state and federal law.

The tribe disagrees. A spokesman says the tribe plans to vigorously pursue its right to do the project.

Once the land sale is complete, the tribe will ask the federal government to take the land into trust. That would allow the tribe to conduct gaming on that land. A court fight is expected.

Yesterday I talked to a student who has a right to be proud of herself. Now in her early 30s, she was born in poverty to Mexican migrant workers in Arizona, and had two babies before she was out of her teens. Yet she got it together through sheer determination and hard work, and is now finishing her second college degree and working in public relations. She clearly has a bright future.

But the future looks equally bleak for her mother, who is only in her early 50s, but who, after years of backbreaking work, has become a gambling addict. Her life is the casino, her daughter said sadly. Her property is gone; her credit cards are maxed out, and her marriage is just about destroyed. Yet she cannot help herself.

Developers of Lansing’s proposed casino faced a small, but passionate group of opponents last night.

One opponent of a Lansing casino says the state capitol risks becoming known as a center for “pot shops, strips clubs and gambling” if a casino is built downtown.

The pot shops and strip clubs are already there.   But dozens of people at last night’s public forum worry a downtown casino will bring with it increased crime and problem gambling to Lansing.

“Our community should be built on biblical principles.  And I am here to stand on that today that we will reap what we sow if this project goes through…there will be consequences,” casino opponent Laura McMurtry told Lansing city council members during last night’s public forum at the Southside Community Center.

Opponents also fear a casino will siphon money away from other Lansing businesses.

Developers say they understand the opposition’s concern.

Lansing city council members are expressing growing frustration at not getting the information they want about a proposed Indian casino project.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians wants to build a $245 million casino in the capitol city.   The casino would be built adjacent to the city's downtown convention center. The city council’s approval of the deal is necessary before the tribe can ask the federal government to place the land in trust.

But again last night the council had difficulty getting answers to questions about the developers’ contract with the tribe and other issues.     

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and state Attorney General Bill Schuette have told a northern Michigan Indian tribe they will do whatever is necessary to stop a casino from being built in downtown Lansing.

The proposed casino would go up just a few blocks from the state Capitol.

The Sault Sainte Marie Tribe of Chippewas already operates five casinos in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The tribe has proposed a new casino in downtown Lansing on a parcel that is not currently considered tribal property.

The governor and the attorney general say that means the land cannot be used for a tribal casino.

“This project just cannot fly the way the law is set up currently,” said John Sellek a spokesman for the attorney general.

“The way they are trying to do it just will not work. If they want to try to get the law changed, that’s something they could do, but, otherwise we would be forced to go to court because the way they want to do this is just plain illegal,” said Sellek.

Tribal spokesman Roger Martin says the legal argument is a new one, but he says the project complies with the law.

“It’s pretty clear. We have the right to take this land into trust,” said Martin. “We intend to vigorously pursue what we believe is our right for this project. We’re very confident in the legal theory that we have.”

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero also backs the project.

Bernero says he “respectfully disagrees” with Governor Snyder, his adversary in the 2010 race for governor.