|
State-by-State Updates Summer 2001 ARIZONA The suit contends that Arizona’s 19 Indian casinos are illegal and should be shut down. It also seeks to prevent Gov. Jane Hull from renegotiating tribal gaming compacts that begin to expire in mid-2003. Hull began negotiations with 15 of the state’s 21 tribal governments last year. The racetracks want the negotiations to end and want to force the governor to give tribes a “notice of non-renewal,” which would allow the current compacts to expire. Hull has agreed to hold off signing any new compacts until the suit is resolved, but state officials said they will continue to hold closed-door talks on new tribal compacts. “Indian gaming is an important economic force in this state, and it doesn’t seem likely that it’s going away,” said Steve Hart, director of the Arizona Department of Gaming and one of the governor’s chief negotiators with the tribes. The racetracks also contend that tribes have a monopoly on gambling because of their race. David LaSarte, executive director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, said, “They aren’t entitled to game because they’re Indians; they’re entitled to game because they are sovereign governments.” Broomfield said he hoped to reach a decision “as expeditiously as possible.” Lawyers for both sides estimate a ruling could take one to six months. [See Late Breaking News on page 4. — Ed.] Source: The Arizona Republic: Tom Zoellner COLORADO The track, owned by the Clouds since its 1949 opening, has been renamed Post Time. “My guess is Colorado Springs has probably seen its last greyhound race,” said Karen Cloud Crouse. Wembley spokesman Frank Provenza said the new owner hasn’t decided whether live racing will continue. “The Colorado Racing Commission . . . will set forth some conditions” before live racing can resume, Provenza said. Racing division director David Reitz said the track needs roof repairs and new heating, ventilating, and cooling systems for the judges’ stand. Additionally, if Wembley wants to have live racing in the winter months, the company would need to install a heated track for the greyhounds. Last year, greyhounds suffered leg strains and broken bones by running on hard or frozen ground, Reitz said. “Just installing a track heating system could cost $400,000,” Crouse said. “Putting that much money into the track won’t make sense to Wembley.” On May 11, the Colorado Racing Commission approved a license for RMGP under its new name and approved a plan to transfer the summer racing season for the Colorado Springs track to Pueblo Greyhound Park, which is also owned by Wembly. Sources: The Denver Post: Erin
Emery CONNECTICUT Havens said two police officers were on site during the entire two-hour protest and spent their time talking to the demonstrators about dog racing. One officer talk-ed about his sister’s adopted greyhounds, while the other officer admitted she knew nothing about dog racing. “She left with an earful,” Havens said. The protest was covered by Channel 12, Bridgeport’s cable news station. IOWA Officials for Harrah’s said they believed the transaction would be completed sometime in August. Harrah’s is not currently licensed in Iowa but will work to obtain licensing immediately, said Phil Satre, Harrah’s entertainment chairman and chief executive officer. In other developments, a lack of fan interest and a sharp decline in the live wagering handle at Bluffs Run has prompted the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to begin development of a multi-million-dollar plan to reinvigorate Iowa’s greyhound racing industry. Jack Ketterer, the commission’s administrator, said he expects the plan to be developed within the next six months. Less than $10 million was bet on live races last year, a decline of 92 percent since the track first opened in 1986. Despite the dwindling live handle, purse money paid to kennel operators and dog owners totaled $9.5 million in 2000. The purses were subsidized with $8.6 million in profits from 1,000 slot machines operating at the racetrack. The slots have been in place since 1994. The commission is focusing on the future of Bluffs Run’s greyhound escrow fund, which has a balance of about $9 million from slot machine profits. At issue is whether the money should be used for stakes races, track operating expenses, or promotion of greyhound racing. Iowa House Speaker Brent Siegrist, R-Council Bluffs, said he was interested in re-examining Iowa’s greyhound racing laws. “There is merit in having us look at whether the laws are doing what they were intended to do,” Siegrist said. “I mean the crowds for greyhounds are not nonexistent, but pretty darn close.” Sources: The Des Moines Register:
William Petroski MASSACHUSETTS Lopez found that GREY2K had “reasonable factual support for their message that greyhounds are needlessly killed and abused in Massachusetts by the racing industry.” Attorneys for GREY2K petitioned Sarkis, through his attorney Kevin Considine, to pay their legal fees. Considine challenged the petition, calling the amount excessive. It is now up to Lopez to issue a ruling on the fee payment. After the court costs and legal fees have been paid, Sarkis will have 30 days to appeal Lopez’s decision on the lawsuit. Source: The Boston Globe Revere: More than 25 anti-racing activists held a protest demonstration in front of Wonderland Greyhound Park on Saturday evening, May 12; five adopted greyhounds also were present. The event was organized by Massachusetts Citizens Against Dog Racing and the newly formed Massachusetts Progressive Animal Watchdog Society (MassPAWS). According to the announcement of its formation, MassPaws is a volunteer animal advocacy organization that seeks to build on the groundwork that was established by GREY2K, the grassroots organization that spearheaded the November 2000 ballot initiative to end greyhound racing in Massachusetts. MassPAWS can be reached at (718) 956-2419 or by e-mail at masspaws@yahoo.com OREGON Daily attendance at MGP averaged 1,936 last year, up four percent from the low of 1,860 in 1999. During the 2000 season, patrons wagered $16.3 million on live races and $33.3 million on simulcast races. “Our main competition comes from the state lottery, the state-run video poker, the Native American casinos, and the mini-casinos in Southwest Washington,” said Carl Wilson, MGP’s general manager. “But I believe the low has been hit.” MGP draws greyhounds from all states where dog racing has been legalized. Of the 900 greyhounds housed in MGP’s kennel compound, 39 percent are Oregon-bred. Thirty animal activists marked MGP’s season opening by holding an anti-racing demonstration in front of the track the following day. The protest, organized by Connie Theil, director of Oregon Defenders of Greyhounds, began at 11:00 a.m. and lasted two hours. A local radio station aired news of the protest throughout the day. The event also aired on the evening news on KPTV-Channel 12 and KOIN-Channel 6. Source: The Oregonian: Ken Wheeler WEST VIRGINIA The hauler had 21 greyhounds on board. One dog escaped from the scene and remains missing. Javins said the three injured dogs were taken to the Animal Emergency Clinic in South Charleston but their conditions were not reported. On May 29, Sherry Cotner, volunteering for GNN, contacted the clinic and spoke to Dr. Metz, the veterinarian on duty the night of the accident. According to Metz, one of the dogs, a 4-year-old black and white male named Frasier, arrived critically injured and died. The two other male dogs were not seriously injured; one arrived with a splint on his front leg from an earlier injury not related to the accident, and the other dog had a slight limp. The rig’s driver, Richard Heywood of Solomon, Kansas, was not injured. Passenger Vincent Augimeri of Abilene, Kansas, was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released. The accident occurred in Putnam County, but high water caused by recent heavy rains prevented police from taking the 17 uninjured dogs to the Putnam County Animal Shelter. Officials at the neighboring Kanawha County shelter told police they did not have space for all the dogs. Instead, police housed the dogs overnight at the privately owned Tyler Heights Kennel. “We just made sure they had plenty of water and were cleaned up and dried,” said Allen Young, one of the kennel’s owners. The dogs were released the following morning to officials of Tri-State Greyhound Park in Nitro. Source: The Charleston Gazette WISCONSIN The Lac Courte Oreilles, Red Cliff, and Sokaogon (Mole Lake) bands of Chippewa, in partnership with Fred Havenick, owner of the financially failing St. Croix Meadows track, had applied to have the track property placed into federal trust to develop the “Chippewa Meadows” casino. The casino would have operated adjacent to the dog track. McCallum, in a letter to the BIA, wrote, “The addition of a single new casino, in this case a large facility intended to serve a major metropolitan market (Minneapolis-St. Paul), is detrimental to the public interest.” McCallum rejected the plan under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, which allows governors to veto casino proposals if they think they are not in the best interest of the tribes or could be detrimental to the community. Many Hudson area residents cheered the governor’s action. “The whole idea of changing this river community into a gambling mecca is outrageous,” said Ken Tilsen, an attorney who has argued against the casino. “This has been going on for so many years, and finally we have resolution,” said Nancy Bieraugel, a St. Croix County supervisor and longtime casino foe. “We hope this will put an end to it.” Havenick and his tribal partners have been seeking a casino at the track for nearly a decade. The tribes, in anticipation of McCallum’s rejection of the casino, filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. May 10. The suit contends the 1988 federal law that gives state governors the power to veto off-reservation Indian casinos is unconstitutional. McCallum said he is not worried about the lawsuit. “This has been tried in the past and failed.” Follow-up: Two weeks after McCallum vetoed the casino proposal, Havenick announced that the St. Croix Meadows track will close in early August. Havenick said that he would pour his resources into his ongoing legal battle to bring casino gaming to the 55-acre site. “We have not given up on this. We will fight on, all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary,” he said. “And we will win.” The $40 million Hudson track has lost money since its June 1991 opening. Competition from Indian casinos has resulted in losses of as much as $7 million a year. Sources: Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel: Dennis Chaptman
|