Firing of Kickapoo casino regulators wrong, national commission says

September 9, 2008 at 2:53 am · Filed under Online Gambling

Kansas Kickapoo Nation officials have been told they violated a federal standard this summer when they improperly fired two gaming commissioners who regulate the tribe's Golden Eagle Casino near Horton, Kan.

In a letter this week to Tribal Chairman Steve Cadue, John Peterson, acting director of enforcement for the National Indian Gaming Commission, threatened formal enforcement action against the tribe it if does not "correct these violations." The federal agency this summer subpoenaed tribal records in a formal investigation of the incident.

Fred Thomas, one of the fired commissioners, said today he felt vindicated by the federal agency's action this week. "We were illegally removed," he said. "Our rights were violated."

Besides complaining to the federal agency, Thomas and Bear sued Cadue and others in Kickapoo Nation District Court.

The lawsuit alleged tribal authorities also fired gaming commission executive director Roy Murphy in a dispute over tribal council appropriations to fund the gaming commission. The case is pending.

The casino has remained open during the turmoil.

Cadue said Friday the fired commissioners had threatened to halt regulatory oversight of the casino in the monetary dispute.

"They had the money" to properly run the commission, Cadue said Friday. "Had we not acted the casino would have been shut down by state and federal authorities, and that would have been an economic catastrophe for the Kickapoo tribe."

Peterson found that Cadue and commissioner Nancy Bear, a former tribal chairwoman, were improperly removed by three of the tribal council's seven members. The tribe's gaming ordinance, which outlines to federal authorities how it will operate its reservation casino business, requires a three-fourths vote of the council to remove a gaming commissioner.

"I think the NIGC is a little behind the curve in terms of the facts," tribal lawyer Elizabeth Homer said today. She said that a subsequent vote by the tribal council garnered the four votes of a council quorum that she said had been necessary to remove the two commissioners, and that Peterson would be advised of that action.

Peterson also noted that the tribe similarly breached its own procedures by appointing a temporary commissioner to the three-member tribal oversight panel.

Peterson said his letter was intended to "give the Tribe an opportunity to come into compliance without the need for a formal enforcement action."

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MGM Mirage CEO says casinos, facing change like newspapers, had to reinvent themselves

September 9, 2008 at 2:51 am · Filed under Online Gambling

The chief executive of the world's second-largest casino company told newspaper editors Monday that he wished them the best in embracing change in the journalism industry, and said Las Vegas casinos have required reinvention to remain profitable.

MGM Mirage Inc. chief executive Terry Lanni quoted others to offer insights on responding to change and to lightly connect journalism's current challenges with the transformation of Las Vegas — from a gambling-only town to a resort destination with many other amenities.

His audience, 165 newspaper editors attending the Associated Press Managing Editors conference, was starting a four-day meeting to discuss issues facing their struggling industry.

"Suffering through the turmoil of change is never easy. But as (then) U.S. Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki said, 'If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less,'" Lanni said in prepared remarks provided to The Associated Press. "I submit the tasks before you may seem almost as daunting as the general's, but it's fair to say he was probably dealing with a larger budget than you are."
Shinseki's quote came while speaking of reshaping the Army to respond more quickly to threats.

APME is an organization of editors of newspapers served by the AP. Founded in 1846, the AP is the world's oldest and largest newsgathering organization, with 243 bureaus in 97 countries. It is owned by its 1,500 U.S. daily newspaper members, which elect a board of directors to help lead the cooperative.

APME president David Ledford, editor of The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., said the goal of the conference is to give editors of the nation's newspapers ideas to take back to their newsrooms and experiment with, giving consumers something that is both useful and appealing.

"We're not fighting for an old business model," Ledford said. "We're fighting for storytelling and watchdog journalism."

Topics for the conference included managing niche and online publications, building communities of readers through the Web and other Internet tools, and the ethics of multimedia. Also expected is a discussion of AP's new pricing plan approved last year.

The new plan is centered on offering a core service of all national, state and international breaking news, with options for adding other services or purchasing stories individually, instead of providing news feeds defined largely by the volume of news delivered — large, medium or small. The plan was approved by the board in October.

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Rage over casino visit led to death, jury told

September 9, 2008 at 2:43 am · Filed under Online Gambling

A Korean man's rage at his partner's visit to the Sky City Casino led to him starting a fire at her workplace in which she died, a jury was told today.

Chul Jun Cho is on trial in the High Court in Auckland for the murder of Misook Kim, at the dental surgery where which she worked in west Auckland on February 3 last year.

Cho is also accused of attempting to murder his brother-in-law, Choonsik Moon, and of arson. He denies all three charges.

Opening the Crown case, prosecutor Christine Gordon said Cho was angry at the visit Ms Kim made to Sky City Casino in Auckland two days before her death with Dr Moon and his wife, Cho's sister Yeon Jun Cho.

Ms Gordon said Cho visited her at Dr Moon's dental surgery on February 3, with a crowbar and a container of liquid accelerant. He smashed a printer and the wall with the crowbar, and poured the liquid on the floor.

Ms Gordon said he then sparked a cigarette lighter, which ignited vapour created when pouring the liquid. Ms Kim burned to death in the ensuing fire.
Ms Gordon said the Crown did not believe Mr Cho's assertion to police afterwards that he only meant to scare Ms Kim and did not meant to start the fire.

Evidence is expected to be produced from at least 39 Crown witnesses in the trial, which is scheduled for up to three weeks.

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