Thousands of American Indian tribal and industry leaders will gather April 20-23 in San Diego, California, for "Indian Gaming '08," the 17th annual meeting and trade show of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA). The event to take place at the San Diego Convention Center. The NIGA trade show is one of the largest annual gatherings of American Indian tribal and industry leaders, typically drawing several thousand delegates.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says in a legal opinion that the state can expand its smoking ban to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. In 2003, lawmakers banned smoking in bars and restaurants, but not in private clubs or the casinos. The state Supreme Court last year upheld that ban despite protests from bar and restaurant owners who claimed it is unconstitutional and hurts their businesses.

Las Vegas (AP) -- A major policy change this year by the Department of Interior will slow the growth of the multibillion-dollar Indian casino industry, which has gained controversy for developments in communities far from reservation land. The change, made in a series of letters and a memo issued in early January, essentially rejected 22 applications for new off-reservation casinos, by hinging their approval on a single criterion: the distance from the reservation.

The federal government has warned an Oklahoma Indian tribe not to open a planned off-reservation gambling casino along an interstate highway in southern New Mexico. The National Indian Gaming Commission told the Fort Sill Apache Tribe on Thursday that it cannot legally open the casino and risked enforcement action if gambling is permitted on the tribally owned land in New Mexico. The commission issued its letter a day after Gov. Bill Richardson ordered state police to block access to the tribe's casino if gambling was started.

The Bush administration told Congress Wednesday that Indian tribes face long odds in winning federal approval for casinos hundreds of miles away from their reservations. Along with 10 other tribes, The Mississippi Band of Choctaws received a letter from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in January rejecting the application for a casino in Jackson County, almost 200 miles from the tribe's reservation in Neshoba County.

The voters of California are being asked to vote, once again, on Indian gaming. But unlike the prior two elections, the question is not whether tribes can have casinos. Rather, it is whether a few tribes may more than double their existing operations, creating some of the largest casinos in the world. The political players have also changed. California voters first approved tribal gaming at the general election on November 3, 1998.

Sacramento – In what may be a referendum on the future of Indian gambling in California, Propositions 94 to 97 ask whether four of the state's wealthiest tribes should be allowed to expand their gaming operations, perhaps dramatically, over the next 23 years. Underscoring the stakes involved, the heavyweight matchup already has burned through nearly USD 120 million, with more spending on the campaign to come before the Feb. 5 election.

Das britische Staatsministerium für Kultur, Medien und Sport hat bestätigt, dass Tasmanien künftig auf der sogenannten White List jener Länder enthalten ist, die auf den Britischen Inseln für Onlinespielangebote werben dürfen. Gleichzeitig wurde dies den Antragstellern aus Kahnawake und Antigua verweigert. Eine Begründung für diese Entscheidungen steht noch aus.

Sacramento – In June, on the day after the No. 2 man at the U.S. Department of the Interior was sentenced to prison for lying about his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne issued a new ethics policy for the agency. Kempthorne's guidelines vowed to make the troubled department “a model of an ethical workplace” with integrity as a “core value.”

The Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma Indian Tribe will officially open the renovated Shriner’s Temple building, home of the 7th Street Casino, on Thursday. The day’s activities will include a media launch during the afternoon, followed by the official ribbon cutting at 6 p.m. in front of the casino’s 1920s-themed restaurant, Lucky’s Steak and Chophouse. The renovated casino will feature more than 400 Class II gaming machines spread out over two floors.

Washington - The federal government has turned down plans for two Indian casinos in the Catskills, saying the gambling sites aimed at drawing high rollers from New York City might leave their faraway tribes worse off. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe had sought to build a USD 600 million casino in Monticello in Sullivan County, about 90 miles from New York City. The Stockbridge Munsee of Wisconsin had also sought to build a casino in Sullivan County.

Tallahassee - The federal government told Gov. Charlie Crist that it will take steps to allow expanded gambling in Seminole Indian casinos if he doesn't reach an agreement with the tribe by Nov. 15. In a letter sent to Crist's office Monday, the U.S. Interior Department's assistant secretary of Indian Affairs told Crist that the tribe is at a disadvantage because Las Vegas style slots -- or Class III machines -- are allowed at some dog and horse tracks and jai alai frontons, but not in Indian casinos.