Austin, Texas - American Indian tribes in Texas are trying again to reopen their casinos with legislation filed Tuesday that would provide a defense to prosecution for tribes that operate limited casino gambling. Rep. Norma Chavez, an El Paso Democrat, filed a bill that would allow the Tigua tribe in El Paso and the Alabama-Coushatta tribe near Livingston to reopen casinos that were closed by court orders when the state opposed them.

Washington -- The gaming industry changed irrevocably when President Reagan signed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on Oct. 17, 1988. Twenty years later, tribal casinos earn more money than those in Las Vegas and Atlantic City combined. "I believe the expectation of almost every lawmaker then was that the future of Indian gaming was going to be in high stakes bingo," said Phil Hogen, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Governor Deval Patrick had his casino gambling proposal shot down by the legislature in Massachusetts shortly after he took office. He vowed that he would continue his fight even after the defeat of the proposal. This week, a door seemingly opened up to Patrick. One that would have allowed him to bring the casino gambling he desired to the state. The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe sent a formal letter to the governor asking to open discussions about building a casino.

The Florida Supreme Court struck down the gaming compact signed by Governor Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe, throwing into question the table game operations the tribe opened at its casinos only a few weeks ago. The high court, ruling in a lawsuit brought by a state lawmaker, held that Crist overstepped his authority by authorizing the tribe to conduct banked table games including blackjack and baccarat, in addition to the Class III slots to which it was entitled.

Tallahassee, Florida - A South Florida casino wants a federal judge to stop blackjack and other games at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Lawyers for Isle Casino of Pompano Beach cited last week's Florida Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional the tribe's recent gambling agreement with the state. The filing Monday is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed in federal court in Tallahassee challenging that agreement.

Hans Nansen of Carlsbad sometimes suggests to friends that they go out to a casino, but he gets an immediate objection. “We want to go out there, but 'Oh, God, the smoke,' ” he said. “I can only stand it so long.” Thirteen years after California banned smoking in most workplaces, there's one public place where people regularly light up: tribal casinos. A survey of more than 1,700 Southern California gamblers released last week by J.D. Power and Associates found that 85 percent would prefer a nonsmoking environment at their casinos.

Sacramento - Inland governments and tribes are fighting to preserve millions in payments meant to help public agencies deal with the burdens of the region's tribal casinos. Local cities, sheriff's departments and other agencies have collected more than USD 40 million in gambling mitigation payments from a tribe-funded account since 2005, the most in the state. The money has paid for everything from traffic signals to police officers.

Revenue at the nation’s Indian casinos grew 5 percent in 2007, significantly slower than in years past but still outpacing the growth rate at Nevada casinos amid a sluggish economy. Figures from the National Indian Gaming Commission, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of their public release, show that Indian casinos took in USD 26 billion in gambling revenue in 2007, up from USD 24.9 billion in 2006.

The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that a community organization can challenge the governor’s approval of a casino in Florence. The ruling could have ramifications for tribal casinos throughout Oregon. KLCC’s Rachael McDonald reports. People Against a Casino Town, or PACT, has been fighting the Three Rivers Casino since 2003 when the governor signed a compact giving the project the go-ahead.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida (AP) -- Leaders of the Seminole Tribe of Florida -- the first U.S. tribe to offer high-stakes gambling -- have spent millions of dollars from the group's vast casino income on themselves and their relatives, according to a report. The spending has triggered audits by federal regulators and complaints among Seminoles that the gambling profits benefit certain members at the expense of the rest of the tribe...

Las Vegas (AP) - It garners a mere one-paragraph mention in the quarterly earnings report, but the private equity buyers of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. could have a colossal USD 2.8 billion problem on their hands. The world's largest casino company by revenue inherited a legal quagmire that dates back to 2000. That's when Arthur Goldberg, then chief executive of Park Place Entertainment Corp., signed a deal with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to acquire the exclusive rights to jointly develop a casino in the Catskills in upstate New York, just a 90-minute drive from Manhattan.

Tucson - Fourteen years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, tribal casinos in Tucson have not met federal and state requirements to lift American Indians out of poverty and reduce their dependence on taxpayer money. This despite the fact that this is what federal and state compacts that legalized Indian casinos called for. The Pascua Yaqui government since 1997 has more than doubled its per-person spending of federal dollars, and aid to the Tohono O'odham Nation has been up nearly 10 percent in that time.