Oklahoma City (AP) - The Shawnee Tribe is planning a USD 400 million casino project that would include a 400-room hotel and employ 1,900 people. Officials with the Miami, Okla.-based tribe said Wednesday they have filed paperwork with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to start the process of putting 104 acres of land in northeast Oklahoma City into federal trust for development of a resort.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he personally called U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and asked him to give "some attention" to four Indian gambling compacts before the federal government reversed itself and finalized the agreements last month. The action has led to widespread speculation that one or more of the tribes might claim the deals to expand their casinos are valid, even if voters reject the compacts next month.

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 soothing commercials for Proposition 94-97 suggest their passage would offer a pain-free, USD 9 billion elixir for California's budget woes. These measures are neither pain-free nor an elixir. Passage of these propositions would allow four of the state's wealthiest tribes - Agua Caliente, Morongo, Pechanga, Sycuan - to dramatically expand their Southern California gambling operations by adding up to 17,000 Nevada-style slot machines.

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.

The Seminole Tribe paid USD 50 million to the state Monday, as required under its gambling agreement with Gov. Charlie Crist, after the controversial deal became official. "Today's transfer of USD 50 million to the state of Florida is just the beginning of revenue that will potentially provide billions of dollars to Florida's schools during the next 25 years," Crist said in a statement.

For five years, government regulators have been aware of misspending of gambling profits by Seminole tribal leaders in violation of federal law but have taken no enforcement action. Indian leaders elsewhere in the country have been cited for using tribal funds on such things as Super Bowl expenses and accepting free jackets worth USD 1,330.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has begun airing television spots in Orlando and around the state promoting the gambling deal it recently signed with Florida Governor Charlie Crist. But the Crist-Seminole compact is already drawing fierce criticism, both from Florida’s existing pari-mutuel industry, which says it would devastate their own business, and from anti-gambling lawmakers in the Florida Legislature, who call it an unprecedented gambling expansion.

Governor Charlie Crist is expected to announce a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida allowing Las Vegas-style slot machines and card games at its Hard Rock casino in Hollywood and six other sites, in exchange for USD 100 million or more in annual cash. Under the pact, revenue sharing by the Seminoles with the state would grow each year, depending on the success of the games.

Las Vegas - Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2007 will provide tribal gaming professionals with a host of tailored educational and business opportunities such as a keynote on the state of tribal gaming, a new tribal gaming track at the G2E Training & Development Institute, a dedicated conference track and special networking opportunities. G2E is scheduled for Nov. 13-15 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with the G2E Training & Development Institute taking place Nov. 12 and the new G2E Leadership Academy taking place Nov. 12 and 13.

Genting Highlands: The late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong’s legacy does not only live on in Genting, but halfway round the world in the Native American tribe of the Mashantucket Pequot. Unknown to most Malaysians, in 1991 the late Goh Tong helped the tribe – that was struggling to grow cabbage – by investing in their idea of building a casino, the Foxwoods Resort & Casino, which has now become the largest casino in the world.

Niagara Falls - The Seneca Nation of Indians has not paid the state its share of slot machine revenue from last year, and some local leaders are getting anxious about when the money will arrive. The Senecas’ compact calls for paying the state 18 percent of net slot machine revenue on an “annual basis” for the first four years of casino operations, but it does not specify a date for the payments. That uncertainity has left city officials guessing when they will be able to spend their share.