The Village of Eklutna is feverishly rushing work at the site where the group plans a casino to be built this year in Anchorage. Without notification to the neighbors in Birchwood, construction has ramped up, even at night, and makeshift buildings have been moved to the site. Slot machines are sitting in wrapping material.
The Alaska Landmine was first to report this story.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs quietly gave the village a lightning speed “go-ahead” on Thursday, without announcing it publicly, and since courts are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, no court action can be taken to stop the construction. It’s unclear how the village was able to get building, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire code, and other permits in one day when even for a small residential home it takes weeks or months.
“On January 16, 2025, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) signed a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and issued a Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Eklutna Native Village (Tribe) Gaming Facility Project. The Final EA was completed in accordance with requirements set forth in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 United States Code [USC] §4321 et seq.), the 2024 Council on Environmental Quality regulations for Implementing NEPA (40 CFR § 1500 et seq.), and the BIA NEPA Handbook (59 Indian Affairs Manual 3-H), and assesses the environmental impacts that could result from the BIA’s approval of a business lease between the Native Allotment landowners and the Eklutna Native Village tribal government for the development and operation of a class II gaming facility (Proposed Action). The Project Site is located in the unincorporated community of Chugiak within the boundaries of the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska,” the decision said, listing Chugiak inaccurately.
Eight residents nearby in Birchwood filed a lawsuit in December challenging the approval of the casino and the work being done this weekend appears to be an attempt to “grandfather” in the major development by being able to show the court that the casino was operational before the new administration could stall the controversial ruling.
The Native Village of Eklutna is in partnership with Marnell Gaming of Las Vegas, one of the major casino companies in the world. Marnell plans to build and operate the casino for the village, which is inside the municipality of Anchorage.
It becomes more clear why Mayor Suzanne LaFrance on Jan. 3 issued a letter of support for the casino to the BIA. She appears to have known about the plan to move ahead with work and start a casino operating in the city next week, in temporary trailers. The public comment period ended Jan. 9, and the decision by the BIA came just one week later, which may set a land record for speed on an environmental impact decision from the federal government.
The mayor, who appears to have secretly coordinate the work without including the community of Birchwood or notifying the Birchwood Community Council, is allowing the construction to violate the city’s noise ordinance, which says construction noise is permitted between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with even more limitations on Sundays and holidays.
Convene a court today and issue a stop order.
Don’t worry about it…
DiAngelo knows a guy
who knows a guy…
Where are the environmentalists? Shouldn’t they be stopping this? It’s tearing up the environment.
It is indeed tearing up the environment, as the stupid Eklutna natives building this atrocity are doing so on a six acre parcel which IN NO WAY can handle, either with a water well or a septic field, many hundreds of people per day (visitors and workers both). And they are building with only a 25 foot setback from Peters Creek, in violation of area building codes.
Moreover, not only are they tearing up the environment, they are tearing up the NEIGHBORHOOD! This is not on some large and isolated lot, but on a tiny parcel that is cheek-by-jowl with multiple residential homes. It is an extreme travesty, and merely indicative of the extreme corruption and bad faith on the part of the Eklutna natives and/or their financial puppetmasters.
My contempt for the village of Eklutna, and for Eklutna Corporation, could not be greater.
Can you imagine if the roles were reversed?
White people building a “den of thieves” in a native community.
Wed never heard the end of it…
If this was an oil well it already would be in court.
Bunch of environmental hypocrites have no balls to file a lawsuit to stop this mess.
It would be unfortunate if a petition to recall the Mayor was started over her inability or refusal to enforce the law.
I’ll sign it and I know of 40 or 50 other signatures to be more than happy to sign it.
Prostitutes, organized crime, and poverty are the hallmarks of casinos around the world. And the public sector unions benefit the most from hookers, single moms, addiction, homelessness, and poverty. You go girl! Time to repay those donors and destroy society.
Until you legalize it like Nevada did.
Disgusting. Gambling is illegal in Alaska and any ‘sovereign nation’ should not be exempt from the laws of the state they reside in. That is wrong. Then add in the vice itself. Gambling preys on those without self control and ruins peoples lives. It leads to addiction, destroys families, increases other addictions such as alcoholism, increases crime, to mention only some of the fallout. It is not right that our state has a law against it yet a small group of people are just allowed to ignore that law and trample on neighbors, community and state.
Anchorage has a terrible homeless problem based on alcohol, drugs, and mental illness.
I know – let’s add gambling to the mix of vices!!!
Where’s Dunleavy?
Where’s any Alaska politician?
Fast tracking of permits – CORRUPTION!…
Dunleavy proposed gambling in Alaska as a revenue source several years ago. Something about a casino in Talkeetna, if I remember correctly. I was supportive. This, not so much. Too much being done behind closed doors. Cheers –
The NFL allows gambling. Just saying.
The whole thing with sovereignty and natives/indians/aboriginal peoples law is that it is built on the premise that they are sovereign, not just another property holding citizen in the state.
Hats off to the Eklutna tribe for trying. I’m sure the construction will suck for neighbors and they should pay for their own road, But at this point, any economic development is good development for Alaska. I know this goes against the notion that Natives must remain in poverty. Sometimes, people, especially in the context of Western media, depict Indigenous communities as noble, simplistic, or closer to nature, often romanticizing poverty or struggle as a form of purity or moral high ground. Them Native folks have the same right to prosperity as everyone else.
My question is why they didn’t build in their Village? It is right off the Glenn, and wouldn’t disrupt an entire residential area.
Natives in Alaska are not sovereign as they are on reservations in the Lower 48. Gambling is illegal in Alaska. Nobody is saying Natives should be poor, that’s why the own land given be ANICLA. Natives do have to follow state law just like everyone else.
Actually they are.
I am wondering if you know the meaning of “sovereign” in this context!
Gregory; only on land that was deemed “sovereign” already granted by the Land Claims act. Buying new PRIVATE land is not covered.
Do keep up
and they don’t need casinos to prosper lol
How sad that you perpetuate such a stereotype. Natives are not poor, quite the contrary. Tribes have formed native corporations and have received land (such as this allotment) and funds to compensate them. For that they gave up ANY claim of the lands in question. It is further disturbing that you so heartily cheer lawlessness on the part of the native tribe and the BIA, which has NO jurisdiction, as Birchwood is an INCORPORATED part of the municipality, the lot in question is NOT federal reservation land and therefor municipal code applies.
“…and they should pay for their own road” Who is “they”?
I am all for well planned out development that has the community backing. This is an underhanded shady act, designed to bring maximum advantage to a very few, to the detriment of the entire rest of the community. To simply support something because it serves your preferred group, is very short sighted and disingenuous.
Dear AlaskanGal; clearly you’ve never been to Alaska. Nor have you read the Land Claims Settlement act of 1971. Nor have you seen, CIRI, NANA, Calista or any of the other financially successful Native corporations. Nor have you seen or heard of the Alaska Native hospital.
Both the Native Village of Eklutna, and Eklutna Corporation, are nothing but an abusive, bullying, and misanthropic blight on the Birchwood/Chugiak/Peters Creek community. NOTHING that they do, and have done in this area, has been good for the community at large. ALL they know how to do is take, take, take, whether it is the vast flood of government handouts, or purely extractive operations like gravel mining and now gambling.
I hate everything and everyone having to do with that damned village of Eklutna! They are the nightmare neighbor that nobody wishes they had.
Face it, Bud, you just hate everything
No, I just hate corruption and arrogant statists, like you.
Racist probably. Explains alot. Always has
Nothing racist about the truth concerning bad behavior. The Eklutna Indians don’t get to break laws because of their skin color, and neither does anyone else. Or are you claiming they have some special privileges based on skin color? Now who is the racist.
I got news for you; the “racist card” expired 60 years ago.
Unless there is some financial benefit to her, which would surprise no one, she may regret this decision as the tradeoff in votes will likely work to her disadvantage. The total of Eklutna voters vs the impacted community does not bode well for her. The exodus will continue.
Respectfully disagree, Dave.
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What we see here looks like the next logical step up from the LaFrance mob’s ongoing seizures of private property for their “trails” program.
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The Lafrance mob do this, in our non-humble opinion, because they don’t care what impacted communities think, at least until Eaglexit and an 80’s style exodus crank up.
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Right now, they don’t have to care what impacted communities think because Anchorage’s easily corrupted election system insulates them from angry voters.
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Watch for financial benefit, payoff some might cynically suggest, in the form of future-governor or Murkowski-replacement LaFrance.
It is amazing how a butt load of money can magically cut red tape! To those whom believe casinos can be a good thing for the community economy… be warned. If Martell and the city assembly is willing to corrupt the process at these beginning stages… image what they will do once their foot is firmly in the door. I was on the fence about whether a casino was a boon or curse… but this tells me everything I need to know.
Due to Guv’ment malpractice // impropriety, looks like we’re going to get a Casino. Now, how can we best benefit // profit “personally” from this???
Easy: cease and desist motion to get an order from the judge pending lawsuit.
Just file it.
Well, isn’t that just special???
This is just more of the “pay your taxes and shut up” that LaFrance and the assembly has been in favor of for the last 8-12 years.
Corruption on parade.
More corruption and ineptitude by natives – encouraged by progressive white liberals.
This’ll be something they blame the “white man” for in coming years.
This kind of “stuff” is starting to become comical – like the political leadership in California.
Lay off the racism DWI. Pointing out the obvious corruption is all that is needed. BTW, this casino will pay no taxes to the muni or the State, and will cost both plenty in additional services. Find a judge and issue that stop order…
Dear Donewithit
NOPE.
Losers all around. BIA losers giving whatever the natives want like a spoil child. Anchorage now will have more addicts to gambling and broken family. The state gets nothing out of this other than kow-towing to another corporation (natives notwithstanding)
I wonder how many who support this last minute overnight construction would support the same thing for oil and gas development, certainly Mayor LeFrance would.
These people really are severly Mentally ill, so now let’s just bring in some old Mobile homes and containers and bolt them all together like the tribes did in Manson(Chelan) Washington 40’years ago , just so they can get their illegal pyramid scheme off the ground and running so they can start sucking in some revenue, so maybe later they might have the Cash to build on and expand. This entire project is obviously corrupt as hell and has a small syndicate of people trying to get wealthy off the low income and those who already have free money coming in from the state and federal government !! This casino is going to be one big ugly trap for people who allready have other addictions they can’t control, Anyone who is for this is probably in on the scheme, what a joke lol, so all let’s just string out the harbor freight power cords and ship up all the old machines from nevada , I’m sure their willing to ship them all up for free for a percentage of the take lol. This is going to be a total dive just like the casinos in Washington state still are today,
even after decades of tribal management lol!! This is One big huge mistake if this is allowed to go forward ! I’ll Guarentee The Machines and tables will all be old Rinkyb dink hand me downs from Fitzgeralds or other old Casinos in Reno or Vegas that have been in a warehouse for a decades, so you all better do some research on how this all works people!
DM, everything you say is true, but what is being overlooked here is the tremendously negative impact that this misbegotten casino is going to have on the neighborhood and the community — MY neighborhood, as it so happens. Not only is this going to utterly destroy the quality of life and property values of its immediate and near neighbors, but Birchwood Loop Road, which is the only possible access route to this casino, is in no way built to handle the more than doubled traffic that they are (conservatively) projecting it to generate. And Birchwood Loop Road, which has no shoulders at all, and is winding and dark at night, cannot realistically be widened, due to the very narrow or nonexistent right-of-way along it.
This entire project is going to be a nightmare and a fiasco for EVERYONE in my area, and for the municipality as a whole, except perhaps for the short-sighted, greedy, hateful and corrupt Eklutna natives.
Jefferson the NIMBY. Did you or DM even bother to google Marnell? I have no idea what they plan to build. I am pretty sure someone with this background does not want his name on a trailer
Mr. Marnell II’s 50-year journey into architecture and construction began as the son of an Italian masonry contractor at a young age. His early experiences working alongside his father instilled a rebellious spirit against traditional design, a trait that would later define his innovative approach in the industry. This spirit, coupled with his B.A. in architecture from the University of Southern California and mentorship under architect Alfred Caldwell, led to a professional journey that included stints at Moffett & McDaniel Architects and Zuni Construction Company.
As far as LaFrance, what mayor says no to the Bellagio coming to their city.
Leo, I know a great deal about this corrupt and shameful project, certainly more than you do. Have you read the entire 124 page Environmental Assessment report from the BIA? I have. And I live right near it, did I already mention that?
You can take your accusations of “NIMBY” and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine. Because I guarantee you, Leo the Native Apologist, that if this were going up in YOUR backyard, you would be fighting it, too. EVERY Anchorage resident should fight this, because not only is it going to destroy an entire neighborhood, but it is going to negatively impact EVERY resident of the municipality of Anchorage. All for some greedy bucks for a handful of natives who are too lazy and too unindustrious to build and create an honest, constructive business, of any sort.
So what are they planning to build? Are they going to stick some slot machines in an old trailer? I looked at the company and was impressed that they could get Marnell to build and operate the casino. Marnell gives generously to the republican party and candidates including Sullivan and Murkowski. Why would Trump stop this? He loves casinos. This is what we voted for. Quicker permitting leading to job creation. If they just through some slot machines in a trailer I will apologize for my statement. I do not see this company associating themselves with that
You are deliberately missing the whole point. I am all for cutting red tape and getting things done, but in this case nobody really bothered to get any community input, the BIA HAS NO JURISDICTION and any sane engineer would look at the access roads, the water table, wet lands etc and nix the project on this site. Why is the mayor supporting this when it will only bring more cost, yet no revenue to the city coffers.
If all were on the up and up why the secrecy and the haste???
I’ve been convinced from the beginning that a good bit of money changed hands under the proverbial table! To schedule all this fast-forward construction so carefully placed on the calendar, waive the municipal quiet hours for construction workers, non-stop loud machines and blinding lights in a relatively quiet, well-established that very rationally want it all there, ignore the environmental impact – it’s just reasonable that well-placed people are being well-paid! The casino, which none of the local residents even want, belongs up by its own village. – end rant –
Compare this to Pebble Mine approvals and denials. Huh.
White people want to develop the mines – they are held to a different standard than the Natives.
What a disgrace all the way around.
Trump won.
We can tell the truth, right?
So did all the village corporations near Pebble. Not a lot of “white people” among them. Their voices were all ignored by Bob Gillam’s well funded anti-Pebble (not so) green campaign. Cheers –
They couldn’t keep an espresso stand open out there!!! I tried to help them properly set it up. What a waste of my time. They closed it up pretty damn quick because no one would show up to work ? ?????
LaFr is on the take?!
I’m not an attorney but I’d join a class action suit as an Alaskan to stop this casino, and any others in the state. Maybe Eklutna has chosen this especially inappropriate location to minimize opposition if/when they move to the larger land parcel – maybe it’s to facilitate a casino in another location. Regardless, once we allow casinos, AK will be lost and it’s all going downhill fast. We need to oppose this at the state level. How can we oppose this effectively?
You don’t control native land.
It wasn’t native land till last year when they bought the house & property from my friends parents
ANCSA extinguished aboriginal land title in Alaska, Greg! Land may be owned by a native person/corporation, but that does not make it “native land” satisfying the definition of the BIA for federal tribal lands. There is only 1 reservation style entity in Alaska and Eklutna is not it. Eklutna was part of ANCSA.
One should ask if Eklutna Inc sought federal approval when they sold parcels of land (like along ER road). I am pretty sure they did not seek the permission of the BIA to dispose of and profit from those tracks of land. That would indicate clearly that there is NO tribal federal land and the BIA HAS NO JURISDICTION!
Dear Gregory:
Do you not get tired of being proven wrong every single time?
If this casino goes through, I wonder how large of an increase of drunk or impaired drivers there will be on the Glenn? Has the Anchorage mayor taken that into consideration?
She doesn’t care.
The Glenn Highway has mostly hard working, tax paying commuters/workers on it.
As a resident of the Peters Creek area, I can say that we don’t want your stupid casino anywhere near our neighborhood. There is already enough crime and corruption nearby. The road system cannot handle the expected traffic. Keep the law, as everyone else is expected to do. Suzanne LaFrance can go chew sand, for all the good she HASN’T done for the Anchorage Borough.
The Tribe probably said the same thing way when you and whitey showed up in their land
Dear Unhinged: prehaps you should look up the history of the indegnous people of North America. They were invading and enslaving each other long before Whitey came along. Look now savage and brutal the Tglingit were….
Please stop playing the overused “invaded” nonsense.
Just a little note to the Mayor’s office; sorry for the length.
How appalling it is for you to support the casino’s construction in Chugiak!
You are failing your constituents by announcing your support for such an egregious detriment to our neighborhood – overriding the public’s opinion on the matter. You serve the public as an elected official – your opinion on the matter is just that: Personal.
You must stop this construction with all haste to perform your due diligence towards ascertaining the impact this casino will have on our neighborhood – and the lives of those who live here.
Without doing so opens the Municipality up to litigation by the residents here in Chugiak.
This is OUR neighborhood – NOT on Eklutna Tribe’s land. No Native rights that apply on Native lands should spill over onto public lands.
Why is this not up to the public to approve this casino being put into our neighborhoods? This is still America, and we in this neighborhood pay our taxes for these roads we use, and for city services. They want a casino, fine…. not my concern – but build it on Native lands that DO NOT AFFECT THE EXISTING NEIGHBORHOOD. We do not want the added traffic – especially from patrons ‘getting all liquored up’ after visiting this establishment. The Eklutna Tribe is turning a blind eye to the residents who have built their homes, and their lives here. Has the Municipality conducted a DOT survey on N Birchwood Loop Rd for the amount of traffic it currently has; and if this road in its current state can handle the influx of the type of traffic that this casino will add to it? If it hasn’t – then it should; less the Municipality be accused of turning a blind eye to our neighborhood and it’s residents as well.
The Eklutna Tribe’s liquor license will only encompass their structure – not the access to and from the casino. Is that an issue we who reside on N Birchwood Loop Rd just must accept and live with? Please make a public comment stating as much and see how that goes over. Their usage of this public road to access their private entity is a direct slap in the face for all who live here, as well as the city services that will have to increase.
The casino should be located on Native lands that do not intrude nor pose any encumbrances to the general public. Build the casino on the Native land adjacent to the highway. It solves almost every issue that arises from attempting to put such a business in an existing neighborhood.
The highway location will provide increased exposure while allowing for the entry and egress to this establishment to be entirely on Native lands; and not subjecting a residential road to the casino’s patrons. The Eklutna Tribe is essentially ‘freeloading’ from the use of our public road to facilitate their private business – unlike other businesses that would have to pay taxes for road maintenance and city services. Not paying taxes on Native lands is their business. Not paying taxes for the tremendous increase to the overall usage of this public road that WE pay taxes on – is an outrage.
‘The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has determined that when the casino is fully operational it will generate an additional 8,010 daily vehicle trips
on weekdays and an additional 10,550 daily vehicle trips on Saturdays.’ (2024, DEC) IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA ( Case No. 3:24-cv-00273 SLG )
My kids play here. There are muliple school bus stops located here. This road is already a narrow, winding lane that sees its fair share of incidents; and shouldn’t be allowed to accept any more business than it already has. Let a casino be built on your road where you live and see if that would broaden your perspective – much less, spur you into action.
In short:
Native land – Native issue.
Public land – Public issue.
The two sentiments are night and day that come with their own legalities; and you cannot force Native rights onto public citizens.
Thanks for your consideration on this matter.
You dont really believe that Suzanne LaFrance reads these nasty comments, do you ?
Little bug; What exactly is “nasty” about that observation?
Could the “rush” be less about gambling, more about getting money-laundering patterns up and running before the Trump/Bondi Justice Department can flag suspicious-activity patterns?
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No? What happened to all the “dark money” hitting Alaska that wasn’t spent?
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Might the “rush” be about laundering the unspent, cleaning it up so it stacks nicely in someone’s piggy bank?
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Could be an epic field of dreams, contribute to hardworking local government folks, skip the whole fees-permits-green card-noise-EIS-code enforcement-public comment comedy… that’s for other people, here’s a chance to launder truckloads of “dark money”, sex-trafficking money, drug money, after-hours club money, dirty stuff you’d never tell mom about, on tribal land, away from prying state eyes, build it and they’ll come… and keep coming, wouldn’t they be crazy not to?
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A “rush”, construction ramped up, even at night, makeshift buildings moved in… all at no extra charge, right? Remember the “…50,000-square-foot casino, with 700 video game machines, bingo, pull tabs, a bar and restaurant”? (https://mustreadalaska.com/birchwood-residents-file-lawsuit-to-stop-major-casino-planned-by-village-of-eklutna/)
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And that’s only the first floor, right? No? What stops the second, fifth, twentieth floors, plus a beautiful, well lit, four-lane highway to get there?
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Forget wells and sewers, that’s just details, Mayor LaFrance whips an eminent domain on enough Birchwood real estate, problem solved, right? Never happen here? Fact is city government and community councils already use lawfare to seize private property for public trails. What makes us think they’d never seize private land to build a casino that brings in more money than some ragtag property owners could ever hope to see?
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Who in city government should care what property owners think, how they “vote” in an election system that’s so easily corruptible?
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Start with trade-based money laundering, finagling trade transactions to disguise dirty money by over-invoicing or under-invoicing goods and services, hiring illegal aliens for a pittance to run the place, while reporting them paid at union scale. Never happen here of course, but what if it did?
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Oh, we’ll need a brand-new Anchorage Casino Authority… like a one-stop drop box for the agreed-upon skim plus a little extra for schools and bums. Plus a special Assembly Casino Committee… this could work.
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Top it all off with a fresh new sales tax… life is good, yes?
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Fix is in, might as well sit back and enjoy it… and pay for it.
Morrigan, this casino will pay no taxes or fees to the muni or the State. Eklutna may be laying the groundwork for a legal case to declare all the land in Alaska theirs – to overturn ANCSA. It appears many bribes have been paid – but no one is showing any proof. Yes, a gambling facility of any kind is both a symptom and a cause of societal collapse.
You’re right about muni and state taxes on reservation property, Rich.
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There’s an explanation at ‘https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/10/11/native-american-casino-and-tax-rules-that-may-surprise-you/
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Good point about proof. So much circumstantial evidence; secret meetings, construction rush, brand-new city sales tax, opportunity to launder leftover dark money, deliberately abandoning Birchwood taxpayers… who does that and why, if it’s all above board and bribes haven’t changed hands?
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That much smoke, no fire? Wouldn’t it be good to find out for sure where it’s coming from? Start by asking questions which no one in power will answer?
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Maybe that’s the worst symptom of societal collapse, when such things have to be asked out loud because nobody trustworthy is saying?
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Interesting idea about gambling and societal collapse. Don’t you think all the nastiness Americans were forced to endure the last 4 years put us closer to societal collapse than gambling ever could?
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No right or wrong answer… just wondered.
Chevak casino! Hooper Bay casino! Ten percent for the BIA!!
Way to go, Eklutna!! Also, casino revenue will diversify the State dependence on oil and gas. So oil and gas should support this too.
Sorry Trudy, first neither the state nor the municipality will see a dime in taxes. It will all go to the feds.
Second even IF the state received any tax money, there are not enough souls living or visiting this state to generate enough income via gambling to EVER replace any oil or gas revenue in any meaningful way.
Trudy; can you please admit this is a bad idea?
LaFrance is the best mayor Eklutna has ever had.
Historically, casinos are a very mixed bag. They do raise revenue, but said revenues often don’t end up where promised.
They do create jobs, but often at the expense of the cohesion of the community.
Quality of life is debatable for most host communities. More visitors affect the infrastructure. Increase in various addictions.
Be careful what you’re asking for.
Hurray, we agree on something!
The project people had extended the public input time. I wonder why since they bothered extending the comment period? Was it a distraction while everything was being put in place? Would be interesting to know if they actually have all of the legal permits on hand to be rushing ahead like this? Need some people out there that are familiar with permitting checking on the project.
Building permits from MOA are not required for projects on Federal or Native lands.
Frank, true enough, EXCEPT traffic studies and access studies ARE required since access to this Native owned property is by way of Public Roads.
You know this Frank…
This parcel to my knowledge was deeded to Eklutna Inc. per ANCSA and belongs to the Eklutna corporation. ANCSA extinguished aboriginal land title in Alaska. So this isn’t federal BIA land, as there are no aboriginal land titles remaining in Alaska (except for Metlakatla). It is in essence privately owned property within the municipality and MOA permits are required.
LaFrance was part of the Assembly leadership that got all chummy with the Eklutna tribe, establishing government to government relations. I wonder how much cash was promised in return for their support. Would be interesting to follow the $$$ here. I expect it is a non-zero number. Cheers –
The Native Village of Eklutna is not a government and exercises no sovereignty, according to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. EVERY premise underlying this underhanded and corrupt development is in violation of state and federal law.
Gambling is illegal in Alaska. Do troopers have jurisdiction to arrest anyone who gambles in Chugiak?
President Trump immediately after being sworn in: “Guys give me the pen, I have to stop this casino in Eklutna in Alaska. I’m struggling to think of one reason why he would give a single flying EFF about a fourth-rate casino in Eklutna. Seriously, Eklutna leadership, step away from the cat ladies with blue hair, the Handmaid’s Tale cosplayers and take a great big bite of reality.
Is this a “casino to nowhere”? Can the population of Anchorage support a casino or is this being set up as a tourist destination?
I wondered about that too. It is too far out there, not visible from the highway and I am not sure how many actual visitors they will see. Then there is the question if the population of Anchorage bowl wants to support this casino, considering they have to leave their safe haven and venture into wilds of Eagle River/Chugiak.
This may actually die on the vine, but probably not before wrecking the neighborhood. Tourist season up here is pretty short and they have very high expectations, when it comes to casinos. Some trailers with slots isn’t going to cut it.
Mayor LaFrance should have offered the park strip! I mean centrally located, walking distance to neighborhoods, restaurants etc. Yeah that would revitalize downtown. Come Mr. Constant get on it!
Let em’ put it into the Sullivan Arena temporarily. until they can get it built.
No it’s for sporting events.
Well then, how’s about the library?
Well, it opened tonight and it’s so popular that ktva and and adn preemptively removed their comments sections several years ago.
‘https://www.statista.com/statistics/215254/revenue-of-tribal-gaming-operations-in-the-us/
‘https://www.americangaming.org/resources/the-economic-impact-of-tribal-gaming-a-state-by-state-analysis-2/
Trudy; do you really expect anyone to believe that propaganda?
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