[pct-l] new casino in Cascade Locks

[waynekraft at verizon.net (Wayne Kraft)]

Coming soon:  Tram ride to Tunnel Falls.

Wayne Kraft

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Plotnikoff" <david@emeraldlake.com>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 5:03 PM
Subject: [pct-l] new casino in Cascade Locks


> This should add an interesting diversion. Last time I was in Cascade 
> Locks,
> the No. 1 thru-hiker sport was ... eating. At the Charburger.
>
>>BC-WST--Columbia Gorge Casino, Bjt,380

>>Agreement reached to build casino in Columbia River Gorge

>>AP Photo ORDR801

>>By BRAD CAIN
>>Associated Press Writer
>>
>>
>>    SALEM, Ore. (AP) ... The Confederated Tribes of Warm
>>Springs and Gov. Ted Kulongoski have reached agreement on a
>>casino the tribe plans to build in a small town in the scenic
>>Columbia River Gorge, a spokesman for the tribe said Tuesday.
>>
>>   Len Bergstein said the governor and tribal representatives
>>are scheduled to sign the formal agreement during a ceremony
>>Wednesday in Cascade Locks, a financially struggling town
>>where the casino is to be built.
>>
>>   ""There is essential agreement between the negotiators for
>>the state and for Warm Springs to build the casino,''
>>Bergstein said.
>>
>>   The negotiated agreement calls for Warm Springs to give a
>>portion of the casino's revenue to the state, Bergstein said.
>>He declined to say how much.
>>
>>   Mary Ellen Glynn, a spokeswoman for the governor, declined
>>to discuss the agreement. She said representatives of
>>Kulongoski's office and the tribe were to meet later Tuesday
>>at the Capitol to go through details of the agreement.
>>
>>   Located about 40 miles east of Portland, the Cascade Locks
>>casino is expected to be a big moneymaker for the tribe.
>>Tribal leaders have estimated that the new casino will draw 3
>>million patrons yearly.
>>
>>   Kulongoski's predecessor, Gov. John Kitzhaber, had turned
>>down the project in 1999 because he opposed off-reservation
>>casinos.
>>
>>   The new casino's location also has drawn criticism from
>>the group Friends of the Columbia River Gorge and other
>>conservationists who are concerned about increased traffic
>>and air pollution.
>>
>>   Bergstein said the agreement calls on Warms Springs to use
>>some of the casino's profits to enhance environmental
>>protection in the gorge, but he declined to offer specifics.
>>
>>   Many residents in the small town of Cascade Locks say they
>>are eager for the casino to come to town, and for the jobs
>>and tourists that it could bring.
>>
>>   The agreement will require that the tribes' existing
>>on-reservation casino, Kah-Nee-Ta, no longer operate as a
>>casino after the Cascade Locks facility opens.
>>
>>   In pushing for the Cascade Locks casino, the Warm Springs
>>tribes said they they needed a larger casino to bring down
>>the high unemployment rates on the reservation.
>>
>>   AP-WS-04-05-05 1733EDT

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