Who told Arnold Schwarzenegger that the Big Lagoon was "pristine?"

As published at CA.gov Envirostor regarding the so-called "pristine" Big Lagoon in Humboldt County, CA:

FROM THE CORPS PUBLIC GIS SYSTEM: Property Description - The 153.03-acre site is located in Humboldt County, Big Lagoon, California, near the Big Lagoon Indian Reservation. The property is currently part of the Dry Lagoon State Park and is adjacent to the Big Lagoon County Park. During the 1920s and 1930s, cabins were built at the south end of the lagoon and the area was a popular destination for weekend and summer travelers. Many of the old cabins still exist alongside newer houses, several of which appear to be inhabited year round. The area remains a popular destination for camping, boating, fishing, swimming, and beach combing. Property on the southeastern side of the lagoon is part of the Big Lagoon Rancheria, inhabited by the Yurok and Tolowa tribes.

Property History - The Big Lagoon Range consists of land that was acquired by leasehold condemnation on 13 June 1944. The mission of this site was the installation of rocket targets for the training of Fleet Air Squadrons from NAAS Arcata. Due to existing hazardous conditions, the Fleet Air Training Detachment withdrew from the Station on 1 July 1945, stripping its targets and removing all squadrons, Fleet personnel, and equipment. The lease was terminated on 14 April 1946. After this, the site was divided among the state of California and Humboldt County. This property is known or suspected to contain military munitions and explosives of concern (e.g., unexploded ordnance) and therefore may present an explosive hazard.

Other resources:
Calif.gov - EnviroStor
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Program
2007 Defense Department’s Annual Report To Congress – Big Lagoon Bombing Target Clean Up costs $8.6 million
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Big Lagoon Survey Maps
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Big Lagoon Hazardous Potential
GAO.gov - California: Cleanup Projects
Memorandum to Commander U.S. Army Engineer Division on risks at Big Lagoon
Sacramento Bee – Inventory of California Former Defense Sites
California State Military Museum - Big Lagoon Bombing Target Number 12
Wikimapia.org
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Inventory Project Report
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Map
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Cover Letters
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Site Maps
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Inventory Project Report and Real Property Report Maps
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Historical Documents
Big Lagoon Bombing Target ED Project Review and Comment Instructions
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Real Property Report
Big Lagoon Bombing Target MMRP Project Cover Letters
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Archive Search Report Findings
Big Lagoon Bombing Target MMRP Project Area of Concern Range Map
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Archives Search Report Maps
Big Lagoon Bombing Target Range Inventory Working Data

Official Who Tossed Out Gaming Applications Leaving BIA

5.02.08

BIA chief quits unexpectedly
by: Rob Capriccioso

WASHINGTON - After serving for just over a year as assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, Carl J. Artman is leaving the Bush administration. His resignation comes as a surprise to many Indian leaders and U.S. government officials, but some who know him said increasing frustrations with the bureaucracy of the BIA played a role in his early exit.

An enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Artman was confirmed by the U.S. Senate March 5, 2007, to head the BIA. He previously served as the department's associate solicitor for Indian Affairs since February 2006.

''I believe at the end of this administration, the work we have done within Indian affairs will leave not just a legacy, but an infrastructure upon which American Indian and Alaska Natives can build to secure their governmental, cultural and economic futures,'' Artman wrote to Interior Department Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in a letter announcing his resignation.

''Throughout your tenure, I have appreciated your able insight as we have worked to address important issues in Indian country,'' Kempthorne responded in a letter to Artman.

Artman's official duties included carrying out Interior's trust responsibilities involving the management of tribal and individual Indian trust lands and assets, and promoting the self-determination and economic self-sufficiency of the nation's federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. He was the tenth assistant secretary of Indian Affairs to be confirmed since the position was established by Congress in the 1970s.

Artman is most often cited for starting the department's Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative, which served to enhance communications between tribal leaders and Interior on a number of trust responsibility issues.

His resignation stunned many Indian leaders and U.S. government officials, especially given the lengthy amount of time it took Artman to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

When Artman was confirmed in 2007, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said the job should have been filled two years previously, but legislative holdups made that goal untenable. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a vocal critic of the BIA and off-reservation gaming, ultimately registered the sole dissenting vote against Artman's nomination.

''It's a disappointment and setback for Indian country that Assistant Secretary Artman will be resigning,'' Dorgan said in a statement. ''I am afraid we will not make enough progress on the issues affecting the Native American community, from law enforcement issues to economic development. Mr. Artman took consultation with tribal leaders seriously, and I hope that the future or acting assistant secretary will meaningfully consult with tribal leaders before acting on matters that [affect] our Native American communities.''

W. Ron Allen, secretary of the National Congress of American Indians and chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, said he was ''very disappointed'' to learn of Artman's resignation.

''He truly has been one of our most effective and knowledgeable assistant secretaries,'' Allen said. ''Carl was always forthright with the tribes and was making a significant difference with the BIA and its responsibilities to the tribes.''

Leaders who know Artman expected that he might resign come fall, as the Bush administration tapered to a close. His early departure signaled to some that he may have had ongoing frustrations with BIA bureaucracy.

''I sense that there were things bothering Carl - perhaps just not being able to achieve what he wanted to achieve,'' said Gerald Danforth, chairman of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. Prior to joining the federal government, Artman worked for the Oneida Tribe as director of federal affairs and as chief legal counsel.

''I suspect he would have liked to see changes within the BIA that would streamline the processes,'' Danforth said. ''His intentions were right, but how they were unfolding within the BIA, I don't know. I just sensed a certain frustration that things weren't moving forward as quickly as he believed they could be.''

Many Indian leaders are skeptical that Interior will be able to soon find a replacement that was as well-versed on Indian issues as Artman, especially before the close of the Bush administration.

''Because he has worked in Indian country, he had a clear understanding of what the tribes are trying to accomplish with respect to self-determination, self-governance and self-reliance,'' Allen said. ''It is hard to have an impact when you are working on a short stint in the system, but because he knows how it works, he was able to make decisions to address a lot of policy matters.''

It's expected by some insiders that Majel Russell, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe of Montana and Artman's principal deputy assistant secretary, may be tapped to fill out the remainder of his term. That would likely mean she would have to relocate to Washington, D.C., from her current home in Montana.

Artman's last day on the job is expected to be May 23. It's unknown at this point where he will land, but Danforth said an invitation is open for him to return to the Oneida Nation. He did not respond to requests for comment.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417231

Schwarzenegger Approves Casino Plans Near Fresno

4.29.08

Governor OKs Indian casino near Fresno
State legislators and U.S. officials must still approve plan for off-reservation site with 2,000 slot machines.

By Nancy Vogel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Monday that he has signed a deal to allow a Sierra Nevada Indian tribe to build a casino along a major highway near Fresno that could be worth about $25 million a year to the state.

But the tribe lacks federal permission to put a gambling operation on that land. And state legislators -- many of whom are wary of urban, off-reservation casinos -- must approve the compacts. Those are high hurdles that could take months, if not years, to clear.

The deal also may conflict with the governor's own policy on tribal gambling accords.

Under the unusual arrangement, the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians would build the casino along California 99 in the heart of the Central Valley, about 40 miles from their foothills reservation. The tribe would share profits with the state and an impoverished tribe, the Wiyot, on the Humboldt County coast hundreds of miles away. The Wiyot would agree not to build a casino on their land near Humboldt Bay.

Schwarzenegger's official policy, spelled out in a May 2005 proclamation, states that he will not negotiate with tribes that do not already own land that the federal government deems eligible for a casino.

It also states that Schwarzenegger will oppose casino construction in urban areas away from tribal reservations.

The proposed North Fork casino is less than a mile from Madera, population 46,000, and about 22 miles northwest of Fresno. It is owned by Station Casinos, a Las Vegas company pursuing projects with several California tribes.

"Placing a casino along Highway 99 right at the foot of the city of Fresno is certainly an urban casino -- there is no other way to see it," said state Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), who heads the Senate committee that oversees gambling.

In a press release, Florez called the proposal "erratic" and "illogical."

Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary, Andrea Hoch, defended the agreement. It is consistent with the governor's gambling policy because the North Fork tribe does own land that is federally eligible for casino construction, she said -- it just isn't the land where the tribe proposes a casino.

"These compacts are novel approaches to providing what is best for the state of California," she said.

Under the compact, the North Fork tribe would build a hotel and casino with 2,000 slot machines and give the state 13.5% to 22% of net revenues, with the state's share rising as revenues increase.

The tribe also would share a small percentage of revenues -- estimated at $3 million to $5 million a year -- with the 600-member Wiyot tribe. Wiyot tribal administrator Maura Eastman said the money would probably be used to invest in economic development.

North Fork tribal Chairwoman Elaine Bethel Fink said her tribe's rancheria south of Yosemite National Park is too remote for a casino.

"Environmentally, it just makes sense for us to partner up," she said.

Schwarzenegger failed the last time he sought federal and state approval for an off-reservation casino. In 2005, he struck a deal with the Los Coyotes band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians in San Diego County and the Big Lagoon Rancheria of Humboldt County to open casinos in the Mojave Desert town of Barstow, where city officials eagerly sought the jobs it would offer.

Legislators -- who can ratify or reject tribal gambling compacts negotiated by the governor but cannot change them -- refused to vote on the Barstow deals.

In any case, the U.S. Department of the Interior refused to allow the tribes to use the Barstow land for casinos because of the potential harm of tribal families leaving their reservations to work in casinos hundreds of miles away.

Schwarzenegger said he would not submit the North Fork and Wiyot compacts to the Legislature until the secretary of the Interior gives North Fork approval to use the land near California 99 for a casino.

There is no guarantee that will happen.

In January, the Bush administration toughened its stance on off-reservation casinos and promised greater scrutiny on casino proposals more than a "commutable distance" from a reservation.

Cheryl Schmit, director of the gambling watchdog group Stand Up for California, said the compacts, if they are ever implemented, could lead to more casinos near big California cities.

"I think the policy of negotiating before the tribe even owns the land . . . is an invitation to further off-reservation gaming expansion," she said.

nancy.vogel@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-casinos29apr29,0,966956.story

New Tax Proposed on New York Tribes

5.02.08

Where there's smoke, there's fire
by Rob Capriccioso

ALBANY, N.Y - New York Gov. David Paterson, just a few weeks after taking office, is already thinking about collecting sales taxes on cigarettes sold by tribes. It's a path many of his predecessors have unsuccessfully pursued, and several tribal leaders predict Paterson, too, will likely face challenges...

''The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is sensitive to the economic woes of the state,'' according to a statement released by the tribe's council in response to Paterson's radio remarks. ''

However, the state should not be trying to bail itself out on the backs of Indian tribes [and] nations in the state.'' Mohawk council leaders also said they do not believe the governor should be making public comments concerning tribes without first reaching out to tribes to discuss his concerns. ''That is counterproductive to building positive government-to-government relationships between us,'' according to the statement...

Representatives of the Shinnecock Indian Nation said they wanted to take a wait-and-see approach regarding Paterson's plans... (Full Story)

Why are attorneys researching Barstow Councilman "Steve Curran & WalMart"

Why would folks at the San Bernardino based Gresham, Savage, Nolan and Tilden be conducting Google searches on Barstow City Councilman "Steve Curran and WalMart?"

Councilman Curran's father and a former business partner Joseph Gee have previously entered into local land deals -- reportedly worth more than $1 million -- with Detroit-based casino developer BarWest LLC. BarWest has proposed to build dual Indian casinos in the Mojave Desert town of Barstow.

While WalMart had at one time proposed building a large regional distribution facility in Barstow, according to WalMart officials, that project is no longer on the table. It is not clear who benefited or stood to benefit from the sale of land to WalMart.

Mike Malik's Public Comments on a Port Huron Casino

Excerpted from the published minutes of a Special Meeting of the City Council of the City of Port Huron, Michigan, held Monday, March 6, 2006, at 8:01 a.m. in Conference Room 408, Municipal Office Center.

"2. Mike Malik, Blue Water Resorts, representing the Bay Mills Indian tribe, stated they are the only group that has a signed compact with the State of Michigan and that he thinks the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians does not have anything in writing, they haven’t talked to Frank Kelly and that the lawyers need to check this out. He also stated that a 500 room hotel is larger than what is currently going in downtown Detroit and that the cost would be prohibitive. Additionally, he said that until there is money on the table everyone should be cautious and that if this were to happen all 11 tribes in the state of Michigan would need to agree and he doesn’t believe that will ever happen."

"6. Dick Cummings, Avoca, talked about the time and money already spent by Mr. Malik on trying to get a casino in Port Huron following voter approval five years ago."

The Cullens of Grosse Pointe Shores

as printed in the C&G News 5.16.07:

For Matthew Cullen of Grosse Pointe Shores, Detroit isn’t just the city where he works...In his personal life, Cullen calls raising his sons his proudest achievement. He and his wife, Karen — who heads communications for Ilitch Holdings — are the parents of three boys, ages 6-10. Cullen received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan in economics, and got his master’s in business administration from the University of Detroit...

4.28.08

Wheat Government Relations, on behalf of the Bay Mills Indian Community, hired Alexander Beckles to lobby on the Farm Bill. Beckles is a former legislation aide to three congressmen, including Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.).

NOTE: Matt Cullen's wife, Karen Cullen is Vice President of Corporate Communications for Ilitch Holdings, Inc. Matt Cullen has a history of partnerships with associates of Michael J. Malik, Sr.

4.29.08

Matt Cullen, the man who engineered General Motors Corp.'s headquarters move to the Renaissance Center in 1996 and hatched the massive plan to overhaul Detroit's riverfront, is leaving GM to join entrepreneur Dan Gilbert and be president and chief operating officer of Rock Enterprises, a new umbrella entity for Gilbert's diverse holdings.

Gilbert, 45, founder of Quicken Loans Inc. and its Michigan mortgage arm Rock Financial, announced in November that he will move his mortgage-related firms and 4,000 employees from Livonia to downtown Detroit.

Gilbert also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers pro basketball team; the Lake Erie Monsters minor league hockey team, and Fathead LLC, a sports-themed wall graphics outfit. And he is a major investor in ePrize LLC, a fast-growing Internet promotions firm with 350 people in Pleasant Ridge, and other companies.

"I'm just out of time, that's all there is to it," Gilbert said Monday in a joint telephone interview with Cullen. He said that Cullen will work closely with him across all of the companies, looking for opportunities to collaborate, grow and do things faster.

Snagging Cullen, whom high-powered Detroit attorney David Page once called "absolutely the best consensus builder I have ever seen," is clearly a coup for Gilbert.

And it's also a vote of confidence by Cullen in Quicken Loans, which is navigating through the nation's mortgage and housing crisis. Gilbert said he sees opportunities to build market share as weak competitors fall by the wayside, although he added, "I don't want to imply that we're not hit at all by the radioactivity" of the financial crisis.

Cullen will play a key role in choosing a site by November for Quicken's new headquarters and in fulfilling Gilbert's vow to spark other development in downtown Detroit, especially cutting-edge entrepreneurial and technology businesses.

One of Gilbert's hopes is to jump-start efforts to beef up mass transit in the city. He and Cullen are both involved in talks regarding a possible light-rail line along Woodward that would be financed, at least in part, with private money. Neither would talk in detail about the light-rail efforts Monday, but said they expected John Hertel, CEO of the Regional Transit Coordinating Council, to reveal more soon.

Cullen, 52, is a 29-year GM veteran who leaves as its general manager of economic development and enterprise services. He was also the founding chairman of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and has chaired the Michigan Economic Development Corp. board under both Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her predecessor, John Engler.

In Detroit civic and economic development circles, Cullen has been GM's point man for the past 15 years, a much more visible figure on the local scene than even Chairman Rick Wagoner or Vice Chairmen Bob Lutz and Fritz Henderson. At GM, however, it has traditionally been the guys who run automotive operations -- be they engineers, marketers or finance specialists -- who rise to the very top jobs.

Cullen signed on with GM's real estate unit in 1978 after earning an economics degree at the University of Michigan, and soon got an up-close look at a huge controversy when GM was closing its aging Fleetwood and Clark Street assembly plants in the early 1980s. GM also built the Detroit/Hamtramck plant, infamously dubbed the Poletown plant, for the neighborhood where a furor erupted when a church was demolished to make way for the plant.

"All that really helped me to understand the huge impact GM has on the communities where it operates," Cullen told me in a 2002 interview. He got hooked on the community and real estate aspects of the GM empire and eventually wound up running all of GM's worldwide real estate operations.

Cullen said Monday that he and Gilbert began discussing a job switch just after Christmas, and that Cullen talked to his bosses, including Wagoner and Henderson, about it last week. "They were all supportive. They said it was clear that I'd thought it through."

Said Henderson, "Matt has made a significant contribution to General Motors over his 29-year career. I thank him and wish him well in his new endeavor."

He will transition from GM to Rock Enterprises over the next few weeks.

This looks like a win-win, a good move for both Dan Gilbert and the city. Matt's got a lot of ability and now he can really use his entrepreneurial instincts," said George Jackson Jr., president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

Added Gilbert, "Matt is as dedicated as anyone to the transformation and revitalization of Detroit. The relationships he's formed in business and in government will be a huge asset to us as we work with others in the public and private sectors to transform our city."
Both Gilbert and Cullen sidestepped direct comment when asked whether the text-message scandal engulfing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is affecting economic development efforts in the city.

"Frankly, we're just plowing ahead regardless," Gilbert said. "The city has been nothing but cooperative with us. We don't want to take a position on something where we can't control the outcome. We can't let a political situation today affect our long-term view of Detroit and its future."

"It will be nice," Cullen added, "when we're looking back on all this in the rear-view mirror."

Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.

Find this article at: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080429/COL06/804290397

What's up in Nashville?

What's got the Ilitch Gulfstream shuttling back and forth between Detroit and Nashville?

The Ilitch corporate jet, a Gulfstream II that sports the Little Ceasars Pizza logo on its tail, made shuttle flights between Detroit's Metropolitan Airport and Nashville International on April 14th, 16th and 20th before heading to the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan outside of Denver, Colorado on April 29th.

Malik v. White

According to Justia.com, Michael J. Malik, Sr. has filed suit in federal court against Christopher P. White.

Plaintiff: Michael J Malik, Sr
Defendant: Christopher P White

Case Number: 2:2008cv11444
Filed: April 3, 2008

Type of Lawsuit: Other Contract

Court: Michigan Eastern District Court
Office: Detroit Office [Court Info]
County: Wayne


http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-miedce/case_no-2:2008cv11444/case_id-229179/

CA Bill Would Require Federal Approval Before Governor Can Negotiate Gaming Compacts

4.15.08

No Federal Approval, No Casino?

By John Myers, KQED

Legislation to change how, and possibly where, new Indian casinos are built in California cleared its first hurdle today at the state Capitol.

For years, the most controversial part of the tribal gaming process has been casinos proposed for land that either isn’t an ancestral reservation… or land that the federal government hasn’t yet recognized as part of a tribe’s reservation. Critics have derided such proposals as examples of “reservation shopping,” accusing tribes and their deep-pocketed investors of choosing locations solely based on how much money can be made.

The legislation in question, SB 1695, would change the way new casinos are approved, by prohibiting the governor from negotiating with any tribe whose casino land hasn’t yet been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Interior.

(A quick explainer to those who don’t follow this issue much: federal law lays out a long process for non-Indian land to become a reservation. It also requires a tribe to negotiate a formal gaming agreement, known as a compact, with the governor of the state before opening a casino.)

Governor Schwarzenegger has negotiated a number of casino compacts with Indian tribes since he took office, but his most controversial deals have seemed to be ones where the land hadn’t yet secured a federal OK. Most notable on this list: the long saga of the two tribes wanting to build side-by-side casinos in Barstow… even though the tribes’ reservations are in another part of the state. Schwarzenegger agreed to the casinos long before the feds had ruled on the proposal; earlier this year it was rejected.

The bill, authored by Sen. Dean Florez (D-Shafter), simply says that the governor can’t negotiate a formal compact until the feds have had their say. The current version of the legislation is notably more tame than the original, which would have essentially banned any tribe from opening a casino on land away from its ancestral home… presumably even if that tribe no longer has a reservation (and many don’t).

The bill sailed out of the Senate Governmental Organization committee this afternoon, which Florez chairs (its one dissenting vote: Sen. Pat Wiggins, a Democrat whose northern California district includes one of the tribes that wanted to go to Barstow).

A spokesperson for Schwarzenegger said the guv won’t take a position on the bill until it reaches his desk.

If the Legislature sends it to him, it certainly puts him in an interesting position: if he signs it, it would seem to imply that some mistakes were made in the past. And it would seemingly derail secret negotiations he might currently be conducting with some tribes (though there’s no official confirmation that any casno negotiations are even underway).

But if he vetoes it, critics of the rapid expansion of Indian gambling will say the governor is ignoring the plight of communities that don’t want casinos, and that he’s being inconsistent with his earlier pronouncements about the siting of new tribal gambling facilities.

MotorCity Casinos fall; Detroit area casinos troubled

4.09.08

Casinos in Detroit hit by ill economy
MGM is only gaming hall to report a slight jump; combined betting revenues flat for month.

Nathan Hurst / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Detroit's three casinos are feeling the sting of the state's economic downturn, even with two new resort hotels and expanded floor space for gambling, according to a report Tuesday to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

Combined, the casino revenues in March were flat, rising a meager .02 percent increase over the same period in 2007.

MGM Grand Detroit was the only one to report a revenue increase year over year, gaining 5.94 percent, from $47.4 million in March 2007 to $50.2 million this March.

In contrast, revenue dropped in March at MotorCity and Greektown casinos. MotorCity reported revenues of $41.3 million, down 3.7 percent, and Greektown showed revenues of $32.2 million, down 3.58 percent.

The casinos' report to the Gaming Control Board also revealed that gaming taxes paid by the three casinos in March totaled $11.8 million, down 21 percent from $14.97 million last March. The decline was attributed to an expected tax reduction for the MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity casinos that followed last year's opening of their permanent complexes.

Eugene Christensen, CEO of gaming-analysis firm Christensen Capital Advisors in New York, said the paltry overall gain and downturns at MotorCity and Greektown were expected given Michigan's high jobless and foreclosure rates and consumers' worries about their financial futures.

"What you're seeing in Michigan is in line with other markets across the country," Christensen said. "Given the state of the economy, they're surviving pretty well."

The revenue declines at MotorCity and Greektown follow layoffs at the MGM Grand Detroit complex that began last month. A spokesman for the casino said the cuts would affect fewer than 100 workers, mostly people who worked in non-gaming operations.

Also decided at the Gaming Control Board's Tuesday meeting:

• Greektown Casino received approval to continue negotiating with potential equity partners that would help the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the casino's owner, to comply with debt covenants imposed by the board last year. The requirements mandate the casino maintain an undisclosed debt-to-equity ratio, which it would need additional funding to maintain.

Greektown spokesman Brian Brown said the casino has been in active talks with a number of investors. The casino hopes to close on a deal that would transfer ownership of between 26.5 percent and 30.77 percent of Greektown to an investor, in exchange for cash to ensure the debt ratios are maintained. The Chippewa tribe, unlike MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity, had to secure the majority of the financing for its hotel and expanded gaming facilities from outside investors, Brown said.

Those new facilities are expected to open in 2009.

• The board approved a request from Dubai World, the international investment arm of the United Arab Emirates, to increase its stake in MGM Mirage Inc., the parent of MGM Grand Detroit, from 9.4 percent to 14.75 percent. With that approval, Dubai World could purchase additional MGM shares on the open market. The request must be approved by regulators in states where MGM is licensed to operate.

You can reach Nathan Hurst at (313) 222-2293 or nhurst@detnews.com.

Find this article at:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/BIZ/804090360

Levin has raised $5.7 million for re-election bid

4.14.08

Levin pulls in $667K for re-election campaign

By TODD SPANGLER • FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin reported his first-quarter fund-raising totals today, showing he pulled in just over $667,000 for his re-election campaign during the first three months of the year.

That brings the Detroit Democrat’s totals to $5.7 million in total contributions for this election cycle – $4.8 million of which is from individual donations. And the vast majority of the money he’s raised -- $4.2 million – is still in his warchest.

Stabenow's husband caught in prostitution sting

4.02.08

Report: Stabenow's husband paid prostitute in sting

By KORIE WILKINS AND TODD SPANGLER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

WASHINGTON -- Speaking for the first time about her husband's acknowledgment that he paid for sex with an alleged prostitute, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow told the Free Press this afternoon she's going through a "very difficult and personal" time and will continue to work through it with her family.

The senator from Lansing did not want to talk about whether she and her husband are still together or how she learned of his being stopped by Troy police in February. According to a police report obtained this morning by the Free Press, Tom Athans -- a liberal radio talk-show executive -- told Troy detectives he paid a prostitute he contacted via the Internet $150 for sex at a Residence Inn in the metro Detroit suburb.

He was not charged with solicitation after being stopped as part of a police sting -- only cited for driving with a suspended license. He was stopped on I-75 driving a car registered to him and Stabenow, whom he married in 2003.

Stabenow spoke to the Free Press a few minutes after delivering a speech on the Senate floor on the need to help Michigan families fighting foreclosure and lost jobs -- a theme she has been pounding on for months, repeating her call for an extension of unemployment benefits.

Her demeanor showed none of the stress she acknowledged she's under now.

"I have a job to do and I'm continuing to be focused on the things that matter most to Michgian families," she told the Free Press.

Athans, 46, issued a statement through a Royal Oak law firm representing him, saying, "No words can fully express how sorry I am. At the time this incident occurred, I took responsibility for my actions and fully cooperated with law enforcement. My family and I are dealing with this matter in a personal and private way."

Without being specific, Stabenow, 57, said her colleagues have been showing their support for her. "I'm very grateful for the prayers and support I'm receiving," she said.

Find this article at:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080402/NEWS06/80402038