DRUGS INVOLVED IN BARNETT SEATTLE PICKUP MISHAP
In case you missed it, the Columbian newspaper reported earlier this week that drugs were involved in the November auto crash in Seattle that seriously injured would-be Cowlitz casino developer, David Barnett, 49. According to the King County Sheriff’s report, at 6 a.m. November 16, Barnett was riding the back of his pickup truck, which was being driven by his live-in girlfriend, when the vehicle left the roadway and crashed into a rock wall. Barnett was apparently thrown from the vehicle and sustained serious head injuries when he hit the pavement, and was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.
Barnett’s girlfriend, 36-year old Sarah S. Rutyne explained to sheriff’s deputies that she and Barnett had been using crack cocaine and methamphetamine along with Hydrocodone, Oxycodone and Percocet prior to the accident. Toxicology reports from blood tests were positive for both parties. According to the report, Barnett had been attempting to break in the truck’s rear window just prior to the accident.
Rutyne told officials that she and Barnett had met in “rehab” where both were recovering alcoholics and in treatment. No charges have yet been filed in the case.
Barnett is the son of former Cowlitz Tribal Chairman John Barnett, now deceased. Between 2000 and 2001, David Barnett took options on land at the La Center interchange with Interstate 5. In March 2002, the tribe applied to have 150 acres taken into trust by the federal government. No decision on that application has been reached.
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For more information, check out the CARS Web site:
Who’s behind the proposed casino project?
Many of CARS’ stories about this casino proposal describe it as the work of “the Cowlitz Tribe.” But every time we attribute it to “the Tribe,” we wince.
The casino project is being driven by the Salishan-Mohegan partnership, which includes:
+ the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (49.15 percent)
+ David Barnett (Salishan Co.), son of the late tribal Chairman John Barnett (sharing 43 percent with the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians)
+ the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, California (sharing 43 percent with David Barnett)
+ the Mohegan Tribe, Connecticut (7.85 percent)
According to the development agreement, the partnership would receive fees equal to 3 percent of total project costs. The management agreement states that Salishan-Mohegan would manage, operate and maintain the casino-resort for seven years and earn 24 percent of annual net revenues.
We want to be clear: CARS is critical of the casino proposal and the way it has been pursued. Beyond its involvement in the casino, we have no issue with the Cowlitz Tribe.
The casino project is being driven by the Salishan-Mohegan partnership, which includes:
+ the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (49.15 percent)
+ David Barnett (Salishan Co.), son of the late tribal Chairman John Barnett (sharing 43 percent with the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians)
+ the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, California (sharing 43 percent with David Barnett)
+ the Mohegan Tribe, Connecticut (7.85 percent)
According to the development agreement, the partnership would receive fees equal to 3 percent of total project costs. The management agreement states that Salishan-Mohegan would manage, operate and maintain the casino-resort for seven years and earn 24 percent of annual net revenues.
We want to be clear: CARS is critical of the casino proposal and the way it has been pursued. Beyond its involvement in the casino, we have no issue with the Cowlitz Tribe.
About CARS
Citizens Against Reservation Shopping (CARS) is a group of Clark County, Wash., citizens formed in June 2005 and led by longtime Vancouver businessman and civic leader Edward Lynch.
CARS opposes the Cowlitz Tribe's plan to build a casino in Clark County in part because it objects to the practice of "reservation shopping." This is the practice of selecting an ideal casino site and then working to have it given reservation status.