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.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
OREGON GAMBLING TREATMENT TAKES HUGE BUDGET HIT
State programs in Oregon designed to help problem gamblers will be sharply curtailed beginning this month due to falling lottery revenues. According to the Oregonian, treatment and prevention services will no longer be provided to some 265 persons through programs funded by lottery profits. Those profits have fallen off by some 20 percent from their high in 2008, due largely to a smoking ban in bars and taverns and the generally lagging economy.
The Oregon State Legislature has set aside one percent of lottery profits for problem gambler treatment, without regard to the form of gaming. The state program will now operate on a budget of $ 9.4 million when some $ll.3 million had been anticipated for the period 2009 – 2011. More than 1,900 Oregonians received treatment from these programs last year through lottery proceeds.
In the State of Washington, a full five percent of adult residents have had gambling problems. Through the Cowlitz Tribe’s now defunct agreement with Clark County, the Tribe was offering $50,000 a year to assist with casino gambling problems.
The Oregon State Legislature has set aside one percent of lottery profits for problem gambler treatment, without regard to the form of gaming. The state program will now operate on a budget of $ 9.4 million when some $ll.3 million had been anticipated for the period 2009 – 2011. More than 1,900 Oregonians received treatment from these programs last year through lottery proceeds.
In the State of Washington, a full five percent of adult residents have had gambling problems. Through the Cowlitz Tribe’s now defunct agreement with Clark County, the Tribe was offering $50,000 a year to assist with casino gambling problems.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Year End Thank You
On behalf of all of us at "Citizens Against" Reservation Shopping"(CARS), a huge thank you for your ongoing interest and support of our efforts to stop the casino proposed by the Cowlitz Tribe for the I-5/ La Center junction. This battle is far from over. At the same time, casino developers are no closer to winning approval for a La Center casino than they were six years ago when they first applied. We are in this to win, and with your support, we mean to do just that.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!
Friday, December 4, 2009
CARS News Brief
Nearly eight years have passed since the Cowlitz Tribe first applied to put land at the La Center-Interstate 5 interchange into trust—and the federal government still has not made a decision. Here’s a quick year-end update.
Cowlitz trust application in limbo
A February 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Carcieri v. Salazar) continues to cloud the future of the proposed Cowlitz casino. The ruling bars the Secretary of the Interior from taking land into trust for any tribe not under federal jurisdiction in 1934, when the Indian Reorganization Act was signed into law.
Since the Cowlitz Tribe was not acknowledged by the federal government until 2002, it appears it may not have land taken into trust until an administrative or legislative fix is found.
Both houses of Congress have introduced Carcieri-related legislation, but it does not appear to be going anywhere fast. Administratively, the Department of the Interior has not responded to a request for a list of tribes affected by the Carcieri decision, and dozens of tribes remain in limbo with unanswered trust land applications.
Off-reservation policy under review
The Obama Administration has announced that it is reviewing policies for off-reservation gaming applications. The Cowlitz application is considered off-reservation.
Bush Administration policies restricted tribes from developing off-reservation casinos that were not within a reasonable commuting distance of the reservation. Also, as the distance between a tribe’s reservation and its proposed trust land acquisition increased, so did the weight federal decision-makers gave to concerns of state and local governments.
The Cowlitz Tribe has no reservation, so it is difficult to say how a possible loosening of Bush Administration policies would affect the Cowlitz application. However, several federal determinations—and an earlier Cowlitz claim—have stated that the Tribe’s geographical, historical and cultural nexus is along the Cowlitz River, well to the north of the proposed casino site.
Tribal housing opens in Toledo
The Cowlitz Tribe hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this week at its newly renovated senior housing project in Toledo, Wash., next to the historic Cowlitz Mission and cemetery. Toledo is about 60 miles north of Vancouver in the heart of the Tribe’s aboriginal homeland. CARS has long argued that this is where any tribal casino should be located as well.
The $5 million project turned the nuns’ quarters and classroom annex of the old St. Mary’s school into apartments for low-income seniors. According to an article in The (Longview) Daily News, only 10 or 12 Tribe members have signed up to move into the facility’s 32 units.
An April TDN article credited the Cowlitz Tribe with “starting a building boom in southern Lewis County” and said the Tribe was planning to build 30 single-family homes in Toledo as well.
The projects are funded with federal housing grants and economic stimulus money.
Casino developer injured
Seattle-based Cowlitz casino developer David Barnett, son of the late Cowlitz Tribe Chairman John Barnett, was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident near his Shoreline home last month.
Barnett was apparently thrown from the bed of a pickup truck driven by his girlfriend. The King County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the incident as a possible case of vehicular assault.
Cowlitz trust application in limbo
A February 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Carcieri v. Salazar) continues to cloud the future of the proposed Cowlitz casino. The ruling bars the Secretary of the Interior from taking land into trust for any tribe not under federal jurisdiction in 1934, when the Indian Reorganization Act was signed into law.
Since the Cowlitz Tribe was not acknowledged by the federal government until 2002, it appears it may not have land taken into trust until an administrative or legislative fix is found.
Both houses of Congress have introduced Carcieri-related legislation, but it does not appear to be going anywhere fast. Administratively, the Department of the Interior has not responded to a request for a list of tribes affected by the Carcieri decision, and dozens of tribes remain in limbo with unanswered trust land applications.
Off-reservation policy under review
The Obama Administration has announced that it is reviewing policies for off-reservation gaming applications. The Cowlitz application is considered off-reservation.
Bush Administration policies restricted tribes from developing off-reservation casinos that were not within a reasonable commuting distance of the reservation. Also, as the distance between a tribe’s reservation and its proposed trust land acquisition increased, so did the weight federal decision-makers gave to concerns of state and local governments.
The Cowlitz Tribe has no reservation, so it is difficult to say how a possible loosening of Bush Administration policies would affect the Cowlitz application. However, several federal determinations—and an earlier Cowlitz claim—have stated that the Tribe’s geographical, historical and cultural nexus is along the Cowlitz River, well to the north of the proposed casino site.
Tribal housing opens in Toledo
The Cowlitz Tribe hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this week at its newly renovated senior housing project in Toledo, Wash., next to the historic Cowlitz Mission and cemetery. Toledo is about 60 miles north of Vancouver in the heart of the Tribe’s aboriginal homeland. CARS has long argued that this is where any tribal casino should be located as well.
The $5 million project turned the nuns’ quarters and classroom annex of the old St. Mary’s school into apartments for low-income seniors. According to an article in The (Longview) Daily News, only 10 or 12 Tribe members have signed up to move into the facility’s 32 units.
An April TDN article credited the Cowlitz Tribe with “starting a building boom in southern Lewis County” and said the Tribe was planning to build 30 single-family homes in Toledo as well.
The projects are funded with federal housing grants and economic stimulus money.
Casino developer injured
Seattle-based Cowlitz casino developer David Barnett, son of the late Cowlitz Tribe Chairman John Barnett, was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident near his Shoreline home last month.
Barnett was apparently thrown from the bed of a pickup truck driven by his girlfriend. The King County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the incident as a possible case of vehicular assault.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Problem Gambling: Making Criminals of Trusted Employees
The Cowlitz Tribe filed its initial applications for trust land in 2002 and for a mega-casino and resort in 2004. Thanks in large part to a consistent outpouring of community sentiment against the proposal, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has yet to make a final decision.
News on the Cowlitz proposal has been sparse recently, but stories illustrating casino-related problems abound. What follows is one that stands out.
Indian casino expert and author Jeff Benedict calls them the "eight uglies":
Suicide, divorce, foreclosure, bankruptcy, white collar crime, robbery, embezzlement, theft.
According to Benedict, these go hand-in-hand with the presence of out-sized casinos both on and off American Indian reservations.
In Oregon this month, the news media reported two separate cases of employee theft attributed to problem gambling. On October 16, Oregonian reporter Lisa Lednicer reported that 56-year-old Sandra Jena Klingman of Canby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing more than $519,000 from Paul Schatz Furniture in Tigard, over a two-year period.
The Canby woman had worked for Schatz for 12 years and had no prior criminal record. The newspaper quotes owner Paul Schatz as remarking, "It's a betrayal of trust, that's the hardest thing. That someone we treated like family could look us in the eye every day. But that hasn't undermined our trust in our employees."
On the same day, Norma Orndoff of Klamath Falls was reported by the Herald and News Record to have pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated theft and three counts of identity theft. She was sentenced to three months in jail and 5 years probation for stealing from her employer, a local roofing and siding company.
Both women were ordered to make restitution and undergo gambling treatment.
Studies indicate that problem gambling doubles within 50 miles of a large casino.
News on the Cowlitz proposal has been sparse recently, but stories illustrating casino-related problems abound. What follows is one that stands out.
Indian casino expert and author Jeff Benedict calls them the "eight uglies":
Suicide, divorce, foreclosure, bankruptcy, white collar crime, robbery, embezzlement, theft.
According to Benedict, these go hand-in-hand with the presence of out-sized casinos both on and off American Indian reservations.
In Oregon this month, the news media reported two separate cases of employee theft attributed to problem gambling. On October 16, Oregonian reporter Lisa Lednicer reported that 56-year-old Sandra Jena Klingman of Canby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison for stealing more than $519,000 from Paul Schatz Furniture in Tigard, over a two-year period.
The Canby woman had worked for Schatz for 12 years and had no prior criminal record. The newspaper quotes owner Paul Schatz as remarking, "It's a betrayal of trust, that's the hardest thing. That someone we treated like family could look us in the eye every day. But that hasn't undermined our trust in our employees."
On the same day, Norma Orndoff of Klamath Falls was reported by the Herald and News Record to have pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated theft and three counts of identity theft. She was sentenced to three months in jail and 5 years probation for stealing from her employer, a local roofing and siding company.
Both women were ordered to make restitution and undergo gambling treatment.
Studies indicate that problem gambling doubles within 50 miles of a large casino.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
La Center says ‘no’ to MOU
A tip of the CARS hat to those of you who attended last night’s La Center City Council meeting and who wrote in to express disapproval of the city negotiating a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Cowlitz Tribe.
After sitting through four hours of city staff presentations and citizen comment, three anti-casino members on the council beat back a carefully orchestrated effort by Mayor Jim Irish to get the city to begin working with the tribe on casino mitigation issues. Council members Bob Smith, Linda Tracy and Troy Van Dinter rejected two motions designed to get La Center formally involved in a sewage treatment program designed to serve a massive casino-resort at the 1-5/La Center junction. It was the fourth time the council has refused to negotiate with the tribe.
A contingent of La Center neighbors began the public testimony by extolling the virtues of negotiations with the tribe, but to no avail. Other Clark County citizens from both inside and outside the city then weighed in to oppose such negotiations before two separate measures were defeated 3-2.
The Cowlitz casino developers badly need an MOU to complete their application to the U.S. Department of the Interior for a casino and reservation in Clark County.
Read about it in The Columbian: La Center council again rejects casino talks
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Time change for Wednesday meeting
Please note: The meeting in La Center will be at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 10 (See previous post for details.)
If you cannot join us, please contact the La Center City Council members:
Mayor Jim Irish (jirish@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Bill Birdwell (bbirdwell@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Mike Nolan (mnolan@ci.lacenter.wa.us)Councilmember Bob Smith (bsmith@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Linda Tracy (ltracy@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Troy Van Dinter (tvandinter@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Or call (360) 263-5123.
Directions to the La Center Community Center, 1000 E. 4th St.: From Interstate 5, take Exit 16. Turn east onto NW La Center Road and head into town. Turn right onto West 4th Street. The Community Center is located near the ball fields, downhill from the high school.
If you cannot join us, please contact the La Center City Council members:
Mayor Jim Irish (jirish@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Bill Birdwell (bbirdwell@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Mike Nolan (mnolan@ci.lacenter.wa.us)Councilmember Bob Smith (bsmith@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Linda Tracy (ltracy@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Councilmember Troy Van Dinter (tvandinter@ci.lacenter.wa.us)
Or call (360) 263-5123.
Directions to the La Center Community Center, 1000 E. 4th St.: From Interstate 5, take Exit 16. Turn east onto NW La Center Road and head into town. Turn right onto West 4th Street. The Community Center is located near the ball fields, downhill from the high school.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
