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English not British
In their July 9, 2006 hit piece, In Our View—'I Hate Gambling', the Columbian editorial writers claimed that Governor Christine Gregoire put the spotlight on the proposed Cowlitz Casino and Resort:
Gov. Chris Gregoire put the spotlight on that issue during a trip to Vancouver on Thursday.
"I hate gambling," she told The Columbian Editorial Board. "It's evil. We now have a problem in this state with gaming addiction." —In Our View—'I Hate Gambling', Columbian editorial writers, The Vancouver Columbian, July 9, 2006
That and another article put the spotlight on the governor's comments at a public forum and in her comments to the editorial board earlier that same day:
About 400 people squeezed onto bleachers and folding chairs in the Discovery Middle School auditorium Thursday evening for the chance to tell Gov. Chris Gregoire what they want from their state government.
At the second in a series of five "listening tours" the governor is holding around the state, the audience peppered Gregoire with questions about everything from air pollution to infrastructure maintenance, unexploded ordnance at Camp Bonneville to mercury in dental fillings.—Governor Visits Vancouver - Participants place tall order at forum, Kathie Durbin, The Vancouver Columbian, July 7, 2006
Cowlitz who live in Clark County were among the 400 residents who attended the July 6th forum with Governor Gregoire. The leading issue at that forum was mental health and access to care, not Indian casinos. As Kathie Durbin reported, other issues included "air pollution to infrastructure maintenance, unexploded ordnance at Camp Bonneville to mercury in dental fillings."
At that forum of the 400 people who attended only one—from The Columbian—raised the issue of the proposed Cowlitz Casino and Resort.
While in town Governor Gregoire also met with the editorial board of The Columbian and reportedly commented on a number of issues, including North Korea's missiles, nuclear waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, salmon restoration, and illegal immigration.
The Columbian gave the other issues one article, but for her response to their question about the Cowlitz they have so far published 2 articles. In the first they reported with a negative spin that the federal government requires Washington State to negotiate with the Tribe in good faith. Like that's a bad thing.
In the second article, they claim that Governor Gregoire "put the spotlight on" this issue.
They're lying.
The Columbian is spinning the governor's listening tour by claiming that she put the spotlight on this issue. She didn't. They are.
Their yellow journalism doesn't begin there, as they luridly described the proposed casino as something akin to a temple of doom:
Along with such man-made Washington icons as the Space Needle, Grand Coulee Dam and the state ferries would be Clark County's entry: A temple along Interstate 5 for the development and encouragement of gambling addicts, one that tears at the fabric of family life while it fosters bankruptcy, unemployment, welfare caseloads and lost earning potential.—In Our View—'I Hate Gambling', Columbian editorial writers, The Vancouver Columbian, July 9, 2006
Washington State's two most profitable mini‑casinos—or cardrooms—are located in the City of La Center, only a few miles from the proposed site. They describe the proposed Indian casino as a veritable temple of doom yet utterly ignore the mini‑casinos.
What hypocrisy!
Oh, but the card rooms pay 100% of all taxes and the Cowlitz Tribe will not pay taxes. That's a lie:
Although as a sovereign government we would not be obligated to pay taxes (just like cities, port districts, etc.), through our Memorandum of Understanding we have already agreed with Clark County and local districts to make a payment in lieu of taxes as a result of revenues lost from the removal of the site from the property tax rolls.
The Cowlitz Tribe has also agreed to collect and remit to Washington State sales taxes on all non-Indian sales which take place on the Clark County site. The Tribe has also agreed to reimburse the County for development fees and government services, such as law enforcement.
The Tribe is in the process of developing agreements with Fire District #12 to compensate the district for fire protection and with the Southwest Washington Visitors and Convention Bureau to pay the same hotel room occupancy fee as paid by all other Clark County hoteliers.—Myths & Facts, Cowlitz Casino and Resort
Well yes, but, card rooms are strictly controlled by the state as to how large they can be while the Cowlitz Casino will be the fifth largest casino in the nation! That's a lie:
Washington tribes have "compacts" with the state that limit gaming in tribal casinos. Each tribe is allowed up to 675 video lottery terminals (VLTs) which are similar to video slot machines.
Tribes can lease from one another to allow more terminals in more popular locations (generally, tribes can operate up to 2,000 VLTs in one facility and up to 1,000 VLTs in one other) and less in places with less of a market, but the total number statewide cannot exceed 675 per tribe.
As with other tribal casinos in Washington, most of the gaming area of the proposed Cowlitz casino would be dedicated to VLT space. Currently, tribes such as Muckleshoot, Puyallup and Tulalip operate larger facilities than some other outlying tribes and achieve or approach these limits. The gaming areas of these casinos and the potential Cowlitz casino do and would reflect these limits.
Over time, should new compacts be negotiated between the state and tribes, a Cowlitz casino and other tribal casinos may grow to reflect those changes. Responsibly, the Tribe's EIS anticipates that possibility.
The maximum size of the gaming area being studied under the EIS is up to 160,000 square feet, about the same size as the Salmon Creek Fred Meyer in Vancouver, WA. At full buildout the entire facility would be smaller than the Vancouver Mall and not nearly as large as either of the Connecticut casinos.—Myths & Facts, Cowlitz Casino and Resort
Card rooms don't run the most addictive form of gambling—slots. Only because Washington voters opposed Tim Eyman's I‑892.
Card rooms follow all local and state laws and regulations, they are accountable to elected officials and local citizens, and they are liable for their actions in the community in local courts.
Oh, really?
TACOMA, Wash. - The leaders of a major sham marriage scheme based in southwest Washington pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Tacoma to visa fraud and money laundering charges stemming from a multi-agency investigation headed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Brothers Phuoc Huu Nguyen (a.k.a Steve Nguyen), 42, and Loc Huu Nguyen, 38, both of Vancouver, Washington, entered their guilty pleas four days before their trial was scheduled to begin. An additional defendant in the case, Everett Ledbetter, 34, of Lynnwood, Washington, pleaded guilty this morning in Tacoma to conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
According to court documents, in 2003, agents from ICE and the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service uncovered a network of individuals who were arranging sham marriages to bring Vietnamese immigrants into the United States illegally. The conspirators, led by Loc and Phuoc Nguyen, recruited U.S. citizens to travel to Vietnam to enter into fictitious engagements with Vietnamese nationals to facilitate their unlawful entry into the United States. The investigation was dubbed "Operation Pit Boss" because several of the conspirators worked at casinos in the Vancouver, Washington area.—Leaders of sham marriage ring plead to charges stemming from ICE-led probe "Operation Pit Boss" uncovered marriage fraud scheme that recruited at casinos, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), April 7, 2006
Those "casinos" are George Teeny's New Phoenix and Last Frontier cardrooms in La Center.
They claim that an Indian casino would bring all manner of evil yet they ignore the 4 cardrooms in La Center, two of which were implicated in a federal investigation. In other words, "Indian casino bad, tainted cardrooms not worth mentioning."
There's a word for that kind of bias: Racism
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