Governor fights Indian casino

Friday, July 2, 1999 | 11:36 a.m.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- An Indian tribe can count on being sued by the state if it tries to open a temporary casino at midnight tonight, a spokesman for Gov. John Engler said.

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians plans to open its Victories Entertainment Casino in a former bowling alley just south of Petoskey. It would offer more than 500 slot machines and employ 225 people until the tribe can open a permanent, full-scale casino in Mackinaw City.

But in a letter faxed Wednesday to tribal officials, Engler said they would be breaking the law if they opened Victories tonight.

In a compact, Engler contends, the tribe agreed to open a casino only on a reservation or on land placed in federal trust. The Petoskey site will not be placed in trust until August, Cadillac television station WWTV reported.

"If they open this weekend, we do intend to sue them and all of their suppliers next week for opening up illegally," Engler spokesman John Truscott told the Traverse City Record-Eagle in a report today.

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