No word for Menominee on bid for BIA approval

Saturday, Jan. 20, 2001 | 9:39 a.m.

Apesanahkwat, the tribal council chairman, told the Kenosha News he would keep trying Saturday to gain permission from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"If they're ready to sign, or if they have any questions, I'll be here," he said from Washington, D.C. "We're standing by, waiting for word."

BIA spokesman Nedra Darling said the request to designate the proposed casino site as federal trust land, clearing the way for possible development of the gambling venture, was still being considered.

Menominee leaders and their investment partners, NII-JII Entertainment L.L.C., had hoped to win the BIA approval before President Clinton's departure from office when George W. Bush is sworn in Saturday.

The Potawatomi tribe, operators of a Milwaukee casino, had filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington in an attempt to halt any BIA approval for the Menominee project.

The Potawatomi sought a temporary restraining order barring a final BIA ruling on the Kenosha casino, but no hearing was held on the request Friday.

The Menominee have requested that a parcel surrounding the Dairyland Greyhound Park be converted to reservation land.

If the BIA were to approve the plan, it would go to Wisconsin's governor for consideration. Gov. Tommy Thompson has been nominated to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Bush administration.

Thompson said he would review the Kenosha casino plan next week if the bureau's approval were to go through.

Lt. Gov. Scott McCallum, who would succeed Thompson as governor, has vowed he won't support any casino expansion project that comes to him as chief executive. But his chief of staff, Lisa Hull, has said McCallum would not renege on any casino agreements Thompson has reached.