Business news briefs

Friday, Dec. 26, 2003 | 11:36 a.m.

PORTLAND, Maine -- Campaign spending on a proposal to put a racetrack with slots machines in Westbrook or Saco exceeds $600,000, a figure that should continue to rise until voters go to the polls next week.

More than $500,000 of the expenditures listed in finance reports filed Wednesday were by two groups opposed to a racino: Maine Opportunities and Casinos No!

Voters in Saco and Westbrook will decide Tuesday whether Scarborough Downs should be allowed to build a racino.

The two sides acknowledged that the $75 million to $125 million in annual profit a racino would produce is helping to fuel the flurry of spending. Finance reports show that the Downs' partner, Penn National Gaming, has donated $150,000 to two pro-racino groups.

Protesters maintain sit-in

McLOUD, Okla. -- A group of Kickapoo protesters didn't get to spend Christmas with their families on Thursday.

The 10 women who barricaded themselves in tribal headquarters last Friday remained there on Christmas Day, still demanding that federal authorities investigate how proceeds from the tribe's casino were spent.

The women did get a Christmas present, of sorts. On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, the tribe's election board certified an election to recall Chairman Tony Salazar.

The board earlier nullified the election results, but reversed itself after a tribal judge said the previous ruling was based on a misinterpretation of the tribe's constitution.