California’s Indian tribes to expand slot machines
Published 9:00 pm Monday, June 21, 2004
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed new agreements with five Indian tribes Monday that will allow a major expansion of tribal gambling in exchange for billions of dollars in payments to the state over the next quarter-century.
The deal allows an unlimited increase in the number of slot machines at the Indian tribes’ casinos. The current compact, signed by then-Gov. Gray Davis in 1999, limits each tribe to 2,000 machines.
The tribes will pay the state a badly needed $1 billion this year and between $150 million and $200 million a year after that until 2030. In return, the tribes receive a guarantee that they will be California’s only outlet for casino gambling.
Laci Peterson’s friends testify
A string of Laci Peterson’s friends testified Monday in Redwood City that pregnancy had left her fatigued, as prosecutors tried to discredit her husband’s story of what happened the day she vanished, Christmas Eve 2002. Scott Peterson claims his wife planned to walk the couple’s dog the morning he left for a solo fishing trip and returned to an empty home. Prosecutors charge that Peterson murdered his wife and her fetus. Meanwhile, the judge decided that a juror captured on videotape briefly speaking with Laci Peterson’s brother can stay on the case.
Rocket fuel toxin found in cow milk
Young children and pregnant women who drink milk from California cows may be exposed to unsafe levels of perchlorate, a toxic chemical used in rocket fuel, according to a new study released in San Francisco by the Environmental Working Group.
Wisconsin: Murder-suicide theory
A man believed to be depressed over financial ills and the pending eviction of his family from a Chicago apartment apparently drowned his two sons along with himself in Lake Michigan, authorities said Monday. Kevin Amde, 45, and his sons, Tesla Amde, 3, and Davinci Amde, 6, were found washed up onshore, bound together with rope and tied to bags filled with sand.
Connecticut: Governor resigns
Gov. John Rowland, a third-term Republican, announced his resignation Monday amid a monthslong cascade of graft allegations, a federal investigation and a rapidly gathering drive to impeach him for accepting gifts from friends and businessmen. Rowland, 47, becomes the first U.S. governor in seven years to resign under pressure. His resignation is effective July 1.
Florida: Mad cow disease death
A Miramar woman believed to have contracted mad cow disease several years ago in England has died, the first such death in the United States, health officials said Monday. Charlene Singh, 25, was diagnosed two years ago with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of the brain-wasting illness known as mad cow disease.
D.C.: Corrected terror report due
The State Department is prepared to announce today a sharp increase last year in terror victims worldwide as it corrects findings that were used to boost one of President Bush’s chief foreign policy claims, success in countering terror. The initial report was issued in April. On June 10, the State Department acknowledged the findings were inaccurate.
