The Cornhusker State is joining Iowa in the fight against a proposed Native American casino in Carter Lake.
On Wednesday, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson announced that his office has filed suit against the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska in an effort to curtail their planned casino and hotel. Nebraska's suit joins with one filed late last year by the City of Council Bluffs. Last November, after years of legal battles, the National Indian Gaming Commission ruled that the tribe can put a casino on trust land in the city. The tribe has five acres of land at their disposal in Carter Lake.
Peterson wants the casino plans shut down because the only access to Carter Lake is through Nebraska, where casino gambling is illegal. Officials with nearby homeless shelter The Open Door Mission are also against the casino, as they see it making more problems for the vulnerable community they serve.
Tribal Chairman Larry Wright Jr. says he's confident the court will rule in favor of the tribe. The tribe wants to build a casino with 2,000 slot machines, 50 table games and a 150-room hotel and estimates the project would create 1,800 jobs.