The Massachusetts casino hunt has turned upside-down, and then flipped upside-down again. The wild turns of fortune now have wild turns of their own. The Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe threw the state for a loop last week, announcing plans to open a federally-permitted gambling facility on their Martha’s Vineyard reservation soon. And this week, tribal voters threw those plans into disarray, voting out the tribal chairwoman who had been leading the charge to hastily construct a Vineyard gambling hall. The incoming tribal chairman rode a wave of discontent with the Vineyard casino push, but he hasn’t sworn off casinos altogether. So the only thing that’s certain is continued uncertainty.
The Aquinnah, based in a rural corner of Martha’s Vineyard, have long been at odds with state officials over casino gambling. Gov. Deval Patrick ’s administration believes the tribe signed away its gambling rights when it settled a land dispute with state and Gay Head officials in the 1980s. The tribe has long held that although it submitted some tribal lands to local zoning and inspectional codes in the 80s, it never forfeited its federal gambling rights. Federal tribal affairs officials, who take a dim view of local and state agreements that erode tribal sovereignty, have sided with the Aquinnah on gambling, informally, since the 1990s.
A recent legal letter from Washington reiterated this view; the Aquinnah chairwoman, Cheryl Andrews-Maltais , seized on it, and announced that the tribe would convert an unfinished Vineyard community center to a gambling hall within months. Because the tribe’s gambling facility would be built under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act , it would exist outside the jurisdiction and oversight of the state gaming commission, which is currently licensing three commercial casinos and a commercial slots parlor.
But just days after Andrews-Maltais’s announcement, the Aquinnah turned her out of office. In an election this week, Tobias Vanderhoop topped Andrews-Maltais, collecting nearly two-thirds of the vote. WBUR reported earlier that the Vineyard casino question was overshadowing the contest between Vanderhoop and Andrews-Maltais. Donald Widdiss, who preceded Andrews-Maltais as tribal chairman, told the Cape Cod Times today that the election had become a referendum on the idea of a Vineyard casino: “It was pretty simple. Tribe members are dissatisfied with what was happening,” he said. “They did something about it.” Widdiss added, “Our focus should be on the Vineyard without the idiocy of an island casino. It makes no sense.”
Vanderhoop has spoken cautiously about the tribe’s future with casinos. Last week, he told WBUR, “I am in favor of an appropriate gaming initiative for our people, but our people are the ones that have to define what is appropriate, and that discussion needs to really happen in a more in-depth way. People need to understand what the details are, how it would truly work, so that they can fully make a decision, an informed decision.” The Vineyard Gazette describes Vanderhoop as a supporter of casinos — the tribe has chased a casino in the New Bedford/Fall River area for years — but he’s far less enthusiastic about opening a gambling facility on the Vineyard. He told the Cape Cod Times last week that residents of the tribe’s Vineyard lands didn’t want to live next to a casino, that they “don’t necessarily see this as something that works for them.” That’s not an outright rejection of an island casino, but it’s also not a promise to open for business in time to greet the Memorial Day tourist crowd. But these days, with commercial casino proposals from Palmer to East Boston falling apart, it almost passes for certainty.
–PAUL MCMORROW
BEACON HILL
State Auditor Suzanne Bump told the Patriot Ledger editorial board she is seeking the power to review corporate tax returns to determine if those businesses are following the law in claiming state tax breaks and credits.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Dorchester Reporter editor Bill Forry recalls that Dorchester’s Edward Everett, regarded as the finest orator of his time, held forth for some two hours at Gettysburg, 150 years ago today, before Abraham Lincoln rose to deliver an address of just two minutes that has become enshrined in the national psyche, as it is on the walls of the memorial to the 16th president that sits at the end of the National Mall in Washington.
The daughter of JFK does a one-on-one interview with the son of former JFK aide and historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
ELECTIONS
No, no, no, and no again: Elizabeth Warren’s former national finance director says that she has no intention of running for president .
Chris Christie argues for a bigger GOP big tent. Slate believes Christie’s biggest 2016 rival isn’t Marco Rubio or Rand Paul, but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
Frank Bruni asks whether any political office is worth the family schism Liz Cheney has opened up.
Anatomy of a Really, Really, Really Bad Idea: Former Dukakis and Clinton aide Josh King does a 25-year-plus look back in Politico at the infamous tank ride by the former Massachusetts governor and its lessons and implications for all politicians, everywhere and forever.
CASINOS
Milford votes today on a proposed casino run by a group of Foxwoods-led developers. The outcome could have a big ripple effect on the casino environment statewide.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
The primary developer of the $1.6 billion overhaul of downtown Quincy says they have “paused” work just four months after breaking ground because construction costs in the Boston area have increased 37 percent and the company needs to recalibrate its investment. That evidently hasn’t stopped other development projects, however, as the Globe reports that a building boom has boosted construction employment in the region at a faster pace than nearly anywhere in the country.
Beverly leases waterfront land to the Black Cow restaurant for $30,000 a year, the Salem News reports.
A Walmart store in Ohio is taking up donations for its employees who cannot afford to buy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner .
JP Morgan reaches a $13 billion settlement with federal regulators.
CHARITIES
A new global study finds that the bulk of charitable donations of $1 million or more came from American donors .
EDUCATION
Lunenburg High School cancels the rest of its football schedule, including a Thanksgiving Day game, as an investigation into a racial slur against one of the players continues, the Telegram & Gazette reports. Globe columnist Kevin Cullen wonders whether this is the best way to respond to morons.
The Braintree School Committee voted to end the three-year practice of sending letters to parents with their children’s height and weight , though school officials will continue to measure students and provide the information at the parents’ request.
HEALTH CARE
The Patrick administration says it won’t delay full implementation of Obamacare for a year, forcing 100,000 residents to scrap their current health plans, the State House News reports. Steven Syre explains why it was much smoother sledding for the implementation of Romneycare than Obamacare.
South Carolina saved more than $6 million over three months by refusing to reimburse Medicaid and private insurers for early birth deliveries scheduled for convenience, Governing reports.
TRANSPORTATION
Worcester residents urge the MBTA to do everything possible to trim the commuter rail time from Worcester to Framingham and then into Boston, the Telegram & Gazette reports.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The state’s efforts to stem the demand side of prostitution through increased enforcement and penalties has been more talk than action , according to a review by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting.
State Police arrest one of the state’s most wanted Level 3 sex offenders in Beverly, the Salem News reports.
Lowell City Manager Bernie Lynch names William Taylor, a 31-year department veteran, to head the Lowell Police Department, the Sun reports.
MEDIA
Dan Kennedy says GateHouse Media will fold some of its weaker weeklies while running more shared content in others, though no layoffs are imminent, he says.
Selfie is named word of the year by the Oxford Dictionaries, Time reports.