Free Republic

Not too long ago, Gavin Newsom got caught with his hand in the cookie jar of political cronyism. In response to a draconian law passed raising fast-food worker wages to $20 an hour, known as A.B. 1228, Newsom carved out a little exemption for his friends at Panera Bread on the laughable grounds that these establishments bake bread on the premises. In reality, the owner of several Panera establishments was a high school buddy who was a really good donor to his campaigns. Once caught, Newsom backed off, but right when he thought no one was looking, he went right...

New York lobbyists have hit the jackpot alongside a push to open casinos in the Big Apple — raking in bundles as they try to woo Mayor Eric Adams and council members, a new city report reveals. Compensation for lobbyists shot up 8% last year — up from $121.15 million in 2022 to $130.96 million, according to the annual study prepared by the City Clerk’s Office, which regulates the lobbying industry. Entities tied to Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen and Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment led the charge — spending more than $2 million combined on a stable of lobbyists last...

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is proposing changes to the zoning law to make it easier for casinos to locate in New York City. The current zoning law makes no mention of casinos, leaving a state-approved gaming facility in the five boroughs vulnerable to litigation — putting the city at a disadvantage with casinos eyeing sites in the surrounding suburbs, city officials said. Nassau County already approved a lease for Sands to operate a casino at the Nassau Coliseum site, though it is currently tied up in litigation.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has struggled to stop a hyper-aggressive cybercrime gang that's been tormenting corporate America over the last two years, according to nine cybersecurity responders, digital crime experts and victims. For more than six months, the FBI has known the identities of at least a dozen members tied to the hacking group responsible for the devastating September break-ins at casino operators MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, according to four people familiar with the investigation. Industry executives have told Reuters they were baffled by an apparent lack of arrests despite many...

The Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas, the largest union in Nevada, voted to authorize a strike against major casinos on Tuesday if contract disputes continue. The Culinary Union represents over 60,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and is one of Nevada’s strongest political forces. Over 95 percent of workers voted to authorize a strike Tuesday, the union announced. Over 40,000 members are currently working without a contract as the union seeks better pay, benefits and working conditions in negotiations with top casino companies including MGM International, Wynn and Caesars Entertainment.

oday we travel to Cherokee in North Carolina to witness a tribe that's doing extremely well financially. Kids graduate high school with hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside in an account, higher education and health care are paid for by the tribe, and their land is some of the most beautiful in America. Join me for this eye-opening experience!

Native American groups are now joining the call for reparations centuries after hundreds of tribes had land taken from them by 'land-grab universities and colleges.' An estimated 10.7 million acres of land was taken from 250 tribes following the signing of the Morrill Act by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. This law converted tribal lands into initial sites for land-grant higher education institutions in many states. Institutions such as the University of Minnesota, which received 94,440 acres of land, and Cornell University in New York that received more than 987,000 acres are being targeted. Cornell, in total, received land in...

Under a historic water crisis in the desert southwest, the Navajo Nation asked for a court order requiring the federal government to determine the Nation’s water needs and to devise a plan to meet those needs. In a 5-4 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court held that the United States owes no “affirmative duty” to the Navajo Nation to secure water, reversing a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The majority ruled that the 1868 Treaty of Bosque Redondo, known to the Nation as the Old Paper, or Naal Tsoos Sani, established no federal obligation...

In the aftermath, the Trump administration signed off on a bump-stock ban that went into effect in 2018. It’s been challenged in the courts. We never got a solid motive for Paddock’s rampage, only a lot of conjecture. Every avenue regarding this investigation wound up being a dead end. For years, we knew nothing about Paddock’s motivations for committing mass murder until now, but skepticism abounds as the new theory is that the casinos were mistreating him. After nearly a decade of investigating, Paddock committed the worst mass shooting by a single person in US history because he felt disrespected...

Gov. Kathy Hochul has a piece of legislation sitting on her desk that would allow casino operators to hire a diverse range of convicted felons — from drug peddlers to killers. The measure was sent on Tuesday to the governor for her signature or veto after passing the state Senate and Assembly by big bipartisan margins in June. Current law bars licensed casino operators from hiring anyone convicted of any felony. Critics blasted the bill as an another example of a Democrats’ bleeding heart, criminal friendly proposal run amok. “That’s just wrong. This is another example of the New York...

Darrell Brooks was busted in March 2007 for calling in a bomb threat to the $43-per-night Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada, ... He was put on probation after being convicted of conspiring to disturb the peace - a gross misdemeanor - and was banned from the casino for life.. His rap sheet also includes a conviction for statutory sexual seduction – the term for sex with a minor aged 16 or under in Nevada law - in January 2007.. Brooks was also charged with failing to inform the police of a change of address while a registered sex offender.....

The world's largest gambling hub, Macau, will shutter almost all casinos and non-essential businesses for a week from Monday as an outbreak of COVID-19 spreads across the autonomous region on the south coast of China. AFP quotes Macau's top city official Andre Cheong in a press conference Saturday who said the gambling hub would enter "static management" between July 11-18, during which casinos will be closed. Only essential businesses like supermarkets, gas stations, and pharmacies will remain open.The measure comes as Macau on Saturday reported 71 new COVID infections. A total of 1,374 infections have been recorded since June 18,...

SACRAMENTO — Assemblywoman Nicole Parra and her father traveled to Cuba in early December on what has reportedly become an annual event organized by one of California’s most powerful lobbyists and political fundraisers. Parra, D-Hanford, and other participants said the trip was arranged by Darius Anderson, founder of one of Sacramento’s premiere lobbying firms and a top fundraiser for former Gov. Gray Davis. Since travel to communist Cuba is generally prohibited except under a license from the U.S. government, Anderson’s repeated trips there with lawmakers, business people and others raise a number of questions. Why is a lobbyist arranging religious...

Two Florida pari-mutuels filed a new motion in federal district court in Washington late Tuesday, asking a judge to block implementation of online sports betting under the Florida tribal gaming compact which is scheduled to begin later this year. The motion, filed by Magic City Casino and Bonita Springs Poker Room against U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, asks a court to enjoin the sports-betting portion of the state’s compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The compact gives the tribe a monopoly over sports betting in the state by allowing wagers to go through an internet server on...

CNN contributor and former US senator Rick Santorum is under fire for “racist” comments that critics said debased Native American culture, prompting calls for his immediate termination. Santorum, 62, told the conservative Young America’s Foundation on Friday that “there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture,” claiming the United States has been largely unchanged since the country was born out of “Judeo-Christian” values.

America’s largest casino company launched a TV and radio ad blitz last night aiming to stoke Texans’ FOMO—their fear of missing out. “Every year,” one ad explains, “Texans spend billions of tourism and gambling dollars at casinos in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico—billions that could be staying here.” Las Vegas Sands, the corporation funding the campaign, wants state lawmakers to put a measure legalizing casino gambling on the election ballot in November. The bill under consideration would permit construction of one hotel casino in each of the state’s four largest urban areas. The Lone Star State does have some...

RENO — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused a rural Nevada church’s request to enter a legal battle over the government’s authority to limit the size of religious gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic — after the church won an appeals court ruling last month that found Nevada’s restrictions unconstitutional. Attorneys general from 19 other states had recently joined in support of the unusual request from Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley east of Reno. They were urging the Supreme Court to rule on the merits of the Nevada case to help bring uniformity to various standards courts across the country have...

Despite a plea from Penn National Gaming to keep casinos open, Gov. Tom Wolf went ahead with his anticipated temporary shutdown announcement Thursday, saying no dice to the entertainment industry for the remainder of 2020 and into early 2021. His order requires casinos, along with theaters, concert venues, museums, movie theaters, arcades, bowling alleys, private clubs, and all other similar entertainment operations to cease operating as of 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 12 and ending at 8 a.m. on Jan. 4. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has marked movie theaters and other indoor settings as “higher-risk activities” for contracting...

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s (D) temporary, tighter new restrictions on the state’s gaming properties and restaurants — as well as other enterprises — could lead to some businesses closing, possible layoffs, and a slower economic recovery, according to a prominent local economist. Stephen Miller, director of UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research, warned that operating at 25 percent of capacity — rather than the current 50 percent — “will cause some businesses to close rather than continue to operate. They lose more by operating than by shutting down.” Sisolak’s directive announced on Sunday requires a capacity to be lowered...

U.S. multinationals function as unregistered lobbyists for foreign governments. If a foreign government wants to lobby the U.S. government, they and their lobbyists need to register with the Department of Justice, through the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. Week Thirty-Eight of the Trump White House In Review Watch Full Screen Alternatively, the foreign government could ask one of their American counterparts to do their bidding for them. The Chinese government opted for the latter approach, law enforcement sources tell the Wall Street Journal. Reportedly casino magnate Steve Wynn, who has business ties in the Chinese region of Macau, wrote...