Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a Northern California Indian tribe yesterday signed a gambling agreement that permits up to 5,000 slot machines in a new casino already under construction.
The Shingle Springs band, which has a small reservation east of Placerville along a busy route to Lake Tahoe, agreed to pay the state more than any tribe has to date – 20 percent of net slot winnings on the first $200 million in revenue and 25 percent after that.
The compact comes two months after a federal judge ruled that the state's request for a smaller share of revenue from the Rincon band of San Diego County amounted to an attempt to impose an illegal tax on the tribe. The state has appealed that decision.
Union-Tribune
Obama against ban on gay marriages
SAN FRANCISCO – Presidential candidate Barack Obama has come out against a ballot measure that seeks to outlaw same-sex marriage.
A club for gay Democrats in San Francisco said it solicited a statement from the Illinois senator's campaign in which he called the proposed constitutional amendment “divisive and discriminatory.”
Obama also extended congratulations to gay and lesbian newlyweds who have gotten married in California over the past two weeks. His letter was read at the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club's annual gay-pride breakfast Sunday.
Last week, Obama's Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, endorsed the gay-marriage ban slated to appear on the November ballot.
Associated Press
