This is a followup to a recent post I did. There was some concern on my part over whether the story I was sent was current. The following article showed up today in the local paper. Hopefully they will get things settled. They have talked about blackjack and that means more chips. Hurray for me!

Also I included a pic of the boat that was in the paper.

Article --

Area residents hope casino boat plan, and its jobs, will float
By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
1/22/2003
Will Gunier, a Southern Cherokee nation pipe carrier-speaker, sits next to the idled "Southern Star" casino boat Tuesday near Webbers Falls. Although there's a land ownership conflict between the small Southern Cherokee Nation and the United States' second-largest tribe, the Cherokee Nation, many area residents would just be happy for the jobs and the revenue that the casino would bring.
JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World

GORE -- Tommy Hearn joined the parade of folks stopping by Tuesday to support the 214-foot "Southern Star" in its make-do berth on the eastern shore of the Arkansas River.

When asked what he thought of the vessel that the Southern Cherokee Nation hopes to turn into a profit-making, job-producing casino boat, Hearn replied, "It'll help."

His opinion appears common in small and financially struggling riverfront communities as Gore and Webbers Falls, which lies along the western bank.

More than 500 people have signed petitions in recent days asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to approve permits allowing the Southern Cherokee Nation to do its gaming business on the Webbers Falls' side -- or west bank -- of the Arkansas.

Southern Cherokee Nation Chief Gary Ridge estimated that the Southern Star would need 400 employees to run the ship and its gaming machines.

Corps officials, however, still have to figure out whether the operation meets federal standards and Indian gaming laws.

At the same time, the Tahlequah-based Cherokee Nation, the country's second-largest tribe, is waging a public relations campaign to stop the Southern Star.

Cherokee Nation officials say they alone have legal rights to the bed and banks of that part of the Arkansas. Conversely, the Southern Cherokee Nation, which isn't a federally recognized tribe, claims that it holds the rights to the west bank.

Many local residents seemingly couldn't care less about who owns what if the operation will mean jobs for them.

"They've already started putting money into the community," Webbers Falls Mayor Jewell Horne said.