Monthly Archives: September 2017

Calvin Ayre Foundation to match donations to Barbuda relief effort

Calvin Ayre is calling on the online gambling industry to dig deep to help the people of the island of Barbuda, which was flattened by Hurricane Irma this week.

Barbuda was directly in Irma’s path, and its Category 5 mix of 300km/hour winds and heavy rain left a trail of devastation in its wake. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said 90% of the island’s structures have been destroyed and at least one person has been killed, although that latter figure may rise.

Browne said he was stunned by the toll Irma inflicted on Barbuda, saying the island was “barely habitable” due to the damage inflicted on the housing stock. The island is home to just under 2,000 souls, of whom at least 60% are currently homeless.

It’s hard to imagine, but the worst may be yet to come. A new hurricane, Jose, is forming in the Atlantic and has already attained Category 5 status. Browne told the Washington Post that his government is considering evacuating Barbuda’s vulnerable population to Antigua if Jose appears headed for Barbuda.

New York demands arbitration to resolve Seneca casino impasse

New York’s governor has unleashed his lawyers in the hope of bringing a speedy end to the state’s casino dispute with the Seneca Nation of Indians.

On Thursday, attorneys acting under orders of Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed papers demanding a binding arbitration process to resolve the dispute with the tribe, which is withholding revenue-sharing payments based, at least in part, on its belief that the state has violated the terms of its gaming compact.

This spring, the Senecas began withholding the state’s 25% share of slot machine revenue from the tribe’s three upstate casinos. The tribe believes the December 31, 2016 expiry of the initial 14-year term of its compact entitles it to halt the payments. The tribe is also pissed that the state recently authorized three new commercial casino operations, including the del Lago Resort & Casino in Seneca county, which opened this February.

The state has rubbished the tribe’s concerns, and Cuomo recently threatened to authorize a new commercial casino in Niagara Falls to compete with the tribe’s most profitable casino if the tribe didn’t resume the payments, which amount to around $100m per year and are shared between the state and the casinos’ host communities.