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California Casino Dispute Goes to Federal Courts10 October 2002CALIFORNIA –As reported by the (California) Press-Democrat: "The question of whether Sonoma County's fire chief has jurisdiction over a casino on Indian land is now in the hands of the federal courts. "Fire Chief Vern Losh had requested a court order allowing him to inspect the River Rock Casino, which opened Sept. 14 on the Dry Creek Rancheria in the Alexander Valley. "But the tribe's lawyers filed a `removal notice' Wednesday, which automatically moved the request from the Superior Court in Santa Rosa to a federal court in San Francisco. "…No timetable has been set for the request to be heard in federal court, but County Counsel Steven Woodside said a federal judge could rule in a matter of weeks. "…An 11th-hour attempt to settle the matter outside of court failed Tuesday. Sonoma County officials and tribal leaders met for four hours at the county administration building. "Tribal Chairwoman Liz Elgin De-Rouen said the talks broke down over the citations Losh issued last week. He cited DeRouen and the casino manager for a variety of misdemeanor fire code violations. "She said the fire chief refused the tribe's offer to allow him to inspect the casino in exchange for withdrawing the citations…" |