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Michigan tribes can keep keno info secret

PETOSKEY, Michigan – As reported by the Traverse City Record-Eagle: "Two Indian tribes battling the state over casino profit-sharing will not have to divulge financial details showing whether the state lottery's Club Keno game has cut into their gambling take.

"Information about what impact the state's four-year-old Club Keno game has on tribal gambling is not central to whether the state violated so-called 'exclusivity' agreements with the tribes when it initiated Keno, a federal magistrate ruled.

"The decision is a blow for state officials fighting in federal court to enforce revenue-sharing compacts with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Harbor Springs.

"Both tribes stopped making semi-annual payments after the Michigan lottery launched Club Keno in 2003, contending that the game, televised in licensed bars around the state, is in conflict with agreements giving tribes exclusive rights to run 'commercial casino games.'

"The heart of the case is whether Keno counts as such a game, not whether it financially hurts the tribes, a judge ruled…"

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