Nation IN BRIEF : IOWA : Nebraska Tribe Fails to Win Casino OK

The federal government turned down a Nebraska Indian tribe trying to acquire land for a casino in Iowa. The Santee Sioux wanted trust status on the three acres of a proposed casino site for a 50-acre, $67-million gaming complex in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Trust status was needed to meet federal requirements for gambling on Indian land. “Because the project crosses the Nebraska-Iowa state boundary, the proposed venture could directly compete with the interests of tribes in Iowa,” Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan Jr. said in rejecting the request. Gambling is legal on Iowa riverboats. Nebraska has no legal casino gambling.