NM Governor Orders Police To Block Access To Casino

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Gov. Bill Richardson has ordered state police to block access to a high-stakes bingo parlor built in southern New Mexico by Oklahoma’s Fort Sill Apache Tribe.

Richardson says he was forced to take action after receiving no assurances from the federal government that it would either approve or reject the tribe’s plans for a gaming operation at the site.

The federal government holds the 30-acre site at Akela in trust for the Fort Sill tribe, which has been putting up portable buildings for the bingo parlor.

Fort Sill Apache Chairman Jeff Houser has said the bingo parlor is a test for the tribe and that the tribe has no specific plans for a full-blown casino. Richardson says the gaming operation would be considered illegal in New Mexico.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)