Friday, April 11, 2025

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It’s a doublewide trailer off the Birchwood exit on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska, not exactly a Las Vegas-style casino, but since the Eklutna Tribe’s new gaming hall opened in January, there are often long lines of people waiting to get in.

Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.

That could change if the state is successful in its bid to shut down the gambling operation.

On Wednesday, the Alaska Attorney General asked a federal court in Washington, D.C. to issue a preliminary injunction against it. This follows a lawsuit the state filed in February, after the Interior Department approved the project in the final days of the Biden administration.

The Chin’an Gaming Hall sits on a Native Allotment near the Birchwood Airport.

The Interior Department under President Joe Biden said the Eklutna Tribe has sovereignty over the land, just as tribes in the Lower 48 have over reservations, where gambling is allowed.

But the state is fighting that decision based on previous court cases that gave the state jurisdiction over Native allotments.

Aaron Leggett, the president of the Eklutna Tribe, called this latest court filing disheartening, a sign that Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) is escalating his attack on tribal sovereignty.

In a statement, he touted the success of the casino and its potential to bring jobs and economic opportunity to the region.

The gaming hall is in a temporary building with fewer than a hundred electronic bingo games.

The tribe plans to expand to a larger facility with more machines and restaurants.

(Courtesy White Earth Tribal and Community College)

Minnesota’s unemployment rate is low, but the state still faces a skilled labor shortage.

Mike Moen has more.

A regional college hopes to be a solution as it looks to break ground on a new training center for in-demand jobs.

Data shows Minnesota has a job vacancy rate of more than 5%.

That’s above the desired goal of around 4%, with the older population leaving the workforce.

At White Earth Tribal and Community College, school President Anna Sheppard says not having a big enough talent pool for certain types of jobs is a problem in her part of the state.

“You know, we’ve had to wait for electricians to come in, just to do work here, just because there’s not many in this area.”

The school is planning a trades building on campus to develop the next generation of plumbers, electricians, and other skilled workers.

It could also benefit White Earth’s plan to expand its renewable energy programming for students.

The project’s cost is $15 million.

Supporters hope the state will chip in, but a tighter spending mood in the Legislature, along with the impact of federal cuts, could make that difficult.

White Earth Student Senate President Deidra Berg sees this planned building as a way to keep Indigenous students, post-graduation, in surrounding communities that struggle with limited wages and a lack of resources.

“We are a ‘food desert’ area, and so, that’s like a really big issue here. We’d like to be able to offer our people, our students, the tools to get their education here and hopefully, stay close to home and build our community up.”

The organization Fresh Energy says training students for projects like solar power development can help local economies get stronger.

Campus officials say they’ve already secured land for the trades building, and the architectural renderings are complete.

If state aid is slow, White Earth will try to line up grants and other support.

Training could begin as early as fall of 2027.