Members of Michigan's Hannahville Indian Community are in the nation's
capitol tonight. They are trying to convince the President and the Indian Affairs Committee to allow them to set up shop near Detroit. They are seeking permission to build a new casino. It's a project rejected two years ago by then President Bush. My TV 20's Dave Leval shows us how the casino could raise the stakes in the area.

Corn grows at the northwest corner of Vining and Wick roads in Romulus. Soon, this field may yield a new crop, a new industry. Members of the the Hannahville Indian Community want to build a $300
million casino on the land. The mayor of Romulus points out it would mean roughly 3,300 jobs for his city.

Mayor Al Lambert/Mayor of Romulus
"Michigan being the #1 state in the country with unemployment as it is, we need these jobs."

This is the second roll of the dice for Romulus leaders and an Indian Casino. The first with the Sioux Tribe failed in 2007. That's was partly due to the efforts of then Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and his mother Congresswoman Cheeks-Kilpatrick. They claimed a casino here would hurt Detroit's casinios.

The Motor City Casino is one of three gaming complexes in Detroit. But Mayor Al Lambert points out studies have shown the area can handle up to 10 more casinos. Plus, Romulus has a big draw in its favor.

Jets constantly land and take off from Detroit Metro Aiport. More than 20 million passenger pass thru it every year. The airport is pretty much just a couple of blocks from where the casino would stand.

Lambert
"People have layovers sometimes from 4-5 hours, we figure we'll bus them over to the casino, there you go."

Not only could they be winners, but, the area as well. Mayor Lambert predicts the new casino could generate nearly $10 million a year for the local economy. He believes that's a gamble worth taking. In Romulus, Dave Leval, My TV 20 News at 10.

No word when a decision will be made by the committee regarding the casino. We're told it could take about a year to build it. The hotel and theater would be added later. The Hannaville Tribe own the Chip-In Island Resort and Casino in Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula.

The previous administration in Washington, D.C., was against off-reservation gaming and last year dismissed 27 applications, including Hannahville's, according to its attorney, Raj Wiener.

Hannahville is asking the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to place a
portion of a 27-acre site at Vining and Wick into trust -- allowing tribal
members to own the land and use it for gaming, as a sort of extension of their 5,500-acre reservation near Escanaba.

Past opponents of off-reservation gaming, who have included Gov. Jennifer Granholm, have expressed concern that such developments are far from the people who are supposed to be benefiting from them. Granholm's spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, did not have an immediate comment Monday night.

According to Meshigaud, the proposed Romulus casino would draw as many as 6 million visitors annually, including many from nearby Detroit Metro Airport, and generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year for the Hannahville community.

The development also would mean $5.4 million in taxes each year and 3,300 new jobs, with preference given to residents of Romulus and the surrounding area.

In a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs dated Monday, U.S. Rep. John
Dingell, D-Mich., urged approval of the casino proposal.

"A gaming facility remains a standing goal of the City of Romulus,
especially given the unemployment rate in Michigan," Dingell wrote, adding that casino revenues would help the Hannahville community improve its energy infrastructure.

In 2003, close to 57% of Romulus residents voted in favor of building a
casino in the community.