NEWS & NOTES

The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin has decided to permanently lay off employees who had previously been temporarily laid off, President Marlon WhiteEagle announced in a video last month. “This choice was made to preserve the financial health of the nation,” he said. The total number of layoffs was not disclosed. • The Oneida Indian Nation of New York announced last month that any of its nearly 5,000 employees who travel to certain states where Covid-19 cases are rising will have to go into quarantine for 14 days when they come home. Oneida employees were instructed to avoid travel to Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Texas. Oneida Nation Enterprises operates Turning Stone casino in Oneida County and the Point Place and Yellow Brick Road casinos in Madison County. All re-opened June 10 to customers within a 120-mile radius. • When the rescheduled Kentucky Derby is run this fall, there will be (socially distanced) spectators in the stands. Churchill Downs got the go-ahead to allow fans but limit crowd density for the Triple Crown race, which usually attracts more than 150,000 people. The 146th running of the Derby was postponed from May to September because of the coronavirus pandemic. • Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace in Las Vegas reopened Thursday morning, July 2, following the reopenings of Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Harrah’s and Paris. The LINQ has also reopened its gaming floor and other amenities, though not hotel rooms. Nobu Hotel, the boutique hotel-within-a-hotel at Caesars Palace, will again offer guest rooms and suites and access to its fitness center. Nobu Villa, a rooftop restaurant, has been back in business since June 5. • More than two years after he bought a mansion on “billionaires’ row” in Summerlin, Nevada, Steve Wynn is trying to sell it for $25 million. Wynn’s lavish golf course estate, Museo, spans about 13,500 square feet, has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, and recently underwent a $16 million renovation. It features gilded doors, silk carpeting, a wine closet, a game room, a full butler’s pantry, a “large caretaker’s wing,” a backup power system and exterior infrared security cameras. Magician David Copperfield lives nearby, in a 31,000-square-foot estate for which he paid $17.55 million, the most expensive home sale ever recorded in Las Vegas. • The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Needles, Arizona has ordered a reservation-wide face mask requirement in response to rising cases of Covid-19 in the region. Face masks or face coverings are mandated for all individuals, businesses and patrons while in public or inside tribal businesses or facilities, including the Avi Casino Resort in Laughlin as well as Spirit Mountain Casino in Mohave Valley and all tribal land in California, Nevada and Arizona. • Tourism-linked businesses in Singapore started reopening in stages on July 1. After three months of closure, the casinos at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, Universal Studios Singapore and Singapore Zoo resumed operations after having had their safe reopening proposals approved by the Singapore Tourism Board. • Las Vegas-based Allegiant Travel Co., the parent company of Allegiant Air, has announced it will eliminate more than 200 positions due to the drop in travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Before the announced cuts, Allegiant had about 4,500 employees, including close to 1,500 in Las Vegas. • On July 1, Netherlands gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit ended the temporary leniency it extended to online bingo during the Covid-19 lockdown. Starting May 1, unlicensed operators were able to provided social, not-for-profit games. The new rule, the KSA stated. “In these times there are initiatives to provide a fun pastime for people and make them feel as if they are out of isolation without having to leave their own home.” Licensed online bingo is prohibited in the country until the Remote Gaming Act takes effect in July 2021.