NEWS & NOTES

The law firm and lobbying group Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, one of the top law firms in Nevada, is combining with the Las Vegas law firm Schwartz Flansburg, a litigation and bankruptcy firm. Adam Agron, Brownstein’s managing partner, said of the new partners Sam Schwartz and Frank Flansburg: “They have a stellar reputation, and we look forward to the energy, talent and unique expertise they will bring to our Las Vegas office and our clients across the country.” • Work has begun on Casino Del Sol’s new 93,200 square foot 151-room hotel, which includes a pool, water slide and pool bar, arcade, lounge and fitness center. Built near Tucson, Arizona, on 2.2 acres adjacent to Casino Del Sol, joining an RV park, meeting space expansion and new event center at sister property, Casino of the Sun. The new hotel will help the casino meet increased demand, said CEO Kimberly Van Amburg. • The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, which operates the Royal River Casino in South Dakota does not have to pay the state excise taxes on construction work done on the casino expansion, according to a federal judge. The state had insisted the tribe pay the 2 percent tax, which caused the tribe to sue. A federal judge ruled for the tribe last week, saying that the tribal state gaming compact did not allow for such a tax.   • The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians in Northern California have installed signs along Interstate 5 that transverses their reservation, called a rancheria. The two signs were erected last week. Tribal Chairman Dru Alejandre told the Red Bluff Daily News, “It’s a way to represent who we are,” Chairman Dru Alejandre told the paper. “The reservation is our homeland. We want to be able to share that with everyone.” Members said that often they were asked where they reservation was located. “Now they will know,” said one. • Las Vegas’ Culinary Union has reached new five-year labor contracts with the off-Strip Westgate Resort and Casino and Boyd Gaming’s Fremont and Main Street Station casinos Downtown. The agreements provide around 2,050 workers at the three properties, mostly housekeepers, bellmen, cocktail servers, bartenders and kitchen workers, with annual wage increases and other benefits. Around 6,100 of the union’s 50,000 members were still without contracts last week. • Eleven employees of Sands China Ltd. have filed complaints to the Macau Labour Affairs Bureau saying they were barred from taking off on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays for a year, harming their family lives. Most of the complainants work as dealers or pit managers. ● Macau’s Ponte 16 casino resort, which ended Typhoon Hato last August with its gaming floor underwater, is investing in its own mechanic anti-flood barrier. The barrier will be installed in two months, said Hoffman Ma Ho Man, executive director and deputy chairman of Success Universe Group Ltd., majority owner of the property. ● Wynn Macau will hand out special bonuses equal to a month’s gross salary on August 15. Ninety-five percent of eligible Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace team members, with the exclusion of senior management, will get the bonus. ● Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau has received 233 requests for exclusion of access to local casinos in the first six months of the year, 54 more than in the same period last year. Of the total, 200 requests were self-exclusion demands and 33 were submitted by third parties. ● The Taipa section of Macau’s light rail system or LRT will be operational by next year. Construction of the Taipa section began in 2012 in a development that was originally slated to open in 2016. ● Some 4 million travelers passed through Macau International Airport in the first half-year of 2018, up 20 percent over 2017. Four new routes launched in that period—to Moscow, Tuguegarao, Kota Kinabalu and Phuket—and three new airline companies joined MIA. ● Retail sales in Macau were up 25.7 percent in the first three months of this year to a record high MOP20.74 billion (US$2.56 billion), with all retail categories seeing growth. That’s led to a spike in interest among retailers who may want to enter the market. ● A Macau gaming labor activist group is organizing a petition at Galaxy Entertainment Group urging the firm to issue a “summer bonus” to employees. Cloee Chao of Professional for Gaming of New Macau said such a payment would be equivalent to a “14^th month” of salary for eligible team members.