NEWS & NOTES

Satellite casinos operating on Cyprus are hiring more workers. Job openings were announced at Melco satellite casinos in Ayia Napa, Nicosia and Limassol. The company is now building its massive behind City of Dreams Mediterranean, Europe’s first integrated casino resort, which is expected to bring 2,400 new permanent jobs once it opens. • A Hartford, Connecticut Superior Court judge, Thomas Moukawsher, last week dismissed claims by the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation that the state owes it $600 million for land the state allegedly seized between 1801 and 1918. In 2016 the tribe sued, claiming the state illegally seized 2,000 acres from its reservation without compensation. Schaghticoke Chief Richard Velky said the tribe’s attorneys have asked clarification from the judge before deciding the next step. Attorney Austin Tighe declared, “There definitely will be a next step. This case is definitely not over.” • San Manuel Casino in Southern California has opened a new smoke free slots area with 90 slot machines. The new area is open 24/7. It is enclosed by glass with a system that pushes air out and doesn’t allow it inside. It replaces an earlier smoke free area that was next to the poker room. The casino is in the middle of a $550 million multi-phase expansion that will add a six-story parking garage, and a 3,000 seat indoor concert venue. • The Pennsylvania Senate bill to allow local municipalities to prohibit truck-stop video gaming terminals, even if they’ve been licensed by the state, has cleared out of committee, and is awaiting a full vote in the Senate. The measure is being protested by companies lie Rutter’s convenience store, which is filing a lawsuit against the state after one local municipality voted to ban VGTs after the operator had already secured a license to add the maximum five VGTs to its locations. • The GameSource electronic game platform is to make its debut in Cambodia and Vietnam later this year, said developer Pacific Intellectuals Alliance (Macau) Ltd. In Macau, the platform has successfully passed trials at casino hotel MGM Macau, the equipment supplier’s managing director Lam Lao told GGRAsia. GameSource consists of a cloud-based platform offering land-based casinos access to a library of electronic games. It includes game and data management, auditing functions, and monitoring tools, for operators and regulators to track play and business performance. • Groundbreaking is set for June 26 on a 284-room Delta hotel near the Palms on Flamingo Road in Las Vegas. CAI Investments is the backer of the non-gaming venue, which is part of a planned mixed-use complex featuring luxury apartments, restaurants and shopping. The Delta chain is owned by Marriott International. • Work has begun on the Las Vegas Strip on the installation of 3,000 more protective curbside barriers. To date, around 1,600 of the four-foot steel posts have been installed on the Strip, funded by Clark County. When the new installation is complete, the barriers will extend from Sahara Avenue to the “Welcome to Las Vegas” at the far south end of Las Vegas Boulevard.