NEWS & NOTES

The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho’s Kootenai River Inn Casino and Spa is the first casino in the U.S. that will take currency from either he U.S. or Canada. According to Jerry Jaeger, of Coeur d’Alene-based Hagadone Hospitality, which manages the hotel and casino, “These machines totally eliminate the issue of Canadian discounts. Now there’s no converting to U.S. dollars and discounting of any kind.” The casino is 27 miles south of the international border. The exchange rates are updated using software called the Advantage System created by IGT in Reno, Nevada.   •  Suffolk OTB in New York state has filed to build a betting parlor at the Islandia Marriott hotel in Islandia Village. The permit asks to deploy lottery terminals and sell food and beverages. The village board of trustees will rule on the request at its next meeting on July 5.  •  The National Gambling Office of Romania has awarded a production and distribution gaming software license to iSoftBet. The company has previously been given permits in the UK, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Denmark. The company will release content, including about 50 games, through Netbet.ro.  •  The city of Victoria, British Columbia voted 6-3 last week to send a second expression of interest to the British Columbia Lottery to participate in the corporation’s process for identifying a city to host a casino. The city identified Crystal Gardens and the Apex site next to it as possible sites for the facility. BCLC is currently deciding between the option of a community gaming center, including lottery products, bingo, entertainment and a stage, and a full service casino with 300-400 slots and table games.  The proposal is controversial in Victoria.  •  The Tohono O’odham nation, owners of the West Valley Casino near Phoenix, Arizona, made its first $1.5 million payment to the city of Glendale last week. This is the first of 20 annual checks that the tribe expects to pay to the city. The payment came as part of an agreement between tribe and city after the city voted to drop its opposition to the casino.   •  U.S. Senator John Thune, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is demanding that the Multi-State Lottery Association show how it will prevent insiders from rigging jackpots. Thune sent a letter to the association demanding to know what steps it has taken to prevent more fraud. He demanded answers by July 7 and a briefing a week later. A former security director, Eddie Tipton, is accused of installing software codes that let him predict winners between 2005 and 2011. He was convicted last year of rigging the system to win $16.5 million. The association runs lotteries in 37 states. The board suspended founder and longtime director Charles Strutt earlier this year.   •  Famed magic duo Siegfried & Roy are producing their autobiography and hired director Philipp Stolzl to lead the film project.  •  Allegiant Air has added two domestic routes connecting Las Vegas with New York City and Destin, Florida, which is where Fort Walton Beach is located. The flights are to start in October.  •  A point-of-sale malware virus struck the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and the casino says anyone who used credit or debit cards at the casino and some of its restaurants and bars from October 27, 2015, to March 21, 2016, is vulnerable.  •  Trustees for IATSE Local 720 and attorneys for Harrah’s, Flamingo, Paris, and Bally’s Casinos in Nevada federal court filings say they are close to settling a federal lawsuit over missing contributions to several trust funds.  •  Local real estate experts say the availability of land and space in Las Vegas, combined with a limited market for high-rise units and difficulty obtaining financing has ended virtually all development of high-rise residential units in the Las Vegas Valley, Vegas Inc. reported.  •  Three Fremont Street Experience stalwarts in Las Vegas closed in June to make way for a new casino and hotel development by D Rock Gaming, which bought the Glitter Gulch, Mermaids, and La Bayou properties earlier this year, and plans to build on those parcels and the nearby Las Vegas Club.