Daily Archives: June 20, 2022

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The U.S. Supreme Court sided with two Native American tribes in Texas in a ruling Wednesday that reaffirmed their autonomy to regulate non-prohibited gaming on their lands and strengthened tribal sovereignty in the state.

The justices came to a 5-4 ruling. The nations highest court stated that the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo tribe near El Paso, also known as the Tiguas, and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, north of Houston, have the autonomy to regulate electronic bingo games on their lands, regardless of the states rules on non-prohibited gambling. In other words, if the game isnt outright prohibited and criminalized in the state, Texas cant impose its regulations on the tribes games.

The Courts decision is an affirmation of Tribal sovereignty and a victory for the Texas economy, Ricky Sylestine, chair of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Tribal Council, said in a statement. The highest Court in the land has made clear that our Tribe has the right to legally operate electronic bingo on our reservation, just as we have the past six years."

But in the majority opinion, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch emphasized that Wednesdays ruling doesnt mean Native American tribes can offer any games they choose in their lands.

None of this is to say that the Tribe may offer gaming on whatever terms it wishes. The Restoration Act provides that a gaming activity prohibited by Texas law is also prohibited on tribal land as a matter of federal law, Gorsuch wrote. Other gaming activities are subject to tribal regulation and must conform to the terms and conditions set forth in federal law.

Texas has some of the strictest gambling laws in the country. The Tiguas have battled the state in courts for decades over expanding gambling on their land. Texas has repeatedly blocked efforts in federal court.

Ben Kappelman, a partner at international law firm Dorsey & Whitney who handles cases involving federal American Indian law issues, said Wednesdays ruling is a win for the tribes but doesnt mean tribal games will be totally unregulated.

This is a significant victory for the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Indian Tribe after decades of losses in the lower court, Kappelmann said. Still, the Supreme Courts decision will hardly leave the Pueblos gaming unregulated. They will simply join the large number of tribes whose gaming ventures are regulated by the National Indian Gaming Commission.

The case now returns to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for further deliberation.

Join us Sept. 22-24 in person in downtown Austin for The Texas Tribune Festival and experience 100+ conversation events featuring big names you know and others you should from the worlds of politics, public policy, the media and tech all curated by The Texas Tribunes award-winning journalists. Buy tickets.

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Supreme Court sides with tribes in fight with Texas over authorized gambling on their lands - The Texas Tribune

Online gambling has become very popular in a relatively short period of time. This can be seen for example from the number of new opportunities there are for the players. This is only one of the many markers for the popularity of online gambling.

But why is online gambling so popular? This article will take a look at some of the main factors, and why online gambling is one of the most popular ways to entertain yourself in your free time.

As we mentioned, one of the biggest markers for the increasing popularity of online gambling is that there are more and more options of websites to play at. Therefore all kinds of players can always be sure that they can find a website fitting for their wishes.

If you are interested in finding out about all the best online casinos, you can take a look at top10-casinosites.net T10. There you can find a list of ten fantastic options. You can also see that the casinos differ from each other. Regardless of what type of gambling experience you are looking for, you can find a fitting option online.

One of the big reasons for the popularity of online gambling is obviously the games it provides. These have an effect in two ways. First of all, just like with casinos, there are also many different types of games. This means that all types of players can certainly find a game that will entertain them.

Additionally, the games are simply more accessible. Many gambling games have been popular for a long time now. The only problem with them has been that they are not so easy to start. Now that the players can have fun in online casinos, they can play any games whenever they want, without even leaving their homes.

The last big factor in the popularity of online gambling as entertainment is mobile gaming. Mobile gambling has actually become so popular that many people even choose this option over gambling on their computers.

Because mobile gambling has become so popular, more online casinos have made it possible. Therefore now almost all high-quality casinos are optimized for all devices. You can start playing your favorite games from wherever you are whenever you wish to play.

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Online Gambling is One of the Most Popular Entertainment - UrbanMatter

The governor of California stood in a patch of dry brown grass as he made his proclamation:

Were in a new era. The idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day thats going to be a thing of the past, he said. Were in a historic drought, and that demands unprecedented action.

But it wasnt Gavin Newsom speaking it was the states previous governor, Jerry Brown, and the year was 2015.

Seven years later, California is once again facing urgent calls for cutbacks as heat waves, record dryness and climate change converge to create critically short supplies. But what has California learned since then? Is the Golden State really ready to do this again?

Yes and no, experts say. While some of the promises made during the previous drought including greater investments in water capture and recycling have been advanced or upheld, progress has been slow going and conservation is slipping. Whats more, a rash of well drilling is still threatening the states groundwater supply, and fish and forests are continuing to suffer as the region grows drier.

In some ways, the way we use water is pretty much like gambling, said Felicia Marcus, a fellow at Stanford Universitys Water in the West Program. Were going to have to learn how to hold back in normal times to see us through the longer dry times and more frequent dry times under climate change.

Heres a look at where we stand today:

CONSERVATION

In 2016, when then-Gov. Brown lifted the last statewide drought emergency, he also issued an executive order vowing to make water conservation a way of life in California.

The state largely responded to the call, maintaining daily per capita water use of around 90 gallons for the next several years, according to state data. But Californians have been slipping, and used about 18% more water in April compared with the same month in 2020, the year the current drought began.

Still, some experts said the big picture remains promising.

We always backslide after a drought, but we backslide to a level which isnt as high as it was before the drought, and thats how we make progress in conservation, said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

Indeed, many Californians have made lasting changes that have helped keep overall usage down, including upgrading appliances for higher efficiency and generally being more conscious of their consumption. A growing number of residents have also taken advantage of programs to help convert grass lawns into drought-tolerant landscaping.

Whats more, the last drought prompted a flurry of legislation that led to more stringent requirements for regional water suppliers, Mount said. Assembly Bill 1668 and Senate Bill 606, passed in 2018, required state agencies to establish long-term efficiency standards and to standardize their water shortage contingency plans.

Droughts are really important because they push policy, Mount said. Having two major droughts within 10 years is pretty grim, but its pushing things along.

That doesnt mean theres no room for improvement, however. A recent study from the Pacific Institute found that California could still reduce urban water use by as much as 48% through a host of existing technologies and improved efficiency measures.

The Pacific Institutes co-founder Peter Gleick decried the states recent backsliding and criticized authorities for not acting sooner.

State officials have not rung the alarm bells the way they need to to help the public understand, first of all, that it really is a crisis, and second of all, that there are things they can do and should do, he said.

GROUNDWATER

Perhaps the greatest advancement born of the last drought was the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014, a historic law intended to address over-pumping and help regulate the states supplies.

During dry periods, many Californians agricultural users in particular rely heavily on groundwater, especially when faced with cutbacks in deliveries from the state. But experts say the overdrafting of wells not only saps groundwater but also contributes to land subsidence.

Jay Lund, co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, said California has made some progress when it comes to implementing regulations and better managing groundwater, but the state is still a long way from achieving sustainability.

You have to find ways during the non-drought years to repay that extra water that you pumped out of the ground, and thats a big change, and I dont know that everybody understands that yet, Lund said.

Part of the problem is that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act laid out a timeline for implementation that spanned more than two decades, leading to a frenzy of well drilling even against the setting of two back-to-back droughts. Now, thousands of household wells in the Central Valley and other areas are at risk of going dry, and policymakers have acknowledged the legislation contained flaws.

In an effort to slow some of that drilling, Newsom this year signed an executive order requiring local groundwater agencies to verify that new wells are in accordance with sustainability plans. Also, proposed legislation, Assembly Bill 2201, seeks to make that change permanent.

But in the meantime, some California communities are already losing water while others are dealing with contaminated supplies.

Marcus, who also served as chair of the state water board during the last drought, remained optimistic about the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, particularly because the state is using its authority to call balls and strikes on inadequate local management plans, she said.

Its more of an iterative process, so the jurys out on whether it will work in the long run, Marcus said, but if it does work, its going to be more sustainable and more durable than another way of doing it. What we were going for in SGMA was long-term sustainability not immediate drought fix.

CAPTURE AND REUSE

There have been other promises too. In 2018, L.A. County voters approved Measure W, a massive tax aimed partly at capturing more storm water before it reaches the ocean.

This year, a Times review found that the county had disbursed only a fraction of the funds for the project, and that construction was lagging despite the urgent need to boost supplies of water. Though the project could eventually capture as much as 98 billion gallons of water annually, it might take as long as 50 years to build out the system, officials said.

Bruce Reznik, whose group Los Angeles Waterkeeper pushed to get the measure passed, credited the county for getting the massive project off the ground, but said hed like to see more investments in smaller-scale residential-level projects in addition to the big-ticket items.

The reality is weve made really big strides, but we are still largely dependent on imported water, which is drying up, Reznik said. That isnt a lot of water security.

There are several other projects in the works to help boost the areas supply, he said, including a major initiative from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power called Operation Next, which aims to recycle as much as 100% of purified wastewater from the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant by 2035.

DWP spokeswoman Ellen Cheng said its one of many such projects in development, including a groundwater replenishment project in the San Fernando Valley that, when completed, will recycle 100% of available wastewater supply from the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant and ultimately produce drinking water for more than 200,000 Angelenos.

The key point is that LADWP continues to make significant investments in several programs to further diversify the citys water supply portfolio which includes local groundwater, recycled water, storm water capture, water conservation and water-use efficiency, Cheng said.

The agency is also developing projects to collect rainwater and runoff from East San Fernando Valley parks, as well as a direct potable reuse project near Griffith Park that will treat wastewater to drinking water standards, Cheng said.

Statewide, officials with the Department of Water Resources are continuing to fund advanced water infrastructure and resilience projects at local agencies to help droughtproof the state, officials said. At the same time, the California Coastal Commission recently rejected plans for a desalination plant in Orange County.

When asked to grade the regions readiness for the current drought, Reznik offered a C-minus, but when asked to grade its efforts to get more water, he said it was more in the B-plus range.

Were in the right direction; its just we could use more and sooner, he said.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

While the last drought shined a light on issues facing millions of residents, some of its most devastating impacts were felt in the states forests and rivers. Experts say vulnerable fish species, particularly salmon, have been pushed to the brink of extinction due to warmer waters and shrinking stream flows.

The problem was absolutely exacerbated during the last drought, said John McManus, president of the Golden State Salmon Assn.

A big heavy flush of water in the spring basically doesnt happen during the drought, and the ability to maintain cold water on the eggs of the fish that are incubating in the fall is compromised and often gets too warm, he explained.

Though California is continuing to lose huge volumes of naturally spawned salmon as the state gets hotter and drier, officials have taken some actions to help mitigate the problem, McManus said, including managing strategic releases of cold water from reservoirs and trucking salmon to areas where they have a better chance of survival, though the concept is not without controversy.

Theyre reaching into their bag of tricks and saying, Where else can we park some of these adult fish where they can spawn naturally and therell be cold enough water to keep eggs alive?" McManus said. Though winter-run salmon, in particular, remain endangered, there are many stakeholders within the state that are quite worried about seeing an extinction on their watch, he added.

But while salmon may benefit from some of these solutions, Californias forests are facing a harder road. During the last drought, an estimated 102 million trees that depend on soil moisture died, according to a 2018 report that Lund co-wrote. The tree mortality has dangerous implications for wildfires, erosion and public safety.

For the forests, were kind of stuck, he said, adding that it would take many millions of acre-feet of water to turn things around. There are some of these environmental impacts that we just have to adapt to that were not going to be able to push back the clock on and thats true for forests, he said.

That may not be all bad, however, because many of the states forests have become overgrown during the last century due to wildfire suppression, he said.

But as with groundwater and green lawns, it does mean residents of the Golden State should get used to the idea of a California that looks considerably different.

We have to find a way to prepare ourselves for the aridification, essentially, of much of Californias natural landscape, Lund said.

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Did California learn anything from the last drought? 'Gambling' with water continues - Los Angeles Times

Nearly every year a team who finished last place in their division, wins their division the following year. The worst to first phenomenon has given basement-dwelling franchises hope for at least the past two decades. Since 2002, only twice (2014, 2019) have all eightlast-place division finishers, failed to win a divisional crown the following year.

While that news is great for fans of the perpetually terrible Detroit Lions, how does that help casual gamblers and degenerates? Well, even recognizing the trend takes us halfway there. Consider the following:

*Odds listed were betting odds AFTER the 2021 pre-season.

If you want to capitalize on the trend that has hit 90% of the time over the past two decades, you should bet on one of last year's divisional last-place finishers, to win their division this year. Your options include:

*Odds via BetMGM as of 6/20/22

Vegas seems to have gotten wise, as the odds arent as favorable as last year. You may notice that none of the teams listed have the same odds(+2500) as last years Bengals did.

Aside from the Ravens, who are actually the favorites right now, it may seem like there are no solid options - either to win outright or with fantastic odds. Things fluctuate and odds, as they currently stand, are not what they will be in August.

Consider this though, in 2021, $800 spent, placing a $100 bet on each of the previous year's worst place finishers, to win the division, would have left you with $2600 at years end. Now, it's unclear if 2022 will have its own version of the Cincinnati Bengals, but the potential exists forone of the teams tocome out on top.

If you were to place $100 on each of last years last-place finishers to win the division this year, you would needthe Panthers, Seahawks, Lions, or Jets to win their division outright. To replicate 2021s gambling success, youd need a combination of two to three teams to make the leap.

While there are no surefire outcomesin sports or gambling, a bet on divisional futures is an option to consider.

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NFL Futures: Why Gambling On 'Worst To First' Is Gaining Popularity With Sports Bettors - Benzinga - Benzinga

Casino games are exciting and if you want to play with your money, it is important to be well informed before you start. So without further delay, lets find out how to keep your money safe when playing online casinos.

Think of it as entertainment

Gambling should not be seen as a way to make money, but only as a way to have fun. By doing this, you will greatly reduce the risk of losing money as you will be less tempted to gamble away all your money. To provide you with the best possible experience, online casinos now offer a wide range of games: roulette, slots, card games such as poker or bacarra, live games, scratch cards, etc. Enjoy yourself !

Set yourself a budget

For the sake of your bankroll, its important to know in advance what youre going to play and how much youre going to play. This allows you to be more in control of your money and thus avoid making bad decisions. To do this, you can set a time or bet limit, or even decide to stop playing when your bank account reaches a certain amount. You can also limit the amount of time you spend gambling.

To help preserve yourself, it is very important to limit the amount of time you spend gambling. The more time you spend gambling, the more money you are likely to spend. So it can be helpful to take your time before you start playing. As well as allowing you to concentrate on the game, it will also ensure that you understand how the games work and the rules.

Take advantage of bonuses

Online casinos are different from physical casinos in several ways. While the atmosphere is different when playing online, there is one major advantage: the casino bonuses.

First of all, we will summarize the different types of bonuses that you can enjoy when playing at an online casino:

When you sign up at a reliable casino, take the time to check the rules for promotional offers. The casino bonus is an opportunity for the player only if he is well aware of the terms and conditions that apply to it. Never hesitate to contact the casinos support staff with questions about promotions, they are there to answer them.

Dont gamble during times of emotional instability

You should also stay away from gambling when you are in a moment of emotional instability. When your head is not clear, you may be inclined to take foolish risks, which can lead to losing money

Beware of frustration: frustration at losing can lead to a vicious cycle of repeated unsuccessful bets. Look for the fun of the game first and stop as soon as you feel negative emotions.

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How to try out gambling without risking your own money? - Deadline News