Native American Casino Group Donates $184K to Cover Funerals for Alabama Tornado Victims

A Native American casino operator based in Alabama says it will pay for all 23 funerals of the victims of a March 3 tornado.

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which through its gaming subsidiary Wind Creek Hospitality owns and operates gaming venues in Alabama, Florida, Nevada, Aruba, Curacao, and soon Pennsylvania, has donated $184,000 to cover the funeral expenses of all who died in the deadly EF-4 tornado.

“The coroner’s office received word that they wanted to help and reached out to them and they agreed. Their first commitment was for $50,000,” Lee County Coroner Bill Harris announced.

They called back and asked me what it would take to cover the costs and I gave them a figure and they graciously made it happen,” Harris explained. “The monies will be deposited with the East Alabama Medical Center Foundation to be dispersed to the funeral homes to cover the cost of the funerals.”

The March 3 tornado that ripped through Lee County left a path of destruction nearly a mile wide. EF-4 tornados are classified as wind speeds ranging between 166-200 MPH, and an event that causes “devastating damage.” Only EF-5 is more severe, defined as “incredible damage.”

Community Partners

The Native American casino group is making its largest 우리카지노 investment to date by way of Pennsylvania. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians and Las Vegas Sands announced a $1.3 billion deal in March 2018 for the latter’s Sands Bethlehem in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Wind Creek says it will invest an additional $190 million in improvements and expansion once the deal is fully executed. That includes a $90 million convention center and new 300-room hotel tower.

The remaining $100 million is being earmarked for the adjacent No. 2 Machine Shop, an abandoned steel factory that has significant historical importance to the production of WWII weapons, warships, and airplanes. Wind Creek CEO Jay Dorris said the company is still considering what to do with the space, but recognizes it’s “a very significant structure.”

Of course, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians aren’t the only ones invested in the gaming industry that regularly support their communities. The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation reports that gaming CHECK HERE companies donated $367 million last year, and their employees gave 422,000 hours of volunteer work.

Not All Donations Accepted

Harris said of the tribe’s generosity regarding the funeral donations, “I am so thankful for them to step up in this manner and help the families of this tragedy.”

Not everyone is willing to benefit from the tribe’s casino operations, which is predominantly responsible for funding the Native American group. A church in Alabama damaged by a tornado recently declined a $25,000 donation from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

On January 19, the First Baptist Church of Wetumpka was hit by an EF-2 tornado – classified as wind speeds up to 135 MPH.

“It wasn’t unanimous, but the vote was overwhelming to return the donation,” Rev. James Troglen told the Montgomery Advisor. “Certainly, we accept and recognize the spirit in which the donation was offered. Our hope is that the money can go to helping in the relief effort, and that’s the desire we stated in the letter.”

Icahn Increases Grip on Caesars to 17.75 Percent, Sale or Merger Now Likely

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in Caesars Entertainment to 17.75 percent, according to a Monday SEC filing. The 83-year-old is now the largest shareholder in the Caesars group.

Icahn has been slowly increasing his ownership since the news broke in February that he had quietly bought 10 percent of the US poker casino giant in Sunvalley viewing it as an undervalued company and a possible sales target. He recently negotiated with Caesars to appoint three new members to the 12-member board — Icahn Enterprises CEO Keith Cozza, Icahn Enterprises board member James Nelson, and Icahn Capital fund manager Courtney Mather.

Now, with at least a quarter of Caesars’ executive directors loyal to him, Icahn will hold significant leverage when it comes to choosing the company’s new CEO and pushing for a sale.

Hedge Funds Set Sights on US Casino Sector

Current CEO Mark Frissora who guided the company through a messy two-year bankruptcy said in November he expected to step down in February.

Also in November, Caesars rejected an unsolicited 카지노사이트  merger offer from Tilman Fertitta, owner of Golden Nugget Casinos. The board said at the time the terms of the proposal were “not consistent with the company’s plans to create and enhance shareholder value over the long term” but that they were “open to reasonable alternatives to enhance long-term shareholder value.”

The US casino market has become fertile ground for activist investors who are expecting a period of consolidation, which will drive up share prices in companies.

Big hedge funds like Starboard Value, Canyon Capital, Eminence Capital, and HG Vora have been recently building equity in MGM Resorts, while HG Vora has also invested in Caesars.

Corporate Raider

Icahn had an estimated personal fortune of $17 billion in 2019, making him the 26th-wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes.

He has built a reputation as a corporate raider, buying stock in companies he perceives to be undervalued and often, in his opinion, mismanaged before effecting change in corporate structure and governance, driving up share prices by pushing for a sale, or even calling for divestiture of assets, as he did notoriously with TWA in the 1980s.

Icahn held interests in the Nevada casino industry in the 2000s through his company American Entertainment Properties, which owned the Stratosphere, Arizona Charlie’s, Arizona Charlie’s Boulder, Arizona Charlies Decateur, and the Aquarius Casino Resort, all now Golden Entertainment properties.

Until recently he owned the Trump Taj Mahal and Tropicana in Atlantic City, before selling to Hard Rock International and Gaming and Leisure properties, respectively. He still owns the shuttered Trump Plaza.