CARTER LAKE, Iowa (AP) — The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska has scored another legal win in its fight to keep its casino in western Iowa open.
U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose on Monday rejected motions in a lawsuit by the states of Iowa and Nebraska and the Iowa city of Council Bluffs seeking to derail the casino. The motions sought to amend Rose's order earlier this year in which she required the National Indian Gaming Commission to revisit its 2017 ruling giving the tribe the right to build the Prairie Flower Casino on land it owns in Carter Lake.
Attorneys for Nebraska, Iowa and Council Bluffs had wanted the judge to declare that her order had vacated the commission's 2017 ruling, which likely would have required the casino to shut down as litigation dragged on.