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Two California tribes are moving forward with plans to build side-by-side casinos in Barstow, hundreds of miles from their reservations.

The Big Lagoon Rancheria is 731 miles from Barstow while the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians is 114 miles away. But they have already signed a compact with the state and submitted a land-into-trust application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"We're about six months into the 18-month process with the Department of Interior," a spokesperson for the development told The Las Vegas Review-Journal said.

That leaves the Chemehuevi Tribe out of the loop. Although the tribe has ancestral ties to the area, it doesn't have a compact with the state and just lost a vote in Barstow that would have blocked the Big Lagoon and Los Coyotes project.

Barstow is on Interstate 15, about halfway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Get the Story:
Voters signal support for casino plan (The Las Vegas Review-Journal 6/13)