"There is smoking in all of the casinos. I know of no Indian casino that is smoke-free. Shootting Star does have a nonsmoking area, as I’ve mentioned in other columns, and seems to do well. Seven Clans, on the other hand, is pretty smoke-filled. I have to limit my time there.

I was dismayed to hear of the shooting incident near Shooting Star in Mahnomen this week, but I was not surprised that the suspects apparently first drew attention to themselves by being at the casino and inebriated.

Many times, I’ve wondered why the bartenders in various casinos serve customers who obviously seem to have had way too much. And I wonder about the age of some of those young people who walk around the casinos with beer in their hands. I could be wrong because maybe they just ACT young. I don’t know, and it’s entirely possible that the bartenders actually had carded them.

But I’ve seen people literally fall off their chair in front of a machine, and not because they’d won a jackpot. I’ve seen fights at the casinos, too, although they don’t seem to last long. They’re usually alcohol-related incidents

There are several casinos in the region that are alcohol free — Spirit Lake, Mystic Lake and Seven Clans among them. The businesses seem to be relatively successful. I’m sure, however, that alcohol sales bring in lots of revenues to the casinos that sell it, and that’s why those casinos persist."

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DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Smoke, alcohol: Bad bets at casinos (The Grand Forks Herald 2/21)