SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) — “We’re open!” says Thunder Valley Resort Casino east of Sacramento. Morongo Casino Resort & Spa near Palm Springs declares, “Good Times are back!” Barona Resort Casino near San Diego says, “We’re open 24/7.”

Splashy messages on websites and freeway signs for California’s tribal casinos are a jarring contrast with the sober restraint that Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered amid a crushing surge in coronavirus cases that has overwhelmed hospitals statewide.

California’s self-governed tribal casinos have largely left safety rules unchanged since reopening in the spring as the government has stiffened restrictions on other businesses in most of the state. Stay-at-home orders that began in early December prohibit indoor religious services and on-site dining, close gyms and cardrooms, restrict hotel reservations and limit capacity to 20% at retail stores.

Dec 18, 2019 Casino floor (New Year’s Eve and New Years Day): Drink specials include $5 sparkling wine (New Year’s Eve only), $3 assorted Jell-O shots, $4 domestic draft beer and a $7 “Midori Ball Drop”. Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California’s largest tribal casino, said Monday that it was closing to the “general public” on New Year’s Eve after previously canceling special celebrations. A Premier Destination in California Casinos Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa: A Luxury Southern California Hotel and Casino. Read More An enticing oasis sprawled across 44 scenic acres at the foothills of California’s brilliant San Gorgonio and San Jacinto Mountains, Morongo Casino Resort & Spa is the crown jewel of California casinos. Casinos offering New Year’s Eve events into the early hours of 2021 include Pala, Morongo, Cahuilla, Augustine, and Agua Caliente. Many others, however, are not hosting any happenings to ring in.

Tribal casinos operate under federal law on federally protected land, known as rancherias in California, so they’re not required to fall in line with Newsom’s orders. The country’s 574 federally recognized tribes also are sovereign entities and can decide on how to operate their businesses without approval from states.

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Tribes outside California have reopened casinos with limited capacity and other safety precautions. Casinos on the country’s largest Native American reservation, the Navajo Nation in the Southwest, have been closed since March.

Casino revenue is also a major source of income for tribes, which don’t have a tax base like state and local governments.

With few other places open New Year’s Eve, casinos have come under scrutiny for ringing in 2021 with a bang. Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park, near Santa Rosa, faced a backlash after announcing last week that it would close for a private party with up to 4,000 people. It abruptly canceled the event and “apologized for any inconvenience” in a statement online.

The San Manuel Casino in Highland, east of Los Angeles, said Tuesday that its New Year’s Eve events were also off. It will remain open for “current limited capacity” but there will be no midnight countdown, booze at the bar or tableside dining.

Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California’s largest tribal casino, said Monday that it was closing to the “general public” on New Year’s Eve after previously canceling special celebrations and postponing concerts through March.

Closing to the public on New Year’s Eve was done to “further discourage attendance,” Jared Munoa, board president of the Pechanga Development Corp., said this week.

Cache Creek Casino Resort, northwest of Sacramento, said it canceled plans for a public New Year’s Eve party in early December but will open for “a small number of special guests,” estimated at less than 1% of normal crowds.

Some casinos are sticking to festivities. Thunder Valley, located about 20 miles from the capitol in Lincoln, promotes “2021 Celebration Giveaway” drawings Friday and Saturday, with $8,000 grand prizes. Viejas Casino & Resort, east of San Diego, advertises a $50,000 Bingo “celebration” on New Year’s Eve.

Bradley Pollock, a public health professor at UC Davis Health, acknowledged tribal rights and the economic benefits that casinos deliver but said “anything that encourages people to come together physically is not good.” He said New Year’s Eve celebrations are “even more egregious.”

The Associated Press checked policies on websites of California’s 10 largest tribal casinos and sought comment from each by email or phone. Some confirmed the policies and underscored their commitment to safety; others didn’t respond.

All post significant restrictions, such as temperature checks at the door, required face coverings and more space between slot machines. Buffets and many, but not all, restaurants are closed.

Gaming and dining capacity is more limited but few specify by how much. Two exceptions: Pechanga and Pala Casino Spa Resort, near San Diego, say they cap attendance at 50% of normal.

The few that have strengthened restrictions since November’s surge are still far looser than non-tribal businesses. Cache Creek stopped bar service unless food is purchased. Sycuan Casino Resort, near San Diego, introduced a dining cap of eight people per table and other rules.

The right of tribes to determine their own rules is unquestioned. San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, who has denounced restaurants and churches that defy health orders, said when casinos prepared to reopen in May that he was in no position to criticize.

“This is a decision that is for them to make, and there is a very long and very dark history of the country, of white people in particular, telling our Native Americans what they should and shouldn’t do,” he said. “I’m not going to be a part of continuing that into the future. I respect their sovereignty.”

Information on how COVID-19 has spread from casinos is limited. KPBS obtained San Diego County records and reported that outbreaks at seven casinos were linked to at least 638 COVID-19 cases from late June to mid-December. It said at least 208 outbreaks occurred in restaurants and at least 125 at large retailers and grocery stores.

Pollock, of UC Davis Health, said hotels present limited risk of spread but dining and gaming are more troublesome.

“How do you have a poker game with one dealer and one player per table?” he said. “I don’t know how you would (safely) do it otherwise.”

© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

In a normal year, Southern California’s tribal-owned casinos are New Year’s Eve destinations: restaurants serve decadent meals, concert venues bring in big stars and some properties even break out the fireworks.

This year, the mood will be much different at most of Southern California’s casinos because of the novel coronavirus pandemic and new stay-at-home orders issued by California that effectively grounded nonessential travel between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Morongo

The stay-at-home orders have forced the temporary closure of many businesses, but Southern California’s tribal casinos have a measure of sovereignty that allows them to stay open and have events if they choose. When it comes to New Year’s, some casinos have significantly modified their New Year’s Eve offerings while others have canceled them completely.

“I would say that this is a toned-down version of what we normally do,” said Lindsay Grant, director of marketing at Augustine Casino in Coachella.

Grant said that in previous years, Augustine has hosted an extremely popular New Year’s Eve buffet and that the casino would invite many of its top VIPs and comp their meals.

This year, the casino has been more focused on managing capacity. Grant said the casino expects reduced business levels because of the stay-at-home order, but it also is also taking steps to control crowds. Fewer of those invites to VIPs went out this year and the casino’s restaurant Café 54 started taking reservations to manage capacity.

Instead of a buffet, the casino is offering a three-course dinner at Café 54 with tables set apart and a masked-up musician playing guitar but not singing.

Elsewhere in the casino, the changes that Augustine put in place in June will still be visible. A number of chairs have been pulled off the floor so guests can distance; table games have been removed; temperature checks are conducted for visitors and employees; and the casino will close in the early morning hours for deep cleaning.

Elsewhere in the Coachella Valley, the Agua Caliente Casinos appear to be planning some of the activities that they do in a normal year. Websites for each of the properties — in Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs and the newly opened casino in Cathedral City— all advertise New Year’s Eve events that include DJs, cash giveaways, party favors and dining and drink specials.

Fireworks, part of the normal festivities at the Palm Springs property, will not happen this year, according to an email from a casino spokeswoman.

Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon will give out free masquerade masks and will also have food specials.

Other casinos are not actively promoting any New Year’s Eve events. Websites for Casino Pauma; Fantasy Springs Resort Casino; Harrah’s Resort Southern California; Resort & Spa; Soboba Casino Resort; Spotlight 29 Casino and Tortoise Rock Casino did not show any New Year’s Eve promotions or events as of Tuesday, Dec. 15.

San Manuel Casino in Highland will have food and drink specials but didn’t appear to advertise any events or entertainment on its website.

Some casinos took the step of canceling all their events months in advance. Such was the case for Pechanga Resort Casino near Temecula, which announced in late October that it was canceling its New Year’s Eve events as well as concerts scheduled for the first three months of 2021 due to the pandemic. The Temecula area resort typically holds numerous New Year’s Eve events simultaneously that attract thousands.

Here’s a look at some of the activities still planned for New Year’s Eve at area casinos this year:

Agua Caliente Casinos (Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs and Cathedral City)

Morongo Casino New Hours

All three casinos are having New Year’s Eve events that include DJs, cash and free play giveaways, party favors and dining and drink specials, according to their websites. Rancho Mirage will have an added element: a Champagne bar on the casino floor.

Information: 888-999-1995, aguacalientecasinos.com

Is Casino Morongo Open

Augustine Casino

The Coachella Valley casino will have a 3-course dinner with soup or salad; choice of choice of surf and turf, sea bass, prime rib or chicken; pie a la mode dessert bar and glass of Champagne. $42.95. Reservations encouraged and should be made by calling 760-391-9504 through Dec. 28.

Information: 760-391-9500, augustinecasino.com

Cahuilla Casino Hotel

Some of the Anza casino’s promotions include party favors for all starting at 7 p.m. Dec. 31 and a balloon drop at midnight. Between midnight and 1:30 a.m., five random drawing winners will each win $1,000 cash, according to its website.

The website also notes that the casino’s Ribbonwood Grill will have a dinner for two that includes a crab and avocado cocktail, Caesar salad, porterhouse steak Oscar and creme brulee for dessert. 4-10 p.m. $79.

Information: 951-763-1200, cahuillacasinohotel.com

Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa

The Cabazon complex will offer food specials on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Good Times Café will feature surf & turf with prime rib and shrimp, garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, au jus, horseradish and chocolate bomb cake from 11 a.m.-3 a.m. ($32.99 per person) and Pit Stop Diner at the old Casino Morongo building will have surf & turf with lobster tail and grilled New York steak, a salad, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus and a white chocolate mocha cheesecake from 8 a.m.-midnight ($21.99 per person).

On New Year’s Day only, Sideline Bar & Grill will have “The 21 Burger” which comes with crispy onion, jalapeño bacon, lettuce, tomato, grilled pineapple, mayonnaise, sriracha aioli and teriyaki sauce from 11 a.m.-3 a.m. ($14).

Information: 951-849-3080, morongocasinoresort.com

Pala Casino, Spa & Resort

The Northern San Diego County resort will have entertainment at its Center Bar from 1 p.m.-1:30 a.m., according to its website.

Information: 877-946-7252, palacasino.com

San Manuel Casino

Morongo Casino News

The Highland area casino will offer food specials on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Its food court will serve a slow-cooked prime rib sandwich with garlic fries from 11 a.m.-1 a.m. ($19), Rock & Brews will feature a petite filet of beef with caramelized onion lobster mashed potatoes, asparagus and béarnaise sauce from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. ($32.95) and George Lopez’s Chingon Kitchen will offer beef barbacoa with refried white beans, Spanish rice and beef consommé from 11 a.m.-1 a.m. ($17). San Manuel is not offering table service currently but meals can be ordered to-go.

Morongo Casino Hotel

Information: 800-359-2464, sanmanuel.com

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-on December 22, 2020 at 03:04AM by Alex Groves