Downstream to expand into Kansas prior to state decision

In a strange twist, Downstream Casino Resort announced Dec. 5 that it would be expanding its gaming presence into southeast Kansas prior to a move by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to issue a license for a casino in the area.

Before the commission could decide, Downstream got the OK from the National Indian Gaming Commission in what Quapaw Tribe Chairman John Berrey called a fluke of “odd timing."

“It’s really just odd timing that it happened now. If you can figure out a way to make the federal government work on your calendar, please let me know," Berrey told the Joplin Regional Business Journal. "We’ll be the first tribe to have two states under one roof.

"I could put a trailer in the parking lot right now and put slot machines in there and game legally.”

Read more from the Joplin Regional Business Journal.