Apologies for the late start today, ladies and gentlemen.

Today at the State Capitol, the White Earth Tribe outlined their plan for a stadium financing deal involving a new casino. Apparently they are not married to any one particular location when it comes to the casino, meaning they could place it anywhere the state asked them to. That means it could be at a place like Block E, where the city has been trying to get something developed for a while now, or even on the site at Arden Hills where the Vikings have been trying to get a stadium built for a while.

The White Earth Tribe runs another casino in Minnesota already, the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, but it doesn't generate a heck of a lot of money for Minnesota's largest. . .and poorest. . .tribe.

Legislation was actually introduced this week, with bi-partisan support, that would allow this particular deal to move forward. The State reps that have sponsored the bill are Steve Eken (D - Twin Valley) and Bob Gunther (R - Fairmont). Eken said today during the press conference that he is lining up bi-partisan support for the bill and expects it to move forward.

Maybe this bill has some sort of momentum after all. We'll see what happens with it going forward.