Jump to full article: KOMO TV Ch. 4 ABC/KOMO Radio 1000 (Seattle, WA), 2008-05-08
Author: Associated Press
Intro: The Nisqually Indian Tribe is unlikely to win its claim that Gov. Chris Gregoire struck an illegal deal to allow cigarette sales at Frank's Landing, a small Indian community outside the tribe's reservation, a judge said Thursday.
In an order issued in Tacoma, U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton said he is aware of no federal law that would prohibit the type of arrangement at issue, and he declined to issue an injunction shutting down the smoke shop.
However, Leighton also said he would not dismiss the lawsuit before the tribe has a chance to amend its complaint.
Frank's Landing is a 19-acre Indian community outside the Nisqually reservation between Fort Lewis and Olympia. The community is not a federally recognized tribe, but Congress has recognized its several dozen members as an independent "Indian community" not subject to the jurisdiction of any tribe. . . .
Frank's Landing struck a deal with the nearby Squaxin Island Tribe, which agreed to lease the smoke shop and share tax revenue for use on local projects. Gregoire amended the state's tobacco tax compact with the Squaxins to formalize the arrangement, and the shop reopened early this year as Skookum Creek Tobacco Co.
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