Officials with the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians will learn Wednesday [1:30 p.m., Fresno Federal Courthouse, Judge O'Neill's Courtroom, 7th Floor] whether the tribe’s Coarsegold casino will reopen sooner or later when a judge hears from state and federal lawyers who ordered it closed.
On Tuesday, regulators were in the 1,800-slot, 42-table Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino along with a skeleton crew of about 100 employees.
The state Attorney General’s office and the National Indian Gaming Commission closed the casino to customers Friday after a fight between two tribal factions forced 500 patrons to leave the casino and hotel Thursday night — some with money on the table and chips to cash in. The closure occurred after members of a tribal faction led by Tex McDonald, which has control of the nearby tribal business complex, forcibly entered the casino and began fighting with security guards loyal to the Reggie Lewis/Nancy Ayala faction. Seven weeks ago, members of the Lewis/Ayala group seized the casino from McDonald’s faction.
Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill, who issued the temporary restraining order on Friday to close the casino and hotel because he believed the health and safety of patrons could not be protected, will decide how to proceed.