Rain Rock Casino to open in California next month

In northern California, the Karuk Tribe has reportedly revealed that its new Rain Rock Casino is due to open outside the small town of Yreka next month offering a collection of some 349 video slot machines alongside eight gaming tables. According to a report from the local Mail Tribune newspaper, the Federally-recognized tribe officially broke ground on the $35 million Siskiyou County development in July after many years of planning and now hopes to begin welcoming guests by the end of February. The newspaper reported that the coming 36,000 sq ft venue sits on 100 acres of tribal land and will also house offices, a stage and a bar as well as a 100-seat restaurant and kitchen while the tribe has future plans that could see the new enterprise add an 80-room hotel and expand its casino floor by a further 20,000 sq ft. The Mail Tribune reported that the Karuk Tribe is additionally hoping to plough any immediate profits from the new venue into the construction of dental and health clinics for those living in and around Yreka before turning its attention to the housing needs of its members. The tribe purportedly has some 3,700 members throughout California and Oregon including around 420 in Siskiyou County and neighboring Humboldt County and recently opened some 34 low-cost homes near its coming casino in order to help alleviate a waiting list that runs to approximately 700 names. Siskiyou County has reportedly been suffering through an economic slump caused by a decline in the demand for timber and the Karuk Tribe told the newspaper that its Rain Rock Casino will also be a boon for the area by employing some 200 locals including around 50 of its tribal members at rates of between $11 and $20 per hour. “I think in a roundabout way it will make things better,” 61-year-old local resident Kathy Kimbell told the Mail Tribune. “With a lot of unemployment, the whole area could use it.”