Author: jeff

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Mohegan

Mohegan Gaming Readies for Historic Grand Opening of INSPIRE Resort

Marking a significant milestone in the global entertainment and resort industry, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment is on the brink of unveiling its latest gem, Mohegan INSPIRE. This grand opening is not just an event; it’s a testament to the unwavering dedication and effort of the team behind this ambitious project.

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Unveiling a New Era in Entertainment

Mohegan INSPIRE, the result of nearly eight years of meticulous planning and construction, is ready to redefine the entertainment landscape. The resort features a 1,275-room development, a sprawling 215,278 sq ft foreigner-only INSPIRE Casino, a 15,000-seat all-purpose arena, and a digital entertainment street. Supplementing these entertainment hubs are cutting-edge meeting and conference facilities, indoor and outdoor water parks, and commercial facilities. The grand opening promises an introduction to an era of world-class entertainment and unparalleled guest experiences.

A Grand Opening Like No Other

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According to Mohegan Inspire’s President, Chen Si, the resort is poised to offer an experience that transcends the ordinary and caters to visitors from diverse backgrounds. Echoing this sentiment, Mohegan Gaming CEO Ray Pineault underscored the historic nature of the grand opening. The inaugural celebrations are set to reach a crescendo with a performance by the internationally acclaimed band, Maroon 5, among other special events lined up for March.

Setting New Standards in Hospitality and Entertainment

The leadership at Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment is committed to setting new benchmarks in the industry with INSPIRE. The resort’s grand opening is just the beginning of a journey marked by growth and innovation. With the soft opening already having introduced guests to an array of offerings, the resort plans to progressively roll out more amenities. The opening of the INSPIRE Casino, touted as the most advanced gaming facility in the country, is one such highlight guests can look forward to. As the anticipation builds for the grand opening…

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Lenapehoking

First Artist-in-Residence at Lefferts Historic House Museum

Adama Delphine Fawundu, a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist, has been appointed as the first artist-in-residence at the Lefferts Historic House Museum by the Prospect Park Alliance. Fawundu’s residency will culminate in a large-scale, site-specific textile installation inspired by the research of the Alliance’s ReImagine Lefferts initiative. The exhibition, set to debut in spring 2024, will pay homage to the indigenous Lenapehoking people and the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family.

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A Tapestry of History and Resistance

Fawundu’s installation, comprising 25 individual textile pieces, will reflect the history of enslavement and resistance of the Indigenous people of Lenapehoking and the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family. These textile pieces represent the 25 enslaved Africans who lived at Lefferts House from 1783 to 1827.

The Prospect Park Alliance’s ReImagine Lefferts initiative aims to redirect educational focus and redefine the history and importance of the indigenous Lenapehoking people and the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family. Fawundu’s residency and installation are integral to this mission.

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Unraveling the Layers of Past and Present

Fawundu’s work often intertwines historical and contemporary narratives, using textiles to explore themes of identity, spirituality, and the African Diaspora. Her appointment as the first artist-in-residence at the Lefferts Historic House Museum provides a unique opportunity to delve into the hidden histories and stories of the Lenapehoking people and the enslaved Africans at Lefferts House.

“I am honored to be the first artist-in-residence at the Lefferts Historic House Museum,” said Fawundu. “Through my work, I hope to shed light on the lives and experiences of those who have been historically marginalized and contribute to a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of our shared history.”

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A Reimagined Future

The Prospect Park Alliance’s decision to appoint an artist-in-residence at the Lefferts Historic House Museum reflects a growing trend of incorporating art…

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Unami

France is deeply concerned by the repercussions of regional tensions in Iraq

Madam President,

I thank the Special Representative for her briefing. I welcome the presence among us this morning of the representatives of Iraq and Kuwait.

France welcomes the efforts of the Iraqi government to implement the reforms awaited by the Iraqi population, and calls for their continuation.

France welcomed the smooth holding of provincial elections on December 18, the first since 2013. We welcome the support provided by UNAMI to the Independent High Electoral Commission. Recent announcements concerning the appointment of new local authorities are encouraging. France hopes that parliamentary elections can be held in Iraqi Kurdistan as soon as possible.

We encourage Iraq to pursue its reforms, as announced by the Iraqi Prime Minister, particularly in terms of diversifying its economy, fighting corruption and impunity, and protecting human rights.

With regards the relations between Baghdad and Erbil, France calls for a resumption of dialogue, particularly on the sharing of oil revenues and security issues. This is in the interest of both parties.

Madam President,

France will closely examine the conclusions of the strategic review on UNAMI next March.

This strategic review requested by the Security Council is independent, and we will carefully look at its conclusions and recommendations. France welcomes the essential role played by UNAMI in providing assistance to Iraq in many areas, while fully respecting its sovereignty. France thanks and congratulates the Special Representative for the exceptional commitment she has demonstrated in the service of Iraq and the Iraqi people throughout her mandate over the past five years.

As a strategic partner of Iraq, France will continue to listen to the Iraqi authorities on the future of UNAMI. Our shared objective is for any change in its mandate to be successful, and we will work together with Iraq and the United Nations to achieve that.

France is…

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Lenni Lenape

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Munsee

Why proper representation of our tribe matters

Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians pushes back against unofficial events

The Tribal Council of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians is sounding an alarm about unaffiliated groups — including one based in the Berkshires — that may be seeking to exploit the Wisconsin-based tribe for financial gain.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community has strong ties to this area, as it is part of our ancestral homelands. Reconnecting with our homelands is a means of recovery from forced relocation and assimilation, and we are happy with the local interest in our history, culture and traditions.

The Stockbridge-Munsee Community is a federally-recognized Indian tribe made up of both Munsee and Mohican Indians with an ancestral territory that includes portions of what is now New York State, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Jersey. We are a sovereign nation geographically situated on a reservation in Shawano County, Wis. Our tribe is governed by a duly elected Tribal Council, pursuant to our constitution. As a sovereign tribal nation, we enjoy a unique trust relationship with the federal government and engage in government-to-government relations at the federal, state and local levels.

Our tribe was one of the first tribes to meet the European explorers when Henry Hudson sailed up the Mahicannituck (later called the Hudson River) into the lands of the Mohicans in September 1609. A more detailed summary of our history can be found on our website at https://mohican.com/brief-history. Because of that early encounter and pressure to assimilate, our language, culture and tradition were significantly eroded. As a tribe, we are committed to recovering both language and culture and protecting what our ancestors left us. That commitment includes remaining true to the traditions we have and exposing misuse, misrepresentation or monetization of our culture and traditions.

Toward that end, we…

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Nanticoke

Part II: The Year of Eating Chesapeake Blue Catfish

A few years ago, when I made regular trips to the Baltimore waterfront to fish for rockfish, several people stopped to ask the same question: Are they safe to eat?

My answer: “I don’t know. I’m not a biologist. But rockfish are migratory. They move around and visit the Atlantic. So it’s not like they’re just bottom feeding in the Inner Harbor or Middle Branch all year, accumulating toxins in their flesh. They’re probably safe. Besides, I might catch and keep only one or two per year. I don’t think it will kill me.”

Notice the reference to bottom feeding, the suggestion that rockfish have eating habits superior to less venerated Chesapeake species such as channel catfish or carp.

While bottom feeders eat natural food — mollusks, insect larvae, small fish and some plants — they are thought to be consumers of stuff we’d rather not think about, especially in urban areas. I don’t know if that reputation is deserved, but it’s what a lot of us think, and science-based advisories suggest that certain fish that feed on the bottom pose some risks to humans.

I bring this up because we’re in the second month of The Year of Eating Chesapeake Blue Catfish, proclaimed in this space to support efforts to arrest the growth of an invasive species. Blue catfish are all over the Chesapeake and its tributaries, and it appears they are eating everything, top and bottom.

We need to eat more of them.

To this end, Sun readers sent me recipes to share. (There’s one at the end of this column.) But I also received a caution from Andy Grosko, who has harvested catfish from local waters.

“Sure,” he wrote from Woodstock, “we want to manage invasive fish populations and help commercial watermen, but not at the…

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Mohegan

MOHEGAN ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER FISCAL 2024 OPERATING RESULTS

UNCASVILLE, Conn., Feb. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (“Mohegan,” “we” or “our”) today announced operating results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2023.

“We are thrilled that Mohegan INSPIRE has received its five-star hotel rating in January and opened the casino on February 3rd,” said Raymond Pineault, Chief Executive Officer of Mohegan. “The five-star rating is a testament to our pursuit for excellence and commitment to providing world-class experiences. We are looking forward to more amenities coming online in the ensuing months.”

Mohegan Operating Results

Three Months Ended

Variance

($ in thousands, unaudited)

December 31, 2023

December 31, 2022

$

%

Net revenues

$                    425,232

$                    406,621

$               18,611

4.6 %

Income from operations

31,970

70,229

(38,259)

(54.5) %

Net income (loss) attributable to Mohegan

(97,019)

807

(97,826)

N.M.

Adjusted EBITDA1

79,002

101,055

(22,053)

(21.8) %

“Quarterly net revenues increased $18.6 million compared with the prior-year period, primarily due to continued growth in Mohegan Digital and non-gaming revenues from Mohegan INSPIRE,” said Carol Anderson, Chief Financial Officer of Mohegan. “However our consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of  $79.0 million decreased $22.1 million compared with the prior-year period due to a number…

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Mohican

Will’s Core Canon: Why ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ Might Be Michael Mann’s Best

Welcome to Will’s Core Canon, a series covering some of my all-time favorite movies and why they work. This series seeks to go beyond surface-level analysis to strike at the core of why these films resonated the way they did.

Every year around my birthday, I like to revisit one of my favorite movies. This year, I could not be happier to have picked The Last of the Mohicans, 1992’s epic historic romance set in colonial America directed by Michael Mann and based on James Fenimore Cooper’s classic 1826 novel. This movie also credits a previous film adaptation from 1936 as a source of inspiration. The film follows Nathaniel “Hawkeye” Poe (Daniel Day-Lewis), the adopted son of Mohican warrior Chingachgook (Russell Means), in upper New York State during the French and Indian War.

A party escorting the two daughters of a commanding colonel is sabotaged, only for Hawkeye to step in and save them. The oldest daughter, Cora (Madeleine Stowe), and Hawkeye begin to bond as they return to the fort, only to find it under siege. The traitorous Mohawk warrior Magua (Wes Studi) seeks revenge against Cora’s father. Though they must be separated, Hawkeye pleads with Cora to stay alive and that he promises come what may, he will always find her. Lives are not spared as negotiations between the various warring parties take place on what to do with our cast of heroes.

The Last of the Mohicans 1992(Twentieth Century Fox)

Director Michael Mann has been discussed a lot recently, as his first movie in 8 years, Ferrari, was just released to positive reception. The Last of the Mohicans was Mann’s first bigger-budgeted movie, and only his fourth movie overall. He was mostly known before this for smaller thrillers like 1981’s…

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Unami

Restraint Crucial to Preserve Hard-Won Stability, Achieve Durable Progress in Iraq, Top UN Official Tells Security Council, Amid US Air Strikes, Ongoing Gaza Conflict

9543RD MEETING (AM)
SC/15578
6 FEBRUARY 2024

Restraint is required to create the environment Iraq needs to consolidate hard-won stability and realize sustainable progress, the senior United Nations official in the country told the Security Council today, amidst United States air strikes in Iraqi territory on 2 February and the ongoing conflict in nearby Gaza.

“Messaging by strikes only serves to heighten tensions, to kill or injure people and to destroy property,” stressed Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), as she briefed the Council on the Secretary-General’s reports concerning missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and missing Kuwaiti property (document S/2024/95) and concerning UNAMI (document S/2024/96).

If attacks originating from within and outside of Iraq’s borders continue, this will undo the country’s hard-won stability and other achievements made over the past 18 months, she said. An enabling environment is essential for Iraq to continue on its path of stability and progress, but such an environment requires restraint from all sides. While spotlighting certain progress — including the holding of local elections for the first time in 10 years on 18 December 2023 — she emphasized that climate-change-related events “combine to paint a rather bleak picture, in which existing fault lines come under increasing pressure”.

Also updating on events in the Kurdistan region and the Iraqi Government’s commitment to the issue of missing Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and missing Kuwaiti property, she nevertheless emphasized that swifter progress is needed. Further, the Government’s plans for sustainable progress, real reform and better living standards will become more difficult to realize with each passing year. Therefore reiterating the importance of ceasing attacks and creating an enabling environment, she stated: “It is quite simple: the enormous risks and potential devastating consequences…

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Lenni Lenape

‘Manahatta’ to Make Bay Area Premiere

“(There’s) capitalism. And Big Brother … the themes of 1984 … And there’s also historical — I’m thinking of Born with Teeth — illuminating certain periods of time to bring us back to the present. These mirrored issues, or these issues that we’ve been going through time and time again, and don’t seem to ever clear up. It’s a different version of the same old story.”

The first read-through at Aurora Thatre of ‘Manhatta’ with actors Linda Amayo-Hassan, Oogie Push, Ixtlán and Livia Gomes Dimarchi. (Alandra Hileman)

For Davis, who is of Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Sámi descent, working with a powerhouse majority-Native cast has been a joyful and generative process. It speaks to the relative rarity of Native work on Bay Area stages to note that several actors are making their Aurora Theatre debut with Manahatta, though many have worked on other projects together before.

“Indigenous and Native theatre is a pretty small community,” Davis points out. “We run in small circles. We get a lot of the same emails. We see each other around. But also, Aurora hired the Casting Collective … and I did have a chat with them upfront about cultural specificity and identity politics around Native casting. … With that in mind, I just called in everyone I knew of that I knew would be right in the Bay Area. And the Casting Collective (worked) with another colleague that I met up at OSF who identifies as Indigenous, so they already had a pretty robust list as well.”

One of these performers, Ixtlán (seen recently at Aurora Theatre in Cyrano), not only worked with Davis on the OSF production playing the same doubled role of Se-ket-tu-may-qua / Luke, but on many projects since — “My art partner,” as Davis fondly…

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