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Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck are among the classic characters who are part of the Disney on Ice presentation of `Mickey’s Search Party.’

Eight shows scheduled Aug. 19-22

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On his biography, Jay Christiansen lists surfing, golf and soccer plus three other sports as hobbies.

Hmm … But it doesn’t mention skating as one of his pursuits.

“The short answer is no, I don’t skate,” said Christiansen, who is athletic trainer for the Disney on Ice show that will bring “Mickey’s Search Party” to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township for eight shows Aug. 19 through Aug. 22.

“I can skate,” he explained during a telephone interview. “But I’m not on the calibre of the athletes I work with.”

The show incorporates all sorts of acrobatic skills and theatrics, along with skating.

In training sessions “at any given moment there could be acrobats tumbling, performers practicing handstands on hoverboards and traditional pairs and single artists skating.”

The premise of “Mickey’s Search Party” is that Captain Hook has kidnapped Tinker Bell with the goal of being able to control magic; the good guys, with some help from the audience, are on a quest to free her.

Along the way, you’ll encounter characters from favorite family films.

Among them, Miguel from “Coco” will cross the Marigold Bridge into mystical Land of the Dead, where skeletons sway on poles over the audience, Elsa from “Frozen” will use a kaleidoscope of crystals to help build her ice palace, “Moana” will set…

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US tribal gaming operator Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment remains hopeful it can open its US$1.6 billion Inspire Korea integrated resort by the second quarter of 2023 as it continues efforts to resume construction.

An update on development progress was provided by the company’s International President, Bobby Soper, during an interview for Gaming Laboratories International’s Illuminating Conversations series.

As reported by Inside Asian Gaming earlier this week, Mohegan is currently working towards the final piece of financing needed to complete the project with CEO Ray Pineault telling analysts during an investor call that “meaningful strides” have been made.

Soper, the man tasked with working on that deal, said such financing work was progressing well, adding, “My goal is to close that transaction in the very near future, remobilise, get construction going and opening in 2023.”

With Mohegan having earlier this year been granted a six-month extension to its opening deadline for Inspire Korea from late 2022 to the first half of 2023 due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Soper said the opening would take place, “Hopefully in the second quarter of 2023, or third quarter latest 2023.

“It’s been a rollercoaster, we’ve had our ups and downs, and COVID certainly threw a curve ball,” he explained. “But we’re in the ground, we have significant investment in the ground. We need to finalise some of the final financing and I just spent two and half months in Korea pursuing that. I think we are far along.”

Soper also expressed confidence in Inspire Korea’s long-term prospects, noting that it will not only service the regional gamer via its foreigner-only casino but also offer some much-needed live entertainment options for the local Seoul market.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” he said. “It is…

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Mohegan Sun Arena is an ocean away from Gegard Mousasi’s hometown in the Netherlands. But the casino resort venue in Uncasville, Connecticut, has provided him with the comfort of home.

Mousasi made his Bellator debut in the building in 2017, defeating former middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. That earned the former UFC contender and Strikeforce and Dream champ a title fight, which he won — not at Mohegan. But Mousasi was back in those familiar surroundings again last October, by then over a year removed from having dropped the Bellator belt. On a crisp New England fall night, Mousasi had a chance to reclaim his championship. He seized the opportunity.

In a fight for the vacant 185-pound title, Mousasi defeated then-welterweight-champ Douglas Lima to become a two-time Bellator champion.

This Friday in Uncasville, in the main event of Bellator 264, Mousasi makes the first title defense of his second reign. He’ll take on a hot John Salter, who is 8-1 in Bellator with all but one of his wins coming by finish.

Over the last 13 months, as the coronavirus pandemic has limited Bellator’s ability to put on its usual traveling show, the company has held 19 fight cards at the venue on the Mohegan Indian Reservation in southeastern Connecticut. The event two weeks ago in Los Angeles, at which A.J. McKee won the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix by dethroning Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, was the company’s first card in the United States in over a year that was not at Mohegan Sun, ending a run of 14 shows in a row at the arena. After Friday, Bellator will venture off to stage fights in South Dakota, London, Phoenix, Moscow and Dublin.

But before leaving “home,” Bellator and its middleweight champion have business to take care of. Here are…

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As of Thursday, the two casinos in eastern Connecticut, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino, have different stances on masks. While Mohegan Sun is only requiring unvaccinated employees to wear masks, Foxwoods is now requiring all employees to wear masks. However, masks are still optional for vaccinated guests at both casinos.

This is as the CDC lists New London County, where the casinos are, as having a high COVID transmission risk as of Thursday, its highest of four severity categories. Some municipalities in Connecticut, including Norwich, are now requiring people to wear masks in municipal buildings. 

In announcing the high transmission designation, the state Department of Public Health on Aug. 10 said it “strongly recommends that all residents over age 2, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, return to wearing masks when in indoor public spaces.”

Additionally the DPH noted that “vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals at high risk for complications from COVID-19, including those with compromised immune systems, diabetes, asthma, other lung diseases, pregnancy or obesity, should also avoid large indoor gatherings that may include a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.”

On Wednesday, James Gessner Jr., chairman of the Mohegan Tribe, stated that they’re following the advice of the Tribal Health Department and the CDC.

More: People are returning to Conn. casinos, but the offers aren’t what they used to be

“The health and safety of all our members, guests, team members and the surrounding community continues to be our highest priority,” Gessner stated.

According to Mohegan Sun’s Guest and Team Member Safety Guide, reusable masks are available for purchase and disposable ones are available for free by the entrance, where people also have their temperature checked.

The Safety Guide also states that employees are trained on health and safety procedures, and said procedures in the back of house are consistent with the rest of the property.  

For Foxwoods…

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