Standing Rock casino recovers after protest

Finances at a casino run by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe are slowly improving, after facing a $6 million shortfall during the peak of the Dakota Access oil pipeline protest in February.

The Bismarck Tribune reports that blizzards and the protest’s closure of the Prairie Knights Casino’s main access road led to a decline in visitors and revenue over the end of 2016 and beginning of this year.

The tribal chairman said the casino funds programs in all eight of the reservation’s districts, including food distribution, insurance and bonding, programs for the elderly and veterans, fire and ambulance services, waste management, health programs and K-12 education.