CdA Casino names new CEO
David LaSarte-Meeks is the new chief executive officer of the Coeur d’Alene Casino and Resort.
LaSarte-Meeks, 35, most recently worked as a litigation attorney with the Seattle firm of Kanji & Katzen PLLC. He is an enrolled member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. In 2004, LaSarte-Meeks served as the transitional director for the tribe’s housing program.
“We are pleased that David will be coming home,” said Chief Allan, chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s governing council. “His professional capabilities and educational background will serve our enterprise very well.”
The casino, which is owned by the tribe, is one of Kootenai County’s largest employers. It employs about 800 people in gaming, hotel operations and a golf course.
LaSarte-Meeks holds an engineering degree from Brown University in Providence, R.I., and joint degrees from Stanford University in law and business administration. He also is the former executive director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, representing 18 tribes on gaming-related issues.
New York
Ebbers must report Sept. 26
Former WorldCom Corp. chief Bernard Ebbers was ordered to report to prison Sept. 26 to begin serving a 25-year sentence for an $11 billion accounting fraud.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones, in a ruling made public Thursday, ordered Ebbers to surrender to an institution designated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to begin serving a sentence that was delayed for the last year while an appeals court considered it.
Ebbers was sentenced in July of last year after he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the massive fraud that drove WorldCom into bankruptcy in 2002.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month upheld his conviction and sentence, finding he was motivated primarily by personal financial circumstances.
Ebbers once was known as one of the nation’s most successful chief executive officers as his telecommunications company and its stock soared during the technology driven excesses of the late 1990s.
At trial, prosecutors successfully argued that Ebbers helped lead a plan to prop up the company’s stock price by hiding its failing finances. The scheme was described as one of the largest accounting frauds in history.
WASHINGTON
Window stickers to show crash data
Car buyers will have a new tool when shopping — government crash test data right on the window sticker.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration completed regulations on Thursday requiring its crash test data to be included on window stickers on new vehicles by September 2007.
The stickers provide information about pricing, fuel economy and equipment in the vehicle. Crash test data are currently found on the government’s Web site — http://www.safercar.gov/ — but the changes will make the information more accessible at dealer showrooms and lots.
“They’ll be able to go from car to car and compare that data,” said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, whose “Stars on Cars” bill was included in last year’s federal highway legislation.