This is national native news. I'm antonio gonzales. The pandemic has highlighted. Water and sanitation needs in alaska. Native communities where lack of infrastructure has already had significant health impacts according to a health official alaska. Native tribal health consortium interim president. Valerie davidson testified. Virtually this week before. The senate committee on indian affairs on water infrastructure needs davidson says. Many families in rural communities do not have running water to help prevent the spread of covid nineteen constant hand washing and cleaning davidson says more than forty percent of alaska native homes lack running water. Many communities typically have a washer area building. It's one building that combines water-treatment laundromat twelve and showers at the entire community uses and what that means from a practical perspective is that Those communities hall their water from the washington area in a five gallon clean bucket and we hall are raw sewage from our home in a different five gallon bucket and unfortunately Our communities continued to be unserved simply because of the high construction costs among recommendations davidson. Says they desperately need at least one billion dollars for sanitation construction in future legislation and resources to preserve what infrastructure is already in place. Wisconsin governor. Tony evers has signed off on the ho chunk. Nations plans to build a casino just north of the illinois border danielle creating reports. Federal law gives governors the power to block or approve off reservation casinos. The tribes plans include one of the largest casinos in the state. Along with the convention center indoor waterpark and a three hundred room hotel. The complex is expected to create more than fifteen hundred permanent jobs and more than two thousand construction jobs. Ho chunk nation public relations officer ryan green. Dear says jobs are central focus as many tribal communities. Shut down their casinos for months last year due to cove in nineteen. This is gonna be the cornerstone of the economic recovery from the pandemic. the complex will be built in the city of beloit beloit city council president. Regina dunkin says the project has been a longtime coming and is a game changer. Fully in terms of jobs created shared revenues and increased arisen. The project now faces final approval from the department of interior once approved wisconsin's governor and the whole chunk nation would amend the tribes gaming compact to include revenues from the new casino. I'm daniel catering