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The Grange can keep calling itself the Grange, at least until November.
Wood Village casino backers caught a break today: The leaders of a national rural advocacy group have decided not to sue over the use of the name "the Grange" for the proposed project at the old Multnomah Kennel Club greyhound track.
In return, the developers will acknowledge in their casino ballot-measure campaign that the Grange is not affiliated with the National Grange.
Perhaps most embarrassingly, the fall ballot measure that would legalize a casino off tribal lands will now include a disclaimer that reads as follows:
Along with that concession, the casino campaign had to grovel a bit.
"We recognize that in naming our destination that we should have consulted in advance with National Grange representatives, requesting permission to use the name—we did not," Jeff Parr of PDX Entertainment said today in a statement. "For this, we apologize to Grange members in Oregon and across America."
The National Grange says it will address a naming lease again in November if the casino measure passes.
As WW has previously noted, the National Grange has leased those rights to many, many places.
UPDATE, 5 pm: The anti-casino campaign NO on 82&83 has issued a statement: "This latest ugly twist in the casino backers' hide-the-ball strategy—working out a undisclosed monetary settlement to continue branding their casino as 'The Grange,' at least until the November election—is just another indication that the foreign gambling companies pushing this bad idea think Oregon voters must really be stupid."
WWeek 2015