wThere are too many questions in the air right now to say whether it's appropriate for there to be an Indian casino in Grand Forks.

It's understandable why the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa would look at a Grand Forks location yearningly. The band's existing Sky Dancer Hotel and Casino is a nice facility, but its location - out in the country west of Belcourt on two-lane Highway 5 - is remote from any major population center and not the easiest to get to.

The solution would seem to be for the band to establish a little outpost of the Turtle Mountain Reservation adjacent to a city, plant a casino on it with plenty of parking and, dreaming large, look toward possibly building a hotel in combination with a conference and events center.

Hold on. Not only are there numerous legal hurdles but also this: There already is an events center in Grand Forks owned by the city, the Alerus Center; there are numerous motels and a big hotel development, the Canad Inn, will open in the near future, right next door to the Alerus Center.

And there already is gambling in Grand Forks.

OK, maybe it's called charitable gaming, but some organizations that depend on the revenue from it might be chary of sharing the wealth with the out-of-town owners of a casino. As the Grand Forks Herald rightly points out, the deal-breaker could come in the form of hockey moms and dads in opposition, because youngsters' hockey leagues rely heavily on money from charitable gaming.

The Grand Forks City Council was tentative in giving its encouragement to the Turtle Mountain Chippewa, realizing that there is opposition building. One petition, urging the council to withdraw its resolution, had 700 (unverified) signatures as of last week. The council, feeling its way gingerly toward making a decision is considering putting the question up to a vote by city residents.

That's probably a wise course of action.

The proposal needs local support before the band can seek state and federal approval.

The band is proceeding confidently, though, hiring law firms, an architect, a public relations agency and continuing in its dealings with its partners, the Useldinger brothers of Grand Forks, who have land they want the band to take over for the casino's footprint, since tribal sovereignty is necessary for land off-reservation for an Indian casino even to be contemplated.

There are so many implications that everyone involved ought to take a deep breath and resolve to go slowly.

All of us in North Dakota may be affected.

What if the Three Affiliated Tribes decided they want to supplement the Four Bears Casino with one adjacent to Bismarck or Mandan?

Where would that leave the Standing Sioux and that tribe's investment in Prairie Knights? Or would the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux want a casino at Fargo?

The whole idea must be thought through very thoroughly.