“The two Lake Oswego entrepreneurs backing the project, proposed for east Multnomah County, said they would rewrite the measures and try to qualify them for the November ballot. But critics said they doubt whether financial consultant Bruce Studer and attorney Matthew Rossman have enough time to get any casino measures before voters this year.

“The secretary of state rejected the measures after questioning the legality of linking the two ballot measures, one that would repeal the state’s constitutional ban on casinos and another that would direct the state to site a casino at the now-closed Multnomah Greyhound Park in Wood Village.

“Acting on the advice of the attorney general, the secretary of state said it was unconstitutional to make the enactment of one ballot measure contingent on the passage of another. In early February, the state rejected an earlier version of the initiatives for the same reasons.

“Representatives of the Oregon tribes, who have been preparing to wage a multimillion-dollar fight against this new competition for the gambling dollar, cheered the news?”