Casinos build for future in the desert

Rooms at the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage are booked up and business is looking good. Rooms were sold out at the new hotel in April and May sales are through the roof, officials say.

"It's been a good couple of weeks," General Manager Scott Cooper said. "It's looking good for May and we're booking into June."

Home chain to close five Inland stores

Linens 'n Things, the national home furnishings retailer, will close five of its eight Inland Empire locations.

Stores at Chino Spectrum Marketplace II, Corona Hills Plaza, Montclair Plaza, Hunters Ridge Town Center in Fontana and Canyon Springs Parkway in Riverside will all close by August, said Rich Tauberman, spokesman for the Clifton, N.J.-based chain.

Rate of defaults rising

One in every 38 houses in the Inland region received a foreclosure notice of some kind during the first quarter of this year, the second-highest foreclosure rate per household of any metro market nationwide during that time.