Search

Beware of Phony Prize Promotions, Lottery Schemes, and Bogus E-mailsNews Story
By now, most people who use e-mail on a regular basis are quite familiar with the word spam and what it looks like in their e-mail in-box. If it wasn't frustrating enough to sort through and fill your trash with junk (postal) mail every day or answer unsolicited telemarketing calls during the dinner hour, now these nuisances and fraudulent schemes have found a new way into our homes and offices through e-mail.According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), consumers in the United States an
Mar 26, 2004, 9:22 am - Lottery News

North Dakota's first-day lottery sales set per-capita recordNews Story
North Dakota's lottery debut was one for the record books.Powerball lottery tickets went on sale at 390 sites around the state late Thursday morning. By 6:05 p.m., $119,453 worth of tickets had been sold - a Powerball record for per-capita spending on the game, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.Vermont had $116,213 in one day's sales in July 2003, or 18.77 cents per person. North Dakota's 6:05 p.m. total represented 18.84 cents spent per person on the lottery, Stenehjem said.Rep. Andy Marago
Mar 26, 2004, 8:52 am - Lottery News

Minnesota lottery chief's suicide note: 'Pity me, blame no one else'News Story
Before committing suicide in January, Minnesota State Lottery Director George Andersen left handwritten notes encouraging his family to not look back. He said he thought lottery operations were proper and am told they are not. Pity me, blame no one else. He added in another note: I must carry the burden and it is too much. . . . Andersen, 53, had run the lottery since it started in 1990 and had done so with little legislative oversight. The state Legislative Auditor reported recently that t
Mar 26, 2004, 8:42 am - Lottery News

Dreams of lottery cash turn to dustNews Story
When a friendly telemarketer called a 74-year-old Bethlehem, Pennsylvania woman two weeks ago to tell her she'd won $5 million in a Canadian sweepstakes, it sounded too good to be true.But the young man on the other end of the line convinced the woman she was a winner and to claim her prize she had to send him $1,900 cash to cover taxes and fees on the winnings.Bethlehem police later learned the man was a con artist, but only after the victim took out a home loan to wire him the original amount
Mar 22, 2004, 4:11 am - Lottery News

N.D.'s Lady Luck Not Backing Down to Virginia LotteryNews Story
Officials in North Dakota have decided there can be two Ladies Luck in the world of lottery promotion.The state's ad campaign for its new lottery drew some scrutiny from officials in Virginia -- who say luck was a lady in that state first.Both ads use a Lady Luck character to promote the lotteries. Virginia's has been around for more than a dozen years.But North Dakota lottery officials say the two characters are different enough that the North Dakota campaign will continue.A spokesman for the
Mar 22, 2004, 4:02 am - Lottery News

Interim Minnesota lottery director cites progressNews Story
After about a month on the job, Michael Vekich says hes making progress in reforming the way the Minnesota State Lottery operates.Vekich told lawmakers on Tuesday that lottery officials have addressed nearly 70 percent of the state Legislative Auditors 49 recommendations in a report that was released last month.We have accomplished a lot, said Vekich, who was appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to serve as interim director of the lottery in February following the suicide of Director George Andersen.T
Mar 19, 2004, 4:41 am - Lottery News

Extensive Minnesota lottery probe underwayNews Story
Minnesota gambling enforcement agents have begun a sweeping investigation into the Minnesota State Lottery that likely will involve inspecting hundreds of contracts with vendors for any improprieties. It is expected to take months to complete. As far as I'm concerned, there are no boundaries, said Norm Pint, special agent in charge of the gambling enforcement division of the Department of Public Safety, which is conducting the probe.Pint said Wednesday that the investigation was prompted by the
Feb 19, 2004, 6:58 am - Lottery News

Lottery director's friend also tried to commit suicide, report saysNews Story
The state's finance commissioner had been actively reviewing the management of the Minnesota State Lottery when lottery director George Andersen committed suicide.Dan McElroy, who is now Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief of staff, had found enough lapses to warrant a sharp letter to Andersen but he told reporters Thursday he didn't discover anything that suggested Andersen had done anything criminal. He said he isn't sure whether Andersen would have lost his job over the findings. I'm not aware of any a
Feb 13, 2004, 7:31 am - Lottery News

Minnesota Lottery to cut ties with bass eventNews Story
The Minnesota State Lottery will not sponsor any fishing tournaments this year, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief of staff said Thursday.Dan McElroy said interim lottery director Michael Vekich plans to drop the Minnesota Pro/Am Bass Tour promotion. The lottery spent at least $65,000 a year over the past four summers to sponsor the fishing tournaments and solicited money from other sponsors on its behalf, according to lottery records.Former lottery director George Andersen, who killed himself last month
Feb 13, 2004, 7:21 am - Lottery News

Strongly worded letter sent to lottery director before his deathNews Story
After being directed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the state's finance commissioner has worked with the Minnesota State Lottery since last spring to tighten operations, but enough lapses continued that a strongly worded letter was sent to lottery director George Andersen shortly before his death, the Pioneer Press reported.Andersen resisted one of the Finance Department's key recommendations and did not address another major shortcoming identified by the agency. That led, in part, to the letter by Finan
Feb 12, 2004, 6:35 am - Lottery News