Former N.D. Lottery head gets unusual retirement payout
When North Dakota's former lottery director retired in April, he was paid $44,432 for unused vacation time, a sum that is raising eyebrows among lawmakers who write the budget for state government.
Chuck Keller could not use up his leave, which totaled more than 31 weeks, because he was busy planning the launch of North Dakota's lottery office, said Tom Trenbeath, the state's deputy attorney general. The lottery began selling Powerball tickets in March 2004.
Keller also accumulated compens ...
Jun 20, 2008, 8:48 am - - Lottery News forum
Tough economy? Some cut back on lottery tickets, wagering
As gas pump prices and grocery store bills rise, customer service representative Rita Herron has been paying attention to where her money goes, and that means decreasing from 10 to two lottery tickets a week.
I pay more for gas, and so I have less money left for tickets, Herron said. Everything is going up.
Throughout the country, 20 lotteries, including California, have reported flat or declining sales, according to data from La Fleur's Magazine, a lottery trade publication, and state l ...
Jun 15, 2008, 1:39 pm - - Lottery News forum
Calif. Lottery may build $60 million headquarters
Officials contend new building would save money overall
California lottery officials are thinking about building a new $60 million headquarters despite a massive state budget deficit.
The new headquarters would be smaller and less expensive to operate, officials said.
No taxpayer dollars would be used for this project, said Al Lundeen, lottery spokesman. It would come out of the administrative costs of the lottery.
But some Sacramento residents said they were surprised to hear th ...
May 20, 2008, 11:57 pm - - Lottery News forum
California Lottery revenues dip
California Lottery officials on Tuesday lowered revenue estimates for the year by $275 million, just as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested the state could double sales in a decade.
Citing a declining economy and poor brand image for the games, officials said the lottery's declining performance would reduce contributions to public education by $94 million, about 8 percent less than expected in the fiscal year that ends June 30.
It makes it more difficult for the lottery to meet the goals ...
May 20, 2008, 10:30 pm - - Lottery News forum
California Gov. calls for expanding, privatizing lottery
Massively expanded lottery revenues are key to Schwarzenegger's budget plan
Called the lottery an underperforming asset
Anxious to avoid deep cuts in education spending, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday proposed dramatically expanding the state lottery and slashing entitlement programs, to help close a budget gap now pegged at $17.2 billion.
Schwarzenegger hopes to win voter support in November for a deal to obtain $15 billion from Wall Street firms, to be repaid from what the g ...
May 16, 2008, 8:41 am - - Lottery News forum
Mass. lottery store is success story
From the outside, it's just another Mobil station on Route 28: a brick building squatting on asphalt with a quartet of gasoline islands out front.
Inside is another story. Where shelves of chips and candy bars might have been, customers lean against narrow granite counters, holding scratch tickets by the handful, or lounge at one of the high-topped round tables, filling out blank Keno slips. There is no music, just the unceasing patter of five Lottery machines printing Mass Cash and MegaBucks ...
Apr 23, 2008, 1:50 pm - - Lottery News forum
N.J. mom-and-pop lottery retailers worried about competition
Buying a lottery ticket when picking up a quart of milk might be par for the course. But if a state marketing plan is enacted, customers soon might buy tickets while purchasing furniture and home goods, too.
To raise more revenue, state Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, is proposing that the state encourage big stores to sell New Jersey Lottery tickets, including Target, Home Depot and Dunkin' Donuts. Normally the domain of smaller convenience stores and food markets, lottery sales ...
Apr 14, 2008, 9:48 am - - Lottery News forum
As Fla. lottery sales slow, schools stand to lose
Penny-pinching Floridians aren't playing the lottery as much as expected, and that's bad news for state legislators trying to minimize school budget cuts next year.
Lackluster ticket sales have prompted state economists to reduce their projection for this year's sales by $47 million. They also scaled back projections for the next two years by $159 million.
The news just gets better and better, huh? said a wry Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, the House budget chairman.
The lower predictions ...
Apr 14, 2008, 8:46 am - - Lottery News forum
Privatization of Texas lottery may get 2nd look in 2009
Texans could buy lottery tickets at the checkout lines in supermarkets and big-box department stores, at coffee shops and cabarets. They could pay with credit cards or personal checks and play online or the old-fashioned way with a ticket that's also a tiny ad for anything from soft drinks to sporting events.
Those are just some of the proposals offered to state officials by some of the nation's largest financial firms that have an interest in remaking the 16-year-old government-run Texas Lot ...
Apr 8, 2008, 10:42 am - - Lottery News forum
N.J. lawmaker wants to expand lottery reach, sales
Targets Internet sales, mobile phones, and 'big box' stores
Saying it would generate more cash for the state, New Jersey Senate President Richard Codey will push a plan to expand the New Jersey Lottery by selling tickets at big box stores such as Home Depot or Target, adding internet sales and even allowing people to play the games with their cell phones.
Codey (D-Essex) said the Lottery has untapped potential that can help ease New Jersey's fiscal woes over the next decade. He said he bel ...
Apr 8, 2008, 7:54 am - - Lottery News forum
