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Lottery thief nabbedNews Story
A 41-year-old Lowell, Massachusetts man is facing armed robbery charges after he was nabbed walking away from a Bridge Street convenience store he had just robbed at knifepoint, police said.Michael J. Silva, no known address, was arrested about 4 p.m. on Albion Street, where officer Stephen Morrill chased him after spotting him on West Fifth Street, police said.Morrill was on his way to a reported armed robbery at Store 24, 494 Bridge St., when he spotted Silva carrying something blue and saw se
Jan 25, 2005, 11:57 am - Lottery News

MITCH ALBOM: Win the big lottery, spoil the marriageNews Story
I'm sure winning the lottery is good for something. But that something obviously isn't marriage.Take the recent case of Robert Swofford, a postal worker in Florida. He had been separated from his wife for three years. That's a long time to be separated. That's longer than many marriages. You figure that much time apart, you might as well finalize it. But they never got around to it.Then Swofford won the lottery. A fat $60 million. And wouldn't you know it? Just like that, his wife served him wit
Jan 11, 2005, 10:51 am - Lottery News

N.C. man charged in lottery theftNews Story
A North Carolina man was arrested last week in connection with stealing lottery tickets from a Hilton Head Island convenience store, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office incident report.Gary Lake Stith, 42, of Littleton, N.C., was charged with violating the South Carolina Education Lottery Act on Jan. 5 and booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center. Stith was released Jan. 6 after posting $10,000 in bond, according to the jail's online log.The incident report states that survei
Jan 10, 2005, 11:54 am - Lottery News

Lottery riches are only one component of happinessNews Story
Let's cut right to the chase here. How much money is enough? How much would make you happy this holiday season? We mean really happy. A million? $10 million? $100 million? The age-old question of whether money can buy happiness plays out in the headlines daily. Jewel Whittaker, wife of the lottery winner who took home the richest undivided jackpot in U.S. history a lump-sum payout of about $113 million after taxes now says she regrets his purchase of the ticket that won the $314.9 million jackp
Dec 27, 2004, 8:02 am - Lottery News

Record Powerball winner's wealth may have contributed to kin's deathNews Story
Sdventeen-year-old Brandi Bragg was laid to rest on Friday, almost two years to the day after her doting grandfather came into the great wealth that some say was Brandi's misfortune.The only granddaughter of Jack Whittaker, winner of the richest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history, was found dead earlier this week of what may have been a drug overdose.Whittaker and others say her sudden access to vast wealth had brought new friends and dangerous habits. Since she won the lottery she had to
Dec 24, 2004, 4:37 pm - Lottery News

Details of lottery winner kin's death still sketchyNews Story
The 17-year-old granddaughter of the nation's largest lottery winner was found dead near her boyfriend's home, her body wrapped in a sheet and plastic tarp. Brandi Bragg, who lived in the nearby town of Hurricane, was last seen alive Dec. 4. She was reported missing five days later by Jack Whittaker, who won a $314.9 million jackpot on Christmas Day 2002 but has battled legal and other problems since then.The cause of death was under investigation. Authorities said there were no obvious signs o
Dec 21, 2004, 10:51 am - Lottery News

Record Powerball lottery winner's granddaughter found deadNews Story
The body of record Powerball winner Jack Whittaker's 17-year-old granddaughter was found Monday in a rural area in western West Virginia, State Police said.Brandi Bragg's body was tentatively identified based on tattoos on her neck, said State Police Sgt. Jay Powers. The troopers (at the scene) had talked to her in the past and knew her, Powers said.State Police found the body behind a junked vehicle in a grassy area on Scary Creek Road outside Scott Depot in Putnam County, across the road from
Dec 20, 2004, 5:43 pm - Lottery News

Record Powerball lottery winner's life a mess after big winNews Story
The worlds first glimpse of Jack Whittaker, winner of the richest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history, was of a boisterous, happy-go-lucky guy in a big cowboy hat who loved his family, work and God and promised to share his good fortune with the church and the poor.Two years later, the picture the public is seeing now is a mug shot of a haggard, somber Whittaker.Whittaker, 57, has been arrested twice on charges of drunken driving in the past year and has been ordered to go into rehab by Ja
Dec 14, 2004, 1:16 pm - Lottery News

Record Powerball Lottery Winner's Granddaughter MissingNews Story
Record Powerball winner Jack Whittaker has reported his 17-year-old granddaughter missing, police said late Thursday. Family members had not seen or heard from Brandi Lasha Bragg since 9 p.m. Saturday when she was at her Hurricane home, Putnam County Sheriff's Sgt. Lisa Arthur said. At this time we're treating this as an unusual disappearance, Arthur said. Normally someone would see her at least on a daily basis, someone in the family. Arthur said Whittaker reported Bragg missing sometime this
Dec 10, 2004, 10:01 am - Lottery News

Record Powerball lottery winner ordered into substance abuse programNews Story
A man who won a nearly $315 million Powerball lottery -- the largest single jackpot in history -- was ordered into substance abuse treatment today after his second drunken driving arrest this year.In an agreement with prosecutors, Jack Whittaker, 57, will check himself into rehab by Jan. 2, must surrender his license and may not drive until he provides written proof he's completed the 28-day residential program.Whittaker was charged with drunken driving last week, violating his $150 bond for a s
Dec 8, 2004, 1:07 pm - Lottery News