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Fired Minnesota Lottery executive sues for her job backNews Story
A former senior executive at the Minnesota State Lottery who was fired amid a bout with alcohol abuse is suing her ex-boss and the state on claims she was discriminated against because of her gender and her chemical dependency. Johnene Canfield filed a lawsuit Friday in Ramsey County District Court that seeks reinstatement to the $100,000-a-year assistant lottery director post. She is also seeking damages for lost wages and emotional distress since being put on leave in December following her
Oct 7, 2015, 4:10 pm - Lottery News

Illinois fires lottery operator NorthstarNews Story
Will continue to operate lottery for more than a year The nation's first private company to manage a state lottery was fired Friday by the Illinois Governor after years of failing to make the lofty revenue targets it promised. In a news release Friday, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced that his office had reached a termination agreement with Northstar Lottery Group that will remove the firm as private manager as of Jan. 1, 2017, or until a replacement is chosen. The agreement also stipulated
Sep 19, 2015, 10:48 am - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery sales director to resignNews Story
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's director of sales was given a choice Monday resignation or termination. Lottery Director Bishop Woosley confirmed Monday that Robert Stebbins, who has been with the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery as the group's director of sales since its start, is no longer working for the program. Woosley said early Monday night that Stebbins was told he'd be fired if he didn't quit, but Woosley said he doesn't know which option Stebbins will take. There was no answer
Jun 30, 2015, 10:11 am - Lottery News

Former Georgia Lottery official files whistleblower lawsuitNews Story
A former top finance official with the Georgia Lottery has filed a whistleblower lawsuit claiming that he was fired after refusing to present inflated sales projections. Kenneth Knight, former vice president for financial management at the Georgia Lottery, names the lottery and its president, Debbie Alford, in the lawsuit. Knight argues that he was pressured by Alford and his boss to present the lottery board with flawed sales projections in April 2014. Knight says in the lawsuit that he t
Apr 25, 2015, 6:28 pm - Lottery News

Texas man charged in Iowa lottery case contests extraditionNews Story
A Texas businessman accused of helping a lottery security official to try to claim a rigged $14 million jackpot is out of jail while he fights extradition to Iowa. Robert Rhodes, 46, of Sugar Land, Texas, left a county jail after posting bond April 9, three weeks after his arrest on two counts of fraud, court records show. He's expected to contest his extradition to Iowa during a May 7 hearing and is under electronic monitoring in the meantime. Rhodes is denying charges that he worked with
Apr 20, 2015, 7:33 am - Lottery News

Illinois lottery director calls it quitsNews Story
Michael Jones' run as Illinois Lottery Director is over. Late Wednesday Jones sent a brief memo to his Lottery colleagues that said his job there is done. Jones went on to write that he had informed Gov. Bruce Rauner's chief of staff a while ago that he was planning to leave his post. Jones said his immediate plan is to go surfing at my home break, Seapark, next week. In a statement to the Chicago Business Journal this afternoon, Gov. Bruce Rauner said he appreciated Michael Jones steppin
Mar 20, 2015, 8:59 am - Lottery News

Illinois Lottery cuts ties with private managerNews Story
The split between the Illinois Lottery and its private manager, Northstar Lottery Group, is now official after three years of acrimony over lower-than-expected revenues. The termination agreement, signed Tuesday by Gov. Pat Quinn, comes a little more than three months after he directed lottery officials to sever ties with the company after it fell short of promised revenues for the third consecutive year. At the time, the company had posted record profits to the state, but those figures st
Dec 10, 2014, 9:11 pm - Lottery News

N.Y. doorman who won lottery loses battle with cancerNews Story
A Park Avenue doorman who catapulted to fame after winning a $5 million jackpot has lost his battle with cancer. (See Doorman who won $5 million lottery pot is battling lung cancer, Lottery Post, Aug. 13, 2013.) Richie Randazzo died Friday, six years after a lucky scratch-off ticket transformed him from porter to folk hero. He was 50. But the Brooklyn native's family says the moolah never changed him. He loved being a neighborhood guy, and that's what he was, said brother Frank Rand
Nov 17, 2014, 12:21 pm - Lottery News

10 things you might not know about the lotteryNews Story
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn decided this month not to take any more chances with Northstar Lottery Group, the company that runs the Illinois Lottery, after it fell far short of promised revenue. Northstar's firing was one of several recent lottery-related news developments. In California, officials unveiled a program to let drivers buy lottery tickets at the gas pump. And the Los Angeles Ethics Commission backed the idea of awarding cash prizes to randomly selected voters in order to boost turnou
Aug 25, 2014, 7:20 am - Lottery News

With Northstar terminated, what will the Illinois Lottery do now?News Story
So what's next for the Illinois Lottery? That's the big question looming in the wake of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's politically-expedient move late last week to fire Northstar Lottery Group. Quinn made history late in 2010 when he inked a 10-year contract with Northstar to become the first-ever private manager of any state lottery in the nation. Two other states now have private lottery managers Indiana and New Jersey. Quinn's move last week to terminate Northstar may prove too little too la
Aug 23, 2014, 10:27 pm - Lottery News