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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

Kentucky Lottery and legislature tussle over cash reservesNews Story
Straining to find hidden money within state government's bureaucracy to balance a tight state budget two years ago, the Kentucky Senate discovered about $16.9 million in unrestricted reserves held by the Kentucky Lottery Corp. Senators concluded the lottery didn't need that much in reserve and put into the budget bill a directive that in addition to the normal flow of dividends the lottery sends to the state the lottery transfer $11 million to the general fund by June 30. But, in a rare de
Sep 2, 2015, 7:39 am - Lottery News

St. Louis city employees claim $70 million Powerball jackpotNews Story
St. Louis' newest millionaires are two city employees who bought a winning Powerball ticket this month. Tom Rea, a building maintenance supervisor for the city's department of corrections and his wife, Catherine Ruggeri-Rea, the city's courts administrator, were announced as the winners of a $70 million jackpot at a news conference Wednesday morning. Rea, 62, has worked for the city for 40 years. Ruggeri-Rea, 61, has been the city's courts administrator for nearly 10 years. Rea bought t
Jul 30, 2015, 11:21 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

Maine Lottery won't be adding KenoNews Story
Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday that his administration is backing off its plan to expand the Maine State Lottery to include the gambling game Keno at as many as 300 locations. In remarks to reporters during a maple syrup season ceremony at the Blaine House, LePage said he personally doesn't like gambling and supported the Keno proposal only because he thought Democrats wanted the lottery expansion. If they don't want it, then we'll kill it, he said. In fact, I told them to go kill it
Mar 11, 2015, 10:14 am - Lottery News

Maryland's lottery director resignsNews Story
Stephen Martino, the director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, is leaving his job later this month to become a partner at a private law firm in Baltimore. In a letter sent to his staff Tuesday morning, Martino wrote that he informed Maryland Governor Larry Hogan's office yesterday that he is resigning his position and that his last day in office will be March 27. Martino was appointed as director of the agency in 2010 by then governor, Martin O'Malley. Governor Hogan
Mar 11, 2015, 9:05 am - Lottery News

Bill would allow Texas Lottery winners to pay for anonymityNews Story
Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow big lottery winners to keep their identity a secret, but they would have to pay for that privilege. Right now, Texas Lottery winners are not allowed to remain anonymous. In some cases, individuals have established a trust or turned their winning ticket over to a trust to claim the prize for them. But, Texas law requires that someone come forward to participate in a news conference and collect the money. House Bill 1504 would change th
Feb 18, 2015, 9:37 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

NJ lottery winners still receiving welfare, food stamps, audit saysNews Story
An audit sniffing out fraud in New Jersey's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program detected 66 lottery winners who were perhaps too lucky. They were all welfare and food stamps beneficiaries who had each won more than $10,000, including one person who had been collecting $1,000 a week from the Win for Life scratch-off game prior to 2009. Ten other winners netted more than $100,000 in lottery proceeds from 2011 to 2013. All of them were still collecting food stamps this year, according to t
Dec 6, 2014, 2:52 pm - Lottery News

NY lottery millionaire inspired by a dreamNews Story
For Edwina Silvera, one dream led to another. On Oct. 14, the 49-year-old West Haverstraw, New York, resident dreamed of her late father, who told her something special, a message she wanted to keep private, which inspired her to buy a scratch-off game that night. Against long odds, Silvera landed the lucky $2,500 A Week for Life ticket and won the top prize of $2.5 million. Normally I buy the $2 ticket and I decided why not splurge? So I did. And I'm glad that I did, Silvera told New
Nov 24, 2014, 9:34 am - Lottery News