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Jury rules lottery pool members entitled to share Mega Millions prizeNews Story
Only six Ohio postal workers sued Stephen Kyle for a piece of a $175,000 winning lottery ticket.But all 20 lottery-pool members -- including Kyle -- will share the jackpot evenly after a jury ruled Tuesday that Kyle was wrong to keep the money for himself, cutting his colleagues out of their fair shares.If all 20 stake a claim, each will be eligible to receive $8,750, before taxes. Three of the pool members who testified on Kyle's behalf during the two-day trial in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas C
Jan 20, 2005, 4:21 pm - Lottery News

Ohio lottery pool lawsuit focuses on time of purchaseNews Story
For nearly four years, Olmsted Falls postal worker Stephen Kyle faithfully delivered copies of losing lottery tickets to 19 co-workers every time the Mega Millions jackpot exceeded $100 million.Until June 25, that is -- which was the first time Kyle picked a winner, hitting on five of six numbers, worth $175,000.On that date, Kyle, who organized the pool, failed to provide his co-workers with copies of the tickets and neglected to tell them that one was a winner.Kyle, 51, of Amherst, later ex pl
Jan 14, 2005, 1:18 pm - Lottery News

Indiana gets new gaming and lottery chiefsNews Story
A Clay County judge who presided over the high-profile murder trial of nurse Orville Lynn Majors will become Indiana's next gambling regulator and the point person in a state review of Donald Trump's plans for the French Lick casino.Gov. Mitch Daniels on Thursday appointed Ernest E. Yelton, who spent 25 years on the Clay Circuit Court bench, as executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission. One of Yelton's first tasks will be to review the commission's split decision in July to award the s
Jan 14, 2005, 11:36 am - Lottery News

Texas attorney general gives up pursuit of lottery fundsNews Story
The Texas attorney general's office has dropped efforts to make the state lottery commission reimburse it for $176,000 paid to a Las Vegas law firm hired by the state to draft a bill to legalize video slot machines. The move, made formal in a letter dated Monday from Assistant Attorney General Barry McBee, came after a watchdog organization sued, claiming the state overstepped its authority by agreeing to pay the firm as much as $250,000 for legal advice. They blinked, Russ Verney, head of the
Jan 13, 2005, 7:30 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

Mother Sues Rhode Island Lottery for Child Support FundsNews Story
A Cranston, Rhode Island mother who is owed approximately $40,000 in child support is suing the state Lottery Commission because prize money wasn't withheld when the father of her son cashed in.Paula Duffy originally filed suit against Lincoln Park, a Rhode Island slot machine and racetrack facility, claiming the gambling venue should have withheld money when Frank Bianco won several thousand dollars on more than one occasion.Lincoln Park said it was never told to withhold such payments.Duffy ha
Dec 23, 2004, 10:29 am - 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

Lawsuit acuses Texas of misusing lottery fundsNews Story
A lawsuit filed by a watchdog group seeks to block the State of Texas from making more payments to a Las Vegas law firm hired a year ago to draft legislation to legalize video slot machines.The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Russ Verney of the national watchdog group Judicial Watch, contends that the state exceeded its authority when it agreed to spend lottery proceeds to pay the firm.The Texas attorney general's office hired the law firm Lionel, Sawyers and Collins to develop legislation that would
Dec 17, 2004, 3:13 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