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Texas Lottery paid for goods it never receivedNews Story
The embattled Texas Lottery Commission is investigating why the agency paid a Nevada company more than $300,000 for goods it hasn't received.The lottery's purchasing department authorized an advanced payment to JB Associates in February 2004 to buy promotional items such as umbrellas, coffee mugs and vinyl wallets, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its online edition today.JB, based in Reno, Nev., received at least $332,427, but the lottery said it is still owed about $311,000 in undeli
Jul 16, 2005, 9:39 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery looking at all possibilities for Director PositionNews Story
In a gesture of openness, Texas Lottery commissioners announced Monday that, for the first time, a committee of state officials and private citizens outside the lottery will help find the agency's next leader. The commission accepted the resignation of former executive director Reagan Greer, who announced his departure Friday, two weeks after he admitted approving several inflated Lotto Texas jackpot estimates recommended by his staff.Commissioners named Greer's former deputy and longtime lotter
Jul 12, 2005, 10:39 pm - Lottery News

Power failure shuts down Wisconsin lottery salesNews Story
A computer system outage prevented Wisconsin lottery players from purchasing tickets or validating winning tickets for such games as Powerball or Pick 3 for about three hours, a state Department of Revenue spokeswoman says.Ticket sales and prize validations for computerized games were affected when the outage occurred Monday about 11:30 a.m. at GTECH, which provides the Wisconsin Lottery with hardware and software for lottery sales, Meredith Helgerson said.A battery backup system failed to kick
Jul 12, 2005, 10:00 pm - Lottery News

Texas Lottery Names Acting DirectorNews Story
A top official closely involved in an investigation into inflated Lotto Texas jackpot advertisements was named acting executive director of the lottery commission today.Gary Grief, who has worked for the Texas Lottery Commission since its creation, was promoted from deputy executive director. He will oversee day-to-day operations at the nation's third-largest lottery, replacing Executive Director Reagan Greer, who resigned Friday.Greer stepped down two weeks after admitting he approved a staff r
Jul 11, 2005, 11:16 pm - Lottery News

Texas Gov. expects panel to correct lottery problemsNews Story
Texas Gov. Rick Perry expects the three-member panel that oversees the Texas lottery to get that agency straightened out during next week's closed-door meeting on whether to replace the top executives, the governor's spokesman said Thursday. The governor is obviously concerned when any branch of the state government doesn't level with the taxpayers of Texas, deputy press secretary Robert Black said. Honesty is important to the public trust. Black said Perry was troubled by reports that lotte
Jul 8, 2005, 3:30 pm - Lottery News

Texas lottery director stands firm amid attacksNews Story
Reagan Greer, the Texas Lottery Commission's embattled executive director who signed off on four inflated Lotto jackpots, shows no sign he will cave in to pressure and resign.Greer has asked the state auditor to conduct an investigation into the agency's policies and practices, particularly in personnel matters. I would like your office to provide me with an objective perspective on these matters, including any recommendations you might have to improve our agency in this area, Greer said in par
Jul 8, 2005, 11:33 am - Lottery News

North Carolina Still Working To Establish LotteryNews Story
It's a sure bet that if North Carolina becomes the final state on the East Coast to offer a lottery, supporters say, lawmakers will have hundreds of millions of new dollars to spend every year on education.But just as certain, opponents argue, is that as revenues rise, so will the number of North Carolinians addicted to gambling. The lottery will hurt a lot of people. It's a tax on the poor. It affects families, said Tom Spampinato of Cary, who spent 22 years battling a gambling addiction. He i
Jul 1, 2005, 12:18 pm - Lottery News

Texas Lottery executive had no hint before firingNews Story
Weighing his words carefully when asked if he was the fall guy in the growing scandal over inflated Texas Lotto jackpots, Lee Deviney said only that his dismissal last month from the Texas Lottery Commission came with no prior warning. In any job you have good days and bad, but the majority of time I felt (my bosses) were happy with me, Deviney said by telephone Thursday while vacationing with his family in Colorado.Happy enough, he said, that he was awarded a 4 percent raise last October and a
Jul 1, 2005, 10:30 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery chief could face punishment for inflated jackpotsNews Story
The Texas Lottery Commission chairman laid blame for inflated lottery jackpots squarely on the agency's chief Wednesday, hinting to state lawmakers that executive director Reagan Greer could be punished.Chairman C. Tom Clowe was asked by members of the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee who specifically had deceived lottery players by advertising phony estimated jackpots four times since last fall.Mr. Clowe answered: The person who made the decision [to sign off on the esti
Jul 1, 2005, 9:42 am - Lottery News

Texas Lottery officials testify that public was deceivedNews Story
Texas Lottery Commission Chairman C. Thomas Clowe told lawmakers Wednesday that the public was deceived by recently inflated jackpot estimates and vowed the agency would take action to keep it from happening again.Clowe said lottery Executive Director Reagan Greer was responsible for the deception but declined to say if he should be fired. This was a deception, and it was wrong, said Clowe, who opened nearly four hours of testimony on the inflated jackpots before the House Licensing and Adminis
Jun 30, 2005, 12:30 pm - Lottery News