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New travel questions crop up in Ark. Lottery director's final days in officeNews Story
Outgoing Arkansas Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue gave his last scheduled report to state lawmakers today, as the lottery's internal auditor said new questions have arisen about Passailaigue's travel reimbursements. Michael Hyde told the legislative committee that oversees the lottery today that he has referred to the Division of Legislative Audit a few things that came up. It was of a nature that I felt like it needed to be investigated, he said. Hyde mentioned the matter in answ
Oct 3, 2011, 1:24 am - Lottery News

Oregon Lottery chief accused of harassment, retaliationNews Story
Oregon state officials are looking into claims that the director of the Oregon Lottery sexually harassed a female manager, then retaliated against her when she spurned his advances. According to allegations outlined in a letter by the woman's attorney, Lottery Director Larry Niswender made unwanted advances toward the manager, then put her on administrative leave after she and another manager at the Lottery became romantically involved. Both employees were reinstated to their jobs after mo
Oct 3, 2011, 12:42 am - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery VPs hope to stay after director leavesNews Story
Arkansas Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue is moving on, but the two top executives he brought with him from South Carolina say they hope to stay put. Soon after Passailaigue left his job as director of South Carolina s lottery to become director of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery in the summer of 2009, he hired two South Carolina lottery officials, David Barden and Ernestine Middleton, to be his vice presidents in Arkansas at nearly $100,000 more than their salaries back home. On Monda
Sep 20, 2011, 8:57 pm - Lottery News

Panel eyes less pay for next Ark. lottery chiefNews Story
The Arkansas Lottery Commission hasn't begun its search for a replacement for outgoing Director Ernie Passailaigue, but the commission's chairman and a key legislative leader said Tuesday that whoever gets the job shouldn't expect the same paycheck. A day after Passailaigue resigned, the lottery commission's chairwoman and the co-chairman of the lottery's oversight committee said they didn't expect the next director to enjoy the same high salary. Passailaigue's $324,000 annual pay, along with
Sep 20, 2011, 8:40 pm - Lottery News

Arkansas Lottery director resignsNews Story
Includes video report The Arkansas Lottery Commission Monday accepted the resignation of embattled state Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue, who ends his controversial tenure on his own after surviving two past attempts by commission members to fire him. Passailaigue submitted a letter of resignation to the commission's chairman, Dianne Lamberth of Batesville, on Friday. His resignation will be effective Oct. 7. Passailaigue was not hired on a contract and will receive no buyout. Th
Sep 19, 2011, 10:01 pm - Lottery News

Legislators grill Ark. lottery financial officerNews Story
The Arkansas lottery's chief financial officer said Wednesday that a $90,000 tax penalty probably resulted because of a data input error, though legislators remained puzzled over how the lottery's director wasn't told of the problem for more than three months. Lottery director Ernie Passailaigue told members of the Lottery Oversight Committee that he was disappointed he wasn't told of the Internal Revenue Service problem until long after it had emerged. The IRS assessed the penalty because
Aug 25, 2011, 10:56 am - Lottery News

Florida Lottery to update branding, Web siteNews Story
The Florida Lottery is not aging gracefully. Voters enthusiastically approved state-run gambling 25 years ago, but the Lottery is struggling to keep up with today's demands. Sales are lagging. Its approach to online media is sluggish. And other forms of gambling, such as Indian-run casinos and Internet cafes, are luring customers away from lucky numbers and scratch-offs. State officials are well aware of the shortcomings. Gov. Rick Scott's choice to lead the agency is a branding expe
Aug 1, 2011, 6:56 am - Lottery News

Embattled Arkansas Lottery controller resignsNews Story
The top fiscal officer for the Arkansas lottery, who was criticized by some lawmakers and lottery commissioners following an important audit, has resigned. A resignation letter from lottery controller Philip Miley says he and his wife have decided to return home. Miley was controller for Regional Health Care Holding Inc., a subsidiary of St. Bernard's Health Care of Jonesboro, from 1997 to 2008. Miley, who has worked for the lottery since July 2009, did not return messages seeking comment.
Jul 30, 2011, 9:57 pm - Lottery News

Illinois Lottery run by private company starting FridayNews Story
Illinois' private lottery manager takes over operations Friday, with both the company and the state envisioning greatly increased sales and more money for state coffers. Although Northstar Lottery Group formally assumes the reins July 1, the transition to private management has been under way for some time. Regular players have seen new signage and the rollout of new games in recent weeks, but otherwise shouldn't notice a difference if they buy lottery tickets after the first of the month.
Jun 30, 2011, 8:21 am - Lottery News

Missouri Senate to discuss privatizing state lotteryNews Story
The Missouri Lottery will begin talks in April with the state Senate about moving control of the lottery from the government to the private sector. Lottery Executive Director May Scheve said it was difficult to comment on the issue because the Missouri Lottery is currently ascertaining the opinion of state vendors on the matter; privatization was only recently brought up by the Senate's Rebooting Government initiative. We really haven't engaged in conversation with the Senate, Scheve said
Mar 3, 2011, 11:23 am - Lottery News