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Tennessee Senator criticizes Lottery vacation, sick leave policyNews Story
For employees of the Tennessee Lottery, it could pay not to get sick.Employees can build up sick days and be paid for half of the unused ones when they leave. They earn one day per month, and there's no maximum on how much can be accrued or rolled over from year to year.Unused vacation time can be built up in a similar manner. Employees can be paid for up to three years' worth when they leave.The Tennessee Lottery's vacation and sick policy resembles what Rebecca Paul, the lottery's president an
Apr 7, 2004, 3:28 am - Lottery News

Paul, 3 lottery executives paid $300,000 when they quit Georgia jobsNews Story
When Rebecca Paul quit her Georgia job last fall as the nation's highest-paid lottery director to become Tennessee's lottery chief, she left with one final perk a check for $125,139.The three lottery vice presidents she lured to Tennessee also cashed out when they left, collecting a total of $174,059.Paul and her lieutenants were beneficiaries of leave policies at the Georgia Lottery Corp. that are far more generous than those for any other state workers. Analysts say the policies are uncommon e
Apr 5, 2004, 3:59 am - Lottery News

North Dakota Lottery a model of efficiencyNews Story
As a business with a limited number of potential customers in a sparsely populated territory, North Dakota's state lottery office has been concentrating on ways to keep its expenses down.It has only six employees, including its director. Its main computer sits in Montana, a few feet from another machine that handles the river of numbers for the Montana Powerball game and other lotteries.Because it does not sell scratch tickets, the games that let players know immediately whether they've won or
Mar 29, 2004, 4:25 am - Lottery News

Interim Minnesota lottery director cites progressNews Story
After about a month on the job, Michael Vekich says hes making progress in reforming the way the Minnesota State Lottery operates.Vekich told lawmakers on Tuesday that lottery officials have addressed nearly 70 percent of the state Legislative Auditors 49 recommendations in a report that was released last month.We have accomplished a lot, said Vekich, who was appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to serve as interim director of the lottery in February following the suicide of Director George Andersen.T
Mar 19, 2004, 4:41 am - Lottery News

Minnesota Lottery moves to boost integrityNews Story
Legislation designed to increase accountability at the Minnesota Lottery moved forward Wednesday, while fallout from the lottery's troubles continued.A Senate committee passed a bill that would have the state lottery director serve at the pleasure of the governor, which means he or she can be removed for no reason. Current law requires the governor to show misconduct before firing the director.Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, introduced the bill this year after reports the lottery director may have
Mar 4, 2004, 4:24 am - Lottery News

Minnesota Lottery Cancels $1.3 Million in Contracts with Media RareNews Story
The Minnesota Lottery says it's canceled promotional contracts worth $1.3 million a year with Media Rare.That's the St. Paul company that auditors said received special treatment under former lottery director George Andersen.A lawyer for the lottery says the contract cancellations will be effective April 27. The contracts were for promotional TV and radio shows.The lottery also is considering canceling an additional promotional agreement with the company involving a special vehicle. Already, the
Mar 3, 2004, 4:05 am - Lottery News

Colorado Lottery marketing director put on paid leave, probe continuesNews Story
The director of the Colorado Lottery has placed the Lottery's marketing director on paid administrative leave, and the Cabinet member who oversees the Lottery said Monday that more may follow as a probe into the Lottery continues. I can't say that this is where it ends in terms of employees who are affected, said M. Michael Cooke, chief of the state Department of Revenue. That remains to be seen. Dan Noreen, a longtime Lottery employee making $100,284 a year, was placed on leave Thursday.Noree
Mar 2, 2004, 6:03 am - Lottery News

Minnesota Lottery audit finds high costs, no crimeNews Story
The Minnesota State Lottery spends more money and provides less to the state than comparable lotteries and should revisit its ties to the St. Paul-based marketing company Media Rare Inc., auditors reported Thursday.Legislative Auditor James Nobles released the audit of the lottery about three weeks after former Lottery Director George Andersen died, apparently by suicide. Andersen had met with auditors about the review the day before he was found dead. We found many things to question and critic
Feb 20, 2004, 6:36 am - Lottery News

Head of Nebraska Lottery Resigns After Inquiry Clears HimNews Story
The head of the Nebraska lottery resigned Wednesday, a week after an investigation cleared him of wrongdoing for taking his wife on a trip to Greece that was paid for by a lottery vendor. Looking at this from a professional perspective, I determined that it is probably time for me to move on, James Quinn said in a statement.Quinn and his wife, Kathy, traveled to Greece in September to inspect Intralot USA's operations after the Duluth, Ga., company won a contract to operate the Nebraska lottery
Feb 19, 2004, 7:06 am - Lottery News

Lottery director's friend also tried to commit suicide, report saysNews Story
The state's finance commissioner had been actively reviewing the management of the Minnesota State Lottery when lottery director George Andersen committed suicide.Dan McElroy, who is now Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief of staff, had found enough lapses to warrant a sharp letter to Andersen but he told reporters Thursday he didn't discover anything that suggested Andersen had done anything criminal. He said he isn't sure whether Andersen would have lost his job over the findings. I'm not aware of any a
Feb 13, 2004, 7:31 am - Lottery News