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Lottery director's ties to St. Paul vendor probedNews Story
Auditors probing the business dealings of Minnesota State Lottery director George Andersen have been pursuing a claim that he steered thousands of dollars of lottery money to a vendor he controlled.Andersen was found unconscious Tuesday outside his home in Hugo. He had a self-inflicted wound to his wrist, and a knife was found nearby, authorities said. A preliminary autopsy report released Wednesday called his death a suicide and said he died from hypothermia due to exposure.Andersen died a day
Jan 30, 2004, 6:42 am - Lottery News

Kansas Lottery Sales Above ProjectionsNews Story
Kansas lottery sales continue to grow, as the third quarter of the fiscal year gets under way. Current sales reflect a $10 million increase over projected sales for the 2004 Fiscal Year. We believe our sales increases are a result of change we made in game development and marketing practices, reports Executive Director Ed Van Petten. We have introduced more instant games in the market, and these games have shown the largest increase. The Powerball game also boosts sales when the jackpots in
Jan 29, 2004, 7:01 am - Lottery News

Friends Say Audit Troubled Minnesota Lottery ChiefNews Story
George Andersen built the Minnesota Lottery from the ground up, and some who knew him say he looked upon it less like a bureaucrat and more like a proud and protective father.Andersen committed suicide Tuesday, a day after meeting with a government auditor examining the lottery's operations. He was found outside his home, and an autopsy determined he died of hypothermia in single-digit termperatures after cutting his wrists, said sheriff's Cmdr. Scott Malinosky said.Andersen's death has focused
Jan 29, 2004, 6:08 am - Lottery News

Audit finds misuse of Colorado Lottery fundNews Story
Legislation, rule changes seek tighter tracking of spendingColorado state leaders Tuesday unveiled plans to curb substantial problems uncovered by a newly released audit of Colorado's conservation trust fund, a multimillion-dollar pot of lottery profits that is supposed to pay for parks and recreation.A state audit released Tuesday found that more than $1.2 million of the fund's expenditures in 2002 were spent by local governments in ways the state does not allow.The audit also criticized 10 c
Jan 28, 2004, 9:20 am - Lottery News

Tennessee Lottery rakes in $41.3M in first weekNews Story
What a difference a week makes: for the Tennessee Lottery, almost $41.3 million. That was just for scratch off tickets. Now, it's on to the numbers.Of the $41,268,401 in ticket sales during the Lottery's inaugural week, $13.65 million came from Nashville; $9.97 million from Memphis; $6.92 million from the Chattanooga region; $6.76 million from Knoxville; $3.44 million from the Northeastern region, and more than a half-million dollars from retailers not yet assigned a district.The week's biggest
Jan 28, 2004, 9:14 am - Lottery News

Tenn. Lottery rakes in millions fastNews Story
State lottery sets record launch with $10.8MTennessee's lottery took in about $10.8 million on its first day, setting a per-capita sales record for lottery launches with nearly $2 spent for every state resident, officials said. It's a great day and very exciting for us,'' lottery chief Rebecca Paul said Wednesday.Sales as of 10 p.m. Tuesday reached $1.87 for each state resident, surpassing the first-day figure of $1.83 per resident when Georgia started a lottery in 1993. The first day in any lot
Jan 23, 2004, 8:52 am - Lottery News

Louisiana Lottery reports boost due to PowerballNews Story
Louisiana lottery revenue took a significant jump last year, largely because of four Powerball jackpots that exceeded $100 million in the last half of 2003, lottery officials said.During the calendar year 2003, lottery revenue totaled $330.1 million, up from $309.6 million in 2002 and $314.2 million in 2001. The lottery took in $290.2 million in 2000 and $272.1 million in 1999.State government gets at least 35 percent of the lotterys take each fiscal year.Since July, the multistate Powerball gam
Jan 20, 2004, 10:57 am - Lottery News

Michigan Lottery sales slip; commissioner blames blackoutNews Story
The Michigan Lottery is on track to set an all-time sales record, despite a drop in sales last year, Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters said.Last year's sales fell by $7 million from 2002. Peters blamed the August blackout that cut off revenue from the Daily 3, Daily 4, Rolldown, Mega Millions and WinFall games that rely on electronic equipment. We figured the blackout alone cost us $7 million, Peters told The Detroit News for a Sunday story. We sell $5 million a day on the online games. So with
Jan 19, 2004, 7:23 am - Lottery News

Investing a windfallNews Story
What to do when a pile of money is suddenly dumped into your lapI expect to receive a windfall of about $500,000. Buying a house is first on my list, but I'm not sure how to invest the rest. I'm open to real estate ventures or just about anything else, but I'm wary of the people passing themselves off as financial advisers. What do you suggest?Tammy, Statesville, N.C.It's not often that I invoke the lyrics of rapper Eminem in this column. In fact, I think I can safely say that I've never done it
Jan 16, 2004, 11:17 am - Lottery News

Inside Sources: Virginia Lottery to Slash StaffNews Story
EXCLUSIVE: Lottery Post reveals the Virginia Lottery's cost-cutting plansMust credit LotteryPost.comAccording to unnamed sources, the Virginia Lottery is planning a series of cost-cutting moves that could send shock waves through its staff and the industry: the Virginia Lottery will be seeking bids to outsource all functions of its operations.The Virginia Lottery is expected to announce requests for bids on its Web site at www.valottery.com. No department has been spared from consideration, in
Jan 13, 2004, 10:24 pm - Lottery News