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California Lottery director resigns amid investigationsNews Story
California State Lottery Director Hugo Lopez is stepping down immediately, he announced in an email to lottery staff on Friday. Lopez has led the department since 2015. It's been under scrutiny from the Department of Justice and the State Controller's Office since August, when anonymous employees sent a letter to former Gov. Jerry Brown's office alleging misconduct among senior executives at sales conferences. Lopez in his message said he was proud of the department's performance, particul
Jun 10, 2019, 8:18 am - Lottery News

California Lottery official dismissed amid investigationsNews Story
A senior California Lottery executive has been dismissed from his position six months after anonymous state employees sent a letter to the Governor's Office complaining about rowdy behavior among a group of the lottery's top brass. Deputy Director of Sales James David Cole's dismissal comes amid ongoing investigations into hiring practices and alleged misconduct by senior lottery executives during a 2016 sales conference. Cole was notified Feb. 1 that his employment would be officially ter
Mar 26, 2019, 9:23 am - Lottery News

After bawdy photos, California Lottery workers demand resignationsNews Story
Five veteran Lottery employees on Thursday demanded that senior department executives resign amid investigations into hiring practices and alleged misconduct on a work-related trip two years ago. They addressed the state Lottery Commission one month after an anonymous writer sent a letter to officials in Gov. Jerry Brown's administration that included pictures of senior Lottery leaders carrying on at a Southern California bar. It also included anecdotes describing disparaging treatment of emp
Sep 21, 2018, 12:21 pm - Lottery News

California Lottery cancels sales meeting in aftermath of rowdy party photosNews Story
The California Lottery is postponing a planned sales conference in the wake of an anonymous employee's recent complaint to Gov. Jerry Brown about senior leaders behaving inappropriately at a Southern California bar two years ago. The department on Tuesday announced that it's delaying the conference while it retools some of the training it intended to offer to focus on human resources and nondiscrimination policies. The conference was expected to take place next week in Sacramento. The
Aug 15, 2018, 7:10 am - Lottery News

California Lottery officials seen in bawdy photos sent to governorNews Story
A package of bawdy photos allegedly showing senior state Lottery leaders carrying on at a Southern California piano bar, with one image showing an official putting his head up a woman's shirt, was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown's office last week in an appeal from an anonymous employee urging the administration to investigate the department. Brown's office late Thursday said he is asking the attorney general's office to look into the letter and the attached photos. The contents of the letter ar
Aug 10, 2018, 7:51 am - Lottery News

Oregon Lottery doesn't allow public to comment at meetingsNews Story
Some are upset over new Web site Northwest Portland resident Bill Crane, bothered by news reports that the Oregon Lottery might be targeting youths with its planned new Internet site, The ORcade, wanted to give the commission that oversees the agency his two cents worth. The timing was good. The Lottery Commission meets Friday morning, and Crane figured he'd drive south to Salem and sign up to talk. Problem is, the commission doesn't allow public testimony at its regular meetings, and told
Oct 21, 2011, 8:51 am - Lottery News

Complaints prompt review of Arkansas Lottery's personnel policies, salariesNews Story
Anonymous complaints about personnel issues have prompted the Arkansas Lottery Commission to request a review of the lottery's human resources policies and salary structure. The nine-member commission voted today to ask the state Office of Personnel Management to conduct the review. Commissioner Joe White of Conway, whose motion to seek the review was unanimously adopted, told reporters that anonymous letters sent to the commission and state legislators had raised questions he wanted answered
Jun 3, 2010, 7:51 am - Lottery News

Lawmakers to mediate spat over Iowa Lottery securityNews Story
Relations have become so strained between feuding directors of two state agencies that a couple of Iowa lawmakers have agreed to step in as mediators. The standoff pits state ombudsman William Angrick against Iowa Lottery chief executive Terry Rich. Angrick's staff, which investigates citizen complaints, has spent more than two years investigating the Iowa Lottery and has concluded that lottery players could be at risk of being cheated. Rich says he has responded fully to each of the om
Dec 14, 2009, 9:33 am - Lottery News

Recent checks of Iowa Lottery retailers find no fraudNews Story
Security checks at lottery ticket sale locations at about 200 locations statewide in recent months have revealed no improper payments of prizes to or by store personnel, Iowa's lottery chief told a panel of state legislators last week. Terry Rich, chief executive officer of the Iowa Lottery, played up the safety and profitability of the lottery before members of the Legislature's Oversight Committee in the wake of an expansive report by Iowa's Ombudsman of State. The April report found the lo
Jun 15, 2009, 7:14 am - Lottery News

N.C. lottery store owners, employees winning big and oftenNews Story
Some of the same people who sell North Carolina Education Lottery tickets are winning big and winning often and that makes some people suspicious. Of the lottery retailers winning prizes, some are amassing significant jackpots repeatedly $100,000, $300,000, and $500,000 prizes dozens of times a year. Is it just dumb luck? Or do these insiders have some kind of inside track? And what is the state doing about it? A regular lottery player first brought the pattern of retailers winning the
May 1, 2009, 2:50 pm - Lottery News