Archived Lottery News for March, 2005

Thursday, March 31, 2005

	9:40 am - N.C. Lottery Foes Gather Strength.  A group of high-profile lottery opponents vowed Wednesday to fight efforts to bring scratch-off tickets and numbers games to North Carolina.
	12:22 am - Powerball Jackpot Winner!  There was one $25 million jackpot winner from Tennessee in the Wednesday, March 30, 2005 Powerball drawing.  More details to follow after the winner comes forward to claim their prize.
	Also, 110 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 11 from Arizona (1 with Power Play), 2 from Colorado, 4 from Connecticut (2 with Power Play), 1 from Washington, D.C., 3 from Delaware, 3 from Iowa, 1 from Idaho, 10 from Indiana (2 with Power Play), 3 from Kansas, 4 from Kentucky, 2 from Louisiana (1 with Power Play), 4 from Minnesota, 1 from Missouri, 1 from Montana, 1 from North Dakota, 2 from Nebraska, 3 from New Hampshire (1 with Power Play), 3 from New Mexico, 13 from Pennsylvania (1 with Power Play), 5 from Rhode Island, 14 from South Carolina (8 with Power Play), 12 from Tennessee (5 with Power Play), 4 from Wisconsin and 2 from West Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

	11:00 am - Workers indicted in lottery scandal.  Two former employees of an Exxon store in Gordonsville, Virginia have been indicted on charges of embezzling $14,000 in Virginia lottery tickets.
	10:20 am - Oklahoma Lottery Commission Seeking Executive Director.  Lottery experts from Tennessee and New Mexico offered their advice Tuesday to members of the newly formed Oklahoma Lottery Commission, as it searches for an executive director to head the new statewide lottery.
	9:40 am - One ticket wins $718,000 Ohio Rolling Cash 5 jackpot.  One Rolling Cash 5 game ticket had the right combination for the drawing Tuesday, and it's worth the Ohio Lottery game's jackpot of $718,000.
	8:40 am - N.C. Lottery committe selected and moving quickly.  House Speaker Jim Black chose his top lieutenant Monday to lead a special committee whose mission is to fashion an education lottery bill on which the full chamber can vote.
	8:00 am - Kentucky Lottery starts new 'Double Up Cash' game this weekend.  The Kentucky Lottery will begin selling tickets Sunday for a new computerized game, Double Up Cash, that offers players a chance to double nonjackpot prizes if they correctly pick "heads" or "tails."
	2:36 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 6 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 from Illinois, 1 from Michigan, 2 from New York, 1 from Ohio and 1 from Washington.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Monday, March 28, 2005

	11:40 am - Opinion: Time has come for a lottery in North Carolina.  Jim Black, Speaker of the House in North Carolina, is a leading proponent for starting a North Carolina lottery.
	11:00 am - Money woes push some to reconsider N.C. lottery.  Observers say North Carolina's long resistance to a lottery results from a proud, stubborn streak, an alliance of liberals and antigambling conservatives and one of the strongest economies in the Southeast. But North Carolina's recent financial woes are causing some lawmakers to reconsider their long-held opposition to a lottery.
	10:20 am - Showdown over N.C. lottery coming within 2 weeks.  If North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black has his way, the General Assembly will be plunged next month into a short, intense drama over whether state government should start a lottery.
	Kentucky Lottery hurt by players' luck.  Big prize payouts by the Kentucky Lottery, including multimillion dollar payments to winners in three February Pick 3 games, are making a dent in the amount of money being returned to the state treasury, lottery officials said Friday.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

	11:55 pm - There was no jackpot winner in the Saturday Powerball drawing, but 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 1 from Missouri, 2 from Pennsylvania and 1 from Wisconsin.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.
	2:08 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 1 lucky player matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 from New York.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Friday, March 25, 2005

	12:40 pm - N.C. lawmaker predicts lottery will fail.  North Carolina lawmakers are scheduled to vote next week on whether or not North Carolina will have a lottery, and Rep. Mitch Gillespie, R-McDowell, said he expects the lottery will fail.
	12:00 pm - California Senator questions Mega Millions lottery plans.  The chairman of California's Senate Governmental Organization Committee has asked the Legislature's attorneys whether the Lottery Commission has the constitutional authority to join the multistate Mega Millions game later this year.
	11:20 am - Nevada Lottery Proposal Killed.  Nevada may be a gambling state but a Senate panel decided on a 5-2 vote Thursday that a lottery is one game of chance the state can do without.
	11:00 am - Poll: Most Baptists Oppose N.C. Lottery.  More than half the respondents to a Baptist web poll want any North Caolina lottery proposal killed in the state legislature.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

	11:40 am - Another scam victim regrets his mistakes.  Dale E. Gilbert owes his local bank nearly $1,000 after he was conned into responding to one of the many lottery scams that falsely claim that the victim is a big winner.
	10:40 am - N.D. lottery's first year deemed 'exceptional'.  Critics may still bristle at the thought of waiting in line behind a lottery player buying tickets, but nearly a year after North Dakota unveiled its state lottery, the North Dakota Lottery has exceeded its supporters' expectations.
	10:00 am - Nevada lottery effort unlikely to succeed.  An Assembly-backed resolution to let Nevada voters legalize a state lottery could be killed as early as today in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
	9:00 am - Mega Millions lottery jackpot increases to $53 million.  The jackpot in the multi-state Mega Millions lottery grew to $53 million Wednesday.
	N.C. Speaker pushing for lottery vote within 2 weeks.  North Carolina House Speaker Jim Black said he wants lawmakers to vote on a state lottery in the next two weeks, and he virtually guaranteed Wednesday that the proposal would reach his chamber's floor.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

	11:53 pm - There was no jackpot winner in the Wednesday Powerball drawing, but 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Colorado, 1 from Connecticut (1 with Power Play), 1 from Pennsylvania, 1 from South Carolina and 1 from Tennessee.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.
	2:01 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 6 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 from Georgia, 1 from Illinois, 1 from New York, 1 from Ohio and 2 from Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

	11:00 am - Attempted cash-in of stolen lottery tickets brings arrests.  Police hit the jackpot in the River Market robbery, nabbing a gambler who tried to redeem stolen lottery tickets -- at the River Market.
	10:20 am - Thug slashes elderly woman, robs lottery winnings.  An elderly woman trapped in the narrow entrance of her building was slashed in the gut by a robber who may have wanted her lottery winnings, police said.
	9:40 am - Thousands fume over lottery game typo.  It's become a scratch with a catch after thousands of people thought they had won a $100,000 jackpot in a newspaper lottery game.
	9:00 am - Missouri Lottery faces downturn in sales.  The Missouri Lottery faces a $3.5 million budget cut that could force layoffs of a fourth of the agency's workers plus another General Assembly-ordered retreat from advertising.
	8:40 am - NY Post chides rival paper over lottery error.  The New York Post appears to be enjoying the mess that its long-time rival, The New York Daily News, created when it printed erroneous lottery numbers, and misled thousands of readers into thinking they won big bucks.
	8:20 am - Court: Ex-Husband Can Share Lottery Jackpot.  The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Monday that the ex-husband of a $7 million lottery winner deserves to share her fortune.
	7:40 am - CT Lottery must pay an extra $581,000 for drawing mistake.  Honoring all six numbers drawn in Friday's flawed "Cash 5" lottery game will cost the Connecticut Lottery Corp. an extra $581,000, lottery officials said Monday.
	Too many players winning Powerball, lottery says.  The agency running the Powerball lottery might decrease the odds of winning the multimillion-dollar jackpot to stem a record-setting run of winners that is keeping jackpots small and, the agency says, causing ticket sales to plunge.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

12:00 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Saturday Powerball drawing, but 1 lucky player matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Minnesota.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

9:43 pm - There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 1 lucky player matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 from Ohio.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Friday, March 18, 2005

	12:00 pm - First WV lottery winner gets final annuity check.  A Wood County man who was the West Virginia Lottery's first jackpot winner received his last of 20 payments on Wednesday.
	11:20 am - Man finally wins lottery claim from washed-up ticket.  A Spaniard has won a six-year court battle to claim the equivalent of about $50,000 US from a winning lottery ticket that went through a washing machine and came out in pieces.
	10:20 am - Winning $4.86 million lottery ticket recovered from store garbage.  Being a good Samaritan may not pay off in money, but doing a good deed is reward enough for one store clerk who rescued a nearly $5 million lottery ticket from the trash and returned it to its rightful owner.
	9:40 am - Elderly man, claiming he was cheated of lottery prize, wins settlement.  An elderly man who claims he was swindled out of a winning lottery ticket has won a court settlement with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
	9:00 am - Record lottery winner rushes back to work.  Germany's biggest individual lottery winner had no time to celebrate after becoming 20.4 million euros (US$27 million) richer because he was too worried about being late for work.
	8:00 am - Oklahoma lottery funds still tied up.  Legislators are still working on details of a plan to give the new Oklahoma Education Lottery Commission an emergency appropriation of $500,000, a Senate leader said Wednesday.
	7:20 am - Georgia Lottery's Million-Dollar Hoopla Set to Tip-Off.  The Georgia Lottery Corporation's Million-Dollar Hoopla promotion is coming to the Gainesville District to give a lucky player the chance to win $1 million.
	6:40 am - Another winning Powerball ticket sold in Pennsylvania.  For the third time in four months, a winning Powerball ticket was bought in Western Pennsylvania -- this time in Marshall, state lottery officials said Thursday.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

	11:49 pm - Powerball Jackpot Winner!  There was one $18 million jackpot winner from Pennsylvania in the Wednesday, March 16, 2005 Powerball drawing.  More details to follow after the winner comes forward to claim their prize.
	Also, 1 lucky player matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Wisconsin.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.
	12:40 pm - Powerball winner convicted in fatal traffic crash.  With trembling hands her only visible reaction, Victoria Zell, who three years ago split a $10.9 million Powerball jackpot with her ex-husband, was convicted in a fatal high-speed collision.
	11:40 am - Self-service lottery machines popular in Pennsylvania.  In Pennsylvania, self-service lottery terminals are helping stores achieve record lottery sales.
	11:00 am - Streak of jackpot winners is bad luck for Powerball lottery sales.  Sales of Powerball lottery tickets across the nation are down drastically in recent months. The reason: People are too frequently beating the odds, which happen to be 1 in 120.5 million.
	10:20 am - Missouri Lottery makes its 200th millionaire.  Gary DeHaven of Republic, Missouri became the state's 200th lottery-made millionaire after winning a $1.4 million jackpot in the March 9 drawing, the Missouri Lottery announced yesterday afternoon.
	9:27 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 2 from Illinois, 2 from New York and 1 from Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Monday, March 14, 2005

	1:00 pm - Internet lottery sales one step closer in Georgia.  Georgia took its first step towards allowing lottery players to purchase tickets over the Internet, as the Georgia House approved a measure Thursday for setting up online accounts.
	12:20 pm - N.C. residents divided over lottery question.  As the speaker of the North Carolina House pledged this weekend to hold a vote on a bill that would create a state lottery, local Charlotte residents were divided on the issue.
	11:40 am - Tennessee Lottery Sales Pass $1 Billion.  The Tennessee Lottery announced today that gross ticket sales have surpassed $1 billion after one year and seven weeks of ticket sales.
	11:00 am - Cardinal demands U.K. lottery boycott.  Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics, called for a boycott of the UK National Lottery after it was revealed that the National Lottery gave £3.3 million (US$6.3 million) to Brook Advisory Centers and the FPA (Family Planning Association) — both of which support abortions as a means of family planning.
	10:20 am - Lottery winner ties the knot once again.  Robert Swofford Jr., winner of a $60 million Florida Lotto jackpot, re-married his first wife, after his second wife dumped him when he won the big prize.
	9:20 am - N.C. Gov. may get 2nd try with lottery.  When North Carolina Governor Mike Easley leaves office, assessments of his tenure undoubtedly will touch on whether he brought North Carolina into the lottery fold.
	8:40 am - Texas Lottery Approves Mega Millions Changes.  Friday, the Texas Lottery Commission voted to propose rule amendments to the Mega Millions multi-state lottery game, which aim to make the game bigger than ever.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

12:03 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Saturday Powerball drawing, but 3 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Colorado, 1 from Wisconsin and 1 from West Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

3:08 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 5 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 1 from Maryland, 1 from New York, 1 from Texas, 1 from Virginia and 1 from Washington.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

	1:00 pm - Oklahoma lawmakers acused of holding lottery funds.  An aide to Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry says he's concerned that the House hasn't approved a request for supplemental funding for the Oklahoma Education Lottery Commission.
	12:20 pm - Oklahoma Lottery Commission Starts Search For Director.  Oklahoma's new Lottery Commission Tuesday began preparing the process for hiring an executive director.
	11:20 am - NY Lottery continues Quick Draw investigation.  The New York State Lottery's investigation of suspicious sales of its Quick Draw game is still underway and there is no timetable for completion.
	10:20 am - Colorado Lottery employees accused of taking gifts won't face charges.  The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office will not file charges against Colorado Division of Lottery employees accused of improperly accepting gifts from vendors between 1999 and 2003.
	9:40 am - Georgia House to vote on Internet lottery bill tomorrow.  State House members in Georgia have scheduled a Thursday vote on a bill that would establish a means to buy lottery tickets over the Internet, but the bill may run into legal trouble.
	9:20 am - N.C. lawmakers push for quick vote on lottery.  Leaders in the N.C. House hope to hold an up-or-down vote on a state lottery within the next several weeks and not put the issue to a vote of the people, House Speaker Jim Black said yesterday.
	8:40 am - NJ may ban smoking in casinos.  Acting New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey may use the power the position he stumbled into when Gov. McGreevey resigned last year to push an aggressive anti-smoking agenda, which would even include banning smoking in New Jersey casinos.
	12:01 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Wednesday Powerball drawing, but 6 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Kansas, 1 from Kentucky, 2 from Missouri, 1 from South Carolina and 1 from Wisconsin.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

1:56 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Tuesday Mega Millions drawing, but 8 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 2 from Massachusetts, 1 from Michigan, 1 from New Jersey, 1 from New York, 2 from Ohio and 1 from Texas.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

	12:40 pm - Illinois lawmakers debate Internet lottery sales.  If store lines have kept you from the big bucks possible in playing the state lottery, a Chicago senator has the solution - just buy the tickets online.
	12:20 pm - Lottery trial sheds lights on OLGC miscues.  An 81-year-old Canadian man, a cancer survivor, is suing the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLGC), saying it refused to properly investigate a retailer who allegedly cheated him out of a $250,000 winning Encore ticket.
	11:40 am - Tennessee flooded with a multitude of lottery bills.  On the brink of $1 billion in ticket sales, the year-old Tennessee lottery is the subject of 53 bills in the General Assembly to alter its operations.
	10:40 am - Nevada Assembly passes lottery measure.  A resolution to legalize a Nevada state lottery was approved 33-9 Monday in the Assembly after supporters emphasized profits would buy textbooks for schoolchildren.
	10:00 am - Ohio Lottery Posts Wrong Results on Official Web Site.  Ohio Lottery Commission officials say two employees responsible for posting an incorrect Super Lotto Plus number over the weekend will be disciplined.
	Oregon Gov. pushes for larger lottery cut.  Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has become a quiet backroom force in pushing the Oregon Lottery into considering a nearly 50 percent cut in the share of proceeds that bars, restaurants and taverns receive for the lottery's new electronic slot games.
	9:20 am - Georgia Lottery looks to install kiosks at airport.  Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Lottery Corp. hope to offer lottery tickets to the 84 million people who pass through the Atlanta airport each year.
	8:40 am - Wisconsin Powerball winner mystery solved.  The winner of a $36.8 million Powerball jackpot, who kept his good fortune to himself since Jan. 8, ended the mystery Monday and came forward to claim his prize.

Monday, March 7, 2005

	1:00 pm - Virginia lottery director becomes university president.  On Thursday, Virginia Lottery director Penelope Ward Kyle was named the next president of Radford University.
	12:20 pm - Winner of Feb. 12 Powerball lottery prize takes the cash option.  A 55-year-old Louisiana lobbyist claimed her winnings Friday in last month's Powerball jackpot, sending her attorney to the lottery office to turn in the winning ticket and accept a lump sum payment worth $23 million.
	11:40 am - The Learning Channel profiles big lottery winners.  David Edwards, an ex-con from Kentucky who through a stroke of luck moved uptown to a gated community in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, stole the show Sunday in Lottery Homes.
	11:00 am - Indiana Ticket Wins $19.9 Million Powerball Lottery Jackpot.  A Powerball ticket sold in Elwood, Indiana matched all six numbers in Saturday's drawing, entitling the holder to a $19.9 million jackpot, a Hoosier Lottery spokesman said.
	8:00 am - Bending the rules wins man $300,000 lottery prize.  When a Missouri man broke his agreement with his wife on how many scratch cards he could buy, it turned out to be a winning decision.
	7:20 am - Third N.C. lottery bill proposed.  Another state lottery bill is in the North Carolina General Assembly.  The bill is the third lottery proposal made this year and would not require a vote of the people.

Sunday, March 6, 2005

	12:08 am - Powerball Jackpot Winner!  There was one $19 million jackpot winner from Indiana in the Saturday, March 05, 2005 Powerball drawing.  More details to follow after the winner comes forward to claim their prize.
	Also, 9 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Arizona, 1 from Colorado, 1 from Indiana, 1 from Kansas, 1 from Kentucky, 2 from Missouri, 1 from New Mexico and 1 from Rhode Island.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Saturday, March 5, 2005

2:14 am - There was no jackpot winner in the Friday Mega Millions drawing, but 6 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 3 from Illinois, 1 from New York, 1 from Ohio and 1 from Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Wednesday, March 2, 2005

	11:45 pm - There was no jackpot winner in the Wednesday Powerball drawing, but 1 lucky player matched the first 5 numbers for a $100,000 prize: 1 from Missouri.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.
	10:20 am - $112 million lottery ticket sold in Rowlett, Texas.  A single player has won the grand prize from the latest Mega Millions lotto drawing with a ticket bought in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett.
	2:30 am - Mega Millions Jackpot Winner!  There was one $112 million jackpot winner from Texas in the Tuesday, March 01, 2005 Mega Millions drawing.  More details to follow after the winner comes forward to claim their prize.
	Also, 8 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $175,000 prize: 2 from Illinois, 2 from Massachusetts, 1 from Maryland, 2 from New Jersey and 1 from Virginia.  For the complete rundown of winners by prize category, see the Ways to Win page.

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

	3:40 pm - Colorado Lottery to suspend sales for one day.  Colorado plans to halt lottery ticket sales for one day this spring while workers install machines that verify which tickets are winners.
	2:40 pm - Maine Gov. moves forward on controversial lottery plan.  As Republican lawmakers pressed for more details Monday, the Baldacci administration was fast-tracking its plan to sell off Maine's lottery revenue stream in order to help balance the state's two-year, $5.7 billion budget.
	2:20 pm - Persistence pays off for long-time lottery player.  After playing the lottery for 25 years, Winnipeg residents Ron Jones and his wife Gloria Dutchuk won an $8.3 million (US$6.7 million) jackpot Saturday.
	1:20 pm - Singapore man wrongfully jailed while claiming lottery jackpot.  A Singaporean man who was wrongly detained while collecting a US$1.2 million lottery prize has finally received his winnings after a woman who claimed to be the rightful winner was jailed.
	12:40 pm - Texas Lottery Considering Computerized Drawings.  Warning to Texas Lottery players:  Your state lottery is considering a move that will eliminate real lottery ball machines, and will use a computer to select your lottery numbers.
	11:00 am - World Games officials face probe.  A lawyer representing disgruntled investors in the controversial World Games Inc. (WGI) has reported WGI's Norwegian officials to the country's white collar crime unit.