AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine legislative panel is set to review its investigations into a state tax credit program and Maine’s lottery. The Legislature’s government oversight committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday. The committee will present a review of the state’s Pine Tree Development Zones, which allow eligible businesses to greatly reduce or eliminate state […]
lottery
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine lottery office closed due to shutdown
AUGUSTA — The Maine State Lottery announced today that due to the state government shutdown the lottery’s office will be closed and will not reopen until such time the shutdown is over and employees return to work. In addition the following multi-state games will not be available for purchase until the shutdown is over: Powerball, […]
advertisement
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Indiana store sells winning $435 million Powerball ticket
A customer waits in line to buy a Powerball ticket, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, in North Andover, Massachusetts. The Powerball jackpot rose above $400 million for the first time in nearly three months. INDIANAPOLIS — The sole winning ticket for an estimated $435.3 million Powerball jackpot — the 10th largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history […]
Posted inMaine
Legislators cast doubt on review of lottery promotion tactics
The Legislature’s investigative arm Thursday released preliminary results of its review of the Maine State Lottery, saying that while academic research shows lottery sales increase as socioeconomic status declines, it had found no evidence that the state had specifically targeted particular segments of the population. Legislators in January had tasked the Office of Program Evaluation […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
DHHS bans big lottery winners from receiving food stamps
AUGUSTA — Maine gambling winners will be banned from receiving food stamps according to a new Department of Health and Human Services rule. DHHS has been mulling the rule change since 2015, when the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting revealed that nearly 3,700 public assistance recipients won $22 million in lottery prizes since 2010, a […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Powerball fever spreads but no one wins top prize in Maine
UPDATE: $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot goes to 3 winners in 3 states (Winning numbers drawn: 4-8-19-27-34 and Powerball 10.) LEWISTON — The lines were long at the Gulf Mart on Lisbon Street on Wednesday — but these shoppers weren’t just buying beer, gas and cigarettes — they were buying dreams. A billion and a half dollars worth of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Record Powerball jackpot heats up lottery sales
LEWISTON — Someone has to win the Powerball lottery at some point, and Nancy St. Pierre, owner of Victor News, would prefer it to be one of her customers. “I’d like to see one of my regulars win,” St. Pierre said, “someone who’s always coming in, supporting small business. I’d like to see someone from […]
Posted inMaine
Lottery tickets and payouts going to Maine residents on welfare
AUGUSTA — Maine residents on public assistance have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lottery tickets — enough to win more than $22 million in prizes between 2010 and 2014, including eight jackpots worth at least $500,000 each. The data on winnings come from a Maine Department of Health and Human Services memo obtained […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Maine lawmakers want a closer look at state lottery
Lawmakers from both parties are calling for closer scrutiny of Maine’s $230 million-a-year state-run lottery, including determining if its advertising targets Maine’s poor, who are the state’s most avid players. “All the legislators I’ve spoken to said if we were directing advertising toward poor communities in Maine, then there would be a big problem, and […]
Posted inMaine
Maine takes in lottery proceeds with little oversight
COLUMBIA — Derrick Ray watches customers buy lottery tickets with mixed emotions. As manager of Columbia’s 4-Corners Shop ’n Save, a small grocery in Washington County, he knows the lottery is good for business. Last year, the store sold $237,000 worth of draw games and instant tickets, or about $488 for every person in town. […]