The special find is known as the school recognition program and rewards schools that have improved by a letter grade or have kept an ‘A ‘rating. Schools are graded on a traditional A to F format. Currently the fund has $119 million dollars. Since 2006 legislators have cut $38 million from the school recognition program while promoting school reform plans that would reward teachers based on performance. Schools with high performance ratings will receive about $70 per student this year. In 1998 when the program was launched high performing schools received $100 per student. Schools may use the funds for one time purchases or bonuses. Most schools opt for bonuses.

Elementary and middle schools usually receive the lottery money in time for Christmas. High schools receive their finding after grades are released. Because of a delay in high school grades and the fact that grades have improved at most schools the Florida department of education has delayed distributing the money until they are sure that the $119 million in the fund will be enough to give all schools the going $70 dollar per student rate. Education advocates say that the department’s actions go against the lawmakers’ intent for a merit based system. Mike Cahill, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association told reporters “They constantly talk about high-achieving and rewarding these teachers. But when it comes time to put their money where their mouth is, it’s never there.”

Legislators are designing a budget plan for the next fiscal year and all indications point to an increase in education funding. The House and Senate are considering a $1.1 billion increase for education. Florida governor Scott has proposed increasing per-student funding by $142 to $6,372 per school year and wants to increase the lottery funded recognition program to $100 per student. Even with the increases per student spending will still be less than the 2007-08 high of $7,126. Fortunately lottery sales in Florida have been rising and in 2011 the Florida lottery brought in more than $4 billion.

In the Spanish village of Sodeto a Greek resident was the only villager that did not buy a share in the El Gordo ticket that netted his fellow villagers 700 million euros. ($920,032,647.05 USD at current exchange rates)A report by New York Times reporter Suzanne Daley describes how all of the 70 households in Sodeto except one pooled their money for the Christmas lottery known as El Gordo. The winning ticket means that the minimum amount won by the villagers was 100,000 euros. ($131,416.11 USD)

According to the New York Times report the only villager that failed to contribute towards the purchase of the winning ticket was a Greek named Costis Mitsotakis. The Greek filmmaker moved to Sodeto in pursuit of a woman and despite the fact that the relationship didn’t work out as planned Mitsotakis decided to remain in the village. Mitsotakis lives in a barn just outside of Sodeto and the villagers forgot him when they made the rounds to collect money for El Gordo tickets.

Mitsotakis said he bears the villagers no ill will and said he has actually benefitted from the lottery win. Mitsotakis had been trying to sell some land without much success. The day after the big El Gordo win a neighbor called and offered to purchase the land. The very next day another neighbor called and expressed interest in the property. Mitsotakis refused to get involved in a bidding war and stated “This is a small village You don’t want bad feelings.”

The estimated cash value of Saturday’s jackpot is about $125.1 million before taxes. After tax lump sum and annuity payments vary from state to state. Generally jackpot amounts are conservative estimates provided by state lotteries and often increase by the time the actual drawing takes place. Although Wednesday’s drawing did not produce a big winner 3 very lucky players matched the first five numbers and received a $1 million dollar prize. The winners were from Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas. Unfortunately none of the winners opted for the power play option which would have given them another $1 million. The power play option costs an extra dollar to play. So far there have been no $2 million Power Play winners since Powerball changed the jackpot structure on January 18, 2012.

Since the format and prices of Powerball changed some lottery retailers have reported minor problems. Some players were unaware of the price hike and could nor purchase their usual number of tickets. Some retailers tried to sell rejected Powerball tickets and several arguments ensued. Reaction to the ticket price hike has been mixed. Some players say they will switch to Mega Millions but die hard Powerball players say the increase in ticket prices will not stop them from playing their favorite lottery game. 41 Powerball tickets matched four white numbers plus the Powerball for a cash prize of $10,000. Five lucky players purchased the power play option and walked away with $40,000. When any Powerball ticket is purchased using the power play option any non jackpot prize is increased according to a fixed schedule which is available at the Powerball website. Powerball is available in 42 states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. Powerball drawings take place every Wednesday and Saturday at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets are only $2.

During the transaction Reeves-Davis noticed that the clerk got her tickets out of a drawer instead of directly from the lottery machine. Reeves-Davis told the store clerk she wanted a fresh ticket straight out of the machine and an argument ensued. She finally left the store with no Powerball tickets. Lottery players can be quite particular when it comes to buying lottery tickets. Many lottery players take factors such as hunches, intuition and store vibe when purchasing their lottery tickets. For many players taking tickets out of a drawer is totally unacceptable.

State lottery officials say that stores can sell valid lottery tickets no matter when it was printed as long as the ticket is for a current drawing. Lottery officials also said that players have the right to refuse any ticket they don’t want. Reeves-Davis said she knew of another player who had a similar argument at another lottery retailer. Reeves-Davis said “And in that instance, the police were called.” Researchers found that some of the problems stem from the recent price hike for Powerball tickets. In January the price of a Powerball ticket doubled to $2 and many players were unaware of the change.

Some players order more tickets than they have money to pay for while others are confused by the new price and believe they are being sold the wrong lottery tickets. Many will back out of the sale. Some stores will try to sell these rejected tickets to other players to make up for the loss. Lottery officials said that they anticipated the problems and tried to instruct lottery retailers how to educate players about the changes and avoid conflicts. Some lottery retailers are collecting money before printing any tickets to avoid problems. Although the Powerball changes were well publicized many lottery players remain unaware of the changes.

Shaw told lottery officials he was representing a trust set up by the winners and that the trust was based in Belize which is a notorious tax haven. Iowa Lottery chief Terry Rich said that lottery officials had met with Shaw once but he was unable or unwilling to reveal the names of the real winners. Shaw could not provide the information required to validate the winning ticket. Eventually the Hexham Investment Trust withdrew its claim but the circumstances surrounding the unusual situation triggered an ongoing criminal investigation. When contacted by reporters for his side of the story Shaw did not respond. Since the investigation is in progress lottery officials were not able to answer all of the questions asked by state legislators during Tuesday’s hearing.

Rich told lawmakers that his actions were as transparent and upfront as possible to protect the integrity of the lottery and said that the system in place worked as it should. Rick told legislators “From our standpoint, this case is closed.” Rich also told the Oversight Committee “I feel very comfortable with the rules you have set up.” Legislators peppered Rich and his investigative and support with a barrage of questions. Last week lottery officials set a deadline of 3 PM Friday for the representatives of Hexam to provide them with essential information. The Iowa Lottery received a letter from the Davis Brown law firm in Des Moines stating that all of the winnings would be donated to charity, minus legal fees. Lottery officials refused to pay because no information was provided.

Iowa State Representative Chris Hagenow who is co chair of the Oversight Committee stated “Like a lot of Iowans, we want to know what went on here, but it seems to me that the system works and it’s worked in this case so far, at least based on what we know. It seems to me that everything works. We’re talking about big dollars. I think based on what we heard that people should have high confidence in the integrity of the Iowa Lottery. I’m satisfied that they’re conducting themselves the way they need to on behalf of the people of Iowa.” Rich had some good news for lawmakers and said that lottery sales are up and generated a record $89 million for the state’s general fund. Rich said that projections show that in 2013 sales should hit $277.6 million.

The Massachusetts lottery published a statement on their website that said the Cash WinFall game had an extended presence in the marketplace” and said that the game was losing popularity with players. News reports last year said that a Michigan couple had figured out the weakness and were making big bucks. Marjorie Selbee and her husband Gerald bought $370,000 worth of Cash WinFall tickets. The Selbees who run a gambling company called GS Investment Strategies figured out that because a quirk in the Cash WinFall rules when the jackpot hits about $2 million and there is no big winner the payoffs for smaller prizes increase dramatically. During these weeks the Selbees and a small group of other gamblers including trained computer scientists from MIT and Northeastern University invested heavily in the Cash WinFall game. The payoffs were huge and they walked away with millions.

A few days after the game’s flaw was revealed Massachusetts lottery officials attempted to repair the game by closing the loophole. The last Cash WinFall jackpot was $2,253,177 but no one matched all six numbers for the top jackpot. The jackpot was distributed among the winners of other prizes. The second prize for matching five of the six numbers was increased to $29,397 from the usual payout of $4,000. The prize for matching four numbers was increased from $150 to $1,185. Players that purchased season tickets for Cash WinFall will be refunded the remaining value of their tickets. The Massachusetts lottery is also allowing players who have unclaimed free bets for Cash WinFall to use them to make bets on the lottery’s Megabucks Doubler game.  Cash WinFall tickets are valid for up to one year after the drawing.

The Massachusetts lottery is introducing a new game to make up for the loss of Cash WinFall. Lucky for Life is a multi state lottery game that is available n all six New England states and will give players the opportunity to win $1,000 a day for life. The New England states participating in the game include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

In February 2009 Martins said Nascimento for the cash to purchase Powerball tickets for that evening’s drawing. Nascimento recalls “I gave Nuno $74; I didn’t give him $75 because I did not have that exact amount on me.” As it turned out one of the tickets was a $1 million dollar winner. Nascimento decided not to tell Martins about the winning ticket. Martins noticed that Nascimento had come into sudden wealth and confronted his friend. Martins stated “I asked Nuno if he had won the lottery and he told me he had not won. Nascimento told Martins that he had sold some property in his native country, Portugal.

Later Nascimento admitted to Martins that he had won some money and offered Martins a paltry $375. Martins sure and a three year long legal battle began. Martins said that Nascimento and his wife, Creuza, took the ticket to lottery headquarters and collected a check for $700,000. Martins said that later he heard from several people in the local Portuguese community that Nascimento had won big lottery bucks. Because of the lawsuit the Connecticut lottery held the money until the court case was resolved.

The terms of the settlement set by judge Barbara Bellis says that Martins will collect $630,000 and that Nascimento will receive $370,000. Neither Martins nor Nascimento would comment on the outcome of the lawsuit.  It is a real shame when greed takes over and destroys a long term friendship but large sums of money can have a very strange effect on everyday people.

What happened next is astounding. The couple realized that the problem ticket was not completely scratched off. The couple realized that it was a winning ticket. Collier stated “It was, in fact, not a losing lottery ticket and not only that, but it’s worth a million dollars. Thus a controversy was born.” Jones redeemed the ticket and received a check from the Arkansas lottery for $680,000. After Jones received the check lottery officials began the process of confirming winning tickets and during the investigation found surveillance footage from the store showing Jones retrieving a handful of tickets from the trash can.

After viewing the footage store manages Lisa Petriches suddenly claimed that customers were not allowed to take tickets from the trash can. She also claimed that she had a deal with the store manager that discarded tickets belonged to her. A month after Jones received the lottery check Petriches filed a lawsuit against Jones and claimed that there was a ‘do not take’ sign on the trash bin. Jones’ attorney Jimmy Simpson told reporters that Petriches has no claim and stated “We really don’t believe that Lisa Petriches has any claim whatsoever. She’s saying those tickets were hers, but you’ve got all these people saying they weren’t.”

Simpson told reporters that several store regulars are willing to testify in court that it was common practice for customers to take lottery tickets from the trash can and that the ‘do not take’ sign was not up when Jones found the winning ticket worth $1 million. Collier Stated “Our theory is that it was abandoned property. Once someone has abandoned it, it becomes the property of the first possessor.” Petriches’s lawyer declined interviews with reporters. Interim director of public affairs and legislative relations for the Arkansas Lottery Commission Julie Baldridge stated the lottery’s position and told reporters “From our perspective, the person who won is the winner, the person who brought it in.  Baldridge said it is up to a judge to decide the ticket’s ownership.

In another strange twist a third party is now claiming ownership of the winning ticket. Sharon Duncan claimed that she was the person that purchased the winning ticket and that the jackpot is rightfully hers. The attorneys involved in this strange case are meeting with lottery officials to see if there is any way to confirm ownership of the ticket. Jones and Petriches appeared before a judge this week but were dismissed after the judge said that not all of the necessary parties were present at the hearing. The next court date has not been set. Sounds like a case of ‘finders keepers, losers weepers.’

Adams, of College Park Georgia, won the $72 million Mega Millions jackpot and opted for a lump sum payout of $52 million. Adams said she plans to continue working and told reporters “I’m hiring a financial planner.” Adams’s good luck started with a trip to a local Chevron Food Mart last Thursday to buy a candy bar. Adams told her boyfriend to buy a lottery ticket and stated “I told him to buy me a Quik Pik. He picked up one for himself and left the candy.” Adams and her boyfriend purchased the tickets an hour before the drawing.

On Thursday morning they saw a lottery billboard while driving to work and remembered the tickets they had purchased on Tuesday. They had left both tickets on the console of their car. Adams described what happened next; “I knew somebody won, but I didn’t think for a moment that is was that ticket. He checked the number on his phone, and screamed my name. “We pulled over to the side of the highway so I could check the number again. Then I said, ‘We’ve got to get to the nearest store so I could check the numbers again.” The winning Mega Millions numbers matched her ticket.

Adams wanted more verification to make sure she had actually won. “I emailed my job to tell them I wouldn’t be in today, found directions to the lottery office, and came straight here.” Adams received official verification that she was the winner but said at the time the truth was difficult to grasp. Adams stated “It still hasn’t set in. It seems like it’s somebody else besides me.” Since she chose the cash option the ticket was worth $52 million. After state and federal taxes Adams will end up with $33.8 million. Adams is a corporate accountant and said she will continue working. Adams told lottery officials “I love what I do. I have a purpose.”

Adams plans to take a trip with her boyfriend and said she will share her good fortune with her family. Her long term plans include hiring a financial planner to make sure she has a comfortable retirement.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley said online sales could bring in an extra $2 million in the last six months of fiscal 2013. Lottery Director Stephen Martino said that many states may implement online lottery ticket sales thanks to a Justice Department opinion released in December that cleared the way for internet sales of state lottery tickets. Current Maryland lottery regulations prohibit the use of credit cards for the purchase of lottery tickets of any kind. One possibility being looked at is for the state to sell a card similar to an Apple iTunes card that would be purchased with cash at a store and the money would be deposited in an online lottery account. Lottery Director Stephen Martino stated “We believe the lottery and the lottery industry needs new sales channels. This is how people are increasingly going to be doing business.”

Martino also said that online games could have an entertainment aspect and games on popular social media sites such as Facebook could be launched to include lottery play. Martino told reporters “It would be more entertainment with a longer play cycle than scratching off a latex cover.” Lyle Beckwith, senior vice president of government relations with the National Association of Convenience Stores said that convenience store owners are worried about the drop in business that online ticket sales will cause. For many convenience stores lottery sales bring in essential foot traffic and lottery players usually pick up other items while buying their tickets. Industry statistics show that non lottery players spend an average of $6.29 per visit while lottery players usually spend about $10.35 per visit. Beckwith also sees problems with age verification.

Currently Maryland is working to solve the problems associated with online lottery ticket sales. Many of the plans for online sales are in the early stages. Patrick Donoho, president of Maryland Retailers Association in Annapolis, said his organization has not taken a position on the proposal. Donoho stated “We’re waiting to see what they mean by that. The devil is in the details on something like that. I’m sure once we see details of the proposal we can take a look at it and take a position.”