Lottery

Fourteen families are getting ready to buy new, low-priced townhouses and condominiums, thanks to the latest Howard County moderate-income housing lottery. Thomas P. Carbo, deputy county housing director, said a lottery drawing last week awarded five new townhouses in Shipley's Grant on Route 108 near Snowden River Parkway, at $168,000 each; five Elkridge Crossing condominium apartments on U.S. 1, priced at $178,000 each; and four Elkridge Crossing garage townhouses at $204,000 each. Carbo said the housing winners were people employed by Howard County General Hospital, the county state's attorney's office, the National Institutes of Health, county schools, police, the state health department and Enterprise Community Partners.

Seeking to remove the differences in how pupils are selected for magnet schools, Baltimore County educators last night proposed one policy for the entire system.The proposal calls for the 27 county schools with magnet programs to choose pupils primarily through a centralized random lottery, replacing a variety of methods."We haven't had any countywide policy before this," said Phyllis Bailey, associate superintendent for educational support services. "This will carry out consistency in all schools."

A 44-year-old Laurel man won the $1 million grand prize on the Maryland Lottery's "Scream For Millions" television game show, which aired last night on WJZ (Channel 13) in Baltimore and WDCA (Channel 20) in Washington.Saghir Ahmed, the winner, was one of 50 contestants chosen from more than 300,000 losing lottery ticket entries to compete for $2.5 million in cash and prizes.Ahmed said he plans to take the money back to his native Pakistan to share with family.Other winners included Mike Miller of Oakton, Va., who won a 1999 Chevrolet Camaro; and Jonathan Watson of Bowie, who won $222,747.

How much longer Pimlico Race Course remains in its present state, an all-but-worn-out facility offering neither charm nor comfort, depends on the continuing patience of the public and how much it is willing to endure. Forget the attachment for something that has grown outmoded -- the place should be torn down and a modern replacement created.Despite the multitude in attendance for yesterday's Preakness, the ticket buyers put up with inconveniences they shouldn't be asked to accept when sports facilities are by design and appearance important to the crowd.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Gambling opponents can cross Alabama off their list of lottery-friendly states. South Carolina is next on their list.Despite more than a year of campaigning, Alabama Gov. Donald Siegelman could not persuade voters to approve Tuesday a Georgia-style education lottery that he had projected would raise $150 million a year."

Lottery tickets were selling at a brisk 45 per second yesterday as people geared up for last night's multistate Big Game drawing and its $110 million jackpot.More than 4,000 locations sold 2.6 million tickets this week, but officials said they hadn't seen lottery fever as with other huge jackpots."There are some lines, but we don't have [any] wrapping around buildings," Maryland Lottery spokesman Jimmy White said yesterday.But at BJ's Wholesale Club in Pasadena, where a Millersville couple bought a Big Game ticket in May that won them $60 million, employees and customers were hoping that lightning would strike twice.

THERE'S been nothing like it in Maryland: A $160 million lottery jackpot that has people clamoring for Big Game tickets from lottery vendors. Expect long lines if you wait too late to buy your tickets before tonight's 11 p.m. drawing.Chances are very strong that someone tonight will win this jackpot -- $6.1 million annually for 26 years, or $84.5 million in cash. Lottery officials predict that only 10 percent of the Big Game combinations will be left unplayed by drawing time. That's more incentive for people to take a chance, despite the 76 million to 1 odds.

George Shinn lost his chance to be the man who brought Michael Jordan back to the NBA when the retired Chicago Bulls great broke off negotiations to buy half-interest in the Charlotte Hornets.In a statement released by his agent early yesterday, Jordan said he withdrew from negotiations not because of price, but because of control. In fact, the five-time NBA Most Valuable Player said he had offered to buy 100 percent of the Hornets, but was rejected."Due to my competitive nature and my desire to be actively involved in all aspects of ownership, the issue of control became paramount to me," Jordan said.

WITH MANY questioning the commitment of parents to providing guidance for their children, the news about lottery winners George and Celia Poteet was like a beacon slicing through fog.After they hit the $31.5 million Big Game jackpot, twice as big as the previous largest Big Game prize in Maryland, the couple from Millersville knew that they and their children were guaranteed a comfortable life.However, the Poteets didn't immediately report their winning ticket to lottery officials; for three weeks, they kept their impending fortune a secret because they didn't want their teen-age sons distracted before final exams at Old Mill High School.

NEW YORK -- Where would you want to go if you won $12 million in the lottery?Disneyland? Paris? Maui? Tahiti?Would you believe the NFL draft in New York?That's what Seattle Seahawks original season-ticket holder Don Hopkins Jr. wanted to do when he split a $24 million prize in the Washington state lottery.Hopkins, 57, got a $4.32 million check when he decided to take his prize in a lump sum. He immediately retired from a well-paying job supervising the loading of ships in Seattle.He bought a half-million dollar boat, fattened his stock portfolio (going from 400 to 4,000 shares of Microsoft)

Because of what school officials are calling an overwhelming response, Monarch Academy Public Charter School, will hold a lottery to choose its first students. The Glen Burnie school has received more than 350 applications but has room for about 195 students this fall, when the school will open to kindergarten, first- and fifth-grade students. "We couldn't be more pleased with the community's overwhelming response to Monarch Academy, and we're looking forward to providing our incoming students with a unique and enriched learning experience this fall," said Maurine E. Larkin, Monarch's principal.

Channel 11 could have displayed the Maryland Lottery drawing in another fashion that didn't require shrinking Bruce Springsteen during the Super Bowl halftime, and the station's general manager says WBAL apologizes. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/mediumwell)

Don't be duped by slots language Thanks to Annapolis' sleazy politics, Maryland voters are being duped once again ("Slots decision is a win for referendum proponents," Sept. 16). Appeals to the highest court in the state failed to convince the judges that the language in the constitutional amendment to legalize 15,000 slots at five locations is misleading and deceptive and needs to be revised so that voters will see clearly the full picture as to exactly how the revenue generated from slots would be divided and understand that education would only get a piece of the pie. The court should have made it evident to voters that the state has passed legislation that allocates slots revenue to beneficiaries that have nothing to do with education.

The lucky ones heard their numbers called early. Not only could those first-announced winners beam with pride about being one of the first 80 students who will attend the SEED School of Maryland, but they also did not have to agonize in their chairs any longer, watching the white lottery balls tumble in gilded cages - the numbered balls representing dreams for all and disappointment for many. Yesterday morning, the founders of the nation's first public boarding school, which opened 10 years ago in Washington, D.C., held the inaugural lottery to fill the slots for the Baltimore-based second location, which will open its doors in August to disadvantaged youths from all over the state.

BIG WATER, Utah-- --So there I was, standing with about 30 other hikers, jammed into a room in a one-story government building in southern Utah. The day before, I had flown to Flagstaff, Ariz., rented a car and driven more than two hours to Page, near the Utah border, then gotten up early for a 30-minute drive to Big Water. Inside the crowded room, a staffer with the Bureau of Land Management began to drop numbered bingo balls into a small cage. The room fell quiet as he turned the crank.

Think twice before you open bogus e-mail from an all-too-helpful "Fraud Department" claiming to be associated with the Federal Trade Commission. The e-mail is laced with links and attachments that download a virus that could grab passwords and account numbers from your computer. It commonly refers to complaints filed against the recipient and includes a phony sender's address from frauddep@ftc.gov. Despite an image of the FTC seal, alert consumers will spot grammatical errors, misspellings and incorrect syntax.

Hemant Shah marveled yesterday at how close he came to possibly being the latest Mega Millions lottery winner. Instead, the owner of Mace Liquors in Essex said he learned yesterday morning that one of his customers snatched up the lucky single-winning ticket - and its $26 million bounty - exactly four minutes before Shah. "I'm ecstatic," said Shah, who has owned the store for five years. "I knew deep down that we'd sell one." Shah, 59, said lottery officials called him about 9:30 a.m. to tell him that the winning ticket had been bought at his store, but he doesn't know which customers has it. The winning numbers from Friday night's drawing were: 10, 19, 37, 40 and 48. The Mega Ball number was 1. If the winner opts for a lump-sum payment, he or she could net about $15.2 million, Maryland Lottery Director Buddy Roogow said yesterday afternoon.

Fourteen families are getting ready to buy new, low-priced townhouses and condominiums, thanks to the latest Howard County moderate-income housing lottery. Thomas P. Carbo, deputy county housing director, said a lottery drawing last week awarded five new townhouses in Shipley's Grant on Route 108 near Snowden River Parkway, at $168,000 each; five Elkridge Crossing condominium apartments on U.S. 1, priced at $178,000 each; and four Elkridge Crossing garage townhouses at $204,000 each. Carbo said the housing winners were people employed by Howard County General Hospital, the county state's attorney's office, the National Institutes of Health, county schools, police, the state health department and Enterprise Community Partners.

Bunky has officially claimed his bread. Maryland's latest jackpot winner, Ellwood August "Bunky" Bartlett, claimed his share of the $330 million Mega Millions winnings at lottery headquarters in Baltimore yesterday afternoon. The soon-to-be retired Dundalk accountant was greeted by Maryland Lottery Director Buddy W. Roogow. "This is Bunky Bartlett, our new Mega Millions winner," Roogow announced to reporters. Bartlett was one of four jackpot winners. The other three winning tickets were purchased in New Jersey, Virginia and Texas.

Ladies and gentlemen, a big round of applause for our new Wicca-practicing Mega Millions lottery winner, Mr. Bunky Bartlett of Dundalk! Is this guy beautiful, or what? Most people who hit for a huge share of a $330 million lottery drop out of sight faster than a snitch on The Sopranos. They huddle with lawyers and accountants for days and hole up in some fancy hotel suite, all the while issuing the usual statements along the lines of: "We ask that you respect our privacy as we contemplate our recent good fortune and blah, blah, blah."