West Virginia Lottery

BUNKER HILL, W.Va. - Glen Cunningham stood behind the counter at his State Line Market, ringing up a customer's lottery tickets Tuesday afternoon. It's not the baseball caps with race car logos or the hot dogs spinning in the warmer that brings many of the customers to the small market in southern Berkeley County. It's the lure of the lottery. West Virginia Lottery officials announced Monday that in a record-breaking year for lottery sales, State Line Market was the top retailer for agents that do not carry the Keno game.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A Shepherdstown computer specialist said she plans to use her $100,000 Powerball winnings to help pay her daughter's college expenses. Becky Boutz, 47, claimed her winnings at the West Virginia Lottery headquarters in Charleston on Friday, said lottery spokeswoman Kari Safford. Boutz bought the ticket for Wednesday's drawing, but she did not realize she had won until Friday. Boutz works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a computer specialist and trainer.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Gamblers bet nearly $269 million at video lottery machines at Charles Town Races in the fiscal year that ended June 30, West Virginia Lottery officials said Monday. Nearly 92 percent, or $247 million, went back to players as winnings on the machines. But the real winners were Charles Town Races, the West Virginia Lottery, the Jefferson County Commission, and fire and rescue volunteers. --cont from front page -- "It will be a tremendous amount of assistance," said Henry Christie, president of the Jefferson County Fire and Rescue Association.

RANSON, W.VA. A Ranson convenience store clerk faces possible jail time and as much as $6,000 in fines after police say she tried to claim a $20,000 prize from the West Virginia Lottery, according to Jefferson County Magistrate Court records. Misty Ann Crawford, 26, of 28 Windswept Lane, is charged with forgery, counterfeiting, etc., (of a) lottery ticket. She also is charged with larceny of bank notes, checks and writings of value and book accounts and obtaining money, property and services by false pretenses, court records state.

The number of locations in Berkeley County where residents can try their luck playing state-licensed limited video lottery machines slightly decreased when new 10-year licenses went into effect last Friday. There were 66 licensed "Limited Video Lottery" retail sites in operation at the beginning of the new fiscal year, down from 73 in June, according to data released Thursday by West Virginia Lottery's deputy marketing director Nikki Orcutt. There was no change in Jefferson County, where 27 licensed retail locations were operating, and Morgan County only decreased by one — from nine to eight locations — according to Orcutt.

Berkeley 9th in W.Va. lottery sales By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer, Charles Town MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County ranked ninth among West Virginia's 55 counties in lottery sales this past fiscal year, generating $6.6 million in sales, according to year-end figures released by the West Virginia Lottery. Jefferson County ranked 13th with $4.5 million in sales and Morgan County ranked 39th with $916,562 in sales, according to the Lottery Commission. Lottery officials say the high rankings of Berkeley and Jefferson can be attributed to Powerball sales.

Pa. man claims Powerball winnings ST. THOMAS, Pa. - A retired federal employee showed his faith in the U.S. Postal Service when he sent his $100,004 Powerball ticket to Charleston, W.Va., via registered mail. Rick Estep, 48, said he thought about taking the ticket down personally, but "I didn't feel like driving 300 miles. " "If it was the $55 million prize, I guarantee there would have been a caravan with me," he said. Estep, who retired four years ago after 25 years in the federal government, matched all the numbers except the Powerball in the West Virginia lottery drawing Wednesday.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Two weeks after a Hot Lotto ticket worth $8.47 million was sold at an Eastern Panhandle store, no one has claimed the prize. The ticket was sold at the State Line Market in Bunker Hill, W.Va., for the March 18 drawing. "Someone should have shown up," said store cashier MaryAnn Cupano, who sold the winning ticket. "It's like, where did they go?" The winning numbers in the March 18 drawing were 1, 8, 10, 23 and 33, and the hotball was 11. Hot Lotto winners have 180 days to claim their prize money, West Virginia Lottery spokeswoman Libby White said.

gregs@herald-mail.com A Charles Town, man said he'll be able to live a little easier now that he's won $125,000 in the West Virginia Lottery. Angel Gonzalez, 67, reached by telephone Friday night, said he paid $25 for 25 Daily 4 tickets at a Sheetz store Tuesday after just having told his wife he expected to win soon. "I told my wife the day before, 'The number's coming very soon, and it's coming in straight,' " meaning the numbers he picked were coming in exact order, he said.

Hottest ticket in town $60 million spent on lottery games in Tri-State area in fiscal year 1994 By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Writer Hagerstown resident Bob Baker walked up to the counter at Central City Liquors last week, placed his cash on the table and ordered some lottery tickets. Baker, who lives on Avalon Avenue, said he usually plays the Maryland Lottery about twice week. The reason? "The excitement - and I don't have a rich uncle," he said. That chance for a big payoff draws millions of dollars each year to state lottery games in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The number of locations in Berkeley County where residents can try their luck playing state-licensed limited video lottery machines slightly decreased when new 10-year licenses went into effect last Friday. There were 66 licensed "Limited Video Lottery" retail sites in operation at the beginning of the new fiscal year, down from 73 in June, according to data released Thursday by West Virginia Lottery's deputy marketing director Nikki Orcutt. There was no change in Jefferson County, where 27 licensed retail locations were operating, and Morgan County only decreased by one — from nine to eight locations — according to Orcutt.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. Two weeks after a Hot Lotto ticket worth $8.47 million was sold at an Eastern Panhandle store, no one has claimed the prize. The ticket was sold at the State Line Market in Bunker Hill, W.Va., for the March 18 drawing. "Someone should have shown up," said store cashier MaryAnn Cupano, who sold the winning ticket. "It's like, where did they go?" The winning numbers in the March 18 drawing were 1, 8, 10, 23 and 33, and the hotball was 11. Hot Lotto winners have 180 days to claim their prize money, West Virginia Lottery spokeswoman Libby White said.

RANSON, W.VA. A Ranson convenience store clerk faces possible jail time and as much as $6,000 in fines after police say she tried to claim a $20,000 prize from the West Virginia Lottery, according to Jefferson County Magistrate Court records. Misty Ann Crawford, 26, of 28 Windswept Lane, is charged with forgery, counterfeiting, etc., (of a) lottery ticket. She also is charged with larceny of bank notes, checks and writings of value and book accounts and obtaining money, property and services by false pretenses, court records state.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. charlestown@herald-mail.com They didn't hit the $340 million Powerball jackpot Wednesday, but they were winners just the same. Nineteen people who work together in Charles Town told state Lottery Commission officials they had a winning $853,492 Powerball ticket that was purchased from the Somerset Shell gas station and convenience store in the Somerset Village shopping center along U.S. 340 north of Charles Town. There were 49 tickets on which players hit five of the winning numbers but missed the Powerball number during Wednesday's drawing, West Virginia Lottery spokeswoman Nancy Bulla said.

gregs@herald-mail.com A Charles Town, man said he'll be able to live a little easier now that he's won $125,000 in the West Virginia Lottery. Angel Gonzalez, 67, reached by telephone Friday night, said he paid $25 for 25 Daily 4 tickets at a Sheetz store Tuesday after just having told his wife he expected to win soon. "I told my wife the day before, 'The number's coming very soon, and it's coming in straight,' " meaning the numbers he picked were coming in exact order, he said.

Berkeley 9th in W.Va. lottery sales By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer, Charles Town MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County ranked ninth among West Virginia's 55 counties in lottery sales this past fiscal year, generating $6.6 million in sales, according to year-end figures released by the West Virginia Lottery. Jefferson County ranked 13th with $4.5 million in sales and Morgan County ranked 39th with $916,562 in sales, according to the Lottery Commission. Lottery officials say the high rankings of Berkeley and Jefferson can be attributed to Powerball sales.

The Interstate 70 Sunoco Food Market on Sharpsburg Pike looks like many conveniences stores with gasoline pumps out front and drinks and food for sale inside. [cont. from front page ] It's also a hot spot for Maryland lottery games, especially Keno. In the last fiscal year, The Sunoco Food Market was the biggest Keno retailer in the county with $376,000 in sales. Almost $63 million, or $108 per person, was spent on lotteries in the Tri-State area in the last fiscal year, lottery officials said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The jackpot for tonight's Powerball drawing has reached $145 million and could climb above $200 million by Saturday if no one picks the winning numbers, according to the West Virginia Lottery. [cont. from news page ] The jackpot came close to dropping back to $10 million last weekend when a lottery ticket sold at a Berkeley County gas station missed the jackpot by one number, state lottery spokeswoman Kari Safford said. A ticket sold at Marlow's Texaco station in Falling Waters, W.Va.

photo: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer enlarge By LAURA ERNDE and CLYDE FORD / Staff Writers FALLING WATERS, W.Va. - Powerball fever caused traffic to back up Monday on U.S. 11 to Interstate 81 with out-of-state drivers stopping to buy lottery tickets at the Texaco Food Mart in Falling Waters. With the jackpot now estimated at a whopping $250 million, the "fever" has become an epidemic. --cont from front page -- No one hit the $183 million prize on Saturday.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Gamblers bet nearly $269 million at video lottery machines at Charles Town Races in the fiscal year that ended June 30, West Virginia Lottery officials said Monday. Nearly 92 percent, or $247 million, went back to players as winnings on the machines. But the real winners were Charles Town Races, the West Virginia Lottery, the Jefferson County Commission, and fire and rescue volunteers. --cont from front page -- "It will be a tremendous amount of assistance," said Henry Christie, president of the Jefferson County Fire and Rescue Association.