Lottery

I bought two lottery tickets yesterday - one scratch ticket and a Mega Millions bet. I did not win more than $10 million but I did win $4 on the scratch ticket. So I'm not a wonderous magical person, in case you were wondering. I am, at best, a mediocre magical person.

Anyway, I looked on line for more lottery facts but alas really did not find that much, aside from the fact that it's mostly the people who can least afford it who buy lottery tickets. That makes sense.

I did, however, review my notes from the March breakfast meeting of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce, where they were talking lottery and casinos.

A minister named Dave that I met at the breakfast told me that at little bodegas in Lawrence (where there are 65 lottery outlets within 12 square miles,* according to State Sen. Susan Tucker of Andover) people buy a loaf of bread, a quart of milk and take their change in lottery tickets. Dave related a story to me about a boy with his father in a bodega asking his father if he could get some candy and the father saying no, there wasn't enough money, but then proceeding to purchase lottery tickets. Dave said that happens day after day after day in the poor neighborhoods.

"It's hard to convince (other) people how many people have so little," he continued. "There are children in Lawrence who go to school every day without underwear. Their whole wardrobe is from Goodwill."

*To put this in perspective, Tucker said there are just 12 lottery outlets in 60 square miles in Andover, a wealthy community.

So if the cities and towns in MA get a share in the lottery proceeds, does Lawrence get more money than Andover because it has more outlets?

This, and other questions, will be answered on tomorrow's episode of "As the State Turns (a profit)."

Should we be alarmed?

I covered the latest monthly meeting of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce this week for Merrimack Valley Magazine and came away from it - well, amazed. State Treasurer Timothy Cahill told the group that the per capita, per person average spent on lottery tickets per year in MA is $700. The national average is $170 per person and the next highest amount nationally was $300 per person. There is one lottery machine for every 175 people in this state.

"It's just a fact," Cahill said to me later. "People in Massachusetts love the lottery."

Well I guess so.

When he announced the figures, there was an audible gasp from the audience.

At a previous meeting I attended, the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce, State Sen. Susan Tucker said that there are a disproportionate number of lottery machines in places such as the less affluent sections of Lowell.

I don't know where I stand on the state-sanctioned gambling issue. Where does everyone else stand?

On another note, Cahill also said - and I don't think this has been reported anywhere - that he is looking to borrow against future federal funds to repair 10 bridges that need high-cost repairs, including our own Whittier Bridge on I-95. If anyone recalls, there was a story in the Newburyport Current and Amesbury News when Cahill ruffled feathers with his (perhaps) implication that the bridge was about to collapse. (The bridge is of the same design as the one that collapsed in Minnesota last year.)

"I think it's a great way to access federal money and not impact the budget right now," Cahill said. "It's vital to get these projects done."

The state, Cahill said, gets 80% reimbursement from the feds but would not be able to access the money until 2015.