Lottery, Welfare | featured news

North Carolina lawmakers are drafting legislation that would ban people on welfare or those who are in bankruptcy from buying lottery tickets. Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, R-Wake is helping draft the legislation. Stam told ABC11 the vendor selling the lottery ticket would be penalized if they knew the person was on welfare or in bankruptcy.

Amanda Clayton, who caused a stir by continuing to take food stamps after winning the state lottery's $1 million Make Me Rich! game show, has died of a possible drug overdose, police said Saturday.

Amanda Clayton, a Michigan woman who won $1 million from the state lottery last year, was arraigned today in district court on felony charges stemming from an investigation that found she failed to report her lottery winnings and employment status to the Department of Human Services in order to continue receiving public assistance.

Beware of too much good luck, warns a classic Greek myth – a lesson that a Michigan woman who won a $1-million state lottery jackpot has learned the hard way. Michigan’s Department of Human Services has cut off $200 a month in food aid to Amanda Clayton in the wake of media reports that she had won $1 million in the state lottery in September. To make matters worse for Clayton, who lives in Lincoln Park near Detroit, her case has been turned over to state anti-fraud officials.