Indiana lottery says revenue drops 11 percent

Chicago Tribune

Hoosier Lottery revenue dropped 11 percent in the latest fiscal year, marking the weakest sales of lottery tickets in five years.

Lottery officials say revenue for the year that ended June 30 was $732 million, down from $822 million in fiscal 2008.

Hoosier Lottery spokesman Andrew Reed says the economy was a factor. He also says Hoosier Lotto sales were down from a "phenomenal" year in 2008.

St. Francis Hospital staff donates 200 DVDs to military clinic in Iraq

The Indianapolis Star

While serving in Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Andrea Cowden saw a need for a variety of DVDs to entertain military personnel awaiting treatment in a clinic at Camp Liberty, near Baghdad.

She contacted her mother, Kathleen Cowden, a Westside Indianapolis resident and staff dietitian at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove, for help.

Cowden's mother got the attention of hospital leaders. Staff at St. Francis' hospitals in Beech Grove, Mooresville and on Indianapolis' Far Southside then donated 200 new and used DVDs in the spring, and they were shipped to Cowden.

"It really meant a whole lot to us to have more than five movies to show," Cowden said Wednesday during a hospital visit, while she was on a two-week break from duty at Camp Liberty.

Indianapolis Colts Odds to Win 2010 Super Bowl

Gambling 911

The Indianapolis Colts odds to win the 2010 Super Bowl have been set early at +1300 meaning that a $100 bet will pay $1300 at Sports Interaction.com (a $10 bet will pay out $130). These are pretty good payout odds all things considered. As long as Peyton Manning is on this team, the Colts always have a shot at going to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately they are also one Peyton injury away from going under .500.

There are a few concerns for the Indianapolis Colts, the biggest of which is the coaching change. Tony Dungy retired after last season and the club promoted long time assistant Jim Caldwell. Gambling911.com does not see this as having any major negative impact on the Colts chances in 2009/2010 however. Caldwell, after all, has been a key component of the Colts success over the years. But whenever there is a coaching change, there is always the potential for some glitches.

Jackson hometown left out of pocket

Google News

The mayor of Michael Jackson's home town, Gary, Indiana, has revealed how the cash-strapped community paid US $5,000 to fly Michael Jackson's father and seven other people from Los Angeles to attend a July memorial service for his son.

Mayor Rudy Clay insisted Joe Jackson wasn't paid any money to attend the July 10 memorial in downtown Gary, near the Jackson family's former two-bedroom boyhood home.

"Joe Jackson came here for one reason: his son," he said. "He wanted to be with his 31 other family members who live in Gary. There was no fee for Joe Jackson to appear. Absolutely not."

Hayhurst Will Challenge Indiana GOP Rep. Souder

CQ Politics

Indiana Democrat Tom Hayhurst will challenge Republican Rep. Mark Souder in the 2010 election, in what would be a rematch of their competitive 2006 matchup in the Fort Wayne-based 3rd District.

Hayhurst, a former Fort Wayne city councilman, this week filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission to initiate a 2010 campaign in Indiana's 3rd, which Souder has represented since 1995.

"I've been thinking about it a lot and talking it over with my family and other folks who supported me along the way and decided -- especially considering what's going on in this congressional district now and also in our entire country -- that it was my duty, my job, my obligation to file and run," Hayhurst told CQ Politics Friday afternoon.

Indiana's 8.4% spike in foreclosure filings worrisome

Indianapolis Star

Indiana's high jobless levels could be behind an unhealthy jump in mortgage foreclosures in the state last month.

Lenders carried out 5,186 foreclosure filings last month in Indiana, an 8.4 percent upswing from the same month last year, according to a report from RealtyTrac, a California seller of distressed properties.

Indiana's rate of foreclosure filings now ranks it 17th on RealtyTrac's national list. That's far better than Indiana's top 10 showings several years ago.