After letting it sit in a napkin holder for six months, Lydia Burke yesterday found better use for her winning lottery ticket, claiming her $250,000 prize eight hours before it expired. Burke, 62, of Mechanicsville, collected her check for the March 27 Mega Millions drawing at 9 a.m. yesterday. It would have expired at 5 p.m., 180 days after it was drawn.

Camille Kostin and Dane Acton stood outside the Fas Mart service station on Semmes Avenue yesterday with an envelope containing 300 chances at wealth. With a Virginia Lottery Mega Millions jackpot of $333 million up for grabs last night, they bought lottery tickets for themselves and 10 of their co-workers from Cha-Cha’s Cantina and the Lucky Buddha Sushi Lounge and Bistro.

Redskins Mania scratch tickets offers players a chance to instantly win between $20 and $1 million.

Number nerds somewhere likely were rejoicing at 4 a.m. Or 4:05 a.m. to be more specific—six seconds after, to take it a step further. At that specific moment, it would have been 04:05:06 on 07/08/09, an anomaly that will not occur again for another century. “The day is very much about money, power and fame. That’s the true significance,“ said Barbara Evans, an intuitive counselor with a knowledge of numerology who works at the Aquarian Bookshop in Carytown.

Prosecutors yesterday lost a bid to restore a death sentence in a long-running case that led the U.S. Supreme Court to bar the execution of mentally retarded people. In a 5-2 decision, the justices of the Virginia Supreme Court disagreed with prosecutors’ contention that a York County judge lacked the authority to set aside Daryl Renard Atkins’ death sentence and impose life in prison after finding there had been a serious trial error.

Anticipated rulings in the long-running death penalty case of Daryl Renard Atkins and an effort to require all Virginia Lottery retail outlets to be handicapped-accessible will not be issued until June or later by the Supreme Court of Virginia.

As he clutched a fistful of lottery tickets at a Fas Mart in Hanover County, Aubrey Funn was hardly the image of an industry in recession. Funn estimated that he spends $45 a week on the Virginia Lottery, mostly playing Pick 3 and Pick 4. “Yeah, it’s affecting me,‘cause I ain’t winning nothing,“ he said when asked about the economy. “Just throwing my money away, that’s what I’m doing.“

The Virginia Lottery is going to the dogs, so to speak. But these dogs are some lucky dogs. The lottery’s latest marketing campaign includes television spots featuring three charmed canines.

Dog lovers have a chance to win a spot for their pet on Virginia Lottery scratcher tickets. Starting April 14, people can post photos of their dogs on the lottery’s Web site. Ten will be selected to be featured on lottery tickets.
  Online: http://www.valottery.com

The Virginia Lottery must make sure its private retailers provide access to the handicapped, a lawyer for four disabled people told the Virginia Supreme Court yesterday. Not so, countered Francis S. Ferguson, deputy Virginia attorney general. He said the lottery cannot order retailers to make the games accessible and that the only remedy would be to take away the licenses of retailers where games are not accessible to all.

A Petersburg woman has claimed a $1 million lottery prize at the convenience store where she purchased the winning ticket last year. Elfriede Davis, was one of four $1 million winners in the Virginia Lottery’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle. She found out she had the winning ticket on Jan. 1, but waited until Friday to claim her winnings during a noon presentation ceremony at Petersburg Market Place, 2706 S. Crater Road in Petersburg.

A Petersburg woman has claimed a $1 million lottery prize at the convenience store where she purchased the winning ticket last year. Elfriede Davis, was one of four $1 million winners in the Virginia Lottery’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle. She found out she had the winning ticket on Jan. 1, but waited until Friday to claim her winnings during a noon presentation ceremony at Petersburg Market Place, 2706 S. Crater Road in Petersburg.