The lottery period to apply for magnet programs and available seats in nonmagnet schools is officially open. Saturday, the district gave students and their parents a chance to check out their options at the Philip O’Berry Academy of Technology.

The Virginia Lottery’s latest raffle-style game, New Year’s Millionaire Raffle, was drawn Friday, and made three instant millionaires.

The state abolished its yearly lottery system for sturgeon spearing licenses for northern Michigan’s Black Lake.

Since the multi-state lottery game Powerball arrived in Florida a year ago, people have bought more than $430 million in tickets. But even that couldn’t stop overall lottery revenue in 2009 from dropping 3 percent compared with the year before.

The owner of an Indianola construction business won the $50,000 top prize of an Iowa lottery scratch-off game, lottery officials announced Friday.

Gates still holds a lottery for their park shelters to avoid a January crush at registration.