A North Georgia Lottery player is celebrating a life-changing win after claiming a $3 million top prize from a Georgia Lottery scratch-off ticket, one of several major payouts announced across the state in a single week. The win was part of a broader surge in lottery prizes, with players statewide collecting tens of millions of dollars from scratch-off and draw games.
Two Georgia brothers have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms after investigators say they carried out a years-long fraud scheme targeting Georgia Lottery–regulated gaming machines across the state. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Quinton Watts, 27, and Phillip Watts, 31, both of Sparta, defrauded the Georgia Lottery by stealing money from Coin Operated Amusement Machines (COAMs) in at least 12 Georgia counties over a three-year period.
Georgia is one of the only states that does not offer a statewide, needs-based financial aid program for students who can’t afford college—and a new state Senate report is urging lawmakers to change that.
