Benefiting Idaho public schools and buildings

 

IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         CONTACT: David Workman

Friday, February 16, 2007                                                                                          (208) 334-2600

 

Blackfoot Store Sells Two Top Lottery Prizes in Three Days

 

Blackfoot – Need a lucky Lottery ticket? Visit the Gas and Scrub in Blackfoot on Highway 26. This store is having a very lucky week. In a period of three days, the convenient store and car wash about a mile west of the Interstate headed toward Arco sold not one, but two high tier winning lottery tickets.

 

“It certainly is creating some excitement in the store,” exclaimed store owner John Ritchie, who bought the store in 1974 and has operated it ever since.

 

On Tuesday, Michael Daniels of Blackfoot claimed $1,500 in winnings at lottery headquarters playing “$150,000 Double Action,” that game’s second highest prize.  But that was just a precursor to even bigger winnings. 

 

On Thursday, James Lienemann of Blackfoot won $50,000 playing “Super Cashword” on a ticket he bought at the same store.

 

“I was pretty excited,” said Lienemann, a retired Air Force mechanic from Hill Field in Utah who moved to Blackfoot 10 years ago and works at the Basic American food processing plant. 

 

“I scratched it off in the store and just couldn’t believe it. I probably looked it over and checked it a hundred times just to be sure,” explained a happy Lienemann who confessed he plays the lottery regularly.

 

“That was pretty cool. James is an every day player,” described Rosalee Rivas, Gas and Scrub’s manager. “He’s a nice guy.”

 

“We recently had a store sell two top prizes in northern Idaho in a period of three months. But to do it in three days, that’s really beating the odds,” said Jeff Anderson, Idaho Lottery Director.

 

Lienemann received $33,600 after taxes and plans to pay off some bills and maybe his truck. For their part in selling both winning tickets, Gas and Scrub will receive a retailer bonus of $5,150.  

 

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