The Arkansas Lottery Commission meets this morning amid continuing reports about dissatisfaction with leadership. Gerard Matthews will be at the scene.
Gov. Mike Beebe doesn't control Lottery Commission appointments (only three of nine), but that's three-fifths of the way to assembling the votes to fire the lottery director and he presumably has some stick with the legislative leaders who make the other appointments.
Gerard Matthews will be back with more details later, but he reports that the Lottery Commission has voted to hire a tax attorney to try to straighten out its federal tax troubles — that big penalty for failing for the second year in a row to remit taxes owed on time.
John Brummett reviews the latest hiccups at the Arkansas Lottery Commission and seems to conclude, on balance, that director Ernie Passailaigue is doing a pretty good job, though better on the startup than ongoing management and likely to depart before too long.
Lottery director Ernie Passailaigue told commissioners that the $98 million the lottery will transfer to the academic scholarship fund will be short of his original goal.
Speaking of the Arkansas Lottery:
A friend driving back from South Carolina reports a double-take at crossing a bridge leaving Charleston and seeing it named the Ernie Passailaigue Connector Bridge.