Priest Stole, Went On Gambling Binge

Every Sunday the parishioners of St Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic church in Florida dropped their dollar notes into the collection plate, confident that the money would go straight to the church.

It did — but not in quite the way that they might have expected.

First it went into a hiding place in the ceiling tiles of the church in Delray Beach. Then it found its way into an offshore account, from where it was used to fund gambling trips to Las Vegas, lavish homes and even a mistress. More than a quarter of a million dollars was spent on a rare coin collection. - Timesonline.co.uk

Oh snap.

State Lotteries Reporting Declines

Across the U.S., many state lotteries are reporting hefty declines, with ticket sales down nearly 10% in California and more than 4% in Texas over the past few months. In good years, these lotteries have turned over more than $1 billion apiece to education programs, the most common lottery beneficiaries.

Lottery officials have long praised their games as low-cost entertainment that grow even more appealing to players when the economy turns down. But lottery sales nationwide fell about $215 million, or nearly 2%, from July through September compared with the same stretch in 2007, according to La Fleur's magazine, which tracks the lottery business. - Wall Street Journal

I doubt this is happening in Massachusetts.