Unless you live under a rock, you probably recall the recent Powerball jackpot that totaled around $1.6 billion dollars, to be split between three big winners.  One of those winning tickets originated at a 7-Eleven in our own Chino Hills, California, but to whom that ticket was sold remains a mystery.

Treacherous Trickery in Chino

Right after the numbers were announced, there was the 62-year-old nurse, whose wretched, awful, NOT funny son played a mean trick on her, and convinced her that she had the winning ticket when in fact, she did not.  The nurse’s boss, owner of the Park Avenue Health Care and Wellness Center in Pomona, had purchased some 18,000 tickets for each of his employees.  He called the son’s trickery “despicable,” and in consideration, gave the nurse and her family an all-expense vacation to a destination of their choice.

Since then, no one else has come forward to claim the Chino winnings, but according to some experts, the delay is no surprise.  In fact, the last big California lottery winner took six weeks to come forward and made a big dramatic spectacle of it when he did finally claim his $425 million jackpot.  Susan Bradley, expert and founder of the Sudden Money Institute of Palm Beach, said it can take at least two months to prepare a winner psychologically and emotionally for the fortune and obstacles ahead.

When in Doubt, Sue 'Em!

Today, Los Angeleno Brandy Milliner sued the Lottery Commission, claiming to have purchased a winning ticket for the SuperLotto Plus from a 7-Eleven in Chatsworth.  The jackpot for this case was $63 million, and the deadline to claim it expired today at 5 p.m.  Milliner allegedly sent in the winning ticket within the period and even received a letter from the Lottery Commission congratulating him on the win.  Later, the Commission reneged on the award and claimed the ticket was “too damaged to be reconstructed.”  The Commission has also refused to return the ticket to him, claims Milliner. 

What Happens to Lost Loot?

So, what happens if no one can prove legal claim to lottery winnings?  The money goes into an “unclaimed funds” account that is eventually given to the California Department of Education to help fund schools within the State.   The process is slow, but eventually, many Californian kids will be much better off as a result of the Lost Lotto Loot!

If you’re like me, you first heard of this story last week, as the tragic tale of a mother of four being ruthlessly gunned down after a road rage run-in with a suspect still at large. Tammy Meyers had been teaching her teenage daughter how to drive just minutes from their home when she was shot and killed as a result of road rage. (Enter sad violins…) A reward was offered by the family of the deceased, and her children were giving statements to the media about what a good mom she was. What a sad story.

This week, however, the whole truth (or at least more of it) has come out. After leaving the school parking lot with her daughter around 11 p.m. at night (an odd time for a driving lesson), Tammy Meyers was cut off by the alleged shooter. She then drove home, dropped off her teenage daughter, and picked up her 22-year-old son and his gun. The two set out to find the traffic terrorist, driving around the neighborhood in search of him. They found him and began to follow his car for a while, before supposedly turning around to go back home. According to police, the subject then followed them home and was the first shooter in the exchange between the driver and Tammy’s son that ultimately resulted in Tammy’s death.

So to recap, this wasn’t just a heart-wrenching tragedy where an innocent mother was ruthlessly gunned down – this woman went out of her way to hunt down the offensive driver, bringing her ARMED TEENAGE SON with her! For what, back-up? What was she planning to do when the two set off, weapon in hand?! And way to put your young son in danger!

Smells bad. Totally stinks, in fact.



Today, after a stand-off with Vegas Police (along with the husband of the deceased and every media outlet in town), 19-year-old Erich Nowsch was taken into custody as the alleged suspect in the shooting.

Meanwhile it has been reported that the Meyers family knew Erich from around the neighborhood and they are already on a smear campaign to paint Erich as being a bad guy. According to NBC News, Tammy’s husband Robert Meyers said of Erich, “he knew where I live. We knew how bad he was but we didn’t know he was this bad.” (Huh? He knew how bad but he didn’t know he was this bad? I’m confused…) Mr. Meyers went on to say that his wife Tammy had “spent countless hours at that park consoling this boy," that she gave him food and money, and told him to “pull his pants up and to be a man, more times than I can count.” (More sad violins…) So the shooter is a sinner and the victim is a saint – even though SHE was the one who pursued HIM in quite the calculated manner.

I’m not saying it’s okay to go around shooting people, but it seems to me like there’s blame to share between both the victim and shooter. I guess only time will tell how the story plays out, but I am personally on Team Erich – at least for now. Stay tuned for updates!

Last night around 6:15 p.m. PST, the Ferguson prosecutor Mr. Robert McCulloch, made an incredibly drawn out announcement to the world that police officer Darren Wilson would not be charged after shooting and killing unarmed teenager, Michael Brown. The grand jury took just over 3 months to come to the conclusion that not only was there not enough evidence to put Officer Wilson on trial for first degree murder, but there was not even enough to try him for involuntary manslaughter, essentially exonerating Wilson for the killing.

Not surprisingly, the announcement sparked a huge uproar, from Ferguson, Missouri, to Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, where protestors hit the pavement to express great upset in the grand jury’s decision. According to the LA Times, 61 people were arrested in Ferguson last night, and at least a dozen buildings were set on fire during the protests.


No. The United States Justice Department is conducting its own federal investigation into this incident and is also investigating the practices of the Ferguson Police Department as a whole. And thank goodness for that.

A Couple of Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

1. The prosecutor in this case, Robert McCulloch, was accused of bias and asked to step down from his handling of the matter due to his own personal experience: his father was a police officer who was shot to death while in pursuit of a suspect. (Sound familiar?)

2. Officer Wilson has stayed out of the public eye during the grand jury deliberations, but his life was not put on hold by any means – in fact, he got married at the end of last month. Nice to see he isn’t letting the death of an unarmed teenager get in the way of his nuptials.


From what the prosecutor said, Michael Brown had turned around and began to run towards Officer Wilson when Wilson fatally shot him “several times.” Brown was unarmed; Wilson was a trained police officer. So my question is, shouldn’t a police officer have some skill or tool OTHER to fatally shoot an unarmed young person who comes toward him? Why not use his Taser? Or a police baton? Or his own police-trained fists. It is my belief that cops should be trained on how to deal with people in ways that do not involve shooting them and if Officer Wilson had been properly trained, he should have been able to quell any threat presented by Michael Brown without killing him in his tracks.

If Brown had pulled a gun on Officer Wilson, then absolutely, shoot to kill. Or if there had been 10 Michael Browns surrounding Officer Wilson, then okay, probably a good idea to pull your gun. Or, if it was ME who Michael Brown was aggressively approaching in a secluded alleyway, then fine, I would probably feel scared and threatened enough to pull a firearm. But an officer of the law should know better – he should know how to deal with an UNARMED person without using his damn gun.

If you live in the State of California, you have no doubt been bamboozled with an onslaught of political ads for all the Propositions on the ballot at tomorrow’s election. One initiative that has received somewhat less coverage is Proposition 47, “Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute.” This Proposition, if enacted, will make certain drug and property crimes misdemeanors instead of felonies, greatly reducing the amount of incarceration required for such a conviction.

My suggestion is to VOTE YES ON PROP 47! Here’s why:

1. MONEY: Prop 47 will save us loads of money; according to the State website, savings would be “potentially in the high hundreds of millions of dollars annually.” There would be 3,000 fewer people who are convicted of low-level crimes sent to State Prison each year, along with thousands fewer sent to County Jail. So the financial benefit extends not only to the State, but also to Los Angeles County, which has long suffered from grave budget deficits.

2. CRIME PREVENTION: According to the State website, savings resulting from the measure will be “used to support school truancy and dropout prevention, victim services, mental health and drug abuse treatment, and other programs designed to keep offenders out of prison and jail.” In other words, instead of spending millions per year in locking people up, the State will have more money to invest in our youth and in programs that help keep them on the straight and narrow before they go down that dark path of drug abuse.

3. EXEMPTIONS: The Proposition does not apply to defendants who have a prior conviction for a “serious or violent crime” nor will it apply to sex offenders. So if you are concerned about drug dealers being put back on the street, chances are this law will not apply in that type of case. Also this proposition does not apply to crimes of violence against a person, so if someone is injured or killed during the commission of a crime, there would be no leniency given as a result of Prop 47.

Prop 47 would also allow those who are already incarcerated under the applicable sections of the penal code to petition for resentencing. This too would free up a huge amount of State funds to be re-appropriated to other areas in the State’s budget. Moreover, Prop 47 would allow those who have already served out their felony sentence to petition the court to have their felony conviction reduced to a misdemeanor (and thereafter expunged), which would renew their voting rights and greatly increase employability.

Overall, Prop 47 seems like a great idea and I strongly encourage all Californians to vote YES ON PROPOSITION 47!

For more specifics on Prop 47, see: http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/47/analysis.htm
See also: http://www.prop47impacts.org

For more information on the other ballot initiatives, see: http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/