
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 27, 1990                   TAG: 9004270641
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: associated press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Short

DREAMS OF RICHES TURN TO NIGHTMARE

Virginia Lottery officials say there is nothing they can do for a 49-year-old disc jockey who claims an 11-minute power failure cost him half of last week's $5.8 million Lotto prize.

Howard Bell says he picked the winning numbers and tried to play them at four stores Saturday. But an outage had put Lotto computers out of service and he had to go to work without buying a ticket.

Since Bell found out Sunday morning that he had picked the winning numbers, and then Monday that a group of people from the Little Creek Naval Base had taken the prize, he has been obsessed with what might have been.

"I couldn't sleep Saturday night and I couldn't eat Sunday," Bell said. "I was sick on my stomach, crying . . . goose bumps. I never want that feeling again."

Lottery spokeswoman Paula Otto said Bell shouldn't have waited so late to buy the tickets.

by CNB