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

DATE: MONDAY, March 8, 1993                   TAG: 9303080750
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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$20 MILLION

GOV. WILDER says he'll try to find the money to build a $20 million headquarters for the state's Lottery Department. This is a priority?

A measure to provide bond-financing for the proposed building was rejected by the General Assembly. Wilder says he may revive the issue when lawmakers reconvene for the so-called veto session on April 7.

It seems the five-year-old lottery department has grown so fast it's now spread over three rented locations in Richmond. Darned inconvenient for employees - including, of course, the lovely Lady Luck.

Of course, the lottery is a money-making machine for the state. A sophisticated numbers game can't be run out of a corner storefront.

But does Virginia really need a Taj Mahal for this purpose? Aren't such activities supposed to be run out of, well, sordid work places?

Weren't some indications given to voters who approved the lottery in 1987 that this would be a self-supporting operation?

Aren't there better uses for $20 million?

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