The Attorney General’s Office last month closed a criminal investigation of former Arizona Lottery Director Tony Bouie.

The Arizona Attorney General’s Office is investigating Tony Bouie, who resigned as state Lottery director following revelations that he used state vehicles for personal reasons and fired agency employees so he could hire friends to replace them.

Following allegations that he’d improperly used state vehicles for personal reasons and fired several employees and replaced them with friends, Arizona State Lottery Director Tony Bouie resigned his position to avoid being a “distraction,” according to the Governor’s Office.

Tony Bouie, the former NFL-player-turned-politician-turned bureaucrat, is shaking things up at the Arizona State Lottery, where as executive director he has hunkered down to privatize some of his agency’s work, posting subcontracting jobs online and increasing the percentage of contracting work that’s being done by in-state firms.

State lawmakers want to give winners of the Arizona Lottery what one calls a “running start” to protecting their privacy and security before their names become public.

For compulsive gamblers, the proliferation of Indian casinos can bring life-altering temptations.

It took the Arizona Lottery four years and a customer survey to decide to support raising the price of a Powerball ticket to $2, a change the agency says will bring more revenue to the state and to the Lottery winners.

The “Five C’s” that traditionally made the bulk of Arizona’s economy – copper, climate, cattle, cotton, citrus – may need to make room for a sixth: casinos.

The Commission on Privatization and Efficiency released its long-awaited report, nearly eight months after it was originally scheduled for completion.

The House Feb. 8 approved two more measures aimed at filling in a $1.4 billion deficit this year and paving the way to bridge a substantially larger shortfall in the upcoming year, but two more bills still await action.