The State - News from Aug. 3, 1986

Claiming that a clerk caused her to throw away a $50,000 lottery ticket, a Sonoma County woman who is near-sighted and living on Social Security benefits has sued a Northern California supermarket for $50,000. Lorraine Mahaney claims that she bought the winning lottery ticket at Raley’s Supermarket in February. Since her glasses were broken, Mahaney said she asked a clerk if the ticket showing two $25,000 figures and a gold nugget was a winner. Mahaney said she threw the ticket away after the clerk told her it was not. Later, Mahaney said she learned that the nugget meant the ticket was a wild card that paid off twice as much as the amount shown.