Anyone familiar with the Pennsylvania Lottery knew the state would not be permanently content with afternoon drawings of only the Daily Number and Big 4 games. That belief will come to pass Tuesday afternoon, when the lottery launches its new, animated Treasure Hunt game.

The state continues to fuel lottery addiction on the grounds of lottery proceeds benefiting senior citizens; at the same time, the lottery and the arrival of slot machine gambling are fast laying the groundwork for a new state slogan that has nothing to do with America's independence.

As in all Pennsylvania Lottery multi-number games, the odds of winning a significant amount of money in Treasure Hunt are greatly stacked against the player. There's a $1 prize for matching two of five numbers in the 30-number game, $6 for matching three numbers and $100 for matching four numbers.

The top prize is $10,000, with the jackpot continuing to grow until a jackpot-winning ticket matches all five numbers.

Those billboards that have been showing up across the area picturing a treasure chest no doubt made many people curious about what riches the lottery was preparing to bestow. What players will be finding out in the days ahead is that the treasure really isn't intended for players but, instead, the state — as it always is with the "house" in any gambling operation.

Reflecting on a former state slogan about having a friend in Pennsylvania, it can now be said:"You've got another bad bet in Pennsylvania."

Incidents Monday evening in Slippery Rock tied to the appearance of Pittsburgh Steelers Hines Ward and Deshea Townsend and rapper Clifford "Tip" Harris did nothing to enhance the image of the community. In fact, they sullied it.It was immature conduct on the part of people who had come to see the celebrities that turned what could have been an enjoyable evening into an embarrassment.Two businesses ended up closing as a result of the disorderly conduct and fighting that occurred, including the Slippery Rock Sheetz store, which otherwise never closes.To their credit, local police were able to contain the incidents without them getting seriously out of hand.Still, the community should not have to fear lawlessness when an entertainment or sports personality comes to town. Monday evening's incidents should be a basis for community and Slippery Rock University officials to discuss beefed-up security precautions for future events.Rapper Harris, who is best known as T.I., performed at the Aebersold Recreation Center at the university. Ward and Townsend were invited to the Ginger Hill Tavern on Main Street for a promotional event.It was at Ginger Hill that a fight broke out, which resulted in police closing the establishment. Meanwhile, police were summoned to the Sheetz store, where a large crowd had congregated.At Sheetz, police arrested one man for disorderly conduct.Law-abiding people of Slippery Rock should not have to fear such incidents tied to special events. While the borough police had an extra officer or two on duty, residents can be excused for reflecting on whether more precautions should have been in place.That is something that will require serious thought by community and university leaders.

It makes sense for there to be an easily recalled — "universal" — number for people planning projects involving digging to call to get the location of their utility lines marked.For an estimated 98 percent of the country including Butler, effective during the past week, that number came to be 811.Homeowners and professionals now may call that number to arrange for utility companies to mark the locations of underground lines. Dialing 811 will route the caller automatically to the geographically closest "Call Before You Dig" service. Utility companies usually mark their lines within three business days after receiving a call.Despite the availability of 62 state and local "Call Before You Dig" services nationwide prior to the start of 811, every year had produced about 700,000 cases in which utility lines were hit during digging operations. Of those cases, about 280,000 were projects in which the digger failed to call one of the 62 available call services prior to starting the work.No doubt the reason many of those calls weren't made was because people either weren't aware of the "Call Before You Dig" service or, if they were aware of its existence, they didn't know the telephone number.Now it will be as easy as remembering the emergency number 911.There are obvious dangers in striking an underground utility line and greater use of 811 can save unnecessary construction costs and possibly lives.Like 911, 811 is in everyone's best interests.