Computer glitch freezes lottery payouts

The North Carolina Education Lottery was unable to issue checks to winners for about an hour Monday afternoon, after a computer glitch locked up computers, a spokeswoman said.

Lottery employees use the computer system to verify winning tickets and print the checks. Spokeswoman Alice Garland said the computers went offline at about 4 p.m. Monday. The system was back up, and checks were being issued, before the lottery office closed at 5 p.m.

Garland said winners can also have their check mailed to them.