LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The interim director of the Arkansas lottery has told her staff that the shakeup appears to be over.
Julie Baldridge said Friday she held a staff meeting the day before to tell employees she values their work and she's looking for a period of stability before a new director is hired.
Over the past couple of weeks, lottery director Ernie Passailaigue and top deputy David Barden resigned. On Wednesday, Baldridge fired lottery vice president for administration Ernestine Middleton.
Passailaigue had brought Middleton and Barden with him from South Carolina, where he led that state's lottery before being hired in 2009 to launch the Arkansas lottery.
Baldridge says a top priority is to hire a new chief financial officer to help guide operations as the director search takes place.
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