Huge lottery wins come with a side of envy

Don't you hate those people in Missouri and Arizona?

Every time someone else wins a giant lottery, a certain resentment wells up in the rest of us. This is easy since there are so few of them and so many of us.

What did they do to deserve their lucky fortune? What makes them any better than you and me? Why does fate keep flying past my house?

These days, it takes a supersized Powerball to spark winner envy. No one even bothers to feel left out of a $25- or $50 million pot. But last week's $588 million mega-jackpot clearly crossed the ever-rising jealousy threshold.

Cindy and Mark Hill, a laid-off office manager and a meatpacking mechanic from Dearborn, Mo., were introduced to the world on Friday. They bought their winning ticket, a quick-pick, at a Dearborn Trex Mart. Try saying that five times fast.

The Hills will share the mammoth prize with a lucky ticket-holder, not yet identified, from the 4 Sons Food Store in Fountain Hills near Phoenix. Soon enough, they'll all be dividing the resentment among themselves.

The Hills seem like nice, hardworking people, down-to-earth regular folks -- if they weren't suddenly deep-pocketed enough to buy their own meatpacking plant or take over the office that laid off Cindy and fire her old boss immediately.

Now that's something even a nonwinner could enjoy.

1. A dollar and a sigh.

2. Gotta be in it to lose it.

3. Hey, sometimes you do know, and the news isn't good.

4. Raising billions to educate? Well, at least a few.

5. If I had a million dollars, I wouldn't need to play your stinkin' game.

Yes, streets carry cars and trucks. But why should private motor vehicles have a monopoly of such an important public resource? That's the fundamental question behind Suffolk County's Complete Streets policy, which demands that planners also consider the needs of walkers, bikers, public- transit riders and other potential street users. It's a longtime goal of groups such as the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Vision Long Island and AARP. Suffolk County Legis. Rob Calarco (D-Patchogue) is helping guide the policy's adoption. He says get ready for the 21st century road.

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