Paul Koczera wins the lottery.

New Bedford city councilor Paul Koczera received an early Christmas gift yesterday, as my hometown paper reports:

Paul Koczera, the longtime city councilor from Ward 2, won $2.5 million on a scratch ticket he purchased at the Stop & Shop in Dartmouth yesterday.

"I'm still in a state of shock," he said from his cell phone, minutes after he had turned in the $10 scratch ticket to Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Braintree. "You go on with business as usual. I'm not going to change my lifestyle or anything."

Mr. Koczera decided to take the money over 20 years. He left the lottery with the first check for $87,500, which he said he will deposit in the bank. After taxes, he will take home $1.75 million.

Reading about Paul's win made me recall a couple local news stories from around the time I finished high school. In June 1997, Len Roberts - a longtime teacher at my high school, a longtime school committee member, and a local TV personality - won $1 million on a scratch ticket. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Roberts ran into his friend Craig Collyer, who joked about Roberts' lottery win. "Don't worry Craig, you're next," Roberts said. Mr. Collyer and his wife Joanne won $1.7 million on a Megabucks ticket the next day. Now, I'm not saying you should go out and buy a lottery ticket - I'm just recalling some people I know who beat the odds. Congratulations, Paul! AMDG.