Laurel: To a rash of good luck. Everyone who buys a lottery ticket has that moment of hope and imagination, dreaming of walking away with the big prize. Lately, though, it seems like a lot of those big prizes are popping up in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

It started in May. The last two months have seen a $3 million scratch-off sold in Ligonier, $1 million winners in North Huntingdon, Wilkinsburg and Pittsburgh, three $250,000 tickets in Westmoreland County, two $100,000 or higher winners in Fayette County and two more Westmoreland winners of $20,000 or more.

But as tempting as it is to think this means our little corner of the Keystone State is special, the Pennsylvania Lottery says otherwise. Press Secretary Ewa Swope says that it’s more about how strong sales have been coupled with a little dumb luck.

“As would be expected with random distribution, regions with larger numbers of players tend to have a proportionate ratio of players winning. This does not mean those regions are any ‘luckier’ than other areas,” Swope said.

Lance: To a completely unsurprising announcement. It did not comes as a shock to anyone this week when the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission dropped its annual rate hike bomb.

In 2022, the cost of using the toll road will go up by another 5%. Insert your total lack of astonishment here.

As usual, the increase will go into effect Jan. 2, except for the Southern Beltway west of Pittsburgh.

This is the 14th straight year the tolls have increased. In the only difference from the previous increases, the hike is being held to less than 6%. Gee, thanks.

That comes because the annual transit funding obligation drops from $450 million to just $50 million starting in July 2022. Good news, but it still seems a big strange that turnpike celebrates a $400 million drop in expenses by increasing the cost to drivers.

Laurel: To an idea whose time has come. While some people have spent their lives on such perennial questions as whether chickens or eggs came first or the meaning of life, others have pondered an equally perplexing puzzle.

Why do hot dogs come in packs of 10 and buns in packs of 8? Why do meat companies and bakers doom us to living through the summer with not enough buns or too many franks?

Condiment king Heinz finally decided to act as a mediator in this ongoing battle by launching a campaign to make the products all even out. There is a website — heinzhotdogpact.com — with a petition to let people weigh in on the great debate of our time.

OK, sure, it’s a marketing stunt. But it’s seasonal, it’s funny and it’s also one of those things that rankles everyone’s brain just a little when they go shopping for a picnic.

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