CLEVELAND Jackpot winners pull up stakes

Elicia Battle, who falsely claimed she was the winner, says her life is ruined.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Add an inner-city neighborhood to the litany of hard-luck fallout from a disputed $162 million Mega Millions multistate lottery jackpot.
The block where the lottery winner's husband owned a tavern has fallen on hard times: The bar has closed, throwing employees out of work, and business has dropped sharply at two nearby restaurants that shared patrons with Sam Jemison's tavern.
The owner of the Taste of Heaven restaurant said the block is dead since the jackpot was awarded 2 1/2 weeks ago.
South Euclid
Suburban South Euclid, where jackpot winner Rebecca Jemison lived until she became a millionaire, got a double whammy: It lost out on a $1.4 million income tax windfall from the jackpot because of a lawmaking oversight and now it faces unexpected police overtime to watch Jemison's empty house, which has become a tourist stop.
City employees spend time taking phone calls from charities around the country and others who want some of Jemison's money. The city forwards the information to the Jemisons' attorney.
South Euclid police logged plenty of hours investigating Elecia Battle, the Cleveland woman who made headlines when she claimed she bought the winning ticket and lost it in a parking lot.
She has been convicted of filing a false police report and could end up in jail for six months and fined $1,000 fine when she is sentenced on Feb. 19.
No interviews
The accounting firm Ernst & amp; Young, which is handling the Jemisons' winnings, said the Jemisons are turning down all media interview requests. Their new residence hasn't been disclosed. The couple claimed the lump sum payment option of the jackpot, walking away with $67 million
James Wilson, who worked at Jemison's lounge part time doing odd jobs, misses Sam Jemison and said he had been generous with the needy in the neighborhood.
For now, it remains unclear if Jemison will reopen Johnny & amp; Co., a lounge that residents said was kept free of drug trafficking in the area.
Wilson said the lounge was like a second home, "a typical neighborhood spot" where people gathered for drinks, conversation and laughter.
The bar patrons created a steady stream of customers for a Taste of Heaven, looking for ribs and catfish. The restaurant's owner has not heard from Sam Jemison, her landlord, since he closed up shop and left town.
City Councilman Roosevelt Coats hopes Sam Jemison will return and do some good for the neighborhood. Coats lives a few doors from Johnny & amp; Co. and would like to see the bar owner redevelop the block into a retail complex, said council spokeswoman Maxine Greer.
Coats has not heard from Jemison, though.
South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo is convinced Rebecca Jemison, 34, will use part of her winnings to help people. She and Welo have met just twice, and the mayor trusts that Jemison is a good-hearted person.
Life has changed drastically for Battle. In a telephone phone interview Friday, she told The Plain Dealer that the lottery spectacle has ruined her life.
The one-time pharmacy worker said she was suspended and then fired as a result of publicity surrounding her claim. A company spokeswoman confirmed Battle was fired, attributing the dismissal to misinformation on her job application.
The misinformation wasn't specified, but her criminal record came to light amid her determined claims that she was the rightful jackpot winner.
"My whole life, the lives of everybody around me, have changed. There's nothing I can do about it now," she said.