New happening's from around the world: March 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Jackpot: Mega Millions winner buys ticket in Baltimore Co.

One of several $656 million winners in country

Maryland Lottery Account Executive Jennifer Stein hols up a $640 million promotional check for TV cameras inside a 7-Eleven store as a customer looks on. One of three winning tickets of the Mega Millions jackpot was sold at the store at 8014 Liberty Road in Baltimore County. (Kenneth K. Lam, Baltimore Sun / March 31, 2012)

By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun

2:35 p.m. EDT, March 31, 2012

Somebody walked into a Baltimore County 7-Eleven Friday evening and spent $1 on a Mega Millions ticket with randomly selected numbers. It turned out to be a winner of a record-breaking $656 million jackpot.
So far, that lucky person has not come forward, Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino said at a news conference held at the store on Liberty Road in Milford Mill. Winning tickets were also sold in Kansas and Illinois. The winners will split the jackpot, which is believed to be the single largest in world history.
The winning numbers are 2-4-23-38-46 and Mega Ball 23.
The jackpot jumped from an estimated $640 million to $656 million, as lottery officials continued to crunch the sales numbers Saturday. The cash option will pay $474.2 million.

In addition to the jackpot ticket purchased in Baltimore County, Maryland retailers sold four $250,000-winning tickets. Tickets for the second tier prize were sold at the Redner's Warehouse Markets on 2126 N. Foundation Green Road in Bel Air, the Sheetz at 20723 National Pike in Boonsboro, the 7-Eleven at 9709 Beaver Dam Road in Timonium and the 7-Eleven at 4918 Harford Road in Baltimore.
Carole Everett, a Maryland Lottery spokeswoman, said ticket sales for the Mega Millions game reached $11.8 million on Friday, more than doubling the state's previous one-day record of about $5.8 million.
Maryland will collect $13.4 million in taxes if the Maryland winner takes the $158 million cash option, lottery officials said. The money will go to the state's general fund and can be spent at lawmakers' discretion.
"It's a tremendous opportunity," Martino said. "We're very excited that it happened in Maryland."
Though the identity of the real winner remains a mystery, the fact that the drawing took place on the weekend of April Fools' Day has spurred a number of Internet hoaxes.
Tom Kreft, a 25-year-old graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County used a computer program to edit one of his Mega Millions tickets to show the winning numbers and moved forward with the prank.
"First, I made a panicked fake Facebook status, saying things like 'I can't stop shaking' and 'I'm turning off my phone now,' " Kreft said in an email. He has a degree in video and film. "I guess that's where the Photoshop skills came in handy," he added.
Kreft said his friends "started freaking out," especially because one of the winning tickets came from Baltimore County. He continued to play the joke for three or four hours, before posting that it was a prank. By then, word had gotten out.
He's gotten calls from reporters across the United States and one from the United Kingdom. Several people on Twitter posted his account as news, which was also picked up in the blogosphere.
"Sorry to say it was a prank; all I won was a little attention," Kreft said.
At the 7-Eleven, Rodney Gould of Milford Mill was making no such claims.
He walked to the store Saturday morning to buy a pack of Halls cough drops for a sore throat and saw satellite trucks from national news outlets including CNN and ABC filling the parking lot and lining the street. He grabbed his chest and sighed when he heard the news.
Gould said he had three Mega Millions tickets, including one Thursday from the 7-Eleven and two others he bought at a shop down the road.
"I should have went there yesterday," he said.
As he stood in line to buy a few Mega Million tickets for the next drawing Tuesday, James Martin of Garrison quipped that the only network not clamoring to tell the story was the Cartoon Network. Though the new jackpot is much smaller at $12 million, he was willing to take a chance.
"Maybe lightning will strike twice," Martin said.

Winning numbers drawn in 'Mega Millions' game

Updated 12:20 p.m., Saturday, March 31, 2012

Mega Millions Lottery tickets that were given away to the first 540 people are displayed by the Hoosier Lottery's Mega Millions mascot at a store in Zionsville, Ind., Friday, March 30, 2012. The Mega Millions Lottery jackpot has reached more than $600 million.
Photo: Michael Conroy / AP

CHICAGO, IL -- Lottery ticket-holders in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland each selected the winning numbers and will split a $640 million jackpot that was believed to be the world's largest such prize, a lottery official said Saturday.
No tickets sold in Texas were jackpot winners, but 14 lucky Lone Star State lotto players matched the first five numbers, earning them $250,000, according to WFAA in Dallas.
Mike Lang, spokesman for the Illinois Lottery, said his state's winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis. The winner used a quick pick to select the numbers, he said.
The Maryland Lottery announced earlier Saturday that it had sold a winning ticket at a retail store in Baltimore County. No details were immediately available about the Kansas ticket. Lang said each winning ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million before taxes.
The winning numbers in Friday night's drawing were 02-04-23-38-46, and the Mega Ball 23. Carole Everett, director of communications for the Maryland Lottery, said the last time a ticket from the state won a major national jackpot was 2008 when a ticket sold for $24 million.
"We're thrilled," she said. "We're due and excited." The estimated jackpot dwarfs the previous $390 million record, which was split in 2007 by two winners who bought tickets in Georgia and New Jersey.
Americans spent nearly $1.5 billion for a chance to hit the jackpot, which amounts to a $462 million lump sum and around $347 million after federal tax withholding. With the jackpot odds at 1 in 176 million, it would cost $176 million to buy up every combination. Under that scenario, the strategy would win $171 million less if your state also withholds taxes.
From coast to coast, people stood in line at retail stores Friday for one last chance at striking it rich.
Maribeth Ptak, 31, of Milwaukee, only buys Mega Millions when the jackpot is really big and she bought one on Friday at a Milwaukee grocery store. She said she'd use the money to pay off bills, including school loans, and then she'd donate a good portion to charity.
"I know the odds are really not in my favor, but why not," she said. Sawnya Castro, 31, of Dallas, bought $50 worth of tickets at a 7-Eleven. She figured she'd use the money to create a rescue society for Great Danes, fix up her grandmother's house, and perhaps even buy a bigger one for herself.
"Not too big -- I don't want that. Too much house to keep with," she said. Willie Richards, who works for the U.S. Marshals Service at a federal courthouse in Atlanta, figured if there ever was a time to confront astronomical odds, it was when $640 million was at stake. He bought five tickets.
"When it gets as big as it is now, you'd be nuts not to play," he said. "You have to take a chance on Lady Luck."

Keith Olbermann Fired: War With Current Just Getting Started

Keith Olbermann may have departed from Current, but the war between the two sides is just getting started.
It was clear from the moment that the fledgling cable news channel announced on Friday that it had "ended" its relationship with Olbermann that this was a particularly nasty breakup. Olbermann is known for acrimonious exits, but even his falling out with MSNBC 14 months ago seemed positively sunny in comparison to the bile being tossed between him and his Current bosses.
Current's statement, signed by co-founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, was unusually personal. Without even a trace of the forced "we wish him well" bits usually found in such things, the two men laid into Olbermann, saying he had violated Current's "values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers."
It is not every day that a Nobel Peace Prize winner makes such angry claims against you in public, but Olbermann has never been one to shy away from a fight. Sure enough, within less than an hour he had released a statement of his own, vowing to sue Current for firing him.
"It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently," he wrote.
The outline of the two sides' cases are not hard to predict. Current launched into an anonymous campaign against Olbermann almost immediately, feeding the same lines to multiple media sources. He was "in breach of contract," had "sabotaged" and "attacked" the channel and its leadership, and had taken "unauthorized absences" from work, network sources said over and over again.
A good preview of Olbermann's defense could be found in the Hollywood Reporter. Sources told the magazine that Olbermann's high-powered lawyer, Patricia Glaser, had been looking into whether Current violated the terms of its deal when it put other hosts in his time slot during coverage of the Iowa caucuses.
Other reports painted Current as disorganized and shambolic; it's well known that Olbermann became enraged at repeated technical failures and what he saw as a crippling under-investment in his show.
Olbermann also attacked Hyatt personally.
"To understand Mr. Hyatt's 'values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty,' I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee," he wrote. "That employee's name was Clarence B. Cain."
In 1990, Hyatt's legal firm was found to have illegally fired Cain after his bosses discovered he had AIDS.
Current seemed eager to move on quickly, at least publicly. Neither Cenk Uygur, whose show preceded Olbermann's, nor Eliot Spitzer, his sudden replacement, nor Jennifer Granholm, his former lead-out, mentioned him at all during their Friday shows. It was as if the man who was supposed to be the enduring centerpiece of their network had never even existed.

Morning Memo/Saturday: Mega Millions numbers … Josh Powell … Former WSU QB arrested

Weather: Is it silly to tell you there’s 100 percent chance of rain when you can look outside and see that for yourself? The National Weather Service warns rain may be heavy throughout the day, with a high near 48. The National Weather Service forecast.

Traffic: Watch out, since roads will be slippery from the rain. The map and cams.
Mega Millions winners: The winning numbers are 2-4-23-38-46, Mega Ball: 23. Lottery ticket-holders in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland each selected the winning numbers, leaving us Washingtonians disgruntled with our losing tickets. We knew it was a long shot, but it’s sure easy to get your hopes up.

Susan Cox Powell, who disappeared in December 2009

Josh Powell: Search-warrant affidavits unsealed in Pierce County Superior Court Friday revealed that Utah investigators who searched Powell’s home and car found traces of his wife’s blood less than 24 hours after she disappeared. They also found a concealed letter from Susan in which she warned that she feared for her life. Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said if his office had conducted the investigation, they would have charged Powell.
Ex-NFL quarterback arrested: Ryan Leaf, a former standout quarterback for Washington State, was arrested Friday in Montana on burglary and drug possession charges. Leaf was the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFL draft, but failed to impress as quarterback for the San Diego Chargers.

Winning Mega Millions numbers: 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and 23

Mega Millions madness came to a frenzied climax Friday night with the raptly watched drawing of the winning numbers: 2, 4, 23, 38, 46. The mega number is 23
There was no immediate word on whether the winning combination had been sold, but Mega Millions officials said there was a 95% chance of someone winning the record-busting, $640-million jackpot because of the huge volume of tickets sold.
Southern Californians swept up by lottery fever waited in line to buy tickets for as long as five hours, and many were turned away when it became apparent they wouldn't make it to the cash register before the 7:45 p.m. PDT cutoff.
PHOTOS: Mega Millions fever
"The odds of the jackpot rolling is going down significantly," Mega Millions spokesman Alex Traverso said Friday afternoon. "Our estimates are saying that by the time the draw happens, 95% of the possible number combinations will be sold."
Traverso said California lottery officials would probably know within 15 minutes of the drawing whether there were any big winners and where the winning ticket or tickets were sold. They planned to post the numbers on their website, as did California lottery officials at www.calottery.com.
California officials said they likely won't know about other state's winners until 3 a.m. or beyond. A media release summing up all the data will likely go out Saturday morning.
Spokeswoman Donna Cordova said that there will be no more changes to the advertised jackpot prior to Friday night's drawing, but the amount at stake may continue to rise, and a new jackpot figure could be released after the winning numbers are drawn.
RELATED:
5-hour waits as players flood 'lucky' store
Last-minute rush as jackpot drawing nears
Officials say drawing likely to produce winner
--Carol J. Williams and Matt Stevens
Photo: Cynthia Sims, left and Regina Quiroz become giddy after finally reaching the cash register at Blue Bird Liquor. Both have waited in a line that wrapped around the block for over three hours to purchase lottery tickets. Credit: Arkasha Stevenson/Los Angeles Times

Mega Millions Numbers: Winners in Kan., Ill. and Md.

CHICAGO – The $640 million Mega Millions jackpot will be split at least three ways as ticket holders in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland all selected the winning numbers for the world record-breaking lottery, officials said early Saturday.
Illinois' winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis, and the winner used a quick pick to select the numbers, Illinois Lottery spokesman Mike Lang said. The Maryland Lottery said it sold a winning ticket at a retail store in Baltimore County.
A winning ticket also was purchased in northeast Kansas, according to the Kansas Lottery website. A spokeswoman didn't immediately return a message Saturday morning.
Mega Millions: What Would You Do if You Won?
Each winning ticket was expected to be worth more than $213 million before taxes, Lang said. The winning numbers in Friday night's drawing were 02-04-23-38-46, and the Mega Ball 23.
Maryland Lottery spokeswoman Carole Everett said the last time a ticket from the state won a major national jackpot was in 2008, when a ticket sold for $24 million.
"We're thrilled," she said. "We're due and excited."
The estimated jackpot dwarfs the previous $390 million record, which was split in 2007 by two winners who bought tickets in Georgia and New Jersey.
Americans spent nearly $1.5 billion for a chance to hit the jackpot, which amounts to a $462 million lump sum and around $347 million after federal tax withholding. With the jackpot odds at 1 in 176 million, it would cost $176 million to buy up every combination. Under that scenario, the strategy would win $171 million less if your state also withholds taxes.
From coast to coast, people stood in line at retail stores Friday for one last chance at striking it rich.
Maribeth Ptak, 31, of Milwaukee, said she only buys Mega Millions tickets when the jackpot is really big and she bought one Friday at a Milwaukee grocery store. She said she'd use the money to pay off bills, including school loans, and then she'd donate a good portion to charity.
"I know the odds are really not in my favor, but why not," she said.
Mega Millions: Lucky Numbers Not Always so Lucky
Sawnya Castro, 31, of Dallas, bought $50 worth of tickets at a 7-Eleven. She figured she'd use the money to create a rescue society for Great Danes, fix up her grandmother's house, and perhaps even buy a bigger one for herself.
"Not too big — I don't want that. Too much house to keep with," she said.
Willie Richards, who works for the U.S. Marshals Service at a federal courthouse in Atlanta, figured if there ever was a time to confront astronomical odds, it was when $640 million was at stake. He bought five tickets.
"When it gets as big as it is now, you'd be nuts not to play," he said. "You have to take a chance on Lady Luck."
Based on reporting by The Associated Press.

World landmarks in the dark for Earth Hour

LONDON (AP) – Sydney's iconic Harbor Bridge and Opera House went dark for an hour on Saturday, part of a global effort to shine a spotlight on climate change.

By Lintao Zhang, Getty Images
The Great Wall is illuminated during the Earth Hour 2012 on Saturday in Beijin.

By Lintao Zhang, Getty Images

The Great Wall is illuminated during the Earth Hour 2012 on Saturday in Beijin.

Hundreds of landmarks around the world, including Washington's National Cathedral, Big Ben in London, the Great Wall of China and Tokyo Tower are being dimmed at 8:30 p.m. local time.

The central Sydney icons have been taking part in the annual event since Earth Hour began as a Sydney-only event in 2007. Australia was among the first countries to hit the light switches each year; in New Zealand, Sky Tower in Auckland and the parliament buildings in Wellington switched off two hours earlier.

In Hong Kong, buildings along Victoria Harbour also went dark.

Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral are among the other London landmarks due to go dark later Saturday, as is the Savoy hotel, where managers planned to light the front hall, bars and restaurants with candles.

In Paris, more than 230 monuments and major gathering points will dim lights for an hour — including Notre Dame Cathedral, the Arc de Triomphe, as well as fountains and bridges over the Seine.

An exception: The Eiffel Tower, which the mayor's office said would go dark for only five minutes "for security reasons."

In Germany, activists from the Washington-based WWF plan to light 5,000 blue and green candles in the form of a globe in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate before city officials switch off the monument's lighting.

Across the Nordic nations, government buildings and municipalities are joining in. Among them are Stockholm's royal castle and the Swedish capital's huge globe-shaped sports arena. In Sweden's second largest city, Goteborg, the main boulevard will bathe in an hour's darkness.

The WWF, the global environmental group which organizes the event, said the number of countries and territories participating has grown from 135 last year to 147 this year.

Libya, Algeria, Bhutan and French Guinea are among those participating for the first time.

"Earth Hour 2012 is a celebration of people power; the world's largest mass event in support of the planet," WWF official Dermot O'Gorman told reporters in Sydney.

Trayvon Martin marchers to Sanford, Fla., police: 'We want an arrest. Shot in the chest'

David Manning / Reuters

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP President Benjamin Justice lead a march and rally in front of the Sanford Police Department for Trayvon Martin on Saturday.

Updated at 1:27 p.m ET: SANFORD, Fla. -- Civil-rights leaders from the NAACP and other groups led thousands of other protesters on Saturday in a march to the city’s police headquarters to demand the arrest of the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin.

Follow @msnbc_us

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP President Benjamin Jealous were among those leading the rally through Sanford’s streets, marching behind a huge yellow banner with the words “Justice for Trayvon.”
“We want an arrest. Shot in the chest,” marchers chanted.

NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous joins MSNBC to discuss the investigation into the death of Trayvon Martin.

With gospel music playing in the background, protesters were marching from a technical high school campus on 13th Street through a predominantly black neighborhood to the Sanford Police Station several blocks away. The throng stretched for blocks, weaving past homes, churches and small businesses, many of them boarded up.
The rally was organized by the NAACP. Its chapters from South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama arranged buses to bring participants to the rally, while others traveled by car.
"Because of the age of the young man and because of the circumstances of his death, every community can identify with that," said Bernard Simelton, president of the Alabama state conference of the NAACP. "We've had things like that happen in Alabama where somebody gets killed and the police just sweep it under the rug. It just touches everyone."
The marchers were demanding the arrest of George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who says he was defending himself when he fatally shot 17-year-old Martin during a scuffle. Martin, who was black, was unarmed as he walked from a convenience store, and the case has become a racial flashpoint with protesters across the nation calling for his arrest. Zimmerman's father is white, his mother Hispanic.
Sanford police did not immediately arrest Zimmerman, saying they had no information to disprove his assertion that he acted in self-defense. A special prosecutor has since been named to look into the case.
Are old photos of Martin, Zimmerman deceptive?
At a press conference before the march, Jealous and Sharpton denied media reports that Sharpton planned to call for an economic boycott of Sanford or the surrounding central Florida area, calling it a "media fabrication."
"Put to rest the rumor that there is any discussion of a boycott of the community," Jealous told reporters.

NBC's Ron Allen reports.

Sharpton said there could still be unspecified action against national corporations that support the "Stand Your Ground" laws like the one police cited when they declined to arrest Zimmerman. The law gives citizens wide latitude to use deadly force when a threat is perceived.
Sharpton declined to identify those corporations but said, "We take nothing nonviolent off the table."
A Florida NAACP leader said that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee’s stepping aside temporarily was not enough, and that he should be fired.
Martin’s death has also attracted international attention.
About 300 people gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in London on Saturday in a show of solidarity for the Martin family's cause. Some read poems and others carried placards with the slogan 'No Justice, No peace.' At the end of the three-hour vigil, 17 black balloons where released in honor of the slain teenager.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.

5 Mass. Mega Million players win $250,000 each

BOSTON—Massachusetts cities and towns together with a handful of Mega Million ticket buyers in Massachusetts are quite a bit richer even though none won the record-breaking jackpot.

Massachusetts Lottery spokeswoman Beth Breshanan said Saturday that five players won $250,000 payouts by matching the drawing's five numbers but missing the Mega Ball number. That means they were just one number from winning a share of the $640 million grand prize.

The winning Massachusetts tickets were sold in Lowell, East Bridgewater, Somerville, Reading and Watertown.

The big winners, however, were cities and towns which will share about $16.4 million in profit generated from the sale of tickets worth $39 million in the state.

Three grand-prize winning tickets were sold in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland, giving their owners a share of the largest lottery jackpot in history.

Three winners of record $656 mln U.S. lottery jackpot

(Adds comment from Illinois lottery superintendent, details of Maryland 7-Eleven)
By David Beasley
(Reuters) - Three winners who could share a $656 million windfall from the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history bought their lucky tickets at a 7-Eleven store in Maryland, a Motomart convenience story in Illinois and somewhere in northeast Kansas, lottery officials said on Saturday.
Lottery officials said the 7-Eleven store was in Milford Mill, Maryland, near Baltimore, and the Motomart convenience store in the southern Illinois farming town of Red Bud. Kansas lottery officials were not releasing the exact location where the ticket was sold except to say that it was in the most populated northeast part of the state.
"Each of the winners gets $105.1 million in cash after taxes roughly, but who cares about pennies at this point?" said Carole Everett, spokeswoman for the Maryland Lottery.
The winners whose tickets had all six numbers of the Mega Millions lottery drawn on Friday night will split the jackpot, the biggest in U.S. history, which rose to $656 million after all sales were tallied, lottery officials said.
The winning numbers announced at the drawing in Atlanta were 2-4-23-38-46 and Mega Ball 23. Winners could receive either a one-time payment of their share or take it in 26 annual installment payments.
A pre-dawn call alerted store manager Denise Metzger to news from lottery officials that a winning ticket was sold at her Motomart in the tiny farming community of Red Bud, with less than 4,000 residents, about 30 miles southeast of St. Louis.
"I screamed, I woke my husband up," said Metzger , whose retail outlet will receive $500,000 for selling a winning ticket.
Residents swarmed the store within hours of the announcement to check their tickets, although no winner has yet emerged, she said.
"I think everyone in town has been here already," she joked.
Though the winner -- who has not yet contacted Illinois lottery officials -- m ay want to remain anonymous, in Illinois the state is required to eventually list his or her identity in public records.
This past Sunday, Illinois became the first state in the nation to begin selling lottery tickets online, said the state's lottery superintendent Michael Jones. A total of about $30 million in tickets, including retail and online, were sold for the latest drawing, he said.
"It's a perfect example of what a lottery is all about and it attracted hundreds of thousands if not millions of new players, people who had never played the lottery before," Jones said.
The winning Maryland ticket was a single quick pick ticket, in which numbers are automatically selected, sold at about 7:15 p.m. on Friday at the 7-Eleven franchise in Milford Mill in the Baltimore area, Everett said.
"They are shocked they are getting the $100,000 bonus," Everett said of Ethiopian immigrants Abera and Mimi Tessema, who have owned the 7-Eleven store for 10 years and learned they would get a winning seller's bonus.
In addition to the three jackpot winners, there were three tickets that matched the Mega Ball number to win $1 million each and 158 tickets that picked five of the six chosen numbers to win $250,000 each, said Kelly Cripe, spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery, which oversaw the Mega Millions game.
There had been a tremendous amount of excitement ahead of the drawing, with over one billion tickets sold, lottery officials said.
The previous largest Mega Millions jackpot was $390 million in 2007, which was split between two ticket holders in Georgia and New Jersey.
About half the lottery money goes back to ticket holders in the form of winnings, 35 percent to state governments and 15 percent to retailer commissions and lottery operating expenses.
No matter who won the jackpot, one certain winner is the U.S Internal Revenue Service. The tax-collecting agency subjects lottery winnings of more than $5,000 to a 25-percent federal withholding tax. (Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Barbara Goldberg in New York, Teresa Carson in Portland, Keith Coffman in Denver and Laura Zuckerman in Idaho; Writing by Philip Barbara, Editing by Anthony Boadle, Sandra Maler and Greg McCune)

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

No Tickets Matched All Mega Millions Winning Numbers, Friday Drawing Worth $290 Million

No tickets matched all six numbers of the Mega Millions lottery for Tuesday’s drawing. The estimate jackpot will grow to $290 million for the Friday, March 23, 2012 Mega Million drawing. If one person matches all six numbers in Friday night’s Mega Million drawing and chooses the cash option, they will win approximately $205 million.
Amoung the 42 states (and the U.S. Virgin Islands and D.C.) that sell the Mega Million lottery tickets, there were 68 tickets that matched all five white balls but not the Mega Ball. These tickets are worth $250,000.
There were winners in California(21), Idaho (1), Illinois(1), Indiana(2), Kentucky(3), Massachusetts(3), Maryland(1), Michigan(9), Missouri(2), New Jersey(5), New York(8), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania(2), South Carolina(1), Tennessee(1), Texas(4), Vermont(1) and Wisconsin (1).
The Mega Millions winning numbers drawn Tuesday were 01-04-06-11-14, Mega Ball: 30. Megaplier multiplier was 4.
The drawing was the 16th since the last time a ticket with all six numbers was sold.

The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number is 1 in 175,711,536. While the overall chances of winning a prize are 1 in 40.
Mega Millions holds the record for the largest payout by a lottery in the United States when two ticket winners hit on March 6, 2007 in New Jersey and Georgia and split the jackpot of $390 million.
The second highest ever of $240 million cash, Mega Millions, hit Jan. 4, 2011, by two tickets, in Idaho and Washington State with annuity of $380 million.
When are the Mega Millions drawings?
From the Mega Millions website: “Mega Millions drawings are held Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 10:00 p.m. Central Time, 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Drawings are held at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. You can buy tickets until 10:45 p.m. Eastern Time, 9:45 p.m. Central Time, 7:45 p.m. Pacific Time. (In Oregon, you can buy tickets until 7:00 p.m. on draw nights.) In Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont you may purchase tickets up until 9:50 p.m. on draw nights.)”
The next Powerball drawing is Wednesday night. The jackpot in that game is at $70 million

Thunder, Derek Fisher work on deal

Derek Fisher is in advanced negotiations with the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Western Conference leaders after clearing waivers, according to sources close to the situation.
Fisher is scheduled to clear waivers at 6 p.m. ET Wednesday. One source with knowledge of the talks told ESPN.com that Fisher is "very close" to committing to sign with the Thunder once he becomes a free agent.

Fisher

ESPN.com reported Monday the Thunder and the Miami Heat had emerged as the two frontrunners to sign Fisher, who was officially released Monday night by the Houston Rockets after securing a buyout from Houston in the wake of last week's trade that brought an end to Fisher's second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sources told ESPN.com the Heat have made a strong recruitment effort to sign Fisher, but the Thunder have more financial flexibility to sign him and more of a role to offer after the loss of backup point guard Eric Maynor in early January to a season-ending knee injury. There also is a feeling among some rival teams that Fisher prefers to stay in the West, where he has played his entire career.
Another advantage for the Thunder, sources said, is Fisher's agent, Rob Pelinka, just signed Thunder star Kevin Durant. Pelinka also represents Thunder swingman James Harden.
If the deal goes through, as expected, Fisher potentially will face the Lakers twice during the regular season at Staples Center (March 29 and April 22) before the playoffs.
At the morning shootaround before Tuesday night's game against the Utah Jazz, Durant strongly endorsed the prospect of signing Fisher to The Oklahoman, telling the newspaper: "Derek is a consummate professional ... an unbelievable leader. And he played with arguably one of the greatest players to ever play in Kobe (Bryant), and Kobe really respected him as a player and wanted him on his team, so that speaks volumes."
"We have a great corps of point guards leading off with Russ (Russell Westbrook) and then Reggie (Jackson) and Royal (Ivey)," Durant continued. "But adding another guy that can come in and give us some good minutes here and there and bring his leadership and winning plays here would be cool. But it's one of those things that you really don't know too much about. We got to just see what happens. (Fisher) is a Thunder guy as far as character and off the court is concerned. But we'll see what happens."
With the Chicago Bulls needing another big man more than another guard and the San Antonio Spurs still hopeful they can complete the signing of a guard by week's end, Oklahoma City and Miami emerged Monday as the two most likely landing spots for the 16-year veteran.
The Heat explored the possibility of signing Fisher when he was a free agent in the summer of 2010 and have strong interest now, sources say, even if they are successful in signing veteran forward Ronny Turiaf this week. Miami has only one open roster spot at present, but rookie shooting guard Terrel Harris hasn't played in six weeks and thus looms as a potential candidate to make way if the Heat need to make room for two signings.
Sources say the thought of signing with the Bulls is something that strongly interested Fisher, but Chicago is well stocked at point guard and appears to be focused on trying to land a forward such as Turiaf. The Los Angeles Clippers, sources say, have likewise shown little interest in pursuing Fisher, even though the Clippers -- like Miami and Oklahoma City -- have a need for a playoff-tested guard after Chauncey Billups' season-ending Achilles tear and with star guard Chris Paul carrying an increasingly heavy load.

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ESPN Insider can help you keep up with the latest NBA info. Check back often for the latest buzz.
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The Spurs, by contrast, long have been fans of Fisher, sources said. But San Antonio, by all indications, is pressing ahead on the Patrick Mills front in hopes of completing its planned signing of the Australian point guard, who spent much of this season playing in China.
Fisher was officially placed on waivers at 6 p.m. ET Monday, giving teams under the salary cap 48 hours to claim him. He was owed a little less than $1 million for the rest of this season and had a player option worth $3.4 million for next season. But the Houston Chronicle reported Monday that Fisher surrendered his entire 2012-13 salary to secure his buyout from the Rockets.
Players seeking buyouts this month must be waived by Friday to be eligible to play in the playoffs with another team.
Fisher's surrender of next season's $3.4 million marks the second time in his career that he has left a significant amount of money on the table to facilitate a move he wants. In 2007, Fisher gave up roughly $8 million owed by the Utah Jazz to return to the Lakers -- with whom he began his career alongside Bryant in 1996-97 -- so Fisher's family could be closer to the doctors who were treating his daughter for a rare form of eye cancer.
The Rockets gave Fisher's representatives permission to speak with about a half-dozen teams over the weekend to gauge interest in him during the buyout discussions, sources said.
Fisher has made no public statements since his surprising trade from the franchise with which he has been a part of five championship teams. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak has admitted that he didn't give Fisher or his representatives a heads up that a deal was in the works before Thursday's trade deadline, and said later that he could understand if Fisher was "emotional" over the situation.
"He may have caught wind of the rumor a day or two ago, but there was no heads up given," Kupchak said Thursday. "It's not necessary, because a lot of times there's nothing to the rumors. How many times was one of our players traded in the last 10 days and it never took place? So you can't spend your time dispelling or confirming rumors.
"But when something like this does happen, I can imagine what he's going through. I've never really gone through it, but to be in one place, to have the kind of contribution, midseason, it's got to be pretty emotional. We'll talk at the right time."
Once he clears waivers, Fisher is free to sign with any team except the Lakers because league rules prevent teams from trading players away and immediately re-signing them.
Fisher had played in 537 consecutive games prior to being dealt to the Rockets. They had acquired him Thursday afternoon with the hopes of convincing Fisher to stay with them the remainder of the season, largely because star point guard Kyle Lowry is still recovering from a bacterial infection.
The Rockets, though, ultimately decided not to oppose Fisher's wish to be set free thanks to Fisher's willingness to give up next season's player option and that Houston also landed Dallas' 2012 protected first-round pick from the Lakers, which L.A. had acquired in December as part of the Lamar Odom deal.

Photo a new clue in Amelia Earhart case?

(CBS News) There may be a big break in the 1937, never-solved disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart.
A newly-enhanced photo might show the wreckage of her plane.
And soon, a team of investigators will head to a remote island in the Pacific Ocean to check it out.
Clinton wades into Amelia Earhart mystery
Video:The Lost Journey of Amelia Earhart
When Earhart disappeared in the South Pacific 75 years ago, she made headlines around the world. For decades dozens of searches have come up empty. Now a photograph, taken just three months after Earhart disappeared, has given new hope.
Researchers jokingly call the fuzzy object in the water Nessie, the nickname for the Loch Ness Monster, but in fact they believe it's the landing gear of Earhart's plane
Ric Gillespie is executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting responsible aviation archaeology and historic preservation. He said of the photo, "To you and me it might just look like a blob, but to the people who do forensic imaging analysis, all the elements of the landing gear of a Lockheed Electra, the kind of plane Amelia was flying, are present."
Earhart's extraordinary attempt to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe started in Oakland, Calif., in May 1937. She stopped in Miami, then, with stops along the way, she flew over South America, the Atlantic, Africa, then onto India, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Guinea
On July 2, she took off for Howland Island, where she planned to re-fuel before her final leg to the United States. She never made it.
But generations later, people are still asking questions, including the State Department, which announced a new privately-funded investigation into her disappearance.
Gillespie, who will lead a 10-day search for the plane in July using a robotic vehicle and sonar, says the island in that photograph is the same island where a series of distress calls were detected after Earhart disappeared.
Gillespie said he is "absolutely optimistic" about the endeavor.
Robert Ballard, who led the expedition that found the Titanic in 1985 says that was easy compared to finding Earhart's plane. "If you ever want a case of finding a needle in a haystack, this is at the top of the list in deep sea exploration," he said.
But Ballard also says that if that fuzzy object in that old photograph really is the landing gear of a plane -- it will likely be the smoking gun of the Earhart investigation.
To see Chip Reid's full report on the Earhart investigation, which includes the enhanced photo, watch the video in the player above.

Bengals' Crocker: Hines Ward played a dirty game

Hours following Hines Ward's tearful goodbye to Steeler Nation, one former foe wasn't so sad to see him retire.

Bengals safety Chris Crocker, never a fan of Wards' aggressive blocking habits, said Ward deserved to be a Hall of Famer, but went on to criticize the wide receiver.
"He tried to end people's careers and that's not the way the game is supposed to be played," Crocker told bengals.com.
As the team points out, Crocker joined the team just after Ward blindsided Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers, breaking his jaw. Crocker claims Ward punched him in the face during a play in 2009.
"Stuff like that, it's just not right," Crocker said. "And I'm not the only guy that thinks it."

Illinois primary results: Mitt Romney zeroes in on President Obama

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — After claiming a decisive Republican primary win here, Mitt Romney is signaling that he is ready for the main event against President Barack Obama in November.
Testing out several new lines of attack on the president, Romney sought to draw his sharpest contrasts to date between his campaign and the man he hopes to challenge in November. He drew a contrast between his biography as a businessman and Obama’s as a law professor, touting his business experience as the superior background to boost the economy.

Romney speech focuses on Obama

Santorum speaks after loss

Romney used his 14-minute victory speech to build the idea of Romney as the Obama alternative. The former Massachusetts governor launched his confident remarks by saying that Republicans had endured “enough” of the vitriolic and protracted primary fight and should move on to the main event.

“For 25 years, I lived and breathed business, the economy and jobs,” he said. “I had successes and failures but each step of the way, I learned a little more about what it is that makes our American system so powerful.”
Then, the Republican lowered the boom.
“You can’t learn that teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago,” he said. “You can’t even learn that as a community organizer. The simple truth is that this president just doesn’t understand the genius of America’s economy — or the secret of the American economic success story.”
Romney, who referred to defeated opponents Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich only with a mild congratulations to “my fellow candidates,” framed the general election as one strictly about the economy and the nation’s “economic freedom.”
“We’re going to face a defining decision as a people,” he said. “Our choice will about party or even personality. This election will be about principle. Our economic freedom will be on the ballot. I’m offering a real choice and a new beginning.”
Romney’s campaign advisers stressed on Tuesday that the days of predicting that GOP support would coalesce behind the former governor were over. But moments after he finished speaking, Romney’s campaign e-mailed supporters seeking donations.
The subject line: “Time to close.”
It was unclear late Tuesday night how many of the state’s delegates — which are awarded independent from the popular vote score — Romney will win. But the front-runner was running up vast margins on Santorum in Chicago and its suburbs, the home of the majority of the state’s population.
Romney’s team also exulted in the collapse of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the fact that Gingrich’s supporters apparently didn’t automatically transfer their allegiance to Santorum.

Mega Millions: $290-million jackpot up for grabs on Friday

Mega Millions' upcoming jackpot is one of the biggest ever -- $290 million -- and it's just going to get bigger in advance of Friday's drawing.
No single ticket hit all the numbers in Tuesday night's Mega Millions drawing, which is driving up the jackpot. Right now, the jackpot is at $290 million. If it were to stay there, it would go down in history as the eighth-largest haul since the game of chance began in 1996.
But you can expect the Mega Millions jackpot to rise over the next three days as the country flocks to bodegas, 7-11s, gas stations and supermarkets with dollar bills in hand, dreaming of hitting it big.
Mega Millions bills itself as the nation's biggest jackpot game. It's played in 42 states, including California, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The rules of engagement are fairly simple. Players pick six numbers from two different pools: The first five are chosen from numbers 1 to 56, and the sixth is chosen from numbers 1 to 46. You win by matching all six numbers.
Drawings are held twice weekly -- on Tuesdays and Fridays. Other, non-jackpot prizes are also available based on the number of sales, winners and numbers matched.
If you win Mega Millions on Friday, you have two options.
The first is the gimme-all-my-money-now option. Mega Millions pays a one-time, lump sum. So, for dreaming purposes, if you are the only winner in this $290-million jackpot scenario, you would get a payout of about $205 million, according to the lottery website.
The second option is to have your Mega Millions jackpot paid out over 26 years. For every $1 million in the jackpot, you will receive approximately $38,500 per year before taxes, according to the Mega Millions website. So if you are the only winner of a $290-million jackpot, you would get more than $11 million a year before taxes with this option.
Just so you know, your chances of hitting all six numbers in the Mega Millions lottery is 1 in 175,711,536.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Fast and Fearless Lehigh Stuns Duke

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Lehigh took an eight-game winning streak into the N.C.A.A. tournament and did not seem to notice that its opponent in the South Region on Friday was a few levels higher than its Patriot League competition.

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South Region: V.C.U. Wins Games and Defies Stereotypes (March 17, 2012)
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Duke’s Austin Rivers scored 19 points off the bench, but the Blue Devils ran out of comebacks.

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Gerry Broome/Associated Press

Lehigh’s C. J. McCollum took on Miles Plumlee in the second half at Greensboro, N.C.

Duke? Whatever.

The Mountain Hawks (27-7) were quick and fearless, drove the lane at will and gave Duke a lot more trouble than a No. 2 seed could expect in its opening game.

And then Lehigh pulled a Norfolk State, becoming the second No. 15 seed to shock a No. 2. The junior guard C. J. McCollum scored 30 points to lead the Mountain Hawks to a 75-70 victory in a virtual home game for the Blue Devils at the Greensboro Coliseum.

It was the first time in N.C.A.A. tournament history that two No. 15 seeds defeated No. 2 seeds and the first time three seeds No. 13 or higher won on the same day.

True, Duke (27-7) was playing without forward Ryan Kelly, who missed his third consecutive game with a sprained ankle. Maybe that’s why the Blue Devils seemed to struggle. Kelly averaged 11.8 points a game, third behind Austin Rivers and Seth Curry.

But mostly, they couldn’t stop McCollum from driving the lane at will. McCollum entered the game averaging 21.9 points a game, fifth best in Division 1, and was the Patriot League player of the year. He had 21 with more than 11 minutes left in the game.

“We were definitely confident coming in, because we didn’t have anything to lose,” McCollum said. “Everyone except for our family members predicted us to lose, so there was no pressure on it. The pressure was all on them, and I’m glad that we were able to get the win.”

After Justin Maneri broke a 42-42 tie with a layup with about 12 minutes 30 seconds to go, it was a McCollum 3-pointer that gave Lehigh a 47-42 lead.

Duke regained the lead at 48-47 on a Mason Plumlee layup with 8:39 remaining, but Lehigh surged again, going up by 56-51 with just over four minutes to go.

The Blue Devils closed to within 2, but McCollum buried a 3-pointer from the wing with 2:25 remaining and John Adams ran past a Duke press for a slam with just under two minutes remaining to put Lehigh up, 61-54.

There were no comebacks left in Duke, and the comparatively small contingent of Lehigh fans who filled a section of the Coliseum roared, along with a large gathering of North Carolina fans on hand, when the Mountain Hawks put the final dagger in Duke with a press-breaking slam by Gabe Knutson with 38.5 seconds left for a 67-59 lead.

“They had the best player on the court tonight, McCollum,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He’s really one of the outstanding players in the country, and you could see why tonight.”

Duke wasn’t the only high-profile team Lehigh faced this season, and maybe that’s why the Mountain Hawks seemed so comfortable on the same floor with the Blue Devils. After all, Lehigh had played at No. 1-seeded Michigan State earlier in the season, falling by 9 points. It was perfect preparation for Duke.

“It helped a lot,” McCollum said. “Early on, we were in some tough environments. That gave us confidence we could play with anybody in the country.”

The senior forward Jordan Hamilton said: “I don’t think a lot of these big schools, they don’t really expect the smaller guys to come out and come out swinging. So that’s an advantage we have. That also built confidence that we can really play. We feel we can play with anyone in the country.”

And they showed it on national television.

The Duke senior forward Miles Plumlee had 4 points and 6 rebounds in his final game.

“People remember you for how you leave, and this wasn’t how I wanted to leave,” he said.

Krzyzewski said: “The game is a great game. I’ve been in it for 37 years, and it takes you to incredible highs, and it also takes you to incredible lows. Tonight’s one of those lows. We just haven’t been in sync offensively these last couple weeks and it showed up again tonight.”

Friday, March 16, 2012

George Clooney & Dad ARRESTED During Protest

11:30 AM PST -- Clooney just bailed out ... for $100.

8:45 AM PST -- Clooney and his dad were arrested for crossing a police line ... which is a misdemeanor offense.

Father and son were arrested by the uniformed division of the U.S. Secret Service ... but he's currently being booked into a D.C. police station.

George Clooney and his father Nick have been arrested in Washington, D.C. during a protest over the Sudan crisis.

Clooney was leading a protest in front of the Sudanese embassy in D.C. when he was hauled away by secret service agents.

0316_george_clooney_subasset

Clooney's publicist Stan Rosenfield tells TMZ, "They were protesting the violence committed by the government of Sudan on its own innocent men, women and children. They were demanding they allow humanitarian aid into the country before it becomes the largest humanitarian crisis in the world."

Sources connected with George tell us he feels good about the arrest because it puts the spotlight on the crisis. Moments before the arrest, George was mobbed by reporters (below) -- claiming, he was protesting to raise awareness about the "Sudanese government committing atrocities on their own people."

We're told a dozen people got arrested including congressmen, leaders of the human rights community, Sudanese citizens, Martin Luther King III and George's father ... Nick Clooney.
Clooney recently shot a short documentary about the situation in Sudan, which he released on EnoughProject.org. WARNING -- Video contains VERY graphic content.

Danny Boome's Irish Boiled Corned Beef Dinner

Servings:4

Difficulty: Easy

Cook Time: 60-120 min

Make this traditional meal for St.Patrick's day this week. This recipe is a simple and easy one-pot meal.

Ingredients

1 (5 1/2 pound) corned beef brisket

2 large onions

15 small white (Irish) potatoes

10 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 heads cabbage, cored and cut into wedges

Cooking Directions

Rinse the beef brisket under cold water, and place in a large pot. Add enough water to cover the roast by 6 inches. Peel the onions, and place them in the pot with the roast. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 30 minutes at a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-low so that the water is at a gentle boil, cover, and cook for 3 1/2 hours.
Remove the lid from the brisket. Remove onions, and cut into wedges. Return them to the pot. Add carrots to the pot, then place the cabbage over the roast. Place the potatoes on top of the cabbage. Place the lid back on the pot, and cook for another 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender. The potatoes should be immersed in the water by now, but if not, keep the lid on so they can steam.
Remove the vegetables from the pot, and place in a separate serving bowl. Keep the corned beef in the pot until ready to slice and serve because it dries out quickly.

Corned beef and cabbage? No! Try St. Pat's doughnuts, shakes, 'n fries.

Irish restaurants may want to serve corned beef and cabbage. But America's fast-food chains are offering far more intriguing fare for St. Patrick’s Day: from Dunkin' Donuts' 'Lucky Mint' dessert to Burger King's free fries with green ketchup.

This 2010 file photo shows a Burger King Whopper hamburgers with fries at a Burger King restaurant in Mountain View, Calif. This weekend, the fast-food chain is offering free fries with green ketchup, just the thing for a St. Patrick's Day meal if you're not into corned beef and cabbage.

St. Patrick’s Day may nominally be about St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland who banished all of the snakes from the Emerald Isle, but really, it’s all about food and fun, and Irish culture.