Powerball giant jackpot $425 million

Americans in 43 states lined up Wednesday for a shot at a mind-blowing $425million Powerball jackpot, as lotto officials said they’re the ones feeling lucky in a year of gargantuan prizes and big profits.

A string of no-win weeks in the past year have allowed jackpots to grow to dizzying heights. The top four lottery prizes ever in the United States have come since March 2012, when the record was set with a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot. The next three top jackpots, all for Powerball, have come in the past nine months and follow that lottery’s January 2012 revamp, which changed the price of a ticket from $1 to $2.

Wednesday’s Powerball total is the fourth largest lotto jackpot ever. If someone does hit the right numbers, he or she can claim a single payment of $244 million after taxes.

And if no one walks away a winner, it is possible the next drawing on Saturday might be close to “world record territory,” said ChuckStrutt, head of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

Source: nbcnews

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Riley Cooper returns

Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper, who returned to practice on Tuesday after a brief stint away from the team, said that he's spoken with each of his teammates individually since a video capturing him using a derogatory racial remark went viral, asking them not to forgive him for his actions, but to judge him by his future.

"I talked to everyone individually," he said following the team's joint practice with the New England Patriots. "I told them, 'I don't want you to forgive me, because that puts the burden on you. I want it all on me.' I told them that and I told them I apologize. They could tell it was from the heart, they know I'm not that kind of person. It feels good to have support from the guys."

He added that he felt that 100 percent of his teammates were in support of him, something he sensed on the field in his return.

"It felt good to be out there with the guys and catching and running and making some plays and them coming up to you, supporting you, high-fiving you, chest-bumping you like JasonAvant did in the end zone when I had that TD," Cooper said. "It just felt good to be back out here with the guys."

The Eagles had excused Cooper on Friday and sent him for sensitivity training after video of his remark, made at a Kenny Chesney concert in June, surfaced last week.

Source: espn

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George Duke dies at 67

Former Supremes singer Scherrie Payne confirmed Duke died at St John's hospital in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

His latest album, DreamWeaver, was released in July, as a tribute to his wife Corine, who died from cancer a year ago.

He is survived by his sons, Rasheed and John.

"I just received the devastating and sad news that the great musician, George Duke, passed away this evening," said Payne.

"It was just one year earlier, 18 July, that his beloved wife and my friend, Corine, went to be with the Lord."

An accomplished musician across multiple genres, including jazz, funk and R&B, Duke released more than 30 solo albums, as well as producing and composing tracks for several musicians including Miles Davis, Gladys Knight and Anita Baker.

His debut album, George Duke Quartet, was released in 1966, while he was studying at the San Francisco Conservatory Of Music.

"They approached me at the break and asked me if I'd like to record an album. Needless to say, I was in a state of shock," he recalled of the offer.

Despite calling the album "the worst record" he ever made, Duke went on to work with several talented artists in the late 1960s, including the contemporary jazz violinist, Jean-Luc Ponty, with whom he recorded an album in 1969.

After meeting Zappa that same year, the pair worked together on a series of records including Chunga's Revenge, 200 Motels and Apostrophe.

During a career spanning five decades, Duke composed and produced music for film and was an accomplished music director, leading several prestigious events including the Nelson Mandela international tribute concert in London in 1989 and a tribute to French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsborough at the Montreux Music Festival.

His work has also been sampled by musicians such as Kanye West and Ice Cube and he featured on the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, Jill Scott's, third album.

Devastated by the death of his wife, Corine, in 2012, he released DreamWeaver less than a month ago as a tribute to her.

"I don't want people to get the idea that this is a morbid record, because it's more about celebration," Duke said.

Duke was due to perform with his band in Los Angeles in early September.

Source: bbc

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Tony Stewart Broken leg because of car crash

Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart was hospitalized with a broken leg early Tuesday morning after crashing at a sprint car race in Iowa.

Stewart-HaasRacing spokesman Mike Arning said Stewart sustained a broken right tibia and fibula in a crash at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa,Iowa. He was transported to a local hospital by ambulance, where he underwent surgery.

Stewart will miss at least this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at WatkinsGlen; Arning said a replacement has not been named and it's unknown how long Stewart will be out overall. A test scheduled for Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway has also been canceled.

"Our foremost concern is with Tony's health and recovery," NASCAR said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "We're in close contact with his team and they will provide further information as it becomes available."

The driver/team owner was leading the 30-lap feature of the Front Row Challenge with five laps remaining when Josh Higday's car spun on Turn 4 and collected the top three cars — Stewart, Tasker Phillips and Tony Shilling.

Source: usatoday

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Shawn Burr dies at 47

Shawn Burr, a former first-round draft pick and fan favorite in Detroit, died on Monday night at the age of 47.

Burr, who had been battling Leukemia going back to 2011, fell down the stairs at his home on Monday evening. He suffered a massive brain trauma and later on Monday he was removed from life support.

Selected seventh overall by the RedWings in 1984, Burr spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Red Wings. On the ice his best season came in 1989-90 when he had 24 goals and 32 assists, both career highs. It was the start of a three-year stretch with at least 50 points.

What really set him apart, though, was his personality and demeanor, something that made him a very popular player in Detroit with both fans and the media, which is always willing to talk with a good quote. Former Wings goalie Chris Osgood shared a story with the Detroit Free-Press that illustrated Burr's personality.

"He was a funny guy, a nonstop talker, always had a trick to play," Osgood said. "My first game as a rookie, he put my name upside down on my jersey. He was the guy in the '90s who kept everybody else relaxed. He did the dirty work for the team on the ice and then kept the guys relaxed in the dressing room."

Burr was eventually traded to Tampa Bay -- perhaps because he talked too much -- and also played for San Jose to finish out his career but he will be remembered as a Wing. Unfortunately he left Detroit just before the championship run came to Motown.

In recent years Burr had served as the Red Wings Alumni Association president. George Malik of Kukla's Korner had a tremendous ode to Burr.

Burr had founded the ShawnBurr Foundation, which is committed to supporting blood cancer research.

Source: cbssports

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Amber Alert: first California issues cellphone

Monday marked the first time in California that officials notified the public of a statewide Amber Alert through their cellphones, a California Highway Patrol official said.

It differed from phone to phone, but sometime between late Monday and early Tuesday many mobile phones across Southern California received an Amber Alert related to two missing children in San Diego.

JamesLee DiMaggio is suspected of killing Christina Anderson, 44, of Lakeside and kidnapping one or both of her children: Hannah Anderson, 16, and Ethan Anderson, 8.

Christina Anderson's body was found Sunday night in the burning rubble of a house in the rural community of Boulevard in eastern San Diego County, authorities said.

The two children were likely abducted about 5 p.m. on Saturday, authorities said.

Amber Alerts sent out overnight described the vehicle DiMaggio is believed to be traveling in: a blue Nissan Versa with California license plate 6WCU986. Authorities believe he may be making his way north to Canada.

Some cellphones received only a text message, others buzzed and beeped. Some people got more than one alert.

It’s all thanks to the Wireless Emergency Alert program, a cellphone version of the Emergency Alert System that gives you the high-pitched test tone on your television.

Cellphone owners receive messages automatically, based on their proximity to the emergency, not based on their phone number.

“If you’re from Texas and that’s where your phone number is based and you’re traveling in California at the time of the Amber Alert, you’ll receive the text message about the Amber Alert in California on your Texas-based phone,” said CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader.

The messages go out over a special wireless carrier channel called Cell Broadcast and aren’t affected by regular cellphone traffic that might disrupt calls and text messages during times of heavy usage, according to the National Center for Missing & ExploitedChildren, which has teamed with the government in the program.

The signal is transmitted simultaneously to all mobile devices within the range of cell towers in the affected area. There are no texting charges. The system does not track phones' whereabouts.

The system is a second-generation Amber Alert and replaces the Wireless Amber Alert program that sent text alerts only to cellphone users who subscribed to the service. The new system began Jan. 1 and requires cellphone customers to opt out to stop receiving alerts.

Hannah Anderson is described as 5-foot-7, 115 pounds with blond hair, blue eyes, a belly button ring, nose stud and pierced ears.

EthanAnderson is described as 4-foot-11, 65 pounds with sandy blond hair.

DiMaggio is described as 5-foot-9, 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the homicide detail at (858) 974-2321 or (858) 565-5200, or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

The Amber Alert program was created in 1996 in honor of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was abducted and murdered near her home in Arlington, Texas.

To opt-out of the emergency alerts, change your phone's message or alert message settings. They're automatically included on phones that receive the alerts.

Source: latimes

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African rock python that killed boys

Two boys found strangled to death by an African rock python in New Brunswick, Canada, on Monday were victims of one of the world's most vicious snakes.

There are 26 species of pythons, and even among that group, rock pythons have an especially nasty reputation, said Kenneth Krysko, senior herpetologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

Africa's largest snake, the 20-foot-long (6.1-meter-long) African rock python can't be easily tamed like other snakes, such as the more commonly kept Burmese python, Krysko said.

They're so ill-tempered that "they come out of the egg striking," he said in a 2009 interview.

"I personally don't see why people need to have these things as pets—they're not good pets and look at what ends up happening," Krysko said today. "I was shocked to hear about this."

According to the Canadian government, the snake escaped from an exotic pet store located beneath the apartment where the boys were visiting.

Source: nationalgeographic

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