NEWS
4A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN ▼ LOTTERY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18.2005
Powerball hits record high
Bonus to draw bigger checks
CHARLESTON, WVA. — if someone wins the estimated $340 million Powerball jackpot on Wednesday, he or she won't be the only one who will benefit from the record prize.
Players matching all but the Powerball number in the same drawing that the jackpot is won in will get a larger-than-normal prize, thanks to a bonus that kicks in when the jackpot reaches a record level. Those players could also become millionaires if the jackpot continues to grow, West Virginia Lottery Commission spokeswoman Nancy Bulla said Monday.
BY PAM RAMSEY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Normally, a player matching five numbers but not the Powerball wins $200,000. But if there is a record jackpot, Powerball officials cap the next drawing's contribution from ticket sales at $25 million. Any additional money goes into a bonus prize pool for the Match 5 winners.
The Match 5 bonus pool will have an estimated $13 million for Wednesday's drawing, according to the Powerball Web site.
Bulla said about 30 Match 5 winners were anticipated in Wednesday's drawing, based on previous drawings with large jackpots. If someone wins the jackpot, the Match 5 winners would get an extra $450,000 each, she said.
"The fewer winners, the more money they'll get." she said.
If the jackpot is not won Wednesday and continues to grow, the Match 5 winners "could win millions, depending on how long we go," Bulla said.
Should there be no Match 5 winners when the jackpot is hit, the bonus pool would go to players who match four numbers and the Powerball. That prize normally is $10,000.
"A lot of people come back and buy (tickets) here because Jack bought his here. ... We have tourists come through from different states who say, 'We just wanted to stop here and buy because he won here."
Powerball is played in 27 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Andi Perrine
Convenience store manager
The jackpot has been growing since mid August, and 20 drawings have passed without a jackpot being won. It is the biggest jackpot in the game's history and eclipses the previous record of $314.9 million won on Christmas Day 2002 by Jack Whittaker of Scott Depot, W.Va.
When the jackpot is won, it will mark the first time that the Match 5 bonus is awarded. The bonus was created after Whitaker's record win, Bulla said.
Whittaker purchased his winning ticket at C & L Super Serve, a convenience store in Hurricane. Since then, the store has become a magnet for Powerball players hoping that lightning will strike twice.
Powerball sales were at least four times higher than normal for Saturday's drawing, when the current jackpot was an estimated $305 million, manager Andi Perrine said.
"A lot of people come back and buy (tickets) here because jack bought his here. ... We have tourists come through from different states who say, 'We just wanted to stop here and buy because he won here,'" she said.
The Associated Press
SPACE
A technician makes preparations on the Shenzhou VI space capsule before it is loaded onto a truck in Siziwang county, in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, early Monday. China's second manned space mission returned safely early Monday after a five-day flight.
China completes second space mission
BY JOE McDONALD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING — An elated public celebrated the successful landing Monday of China's second manned space flight, a feat that a senior Chinese leader declared a victory for the Communist Party and a boost to the country's status as a space power.
The pre-dawn landing of the Shenzhou 6 capsule on the country's northern grasslands was shown live on television as part of a propaganda effort meant to rouse support for the ruling party.
"It's really incredible, and we're all filled with pride," said Li Guoqiang, a Shanghai electrician. "It's about developing and expressing our national strength."
Fei and Nie were flown to Beijing, where they received a hero's welcome, riding in an open car in a parade past thousands of cheering soldiers at a military base.
Scenes of astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng emerging smiling and waving were shown throughout the day on television, sparking an outpouring of patriotic excitement about China's growing technological might.
State television showed residents of Fei's hometown of Kunshan, west of Shanghai, setting off firecrackers and weeping with joy.
"This will further improve the country's international status and national strength, and will help to mobilize its people to rally around the Communist Party and work harder for the future of the country," said Wu Bangguo, the party's No. 2 leader, who watched the landing at a Beijing control center.
The capsule touched down by parachute at 4:32 a.m. local time (4:32 p.m. EDT), just a half-mile from its target in the Inner Mongolia region, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Television showed the astronauts — known in Chinese as yuanhyuan, or "travelers of the universe" — climbing out of the kettle-shaped capsule with the help of two technicians in red jumpsuits and clambering down a ladder in darkness.
They accepted bouquets of flowers and sat in metal chairs beside the spacecraft.
"I want to thank the people for their love and care. Thank you very much." Fei said.
Hours later, an official announced China's next ambition: a possible spacewalk in 2007.
"Our estimate is that around 2007 we will be able to achieve extravehicular activity by our astronauts and they will walk in space," Tang Xiangming, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, said at a news conference.
Tang said the program also might recruit women in its next group of astronaut candidates.
Shenzhou 6 flew 2 million miles in 115 hours, 32 minutes in space. Xinhua said. The mission was far longer and more complex than the 2003 flight, when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited for 21 1/2 hours.
The flight cost some $110 million, Tang said.
The government says the manned space program has cost a total of $2.3 billion — a fraction of the budget of its American counterpart.
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