4 people in Michigan won January $1.05B Mega Millions prize
DETROIT – A four-member suburban Detroit lottery club won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot and will receive $557 million after taxes, officials said Friday. The winners claimed their prize weeks after the Jan. 22 drawing and chose the immediate lump sum option. After taxes, the $776 million payment was reduced to about $557 million, the Michigan Lottery said. The $1.05 billion jackpot was the largest in Michigan Lottery history and the third-largest in the United States. Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Vaccine delays leave grocery workers feeling expendable
Even when grocery workers are prioritized, they still face long waits. "The politicians and the health departments have been singing the praises of grocery workers but now they have been silent.”Major food retailers say they are doing their part to get their workers vaccinated. But for many grocery workers, the realization that they won’t be eligible any time soon adds to the sense of being expendable. Over the past two months, there have been 137 COVID-19 outbreaks in Southern California grocery stores, and 500 Houston grocery workers have been infected, according to the UFCW. The union knows of 124 grocery workers who have died since the start of the pandemic.
Michigan Mega Millions ticket wins $1.05 billion jackpot
The jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery game has grown to $1 billion ahead of Friday night's drawing after more than four months without a winner. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)DES MOINES, Iowa – Someone in Michigan bought the winning ticket for the $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which is the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. The winning ticket was purchased at a Kroger store in the Detroit suburb of Novi, the Michigan Lottery said. The Mega Millions top prize had been growing since Sept. 15, when a winning ticket was sold in Wisconsin. Three tickets for a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot were sold in January 2016, and one winning ticket sold for a $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in October 2018.
Toilet paper limits, empty shelves are back as virus surges
NEW YORK – Looking for toilet paper? Supermarket chains Kroger and Publix are limiting how much toilet paper and paper towels shoppers can buy after demand spiked recently. And Amazon is sold out of most disinfectant wipes and paper towels. The biggest supply issue seems to be paper products: 21% of shelves that stock paper towels and toilet paper are empty, the highest level in at least a month, according to market research company IRI. Amazon said its working with manufacturers to get items such as disinfecting wipes, paper towels and hand sanitizer in stock.
Scaled-back Thanksgiving plans leave turkey farmers in limbo
Many turkey farmers are worried their biggest birds won't end up on Thanksgiving tables. Fewer people at Thanksgiving tables means many families will buy smaller turkeys, or none at all. That leaves anxious turkey farmers and grocers scrambling to predict what people will want on their holiday tables. It’s a gamble, because the birds gain a lot of fat and flavor in their final few weeks, but she figures customers will want smaller birds. Butterball — which typically sells 30% of America’s 40 million Thanksgiving turkeys — said it’s expecting more gatherings, but it’s not convinced people will want smaller turkeys.