Mega Millions jackpot hits $1 billion ahead of Christmas Eve drawing
(NEW YORK) — The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to an estimated $1 billion ahead of its Christmas Eve drawing.
The estimated jackpot would make it the seventh-largest in the game’s history and its seventh billion-dollar prize.
It would also be the largest ever won in December, if a ticket matches all six numbers drawn.
The cash value of the jackpot is estimated to be $448.8 million.
The last time the jackpot was won was at $810 million in Texas on Sept. 10. No one has won the grand prize in the last 29 drawings, as the jackpot has ballooned.
The Mega Millions jackpot has only been won on Christmas Eve once before, according to the game. A $68 million jackpot was won in New York on Dec. 24, 2002, though it was never claimed.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.
Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play. Tuesday’s drawing is at 11 p.m. ET.
(WASHINGTON) — A former NFL linebacker who played for the Detroit Lions faces charges for allegedly engaging in a series of assaults on law enforcement during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, court records show.
Leander Antwione Williams, 31, was arrested Thursday in what appears to be the first newly filed Capitol breach case brought by federal prosecutors since Election Day.
His charges include assaulting officers, civil disorder and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, according to a criminal complaint filed last week.
Williams was a fifth-round draft pick for the Detroit Lions in 2016 and also played linebacker for the XFL’s DC Defenders, according to public reports.
In the charging document, which was unsealed Thursday following his arrest in Savannah, Georgia, prosecutors detailed how Williams allegedly joined the pro-Trump mob in engaging in several violent skirmishes with officers attempting to protect the Capitol.
In one instance, Williams was captured on police body camera footage pulling bike racks away from a police line and then striking an officer on the head, according to the complaint. Another video showed Williams grabbing and pulling against two officers who appeared to be trying to push him away, according to the complaint.
Williams was ultimately identified by the FBI following a series of tips submitted dating back to December of 2022, according to the complaint. Agents ultimately confirmed his identity in photos with the help of a signature key fob that he was seen wearing on his belt loop during the riot that they cross-referenced with other pictures from his social media profiles, according to the complaint.
Williams has not entered a plea to the felony charges he currently faces and did not have an attorney listed representing him as of Thursday afternoon.
His arrest is further evidence that the Justice Department plans to continue its prosecution of individuals found to have carried out assaults during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol despite the election of former President Donald Trump, who has stated his intention to issue pardons or commute the sentences for his followers who joined in the attack once he takes office in January.
Prosecutors from the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office have spent the past week arguing against a wave of filings from Jan. 6 defendants seeking to delay their cases in the hopes they’ll be pardoned once Trump enters office. In most, but not all instances, those requests have fallen flat with judges overseeing their cases.
(GREEN LAKE, Wis.) — Ryan Borgwardt, the husband and father who authorities said faked his own death and fled the U.S., is back in custody in Wisconsin, according to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll will announce more details at a news conference at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday.
The case began on Aug. 11, when Borgwardt texted his wife that he was turning his kayak around on Green Lake and heading to shore soon, Podoll said.
But the dad of three never came home.
Responders found Borgwardt’s overturned kayak and life jacket in the lake and believed he drowned, officials said.
Crews scoured the lake for weeks using divers, drones, sonar and cadaver K-9s, but never found him, officials said.
In October, investigators discovered Borgwardt’s name had been checked by law enforcement in Canada two days after he vanished on the lake, the sheriff said.
Authorities also learned Borgwardt had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan, the sheriff said.
Borgwardt’s other suspicious behavior included: clearing his browsers the day he disappeared, inquiring about moving funds to foreign banks, obtaining a new passport and getting a new life insurance policy, the sheriff said.
Authorities determined Borgwardt was alive out of the country, but didn’t know exactly where he was located. Authorities made contact with a woman who speaks Russian, and on Nov. 11, they reached Borgwardt through that woman, authorities said.
Borgwardt told police he was safe but didn’t reveal his location, the sheriff said.
Podoll said Borgwardt did reveal to them how he faked his death.
“He stashed an e-bike near the boat launch. He paddled his kayak in a child-sized floating boat out into the lake. He overturned the kayak and dumped his phone in the lake,” the sheriff said. “He paddled the inflatable boat to shore and got on his e-bike and rode through the night to Madison, [Wisconsin]. In Madison, he boarded a bus and went to Detroit, and then the Canadian border. He continued on the bus to an airport and got on a plane.”
One of the reasons Borgwardt picked Green Lake is because it’s one of the deepest lakes in the state, Podoll said.
(NEW YORK) — Cellphones will no longer be allowed in New York schools if Gov. Kathy Hochul gets her way.
The New York governor announced on Tuesday a proposal to ban smartphones from hallways, classrooms and during lunchtime.
“We are not developing the skills we need because kids are distracted by cellphones,” Hochul said during a budget address in Albany. “I am announcing today a proposal that will transform our classrooms, return them to a place of learning.”
By restricting the use of devices from “bell to bell,” Hochul said schools will be distraction-free, allowing students to focus solely on learning.
“Our kids will be finally free from the endless disruptions from social media and all the mental health pressures that come from it,” Hochul said.
Students who have medical needs or are non-English speakers will still be permitted to use their cellphones at school. If approved, the governor said school districts will have the flexibility on how they interpret the policy.
The proposal will require approval by the state Legislature, since Hochul introduced it during her state budget instead of issuing an executive order.
Previously, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks said he was exploring a cellphone ban for city public schools, but Mayor Eric Adams said it required more study.
Eight states have already implemented cellphone restrictions to some degree in schools, including California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, according to The Associated Press.