Record Powerball pot hikes ranks of players

All across the United States last week, people were swarming to gas stations and supermarkets to purchase Powerball tickets for the largest Powerball prize in history. More than 635 million tickets were sold in 46 states prior to the Jan. 13 draw, according to lottoreport.com.

Powerball fever also hit Whitman County last week as the largest Powerball prize in history drew near.

The record Powerball grew to nearly $1.6 billion prior to the draw, because no tickets had been able to match all five numbers plus the Powerball number since Nov. 7, 2015. The record surge also followed a format change...