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USA Today
22-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Woman stops for gas, leaves with 6-figure lottery prize: 'It felt so unreal'
Woman stops for gas, leaves with 6-figure lottery prize: 'It felt so unreal' Natalie Vega stopped at a gas station in Archdale, North Carolina, and decided to buy a $5 scratch-off Prize Link Multiplier ticket. She said she couldn't believe her eyes at first. Show Caption Hide Caption Lottery ticket, worth $100,000, found in man's trash A South Carolina man reportedly claimed a $100,000 lottery prize with a ticket he'd fished out of the trash. GeoBeats A North Carolina woman's stop for gas turned into a windfall of nearly a quarter of a million dollars, lottery officials said. Natalie Vega of Asheboro won the $200,000 top prize after buying a $5 scratch-off Prize Link Multiplier ticket from Zingo Express on North Main Street in Archdale, just southeast of Winston-Salem. 'It felt so unreal,' Vega recalled to North Carolina lottery officials. 'It's just overwhelming.' Natalie Vega chose winning lottery ticket at random Vega said that it was her first time buying that particular lottery ticket, telling officials: 'I like to just pick random ones.' This was her biggest lottery win ever. 'I've only ever won a couple dollars,' Vega said, per lottery officials. 'I think $20 is the biggest before this.' After scratching off the ticket, it took Vega some time to fully process the big win. 'I had to read the instructions on the ticket like 10 times, just to make sure I was looking at it right," she said. How much of winnings did Natalie Vega take home? On May 21, Vega went to lottery headquarters in Raleigh to collect her winnings, which, after required state and federal tax withholdings, totaled $143,501. The Prize Link Multiplier game debuted in April with five $200,000 top prizes. Three $200,000 prizes remain to be claimed, according to lottery officials. Vega said she plans to use her winnings to buy some land and invest. Where can you buy lottery tickets? Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores, and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets. You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer. Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 18+ (19+ in NE, 21+ in AZ). Physically present where Jackpocket operates. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. Eligibility Restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Terms:
USA Today
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'This is really bad': Woman abused by '7th Heaven' star Stephen Collins details exposure
'This is really bad': Woman abused by '7th Heaven' star Stephen Collins details exposure Show Caption Hide Caption Stephen Collins admits to sexually abusing female minors Stephen Collins, the actor best known for his role as a reverend and father in the television show '7th Heaven', has admitted to sexually abusing three female minors. GeoBeats Actor Stephen Collins served as the magnetic north of a moral compass on the WB's '7th Heaven,' doling out advice to his community and children as the insightful Reverend Eric Camden for 11 seasons. But the actor's life offscreen proved far more sinister. Investigation Discovery's 'Stephen Collins, America's Dad,' (Monday, 9 ET/PT and streaming on Max) revisits the bombshell revelations, first aired in 2014, that Collins, now 77, had exposed himself to three young girls. The episode is the first of a six-part ID docuseries, 'Hollywood Demons,' which also delves into celebrity stalkers and the difficulties plaguing child stars and cast members of Bravo's 'Real Housewives' franchise. The Collins installment includes interviews with '7th Heaven' actors Jeremy London and Kyle Searles; April Price, a survivor of Collins' abuse; and Dr. Drew Pinsky, who provides analysis. Producers say they contacted more than 100 associates of Collins, but nearly all declined to participate or didn't respond. Here are the most shocking moments from the documentary. April Price: 'This is bad. This is really bad' Price, then 13, spent the summer of 1983 in Los Angeles with her aunt, a neighbor of Collins'. Price says Collins exposed himself to her twice, including once when he helped her set up her gaming console. 'All I know is I was supremely shocked,' Price says in the episode, 'very uncomfortable and still didn't want to insult him because he was kind to me and nice and doing me a favor.' At the end of that summer, Collins lured Price into his apartment with memorabilia from the short-lived drama 'Tales of the Gold Monkey' (Price was a fan). Once inside his apartment, Collins asked Price if it would be OK if he changed into something more comfortable. He returned completely naked, she says. 'And my stomach just fell, and now I'm actually scared,' she recalls. 'I'm in this man's apartment. I'm in a bathing suit, and he's naked. This is bad. This is really bad. I don't know what I'm going to do.' When Price saw through a window that her aunt had returned home, she used it as an excuse to flee. In 1997, Price and Collins crossed paths on a set. She says Collins apologized when the two were alone, saying, ''I want you to know what I did was extremely wrong. I feel terrible about it. Please forgive me,'' Price remembers. At the time she viewed it as an earnest atonement, but today she sees it as damage control. Stephen Collins' therapy tapes leaked Collins and his then-wife, Faye Grant, discussed his pattern of abusing young girls in a 2012 therapy session, which Grant recorded without Collins' knowledge. In the tapes, which TMZ obtained in 2014, Collins spoke about exposing himself repeatedly to one girl, beginning in 1973 when she was 10. He also admitted to forcing the young girl to touch him. Collins also mentioned Price and a third girl, whom he abused in 1994, who was a babysitter for his children. '7th Heaven' stars address Stephen Collins' 'inexcusable' sexual abuse on rewatch podcast Jeremy London reaction: 'Stephen Collins would be a dead man if that was my child' London, who portrayed minister Chandler Hampton from 2002-04, initially calls Collins 'not only one of the finest actors but one of the finest human beings in Hollywood.' But once he learns that Collins admitted on tape to inappropriate encounters with three girls, his stance changes. 'I'm a dad, first and foremost, above everything else,' London, 52, says. 'And so my first thoughts always go to the children. Stephen Collins would be a dead man if that was my child.' Collins has faced no criminal or civil charges stemming from these events. Statues of limitations have passed for Price and the girl abused in 1973. The girl Collins exposed himself to in 1994 has not identified herself publicly.
USA Today
10-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Trump orders Treasury to stop minting pennies: How much does it cost to mint a penny?
Trump orders Treasury to stop minting pennies: How much does it cost to mint a penny? Show Caption Hide Caption Check your pockets: Your pennies could be worth thousands of dollars If you own this penny, it could be worth a lot of money. GeoBeats President Donald Trump is telling the Treasury Department to stop minting pennies, the iconic one-cent copper coin bearing the face of Abraham Lincoln. Shortly after departing Sunday's Super Bowl game in New Orleans, the president took to his Truth Social site and said that the penny now costs more than two cents to produce. It's one of the first coins made by the U.S. Mint since it was established in 1792. 'For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!' Trump wrote. 'I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time.' According to a 2024 U.S. Mint report, the one-cent coin costs more than 3.69 cents and has exceeded its face value for 19 years. And according to their 2014 report: 'There are no alternative metal compositions that reduce the manufacturing unit cost of the penny below its face value.' While other countries have also eliminated smaller denomination coins due to rising production costs such as Canada, discontinuing the penny in the U.S. entirelymay require congressional approval. How much does it cost to mint a penny? Last month, DOGE, the department run by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, said that producing 4.5 billion pennies in Fiscal Year 2023 cost taxpayers more than $179 million. However, according to the 2024 fiscal year report from the U.S. Mint, it states it took about 3.7 cents to produce and distribute one penny, a notable 20% increase from the previous year. The increase in penny production costs has been partly driven by the rising costs of metals like zinc and copper, according to the U.S. Mint report. How much copper is in a penny? A modern US penny contains only 2.5% copper, as it is primarily made of zinc with a thin copper plating; meaning a penny is 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. At one time, it was mostly composed of copper, but since 1982, the U.S. Mint has made pennies from copper-plated zinc. Maria Francis is a Pennsylvania-based journalist with the Mid-Atlantic Connect Team.
