Usual day for $276 million Powerball 'winners'

Public servants put in full shift at tax office as announcement looms

	Monongalia County tax deputy Allecia Priore, center, and seven other co-workers in West Virginia believe they have won Saturday's $276 million Powerball jackpot. Priore was at work Monday, attending to this woman and her granddaughter.
Dale Sparks / AP

Video: Wonderful World

Umpire, 92, celebrates 50th year on job
July 25: Umpires and referees can be some of the most-hated people in sports, so when you find one people actually like, it's almost like being sainted. WETM-TV's Emerson Lotzia reports.

A deer with 6 legs!

Rare turtle finally mates

Surgeon beats the odds

Walking for the fallen

Your turn!

Inspirational athletes
In honor of the 2008 Olympics, we're celebrating the athletes in your own life who inspire greatness.

Giving

Jim Frazier

Nonprofits walk fine line on political activity
Nonprofits could be one of the "sleeping giants" of this fall’s presidential election, having as much to do with turning red states blue — or vice versa — as will Iraq, Barack or soaring gas prices. Contribute magazine has the story.

U.N.: Much of Myanmar cyclone aid lost

Good Samaritans rush in to save man's cash

Dave Annable goes to bat for A.L.S. victims

On birthday, Mandela urges rich to help poor

For Wynton Marsalis, ‘The cause is people’

Message board

What do you think? Share your thoughts on happy news from home and abroad.

updated 9:26 a.m. ET March 18, 2008

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Eight women who believe they hold a Powerball ticket worth $276.3 million are public servants who reported to work as usual Monday, but at least one of their husbands has already quit his job.

Sheriff's Deputy Roger Magro told The Associated Press that his wife, Crystal, and seven other women in the Monongalia County tax office believe they won the Saturday night drawing.

"It's their day," he said shortly after turning in his resignation letter. "I'm just tagging along."

The West Virginia Lottery is working to confirm the validity of the ticket and has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday afternoon, spokeswoman Libby White said.

Lottery Director John Musgrave talked Monday with Linda Fominko, chief deputy in the tax office and one of the eight apparent winners, White said.

"They have sought professional advice and seem to be well prepared," she said.

One of the women came knocking at his door at 2 a.m. Sunday with the news, Magro said.

'Full of baloney'
"I just thought, 'You're full of baloney,'" he said. "But she was adamant about it."

The eight women declined interviews, quietly serving taxpayers and accepting congratulations in the courthouse basement as a few sheriff's deputies kept watch.

If the ticket is validated, the group would receive a lump sum payout of nearly $140 million before taxes. After taxes, the payout would be $95.5 million, White said. If divided eight ways, each person would receive nearly $12 million.

Powerball is played in 29 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The record jackpot was $365 million won by eight workers at a Nebraska meatpacking plant in February 2006. Saturday night's win is the seventh-largest in Powerball history.