UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

$336.4 million Powerball jackpot unclaimed

NEWPORT, R.I., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Lottery officials said Monday the winning $336.4 million Powerball ticket was sold at a Rhode Island convenience store, but the winner had yet to come forward.

A Lottery spokeswoman said the $9 Powerball ticket was sold at the Stop and Shop at 250 Bellevue Ave. in Newport and is now worth $336.4 million after Saturday's drawing, The Providence (R.I.) Journal reported Monday.

However, the spokeswoman said the winner had yet to come forward as of Monday. The winning numbers from the Saturday night drawing were 1-10-37-52-57 with the Powerball 11.

Couple approach 70th anniversary

CINCINNATI, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- An Ohio couple preparing to mark their 70th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day said their marriage works because they "work for one another."

Martha Jones, 91, and husband Joe, 90, who live at a retirement community in the Hartwell neighborhood of Cincinnati, said they first met when Martha was working as a nurse and Joe got his hand mangled in a corn picker, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Monday.

"When I came to from the anesthetic, someone was standing over me and rubbing my shoulder," Joe said. "I opened my eyes and saw Martha. I told myself: 'This is a pretty woman. I'd like to marry her.'"

The couple said they have had a happy and prosperous marriage.

"We have a lot to live for," Martha said. "We have two great sons, Jim (of White Oak, Ohio) and Charles (of Davenport, Iowa), two great daughters-in-law, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren."

"We've been together so long because we work for one another. He helps me and I help him," Martha said. "He helps me with the cooking."

Octopus goes on display in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium said its 10-month-old Great Pacific octopus is now on display to the public.

Zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray said Sea Monster the 12-pound octopus was brought to the facility in June after being rescued by biologists at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

Eric Kellar, a life-support systems aquarist who takes care of Sea Monster, said keepers have to provide constant mental stimulation for Sea Monster, as the intelligent cephalopod gets bored easily.

"She takes in everything around her, and she recognizes people by what they wear and how they smell," Kellar said. "She needs a lot of enrichment because she will literally go insane if she's just put into an aquarium with nothing to occupy her mind. I started calling her Sea Monster right away because she's quick and raring to go."

1,600 jump into icy Lake Ontario

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Organizers of a "Polar Plunge" in New York said about 1,600 people jumped into the icy waters of Lake Ontario to raise $225,000.

The 12th annual event, which occurred Sunday and raised funds for Special Olympics New York, took place during a snowstorm in the Rochester area that filled the lake with ice and slush, The (Rochester) Democrat and Chronicle reported Monday.

"This was the coldest and the worst," said Andy DeMarco, 49, of Rochester, a retired sheriff's deputy who has participated in the event for several years.

But Randy Crum, 51, of Buffalo, a seven-year veteran of the Polar Plunge, said jumping into the frigid water is "not as bad as everybody thinks it is."