POWERBALL Pa. store sells winning ticket, hits bonus jackpot

The store owner plans to take his employees to Cancun.
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A Powerball ticket worth up to $171.4 million was sold at the Country Food Mart here on Wednesday, lottery officials said Thursday.
The winner has not been identified, but has 60 days from the date of claiming the prize to decide whether to take the $171.4 million annuity paid over 29 years or a lump sum of $93,428,155.06, Pennsylvania Lottery officials said.
Country Food Mart owner Russell DeMatteo said folks in town spent Thursday speculating about the winner's identity.
"There's rumors of a person. But it's only a rumor," said DeMatteo, who took over the store from his mother about a year and a half ago. "I don't know people's names. I just know their faces. When I see who it is, I'll know if it's a regular customer."
Store's prize
The store will get $100,000 for selling the ticket, said DeMatteo, 23. The store was jammed with well-wishers and curiosity seekers, and DeMatteo said he's been fielding crank calls since people found out where the ticket was sold.
"I had a couple of people call me and tell me they had the winner. It's nerve-racking, you know what I mean?" DeMatteo said.
The convenience store is open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., but DeMatteo's day started at 3 a.m. when Pennsylvania Lottery officials woke him up with the news. They needed him to open the store so they could begin checking his records to verify the sale of the winning ticket.
"It's been quite a day. ... I'm starting to lose my voice," he said.
DeMatteo said he already has plans for the bonus his store will receive for selling the winning ticket. Part of it will help set up a second store he is planning to open in Mahoningtown in mid-January. He said he also intends to spend some of the money on his one full-time employee and three part-time workers.
Bound for Mexico
"I told them we're all going to Cancun next year," he said.
DeMatteo said he made similar plans with a $2,200 bonus the store received for Pennsylvania Lottery ticket sales earlier this year. He said he is sending his employees on a trip to New Orleans for their Christmas bonus.
Meanwhile, DeMatteo said, he remains as curious as anyone about who hit the jackpot.
"What I went through today has been something, and I can only imagine what they're going to go through," he said. "I'm kind of anxious to see who it is. But at the same time, I understand why he's taking his time to come forward."
Powerball tickets are sold in 27 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.