Trashed lottery ticket a $1M winner

Trashed lottery ticket a $1M winner

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass.

A Massachusetts couple has won $1 million on a scratch-off lottery ticket they dug out of the trash after inadvertently throwing it away.

The state lottery commission says Joseph and Joanne Zagami of North Attleborough bought the $5 ticket from a vending machine while grocery shopping.

They stuck the ticket in a bag and forgot about it.

The next day, Joseph Zagami asked his wife if she had scratched the ticket. She hadn’t. They dug through the trash and found it.

The couple claimed their prize Wednesday, opting for the one-time lump-sum payment of $650,000 before taxes and $455,000 after. They plan to pay off their mortgage and other bills and take a vacation.

To get the full amount they would have needed to claim the prize over 20 years.

Weiner visits storm victims

NEW YORK

New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner met with Superstorm Sandy victims Friday on Staten Island as he tried to move past the sexting scandal threatening to derail his political comeback attempt.

The former congressman traveled to the farthest reaches of the city to tour the ruined home of Joseph Cardinale, a 14-year resident of a beachfront neighborhood still hurting from the storm’s deadly tidal surge. The house, overgrown and stripped to the studs, will have to be torn down, and Cardinale is upset about how difficult it has been to rebuild.

Weiner said he visited the neighborhood because he wanted to bring attention to the plight of storm victims.

Driver arrested in train crash

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain

Investigations into Spain’s deadliest train crash in decades have only begun, but already a key question has been answered: Experts said Friday that the driver, not a computer, was responsible for applying the brakes because no “fail-safe” system has been installed on the dangerous stretch of bending track.

The question of whether the brakes failed — or were never used — in the approach to Santiago de Compostela may remain open until police can question the injured driver and analyze the data on the train’s just-recovered “black box.”

Police announced they had arrested 52-year-old Francisco Jose Garzon Amo on suspicion of reckless driving because the train hit the turn Wednesday traveling far faster than its posted 50 mph limit.

Millions rally in response to army

CAIRO

Called out by the army, the largest crowds in 21/2 years of upheaval filled Egypt’s streets Friday, while ousted President Mohammed Morsi was formally placed under investigation on a host of allegations including murder and conspiracy with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Morsi’s supporters also showed no signs of backing down, though they turned out in vastly smaller numbers. The demonstrations in Cairo remained mostly peaceful into the night, but in the city of Alexandria seven people were killed and more than 100 were injured, officials said.

Late Friday night in Cairo, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Morsi supporters — a possible sign of a new intolerance for marches that block city streets.

Associated Press