WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a Missouri appeal that sought to ensure states can cut taxes even as they receive $195 billion in federal pandemic relief money.

The justices without comment left in place a federal appeals court decision that said Missouri lacked legal standing to press a lawsuit over the requirements imposed under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Missouri is among several Republican-led states that sued after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion measure into law in March 2021. The law includes a provision that says a state can’t use the money “to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in the net tax revenue of such state.”

Missouri said that provision prohibits only the deliberate use of relief funds to pay for a tax cut. The state argued that the Treasury Department’s interpretation of the law would sweep more broadly, blocking any new state tax policy that reduces revenue without some sort of offset.

The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals faulted Missouri for not pointing to any particular state policy that might run afoul of the federal rule. The state was seeking “a quintessentially advisory opinion,” something federal courts don’t issue, Judge Jane Kelly wrote for the panel.

The rejection is a victory for the Biden administration, which is fighting legal battles around the country over the restriction. A different federal appeals court, the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit, said in November the provision is too vague to be enforced.

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WASHINGTON — House Republicans “won’t budge” on demands for federal spending cuts in return for agreeing to lift the debt ceiling and avoid a U.S. payment default, GOP Rep. James Comer said.

As the federal government moved closer to breaching its statutory debt limit, lawmakers on Sunday mostly talked past each other: Republicans renewed demands for cuts and Democrats insisted the government be allowed to honor commitments made by previous Congresses.

Republicans who gained control of the House in the U.S. midterm election “campaigned on the fact that we were going to be serious about spending cuts,” Comer said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The Democratic-led Senate “is going to have to recognize the fact that we’re not going to budge until we see meaningful reform with respect to spending,” said Comer, who heads the House Oversight Committee.

California Rep. Ro Khanna typified the Democratic response, saying Republicans ought to focus their budget goals on future spending bills rather than refusing to raise the debt limit.

“If you want a debate about future spending — do we want to have defense cuts, do we want to have spending cuts? — that’s a legitimate debate,” said Khanna, who also appeared on CNN. “But you don’t debate whether you pay your debts. You don’t debate the prestige of the United States.”

Prospective talks on raising the debt ceiling are quickly emerging as a potential global flashpoint that could threaten the stability of financial markets.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week the department will begin taking special accounting maneuvers on Jan. 19 to avoid breaching the debt limit and urged lawmakers to boost the ceiling to avert a U.S. default.

She said those steps will allow the government to meet its obligations at least through early June. Economists have estimated an actual default would be likely early in the third quarter.

Yellen’s warning kicked off what is likely to be a prolonged political battle over U.S. fiscal policy, a showdown that could strain financial markets and elevate dangers for an economy battling inflation and already facing the risk of recession. President Joe Biden has vowed he won’t make concessions to prevent Republicans from forcing a first-ever U.S. default on the debt.

“The debt ceiling is no doubt going to be a knife fight,” Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who was forced to negotiate with ultraconservatives in his own party before being elected House speaker this month, said Democrats were being “arrogant” by declaring they would not accept any cuts but expressed optimism he could negotiate with Biden.

“I believe we can sit down with anybody who wants to work together. I believe this president could be that person,” he said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“I’m sure he knows there’s places that we can change and put America on a trajectory that we save these entitlements instead of put them into bankruptcy,” he said.

Rep. John Garamendi, a California Democrat, said using the debt ceiling as leverage could backfire on Republicans.

“Republicans should learn from their own history that using the debt limit as a lever to gain some sort of political advantage or some policy change really doesn’t work well for them and terrible for the American economy,” he said on Fox News.

Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska sounded a more conciliatory approach, saying both sides needed to compromise to avoid a crisis.

“When President Biden says he’s going to refuse to negotiate with Republicans and not make any concessions, I don’t think that’s right,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“On our side, we have to realize we control the House with a four-seat majority, the Senate is run by the Democrats with a one-seat majority and the president is obviously from the Democratic Party, so we can’t get everything we want either.”

With assistance from Ian Fisher.

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Turkey said Sweden and Finland should hurry on fulfilling promises for their accession to NATO, ahead of Turkish elections expected to take place in less than six months.

The Turkish parliament may announce a recess six weeks before parliamentary and presidential elections, leading to the need to rush to get it ratified, said presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin. Yet Sweden said this month that Turkey is asking for too much in exchange for approving membership, suggesting it isn’t imminent.

“If you want this to be ratified you are looking at a two-three month frame,” Kalin said.

Turkey has stalled Sweden and Finland’s membership bids to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on grounds that the countries have not cracked down enough on outlawed groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK. The Turkish government has especially pressured Sweden, requesting the extradition of dozens of suspects.

Speaking to a group of journalists in Istanbul on Saturday, Kalin welcomed Sweden’s constitutional amendments on terrorism laws but said the legal implementation would take up to six months. “Maybe it can do some of these things administratively or through other means,” the spokesman said, adding Sweden could make some changes before June.

Sweden has to “show through actions, and not just through words or statements, that the PKK will not be present, will not be allowed to collect money, or to recruit members,” he said.

The PKK has waged a decades-long armed conflict in Turkey’s southeast seeking greater autonomy and freedoms for the country’s largest Kurdish minority. It is listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.

A Turkish delegation will meet with its Swedish and Finnish counterparts at the NATO headquarters in Brussels next month, Kalin said. Turkey and Hungary are the only two countries that have not ratified the accession bids, made last May following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though an agreement hammered out at the bloc’s summit in June allowed the process to move forward.

NATO membership for the two militarily non-aligned countries would mark a significant shift in the European security landscape and offer more protection to Baltic countries on the alliance’s eastern frontier. Sweden and Finland are also in talks with the U.S. on defense cooperation agreements.

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A retired general who has pledged unwavering support for Ukraine won the first round of the Czech presidential election, advancing to the run-off against a billionaire ex-premier known for spats with the European Union.

Petr Pavel, the former top general in NATO, won by a razor-thin margin with 35.4% of the vote, according to results published by the Statistics Office on Saturday with nearly all ballots counted. Andrej Babis, a chemicals, agriculture and media magnate who leads the strongest opposition party, got 35%. The second round is scheduled for Jan. 27-28.

The central European nation of more than 10 million is choosing who will take over from President Milos Zeman, a powerful politician who has towered over the nation’s politics for almost three decades.

In the Czech Republic’s parliamentary system, the presidency carries limited powers, with key executive authority held by the government. But the head of state has a say in the creation of the Cabinet, leads the military, picks central bankers and appoints judges.

Zeman has played a dominant role since the fall of communism. During his two five-year terms as the head of state, he polarized the country by vilifying Muslim immigrants and disparaging sexual minorities and repeatedly bent constitutional conventions to carve out more powers for himself.

Pavel is running as an independent, with an endorsement from the parties in Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s coalition government. Promising a less confrontational stance, he also won endorsements from presidential candidates who collectively received more than 20% in the first round.

Pre-vote opinion polls showed Pavel as the favorite in a runoff against Babis, who as premier clashed with the EU over migrant policies and conflict-of-interest allegations regarding his companies.

“The danger is that we may not only slip to populism, but also deviate from our course that we have seen the past 30 years, which was clearly democratic, pro-western and pro-European,” Pavel said about Babis after voting ended.

The retired general’s campaign focused largely on highlighting his military achievements. A former member of special forces and intelligence divisions, he rose through the ranks to serve as the Czech army’s chief of staff and later chaired the NATO Military Committee.

He has pledged to promote LGBTQ rights, including same-sex marriage and child adoption by gay couples. He also advocates adopting the euro, which the Czech political establishment traditionally considers as disadvantageous for the open, $300 billion economy.

The ballot is a chance for Babis to return to a top post following his defeat in 2021 parliamentary elections. He is pledging to become a counterbalance to Fiala’s center-right coalition, which he accuses of not doing enough to help people and businesses cope with the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

A longtime ally of Zeman, who during his two five-year terms was a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin until he invaded Ukraine and a promoter closer ties with China, Babis rose to power by attacking traditional politicians as corrupt and incompetent. He also forged close ties with Hungarian nationalist leader Viktor Orban, while also touting friendly relations with French President Emmanuel Macron.

With the Czech Republic one of the most active supporters of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, the war has featured among top election themes.

Babis has questioned the degree of the Czech state aid and said that “helping Ukraine is all right, but now it’s time to help our people.”

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As Vladimir Putin pushes his war in Ukraine into its second year, the deepening militarization of Russia’s economy is fueling fears among the country’s business elite that the squeeze on their companies is only just beginning.

The government is already considering “one-time” taxes on some big firms to help boost revenues reduced by the tightening grip of sanctions and other restrictions and tycoons said they expect the Kremlin to step up demands for cash. Wartime laws also give the authorities sweeping powers to dictate company operations, from what is produced to how much it costs.

With public calls for tycoons who aren’t enthusiastic enough in their support of the invasion be stripped of their assets, some of Russia’s richest now worry they could see their holdings seized by rivals seen as more loyal or even nationalized, according to people familiar with their thinking. The Kremlin’s public reassurances that business interests will be respected ring hollow with the Russian president’s attention focused on the war, not business, these people said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The growing fears highlight how the invasion, which the Kremlin initially hoped would deliver a lightning victory, has become a campaign without end that’s transforming all aspects of Russian society irreversibly. The lifestyle that came to be known as ‘dividend aristocrats’ — tycoons who lived richly in recent years on huge profits from their companies — is gone forever, top executives said.

Big business will have to feel the same shock as the war hits home as the rest of the country is, said a person close to the Kremlin, speaking on condition of anonymity. While Putin opposes widespread nationalization as a failed strategy, he said, the time when tycoons could reap the benefits of high commodity prices are over. Wartime, the person added, demands sacrifices from all.

That attitude has some tycoons fearing that the business outlook is getting much dimmer fast. Some executives have commissioned confidential studies on the experiences of big business in situations they worry are likely to prove analogous: the pre-World War II regimes in Axis countries like Italy, where once-powerful industrial giants were ultimately taken over by the state and subjugated entirely to the war effort. Others draw parallels to the mobilization of German corporate giants under the Nazis.

The budget deficit is already growing as spending on the war rises and sanctions and other limits squeeze revenues. “This is to a certain extent a mobilization budget,” Sofya Donets, economist at Renaissance Capital said. Even the current amendments to the plan “call for a further increase in the tax burden, thought it’s not clear yet when this will happen,” she said.

So far, the government hasn’t publicly acknowledged using the sweeping powers it gave itself last summer to force business to support the war effort. But tycoons and executives worry they will have little alternative but to comply with any requests for manpower, production or cash.

The state will take whatever it thinks it needs for the war effort, said a longtime business lobbyist. If in the past, tycoons could work the phones and their contacts in government to protect their interests, those tools now don’t work, he said.

Among the most vulnerable are those perceived to be insufficiently loyal, according to people familiar with the tycoons’ thinking.

Legislators have proposed stripping those who have left and criticize the war of their assets and even citizenship. Dmitry Medvedev, the former president who is now a senior Kremlin official known for his angry social-media posts, in December called for designating them “enemies of the state.”

Putin hasn’t gone that far in public, but he makes no secret that he believes Russians with too much of their wealth abroad are a security risk.

“If a person doesn’t link his life with this country but just takes money out and keeps everything outside, then he values not the country he lives and earns money in but the good relations in the one where he keeps his property and accounts,” Putin told reporters on Dec. 22. “This kind of person poses a danger to us.”

Any expropriation will start with those who’ve left Russia, said one tycoon who hasn’t returned to the country since the war started. He cited the examples of Yandex, the tech giant whose founder — now in Israel — has sought to negotiate with the Kremlin for an exit that allows him to retain some key businesses, and Oleg Tinkov, who has said he was forced to sell his bank at a deep discount after becoming one of the only wealthy Russians to publicly denounce the war.

Putin remains opposed to sweeping nationalization, according to people familiar with internal discussions, but that’s little reassurance to tycoons who worry that rivals with better connections to the leadership will be able to take control of their holdings.

In the fertilizer sector, where surging prices have yielded a bumper crop of profits, Uralchem founder Dmitry Mazepin, the only tycoon to have publicly met Putin one-on-one twice last year, has sought to portray himself as the only big shareholder focusing on the state’s interests, according to several executives at industry rivals. That’s alarmed some others in the sector who’ve stayed out of Russia since the war started, according to people familiar with their thinking.

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Sandra “Sandy” Jacobs, the first woman to serve as El Segundo’s mayor and as president of the local chamber of commerce, has died, according to the city. She was 80.

Jacobs, who also served on the boards of multiple local organizations, died earlier this month, El Segundo announced on Friday, Jan. 13. In 2007, Jacobs was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Yet, she remained active despite her limitations.

“Sandy’s contributions to the City of El Segundo cannot be overstated,” the city said in a press release. “She was integral to shaping the city into the thriving community that it is today.”

The former mayor was born Sandra Carol Garrard on Jan. 20, 1942, in Kentucky. Her family moved to El Segundo in the early 1950s when her father got a job in the aerospace industry.

She graduated from El Segundo High School in 1960 and then attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton. During her time at the university, she worked as a camp counselor for the Girl Scouts, earned a bachelor’s degree in group work, recreation and elementary education — and met her husband, Karl Jacobs.

Her first job after graduating was teaching children with autism.

Besides Stockton, the Jacobs family, including daughter Jennifer, also lived in Reseda and Phoenix before moving back to El Segundo in 1981.

Jacobs eventually became president of her family’s business, South Bay Welder’s Supply, Inc. But she didn’t stop there. She also opened her own business, House of Cards, and co-owned the jewelry company Pinsational with her husband.

Jacobs became the first woman president of the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce in 1989, and made further history in 1996 — by becoming mayor.

She served as the city’s elected leader until 1998 and then continued as mayor pro-tem until 2004.

El Segundo did not have another woman mayor for 16 years. Suzanne Fuentes was El Segundo’s second woman mayor, serving from 2014 to 2018.

Jacobs was more than an elected official, however.

She also served on more than a dozen civic and charitable organizations, including the El Segundo Rotary Club and the El Segundo Economic Development Committee; was a founding member of Downtown El Segundo, Inc.; was the first president of the Library Board of Trustees; and was named Switzer Center’s South Bay Woman of the Year in 1999.

She also contributed regularly to Castaway Kids, an organization in Guaymas, Mexico, that assists children and families with education and housing.

And before, during and after serving on the City Council, Jacobs played a vital role in the downtown revitalization project, as well as the town’s mural program and downtown signage initiative.

Mayor Drew Boyles said in a statement that Jacobs was always generous with her time, and was a source of expertise and encouragement to the next generation.

“She was a dear friend and mentor to me and many others in our wonderful city,” Boyles said in the statement. “She will be missed tremendously.”

His fellow city officials also remembered Jacobs’ presence in El Segundo.

“El Segundo lost a leader, servant and friend with Sandy’s passing,” Councilmember Carol Pirsztuk said in a statement. “Thankfully, her legacy will live on as she helped set the path forward for our city and future leaders.”

Councilmember Lance Giroux described Jacobs as a trailblazer who loved the city.

“She had a bright and ready smile, coupled with a depth of knowledge and love for the City of El Segundo,” Giroux said in a statement. “She was a true pioneer for women, and I am a better person for having known her.”

Jacobs is survived by her husband, Karl Jacobs; her daughter, Jennifer Jacobs; her grandson, Jacob Levy; her brother Elwyn Garrard and his partner, Kit Kerwick; and many more family members in California, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Castaway Kids, Inc. c/o Carole Dance, 346 S. Abrego Drive, Green Valley, AZ 85614.

(c)2023 The Beach Reporter, Manhattan Beach, Calif.

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Less than one week after proclaiming a local emergency on homelessness, Long Beach has launched a donation campaign — dubbed the Mayor’s Fund for Homeless Action — in hopes of generating financial and physical support for those in the city who are homeless.

Related: Long Beach expands homeless outreach with launch of Mobile Access Center

The city announced the initiative on Friday evening, Jan. 13.

“We must go all in to address the urgent needs of those in our city experiencing homelessness,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a news release. “With the Mayor’s Fund for Homeless Action, we are empowering our community to make a real difference and support those who need it most.”

The donation fund is an effort to support those experiencing homelessness by bringing together Long Beach’s residents, community organizations and businesses to offer the unsheltered community better access to housing, social services and supplies, the announcement said.

The money collected will be administered through the Long Beach Community Foundation, the city’s press release said. That will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to pay for traditionally underfunded homeless services, including prevention efforts.

All funds collected must be put toward homeless services.

“Contributions will aid the city and its partners in their efforts to address homelessness through a variety of critical needs,” the release said, “including relocation assistance, shelter services, transportation assistance, critical infrastructure improvements and repairs, replacement of mission critical equipment, move-in assistance, and other creative community-driven responses around homelessness.”

Aside from monetary donations, the fund will also accept:

• Hygiene kits, including soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and a toothbrush, dental floss, feminine products, and shaving cream and razors.
• Pet care kits, including treats, collars, leashes, toys and collapsible pet bowls.
• Backpacks with items such as hand warmers, flashlights, battery packs, batteries (usually D batteries), emergency blankets and charging cables.
• Gift cards to places such as Target, Walmart, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, In ‘N’ Out, Dunkin Donuts and grocery stores.
• Canned food, bottled juices or water, snacks such as granola bars or power bars, instant oatmeal, instant soup, and fruit and vegetables.
• New clothing items, including sweatpants, shirts, beanies, socks, underwear, scarves, caps, hoodies, towels or blankets.

The city’s Homeless Services Bureau also has an Amazon Wishlist with needed items.

For more information, visit the city’s homelessness dashboard.

(c)2023 Grunion Gazette, Long Beach, Calif.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden faces a deepening political crisis after the announcement Saturday that even more classified documents were discovered at his Wilmington, Delaware, home.

The incident has Republicans drawing comparisons with the Department of Justice investigation of President Donald Trump’s possession of hundreds of pages of classified material at his Palm Beach, Florida, home after he left office.

The GOP has complained of a double standard for the two presidents. Biden’s lawyers say that in contrast with Trump, they immediately returned all documents they found to the government and have cooperated with a review of the discoveries.

Here’s a timeline of the discovery of documents at locations connected to Biden and their disclosure to the government and the public, based on statements from the White House counsel’s office, the president’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer and Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Nov. 2 — The president’s personal lawyers found documents from his terms as vice president in an office space Biden used at the Penn Biden Center for Global Diplomacy and Engagement, a think tank he established following Barack Obama’s presidency. According to Bauer, they notified the National Archives and Records Administration the same day, as required by statutes, and remained in regular communication with the Archives over the next eight days.

Nov. 3 — NARA took possession of the documents and informed the agency’s inspector general.

Nov. 4 — The inspector general informed the Justice Department.

Nov. 8 — Americans voted in midterm elections across the country. Democrats outperformed expectations, though Republicans won a narrow House majority.

Nov. 9 — The Justice Department began an assessment of whether the Penn Biden Center documents were mishandled.

Nov. 10 — The Justice Department informed Biden’s personal attorneys of the assessment. The president’s lawyers remained in contact with the department, according to Bauer.

Nov. 14 — Garland assigned U.S. Attorney John Lausch, a Trump appointee, to oversee the review.

Dec. 20 — The president’s personal attorneys searched his Wilmington, Delaware, home and found a “small number of potential records bearing classified markings” in the garage. The lawyers stopped their search and informed Lausch.

Dec. 21 — Biden’s lawyers arranged for the Justice Department to take possession of the records found in the Wilmington home’s garage.

Jan. 5, 2023 — Lausch delivered an initial report to Garland and recommended the appointment of a special counsel

Jan. 9 — CBS News reports that about 10 pages of classified documents had been discovered Nov. 2 at the Penn Biden Center, citing anonymous sources. The White House counsel’s office issues a statement confirming the Penn Biden Center discovery, but not the documents found Dec. 20 at Biden’s home.

Jan. 11 — Biden’s lawyers searched the president’s Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach homes for additional records, and found a “potential record bearing classified markings at the Wilmington residence, among stored materials inside a room adjacent to the garage.” Lacking security clearances, they left the document where it was found and suspended their search of the room. No potential classified records were identified at the Rehoboth Beach residence, according to Bauer.

Jan. 11 — NBC News reports that a second set of classified records had been found at a location connected to Biden, citing an anonymous source. NBC says its reporters could not determine the precise location or timing of the discovery, or how many documents were found.

Jan. 12 — Biden’s lawyers informed Lausch of an additional record with classified markings at the Wilmington residence and arranged for the material to be delivered to the Justice Department. Garland announced the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Hur and revealed that the Wilmington records had initially been discovered Dec. 20. The White House counsel’s office announced the discovery of the documents in the Wilmington home’s garage and storage room. White House special counsel Richard Sauber says in the statement that Biden’s lawyers had “completed” their search of his properties.

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Authorities investigating the deaths of two men found in a Sea Ranch home Wednesday say a generator sitting inside the house was switched on with the fuel tank empty, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

The two men were identified as Gene Beauchamp, 74, of Colusa, and Phil Mabray, 61, of Biggs, in Butte County.

While the county coroner is working to determine the exact cause of death and when the men died, Deputy Rob Dillion, the Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said Thursday that evidence at the home points to carbon monoxide poisoning.

He said there was a distinct odor of fumes in the home on Spinnaker Close where the men were found. There were no signs of foul play or trauma, Dillion said. There was no indication it was a suicide attempt.

The department, in a Thursday update on its investigation, issued a public warning against using generators inside a building, noting that it can lead to the deadly buildup of fumes.

The Sheriff’s Office did not say how the generator had been deployed, but hundreds of Sea Ranch homes remained without power through at least Tuesday evening in the wake of a fierce Jan. 4 wind-driven storm that knocked out electricity for up to 20,000 homes and businesses across Sonoma County.

The deaths, if linked to storm-related fallout, would add to the toll of four people killed this week and last in Sonoma and Mendocino counties since the heaviest storm activity began Jan. 4.

A tree crew first found the men’s bodies Wednesday morning when they came to the house on the east side of Highway 1 to remove a fir that had earlier fallen on the residence. After not getting a response at the door, the crew entered the home and discovered the bodies, Dillion said.

After that, deputies and Cal Fire officials were dispatched about 11:20 a.m. to the home in the 300 block of Spinnaker Close, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Cal Fire firefighters found the men in separate bedrooms and pronounced them dead, the Sheriff’s Office said. The department did not disclose any relationship between the men.

Dillion said it appeared the deaths were unrelated to the downed tree on the home’s roof. He did not know who called the tree crew to the address.

The generator was found in a hallway, its switch on and its fuel tank empty, the department said.

The Sea Ranch is a planned community of about 1,900 homes along the northernmost Sonoma Coast. Multiple residents contacted by The Press Democrat said they did not know the two men found in the house.

Neither of the men appear linked by property records to the home, according to county officials.

Attempts to reach listed owners of the involved home were not immediately successful Thursday.

Menka Sethi, community manager of The Sea Ranch Association, declined to comment.

(c)2023 The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.)

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Associated Press

The Mega Millions jackpot has reached $1.1 billion, making it the game’s third-largest jackpot in history, lottery officials said.

No one won the jackpot during the latest drawing on Friday, when the winning white balls were 3, 20, 46, 59 and 63. The gold Mega Ball was 13.

Now a player has a chance to win more than a billion dollars during the Tuesday, Jan. 10, drawing. Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m. ET.

The jackpot has been building since Oct. 14, after players from California and Florida split a $502 million prize.

Although no one has won the jackpot yet, there have been other wins, including 52 tickets worth $1 million or more in 20 states across the country.

This is the fourth time the Mega Millions’ jackpot has hit $1 billion in the past four years, lottery officials said.

A South Carolina player won the largest jackpot in history on Oct. 23, 2018, when they scored $1.537 billion.

Mega Millions costs $2 to play. To win the jackpot, a player has to match all six numbers that are drawn.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

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