Category: News

MURRAY, Ky. (WBKO) – After playing in honor of her father, one Kentucky woman took home a Powerball Jackpot.

It all started when Shannon Williams of Murray made a stop at Max Fuel Express in Hopkinsville on Sunday, Feb. 23. She was on her way back from Tennessee where she had just memorialized her dad, Kerry, who passed away in 2022.

In honor of her father’s birthday weekend, she decided to buy a Powerball ticket.

“I was right at the edge of Hopkinsville, and I stopped and grabbed a drink,” Williams explained. “And on the way out the door, because the sun was shining and it was an amazing weekend, I decided to turn around and walk back in and I said: ‘I’m going to play the Powerball because I feel like my dad is with me.’ It was his birthday weekend, and I just had this overwhelming feeling. So, I bought the ticket.”

According to lottery officials, her winning ticket matched four white ball winning numbers and the Powerball, winning $50,000 but her prize was multiplied to $150,000 since she added the Power Play feature to her ticket.

The Power Play number drawn was 3.

After buying the ticket, she headed to Rowdy Acres Farm in Elkton where she has a colt, named Cadillac, being trained. Williams has eight horses on her farm in Murray, but Cadillac is the only colt she and her dad raised together. Her dad owned Last Chance Farms in Puryear, TN.

“He (Cadillac) was five months old when Dad passed,” she explained. “He’s my heart horse. I got to sit on him for the first time Sunday, which is huge because I’ve been waiting for that moment for two years.”

Williams, a logistics manager for a supplier in Murray, said she realized her Powerball ticket might be a winner on Monday, Feb. 24, after the drawing around 11:30 p.m.

She has only played Powerball once before, although she plans to continue to play given her recent win, per the release.

“I lost my dad on Dec. 5, 2022, which is a very important day because on Dec. 5, 2019, we were eating at a restaurant in Paris, Tennessee,” she said. “And our fortune cookie had numbers on it. So we’re sitting at the table, and I said, ‘We’re going to play the Powerball and win.’”

Williams took a picture with her dad on that day. She and her best friend shared the photo with lottery staff when they arrived at the offices to claim Williams’ prize on Thursday, Feb. 27.

“My dad and I took that picture to show what our expressions were going to be when we won the Powerball,” Williams said. “So that was in 2019 when we took the picture and then he passed the same day (Dec. 5) in 2022.”

Williams received nearly $110,000 after taxes.

With the winnings, Williams plans to build a barn her father would have wanted, a front porch to watch the sunset, and to make donations to the American Cancer Society and St. Jude Children’s Hospital in memory of her father and nephew, respectively.

“I’m going to build the barn that my daddy wanted me to have for all these horses I’ve worked so hard for the past two years,” Williams said in a release. “I feel that my dad would be very proud.”

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, the day after Williams’ Powerball win in honor of her dad, was his birthday.

Max Fuel Express will receive $1,500 for selling the winning ticket. Saturday night’s Powerball jackpot is an estimated $320 million.

Copyright 2025 WBKO. All rights reserved.

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By GERAINT LLEWELLYN FOR MAILONLINE

Published: 18:38 GMT, 7 March 2025 | Updated: 18:50 GMT, 7 March 2025

I was highly amused by the excerpts from Becky Barnicoat’s graphic non-fiction book about being a new parent (‘Transforming into a parent is messy and primal: I drew it all’, 1 March). Being a new parent (and particularly a mother) is no joke, but it is good to be able to laugh at yourself and the huge clash with society’s expectations.

It’s easy to imagine that previous generations had helpful family around the corner and that life wasn’t so hectic or costly. But my experience and that of many of my generation – my children were born in the 80s and 90s – was difficult too. I had to finish work at a certain point in pregnancy – around seven months – and maternity pay was only for six weeks.

Many mums – myself included – returned to work when the baby was three months old! We needed the money to pay the mortgage. I worked part-time for years to minimise childcare costs, and in those days you didn’t have to pay pension contributions if you worked less than 25 hours a week – so many women chose not to. This impacted my workplace pension.

By the 90s, things were slightly better and I took six months off after my third child. But childcare costs were prohibitive, and we paid them so I could continue working as a nurse and not lose my registration. In those early years it did seem like it actually cost to work – but I figured that it was worth the trade-off as I remained in the workplace, and that helped me progress my career.

I did not have family around, having moved away to train as a nurse, and we didn’t have easy access to resources, WhatsApp support or Mumsnet. I have much sympathy with new mothers. It is a truly testing time. But the past was no more rosy than the present. My own experience of becoming a mother gave me great respect for all mothers everywhere.
Jacky Pugh
St Austell, Cornwall

Astronomers have captured the sharpest-ever images of infant planets forming around a distant star, revealing unexpected growth spurts and chaotic conditions. Using the cutting-edge Magellan Adaptive Optics Xtreme (MagAO-X) system, researchers studied two protoplanets orbiting the young star PDS 70, located 370 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus.

A Rare Look At Planetary Birth

The PDS 70 system serves as a window into the past, offering clues about how our own solar system may have formed billions of years ago. Unlike mature stars, PDS 70 is still surrounded by a protoplanetary disk—a vast cloud of gas and dust where planets take shape.

Using MagAO-X, astronomers discovered dense rings of dust around the two forming planets, PDS 70 b and PDS 70 c. These rings are expected to collapse over time, potentially forming moons—a process that may have occurred around Jupiter and Saturn in the early solar system.

Laird Close, a professor at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory, explains that massive planets act like cosmic vacuum cleaners, clearing gaps in the surrounding disk of gas and dust as they grow. The presence of compact dust rings confirms that planets can actively shape their own environments, influencing how moons and planetary features emerge.

Cutting-edge Optics Reveal Fine Details

Observing planets at such an early stage of formation is an enormous challenge. Ground-based telescopes struggle with atmospheric distortion, which blurs images.

However, the MagAO-X system overcomes this issue by using a deformable mirror that adjusts 2,000 times per second, counteracting the blurring effects of Earth’s atmosphere.

This technology allows ground-based telescopes to achieve a higher resolution than even space-based observatories like Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Close compares the process to noise-canceling headphones, which block unwanted background noise—except in this case, it’s eliminating atmospheric interference.The level of precision is astonishing.

From 370 light-years away, MagAO-X can detect details as small as the difference between holding one or two quarters at a distance of 125 miles.

Baby Planets With Surprising Brightness Changes

One of the most unexpected discoveries was how dramatically the brightness of the planets changed over time. Between 2019 and 2022, PDS 70 b dimmed to just one-fifth of its original brightness, while PDS 70 c became twice as bright.

Researchers believe these fluctuations are due to hydrogen “waterfalls”—gas streaming onto the planets and emitting H-alpha light as it heats up. Changes in the flow of hydrogen suggest that planetary growth happens in bursts, rather than at a steady rate.

Close described this phenomenon in simple terms: “Essentially, one of the planets abruptly went on a diet while the other was feasting on hydrogen.”

What This Means For Future Discoveries?

These findings highlight the incredible power of ground-based telescopes equipped with advanced adaptive optics. While space observatories like JWST offer breathtaking images, Earth-based telescopes can house much larger mirrors, allowing them to capture even finer details of distant worlds.

Jared Males, the principal investigator of MagAO-X, believes these advancements will make it easier to identify more baby planets and uncover hidden details of planetary formation.

By refining observation techniques, astronomers hope to piece together the story of our own solar system’s birth, revealing insights that were lost over billions of years of evolution.

SIERRA MADRE, Calif. (KABC) — Thirty-one years ago this week, intense rains brought devastation to one Sierra Madre family, when Jon Henderson and his 9-year-old son Matt Henderson were both killed in a catastrophic flash flood.

In an interview with ABC7, the victims’ family pointing out the striking similarities to the weather conditions Southern California is experiencing now and the conditions that turned deadly three decades ago.

“Matt was such a joy and John was a riot,” said Judy Henderson, whose grandson and son died in a massive debris flow.

A somber anniversary is marked annually by the Henderson family.

“Normally it’s just a hard day, but today in particular it’s the rain that gets us,” said Laura Kuttruff, Jon Henderson’s sister.

In 1994, the father and son were hiking Bailey Canyon, as they’d done many times before. There had been a wildfire there months earlier, one that burned nearly 200 homes in Altadena and Sierra Madre.

On March 6 of that year, after rain fell deep in the mountains, a wall of mud rumbled down.

“The debris flow was coming at approximately 55 miles an hour and it was about 25 feet high,” Kuttruff said. “There is no way you can outrun that.”

Authorities at the time called it a freak accident.

“There’s nothing that they did wrong,” a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said in the aftermath of the incident.

It took days to find their bodies, and their family watched and waited for every second. This week, as crews cleared the debris basins amid downpours, the Hendersons were transported back 31 years.

“Today, when I hear the rain, I hear Bailey Canyon and I I hear the trucks are moving trying to empty the debris basin, my mind goes back to sitting on the edge, watching those trucks — scoop by scoop — take out and empty that debris basin,” Judy Henderson said.

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By JAMES COHEN

Published: 17:11 GMT, 7 March 2025 | Updated: 17:16 GMT, 7 March 2025

If families looking to relocate to “top destinations” such as the US and Canada choose the right program for their children, they may be granted permanent residency as domestic students or even graduate from their chosen institution as residents or citizens, according to Tess Wilkinson, director of education services at Henley & Partners Education in the UK.

“We’re now seeing a real uptick in the types of families who are now becoming aware that there is an option for them,” she told The PIE News.

“For families looking at relocating, there can be real gains in the amount of fees they spend on education in places like Canada,” she explained. “They can they can save [up to] $150,000 on fees.”

The sheer number of clients asking for assistance in this area signals that education is swiftly becoming “one of the key drivers for people looking at second residences to citizenships”, she added.

Henley & Partners refers to itself as a “global leader in residence and citizenship by investment”. Its education arm, Wilkinson explained, helps to “advise transnational families who are looking for global education solutions”.

Working with families all over the world with children and adults of all ages – from K-12 to those seeking master’s degrees or MBAs – it “assists them to find the right match”, taking into account children’s individual needs and the types of residency or citizenship that may become available to its clients through educational opportunities.

“We can advise on all the top-tier destinations. So we have a family, for instance, who are considering the UK, the US and Australia and they’re putting in applications for all three countries,” Wilkinson shared.

We’re now seeing a real uptick in the types of families who are now becoming aware that there is an option for them
^{_{Tess Wilkinson, Henley & Partners Education}}

With immigration policies in key markets such as the UK, the US, Canada and Australia shifting all the time, Wilkinson acknowledged that it “is not something that is simple”.

But she said that, with expertise across a number of key markets, Henley & Partners can provide families with education counsellors to help match children to institutions that suit them best, as well as help with applying to universities or summer programs.

The ‘big four’ international education destination countries are all seeing turbulence in their respective markets. Some of these restrictive policies are having an impact on students’ ability to study in the countries, hindering them from securing post-graduate residency in their chosen destination.

Australia and Canada are both subject restrictions on international students, while UK universities’ international departments have been blighted by a crackdown on overseas students’ ability to bring their families into the country with them.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s second term as US President continues to present challenges to the sector, as he freezes study abroad funding, battles against DEI legislation and moves to arrest or even deport international student protestors.

Tess Wilkinson will be speaking at The PIE Live Europe at the PIEx Power Up Expanding horizons: accessing global education & opportunity via investment migration on March 11 at 16:00. Tickets are available online here.

While the slowdown in U.S. oil production continues, rallying natural gas prices are setting the stage for a rebound in America’s gas output this year, following months of output curtailments in 2024.

Slowing natural gas production last year, fast-depleting inventories during the coldest winter in years, and record-high flows to LNG facilities and LNG exports have pushed the benchmark U.S. natural gas prices above the $4 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) level, up by 160% in one year.

U.S. gas producers, which curbed some output last year when prices were below $2 per MMBtu, are now adding gas rigs and boosting output as the price has more than doubled to $4.26 per MMBtu this week.

Unlike in oil, where the prospects of strong growth are being dampened by WTI Crude prices falling below $70 per barrel and major uncertainties in international prices and politics, natural gas output appears to be prime for growth this year.

At the start of the winter heating season in November, U.S. natural gas inventories were higher than average for the time of the year as America entered the season with stocks at their highest level since 2016.

These stocks, however, were quickly depleted during the coldest winter for six years, with demand for space heating and power generation soaring. A month before the end of the winter heating season, U.S. natural gas inventories have now slumped to below the five-year average and well below the levels from the same time in 2024, at the end of a mild winter.

The lower inventories and the higher demand – both for domestic consumption and LNG exports – have pushed prices higher, encouraging producers to boost gas output this year.

Last year, when the prices hit multi-year lows at the end of the winter and early spring, U.S. producers and pipeline operators acknowledged there was an oversupply hanging over the market.

But some were also stocking up inventories of wells ready to start pumping – or to be turned in line – as soon as prices rebound. Producers expected natural gas prices to recover in 2025 amid growing demand for LNG exports and new LNG export plants that are slated to begin operations.

Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG shipped its first commissioning cargo at the end of December 2024, while Cheniere Energy produced first LNG from its Corpus Christi Stage 3 Liquefaction Project during the same month.

These plants are still in a stage of commissioning, but they are drawing natural gas and already sending cargoes overseas.

In the week ending March 5, U.S. dry natural gas production grew by 2.1% to average 106.2 Bcf/d, according to EIA’s weekly natural gas update.

Baker Hughes data for the week ending February 25, showed the natural gas rig count increased by 3 rigs from a week ago to 102 rigs.

Amid warmer temperatures, net withdrawals from storage last week were below the five-year average. However, working natural gas stocks were 11% lower than the five-year average and 25% lower than last year at this time, EIA data showed.

Amid higher demand, the average rate of withdrawals from storage has been 25% higher than the five-year average so far in the withdrawal season, which runs from November through March.

The accelerating demand from domestic consumption and LNG exports is underpinning a natural gas price rally so far this year. Higher prices are encouraging producers to add gas rigs and turn in line already drilled gas wells.

This could be the beginning of “drill, baby, drill” for the U.S. natural gas sector, where prices are much more supportive of production growth than for oil producers, who aren’t keen to boost output and bust their budgets with oil prices around $66 per barrel.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Fridayy stopped by HOT 97 to talk to Nessa about his new album Some Days I’m Good, Some Days I’m Not. He shared the meaning behind his name, his experience performing in New York at Funk Flex’s show, and how he balances his journey in the industry. He also reflected on his Grammy win with Chris Brown, his collaborations with artists like Kehlani, Wale, and Meek Mill, and the emotional weight of his song “Proud of Me,” which is dedicated to his late father.

He opened up about the lessons he’s learned since his father’s passing, the best advice he ever received, and the challenges he’s faced in the music industry. Fridayy also discussed working with Will Smith, the importance of staying consistent in promoting his music, and his dream collaborations with Drake, SZA, and Frank Ocean. Looking ahead, he envisions where he’ll be in five years and the lasting impact he hopes to make. Stream ‘Some Days I’m Good, Some Days I’m Not’ now!

In a statement read to the court, Stephenson’s mother said he had “betrayed” her trust and should “go to prison”.

She described the money as her life savings, adding the theft was carried out when she was particularly vulnerable and crying every day following her husband’s death.

“I don’t know why he would steal from me,” she said.

In mitigation, John Crawford said Stephenson had been a carer for both of his parents but his issues with alcohol exploded after his father’s death, saying the accused “fell into chaos”.

Mr Crawford said Stephenson had genuine remorse and would have to live with the consequences of his actions, which included the “destruction” of his relationship with his mother and brother.

Judge Doig said it was a “mean and deeply unpleasant crime”, telling Stephenson: “You deserve to be ashamed of yourself.”

But he said Stephenson had been working to address his offending over the past 18 months, and there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

“I am giving you a chance, perhaps one you scarcely deserve,” the judge told Stephenson.

A restraining order was made banning Stephenson from contacting his mother for 10 years.