Lottery jackpot spurs big buying

Iowans are again dreaming of hitting it big as the Iowa-based “Powerball” lottery jackpot approaches the 100-million dollar mark for tonight’s drawing. Iowa Lottery spokesperson Mary Nuebauer says tickets are selling at a brisk pace.Tickets for the multi-state game are selling at a rate of about 740 per minute in Iowa with close to one-point-four million dollars sold just today. Nuebauer says this is the biggest jackpot so far this year. Nuebauer says this is the seventh time overall the powerball jackpot has been 100 million dollars or more. Patty Anderson is the manager of the DartMart convenience store in Bettendorf. She says it always gets busy when the jackpot climbs. Anderson says when the powerball hits 60 million dollars or more her convenience store begins to get busy.Michael Peitzman is selling tickets at a Dahl’s supermarket in Des Moines. He says the lure of the big jackpot draws in first-time players.Peitzman says the busiest time is between four and six o’clock as people stop to buy a ticket on the way home from work. The drawing is tonight at 9:59 pm.