A 44-year-old New Jersey man is the winner of a $338 million Powerball jackpot.

Several media outlets were at Passaic ‘s Eagle Liquors store, where the ticket was sold, late Monday afternoon when Pedro Quezada entered. They report that the store owner ran Quezada’s ticket through the lottery machine to validate that it was a winner.

The New Jersey Lottery confirmed that the winning ticket was validated at the store at 4:30 p.m. Monday, but officials said they didn’t yet know the winner’s name.

The numbers drawn Saturday were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes.

Quezada told reporters in Spanish that he was “very happy” and that his first priority will be helping his family.

A measure to help fight wildfires in rural Nebraska has won initial approval from lawmakers.

Lawmakers voted 36-0 on Monday to advance the bill, in response to summer blazes that scorched massive areas of rural Nebraska.

The bill would place aerial tankers in Valentine and Chadron during fire season, require the state to thin forests, and offer new training to emergency responders, in addition to other steps.

Nebraska experienced 1,570 wildfires last year that burned a total of 786 square miles. Many of the fires are blamed on eastern red cedar trees, which are invasive and highly flammable.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Al Davis of Hyannis.

(AP) Rep. Michele Bachmann and her short-lived campaign last year for the GOP presidential nomination are being investigated by the Office of Congressional Ethics.

A lawyer for the Minnesota Republican says Bachmann is cooperating with the investigation. The Office of Congressional Ethics is an independent investigative body established by the House five years ago to conduct preliminary investigations into allegations of misconduct by House members or their aides. The panel can dismiss cases or refer them to the House Ethics Committee.

Lawyer William McGinley says there are no allegations that Bachmann “engaged in wrongdoing.” He says Bachmann is confident that the investigators will conclude that she did nothing inappropriate.

The Daily Beast first reported Monday that Bachmann was the subject of an OCE investigation of financial transactions by her presidential campaign.

A former employee of a New Jersey-based defense contractor has been sentenced to more than 5 years in prison for taking U.S. military technology trade secrets to his native China.

Sixing Liu  was sentenced in Newark federal court Monday to 70 months in prison.

Liu worked for Space & Navigation, a division of New York-based L3 Communications.

He was arrested at his Deerfield, Ill., home in March 2011 and accused of taking restricted military data and presenting them at two conferences in China.

Liu was found guilty of exporting defense data without permission, possessing stolen trade secrets and lying to authorities. The government wanted at least eight years in prison.

His lawyer called Liu “an educator” who downloaded information on his personal laptop to work on outside the office.

 

(AP) More than 300 abortion-rights activists attended a rally at the state Capitol in Bismarck to protest a package of measures that would give the state the toughest abortion restrictions in the nation.

They carried signs and chanted “Veto! Veto! Veto!”

The newly formed Stand Up For Women North Dakota also planned rallies Monday in Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot.

Organizer Robin Nelson says the intent of the rallies is to show solidarity for women’s rights issues.

The Legislature has passed several anti-abortion measures this session. Most await the signature of Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who hasn’t indicated whether he supports the measures.

The Republican has three legislative days to act on them.

The demonstration took place outside the Capitol and inside the building while lawmakers held floor sessions in both chambers.

(AP) Two pedestrians have been killed and two others are critically injured after being struck by a vehicle in Seattle.

Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel says the injured people are an infant and a woman in her 20s. They were taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Fire officials say the infant required CPR and the woman suffered a head injury.

The accident happened Monday afternoon in North Seattle. Kappel says the driver of the vehicle is being investigated for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Being the leader of the free world is an expensive proposition. But the costs don’t stop once you leave the White House.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service says the federal government spent nearly $3.7 million on former presidents last year. That covers a $200,000 pension, compensation and benefits for office staff, and other costs like travel, office space and postage.

The costliest former president? George W. Bush, who clocked in at just over $1.3 million. That includes almost $400,000 for 8,000 square feet of office space and $85,000 in telephone costs.

President Bill Clinton came in second at just under $1 million, followed by George H.W. Bush at nearly $850,000. Costs for Jimmy Carter, the only other living former president, came in at about $500,000.

A proposal to replace an outdated veterans’ home in central Nebraska is drawing scrutiny from lawmakers, who raise concerns that the facility might move from its longtime home in Grand Island.

The home’s administrator, Alex Willford, told lawmakers Monday that the 126-year-old facility does not have enough toilets. Its stairs and hallways are not wheelchair-friendly.

Department of Veterans Affairs director John Hilgert told lawmakers that other cities have expressed interest in the facility. He says putting the project up for bids could save tax dollars.

Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, says improvements are needed. But Mello voiced concerns that bidding the project would create an “arms race” among cities. Other senators expressed concerns about the loss of jobs in Grand Island.

A 9-year-old girl who walked about a mile in Southern California to find help after surviving a crash says she was sad to hear that her father did not survive.

The girl told family members in the hospital on video she was cold and hurt.

The California Highway Patrol says the crash happened about 1 a.m. Sunday on a semi-rural stretch of the Sierra Highway in Acton.

The girl reportedly walked through rugged terrain and eventually wandered into a commuter rail station and told a security guard what had happened.

A coroner’s spokesman identified her father as 35-year-old Alejandro Renteria, of the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles.

The CHP is investigating whether alcohol played a role in the crash.