WASHINGTON: THE LUCKIEST TOWN IN IOWA,
MAYBE THE U.S.?

The following media-ready jpeg images are available:

Edward Brown

Faye Scott

Dr. William Steele

Kim Hertel

Must Be Something In The Water! Lottery Winners In Washington Keep Making Headlines

DES MOINES, Iowa – There must be something in the water. Or maybe four-leaf clovers have sprouted up all over town. Whatever the reason, Washington, Iowa, population 7,047, has become a hotbed for lottery winners.

In 1992, Ed Brown of Washington got things started by becoming Iowa's first Powerball® jackpot winner just a few months after the iconic big-jackpot game got its start in April of that year. Brown split a $10.4 million jackpot with a Missouri woman in the Powerball drawing on Dec. 23, 1992.

And over the past few months, Washington's status as a lucky lottery town has risen.

In July, Faye Scott of Washington won the top prize of $25,000 playing the "Wild Bingo" instant-scratch game.

Then in October, Dr. William Steele, a Washington native who now is a dermatologist living in Orlando, Fla., made national news when he became Florida's first Powerball jackpot winner. Steele won a $189 million prize in the Powerball drawing on Oct. 3.

Washington's winning streak has continued into 2010. Kim Hertel, a nurse from rural Washington, was selected as the top-prize winner of $500,000 in the "Midwest Millions" drawing conducted by the Kansas and Iowa lotteries on Jan. 15.

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich said he's excited to see if Washington's run of luck really takes off when the Mega Millions® game joins Powerball on Iowa's roster of big-jackpot games later this month.

"We're hoping to add to our winner's list with the addition of Mega Millions on Jan. 31," Rich said. "It's another chance for folks in Washington, or anywhere in Iowa, to dream a little or even take home the big prize."

Iowa Lottery players have won six jackpots in Powerball through the years. The Iowa Lottery's Powerball jackpot winners are:

• Tim and Kellie Guderian of Fort Dodge, who claimed a $200.8 million jackpot in October 2006.
• Hugh Hawkins of Des Moines, who claimed a $113.2 million jackpot in December 2005.
• Jacquelyn Moore of Omaha, Neb., who won a $14.4 million jackpot in October 2004. (She bought her ticket at a convenience store in Carter Lake in western Iowa.)
• The Larry Hasken family of Sabula, who claimed a $31.8 million jackpot in January 2000.
• Tim Schultz of Des Moines, who won a $28 million jackpot in February 1999.
• and Ed Brown of Washington.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.