James Keown.Photo:Kentucky Lottery CorporationA Louisville man is putting his days of driving school busses behind him after winning $100,000 on a Kentucky Lottery Powerball ticket.James Keown, an employee at Jefferson County Public Schools for 11 years, won big after matching four white ball numbers and doubling his winnings with a Power Play during the lottery’s Aug. 19 drawing, according tolottery officials. And after he got the good news, he decided to retire.“I called my boss on Sunday, and I told him, ‘I hit the lottery and I’m not coming back.’… I loved my job, but I’d been thinking about retiring for a while," Keown shared in a statement with the Kentucky Lottery.“I looked at it four times… that number’s got to change, but it didn’t,” Keown said. “I thought I better see what I won. The first time, I saw I won $50,000 and then I thought, wait a minute I play the multiplier all the time, so I went back, and the multiplier was 2.“TheLexington Herald-Leadernoted that the odds of winning the initial $50,000 — not including Keown’s prize increase — are 1 in 913,129.18.After he realized he had won $100,000 in total, Keown got in touch with his wife Monta. “I’m just over the moon and excited for him,” she said.A spokesperson for the Jefferson County Public Schools, Keown’s now-former place of employment, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Thursday.After taxes, Keown went home with $71,500 in his pocket, and one less career to worry about. He and his wife now intend to support local cat rescue shelters with their funds, and also intend to use their winnings to purchase a lake property, according to the lottery.As for Circle K, the location that sold the ticket, it will earn $1,000 of its own.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The news of Kentucky’s latest winner comes a month after a lottery ticket sold in Florida was revealed to be the winner of the$1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot.Local outletNews4Jaxnoted that the ticket was purchased at a Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, Florida — after 31 consecutive Mega Millions draws ended without a winner.“Congratulations to the Florida Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said at the time. “We congratulate our newest jackpot winner, as well as the more than 43.7 million winners at all prize levels throughout this jackpot run.”
James Keown.Photo:Kentucky Lottery Corporation
Kentucky Lottery Corporation
A Louisville man is putting his days of driving school busses behind him after winning $100,000 on a Kentucky Lottery Powerball ticket.James Keown, an employee at Jefferson County Public Schools for 11 years, won big after matching four white ball numbers and doubling his winnings with a Power Play during the lottery’s Aug. 19 drawing, according tolottery officials. And after he got the good news, he decided to retire.“I called my boss on Sunday, and I told him, ‘I hit the lottery and I’m not coming back.’… I loved my job, but I’d been thinking about retiring for a while," Keown shared in a statement with the Kentucky Lottery.“I looked at it four times… that number’s got to change, but it didn’t,” Keown said. “I thought I better see what I won. The first time, I saw I won $50,000 and then I thought, wait a minute I play the multiplier all the time, so I went back, and the multiplier was 2.“TheLexington Herald-Leadernoted that the odds of winning the initial $50,000 — not including Keown’s prize increase — are 1 in 913,129.18.After he realized he had won $100,000 in total, Keown got in touch with his wife Monta. “I’m just over the moon and excited for him,” she said.A spokesperson for the Jefferson County Public Schools, Keown’s now-former place of employment, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Thursday.After taxes, Keown went home with $71,500 in his pocket, and one less career to worry about. He and his wife now intend to support local cat rescue shelters with their funds, and also intend to use their winnings to purchase a lake property, according to the lottery.As for Circle K, the location that sold the ticket, it will earn $1,000 of its own.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The news of Kentucky’s latest winner comes a month after a lottery ticket sold in Florida was revealed to be the winner of the$1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot.Local outletNews4Jaxnoted that the ticket was purchased at a Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, Florida — after 31 consecutive Mega Millions draws ended without a winner.“Congratulations to the Florida Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said at the time. “We congratulate our newest jackpot winner, as well as the more than 43.7 million winners at all prize levels throughout this jackpot run.”
A Louisville man is putting his days of driving school busses behind him after winning $100,000 on a Kentucky Lottery Powerball ticket.
James Keown, an employee at Jefferson County Public Schools for 11 years, won big after matching four white ball numbers and doubling his winnings with a Power Play during the lottery’s Aug. 19 drawing, according tolottery officials. And after he got the good news, he decided to retire.
“I called my boss on Sunday, and I told him, ‘I hit the lottery and I’m not coming back.’… I loved my job, but I’d been thinking about retiring for a while," Keown shared in a statement with the Kentucky Lottery.
“I looked at it four times… that number’s got to change, but it didn’t,” Keown said. “I thought I better see what I won. The first time, I saw I won $50,000 and then I thought, wait a minute I play the multiplier all the time, so I went back, and the multiplier was 2."
TheLexington Herald-Leadernoted that the odds of winning the initial $50,000 — not including Keown’s prize increase — are 1 in 913,129.18.
After he realized he had won $100,000 in total, Keown got in touch with his wife Monta. “I’m just over the moon and excited for him,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Jefferson County Public Schools, Keown’s now-former place of employment, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Thursday.
After taxes, Keown went home with $71,500 in his pocket, and one less career to worry about. He and his wife now intend to support local cat rescue shelters with their funds, and also intend to use their winnings to purchase a lake property, according to the lottery.
As for Circle K, the location that sold the ticket, it will earn $1,000 of its own.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The news of Kentucky’s latest winner comes a month after a lottery ticket sold in Florida was revealed to be the winner of the$1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot.
Local outletNews4Jaxnoted that the ticket was purchased at a Publix supermarket in Neptune Beach, Florida — after 31 consecutive Mega Millions draws ended without a winner.
“Congratulations to the Florida Lottery for selling a jackpot-winning ticket in Tuesday’s $1.58 billion Mega Millions drawing,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said at the time. “We congratulate our newest jackpot winner, as well as the more than 43.7 million winners at all prize levels throughout this jackpot run."
source: people.com
