By Karen Brooks AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The Powerball jackpot being drawn on Saturday night could be even higher than the record $600 million being advertised, pushing it near or above the largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history, a Texas Lottery official said on Saturday. "Oftentimes, the advertised amount is lower than what the actual jackpot ends up being," said Kelly Cripe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery. "It's entirely possible this $600 million jackpot will end up being a bigger jackpot. ...

With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units.

By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - A group of Colorado county sheriffs, angry over two new state gun control laws passed in the wake of last year's mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado, filed a federal lawsuit on Friday seeking to block the laws from going into effect. The two laws, passed by the state's Democratic-controlled legislature with scant Republican support, ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds and require background checks for all private gun sales and transfers. All but 10 of the state's 64 county sheriffs signed onto the suit, filed in U.S. ...

By Lisa Maria Garza DALLAS (Reuters) - Veronica Orellana, her husband and three sons were used to living in cramped spaces until six years ago, when they moved into their three-bedroom house in Granbury, Texas, built by a nonprofit that constructs homes for low-income families. But since a deadly tornado ripped through Habitat for Humanity-built homes in the Rancho Brazos neighborhood late on Wednesday, the family has no idea what happened to their house. "We were so happy," Orellana said of moving into the house. "This is the biggest house we've ever lived in. ...

GRANBURY, Texas (AP) — Residents whose homes were torn apart or blown away by a North Texas deadly tornado can soon return to retrieve what belongings may be left and start cleaning up, authorities said Friday.