Powerball hits $1 billion for tonight’s drawing, the biggest US lottery jackpot of the year

By Avni Trivedi, CNN (CNN) — The Powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1 billion after no ticket won the grand prize Monday night, marking the first billion-dollar Powerball jackpot since a player in Arkansas took home $1.8 billion on Christmas Eve last year. Wednesday night’s drawing will be the 44th consecutive drawing in