IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The group that runs the Powerball lottery game approved, then abandoned, changes that would have given ticket buyers more bang for their two bucks than the redesign implemented last year.

Powerball managers changed the game’s odds in October to build bigger jackpots and revive lagging player interest. The strategy quickly paid dividends for state lotteries, causing soaring ticket sales as a jackpot grew to a record $1.6 billion last month.

Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press show a different Powerball overhaul was initially planned to increase jackpots while providing more value for players. The “Power Play” that multiplies cash prizes for an extra $1 would have been embedded in the base $2 ticket. A new $1 add-on would have entered players into a second jackpot drawing for $10 million.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — An off-duty probation officer says he nearly drew his gun when paintballs were fired at him as he sat on his parked motorcycle in St. Louis.

Forty-eight-year-old James Cashatt says he reached in his riding jacket for his gun Thursday night after hearing four pops and feeling a sting on his arm. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that he took his hand from his jacket after noticing a spent paintball shell and splash of lime green on his jacket.

Cashatt says he wants the shooters caught so they aren’t killed.

He was one of at least five people who were shot or shot at with a paintball gun in at least three incidents Thursday and Friday nights in downtown and north St. Louis. Police have made no arrests.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis woman has been sentenced to seven years in prison for fatally stabbing her brother when he insulted rapper Nicki Minaj.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 55-year-old Angela Hallmon pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter, armed criminal action and evidence tampering as part of a plea agreement. She had faced a second-degree murder charge.

She and her brother, 55-year-old Edward Hallmon, were intoxicated when she stabbed him in the chest in December 2013. Court records say they had been arguing about YouTube videos and “disparaging comments” about Minaj.

Angela Hallmon is accused of hiding the knife and sopping up blood as relatives helped Edward Hallmon and called 911. The stabbing left Edward Hallmon in a coma until he died in March 2015.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker is proposing cutting $8 million from the University of Missouri system roiled by recent race-related protests at its Columbia campus.

The possible funding cuts were rolled out Tuesday by Republican House Budget Chairman Tom Flanigan of Carthage in southwest Missouri.

The cuts include reducing funding to the Columbia campus by $400,000, among other things by eliminating the salary of suspended University of Missouri assistant professor Melissa Click. The budget plan also would cut more than $7 million from the system’s administration.

Tenure-seeking Click had a confrontation with a student photographer and a student videographer during the Nov. 9 protests at the Columbia campus over what some saw as university leadership’s indifference to racial issues. State lawmakers broadly have called for Click to be fired.

BERLIN (AP) — U.S. chocolate maker Mars says it’s recalling candy bars and other items in 55 countries after plastic was found in one of its products.

Roel Govers, spokesman for Mars in the Netherlands, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the recall affects 55 countries but didn’t immediately provide further details.

The German dpa news agency, citing Mars in Germany, reported the voluntary recall affects products produced early this year in the Netherlands.

The Dutch food safety authority posted what it said was a Mars press release on its website, saying a piece of plastic had been found in a product that could lead to choking. It listed affected products as: Mars, Milky Way, Snickers, Celebrations, and Mini Mix.

ATLANTA (AP) — Home Depot reported better-than-expected profit and revenue in the fourth quarter and comparable-store sales jumped as the company continues to ride a sustained recovery in the housing market.

The nation’s largest home improvement retailer boosted its quarterly dividend by 17 percent and shares rose early Tuesday on powerhouse earnings in what is typically a down season for this sector of the retail industry.

It is a good omen as tax refund and home upgrade season approaches.

And there were more signs of strength Tuesday on the housing front.

U.S. home sales crept upward in January, when most economists were projecting a decline. The median home sales price was $213,800, up 8.2 percent from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The stronger-than-expected start follows a very big year for housing in 2015.

Builders last year broke ground on 1.1 million properties, the most since 2007 when the housing bubble was beginning to burst into a broader recession. The National Association of Realtors reported last month that that sales of existing homes climbed 14.7 percent in December, capping a year in that produced the highest annual sales total since 2006.

Home Depot earned $1.47 billion, or $1.17 per share, for the three months ended Jan. 31. A year earlier the Atlanta company earned $1.38 billion, or $1.05 per share.

The per-share earnings were 7 cents better than Wall Street had expected, according to analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose to $20.98 billion from $19.16 billion, also topping the $20.35 billion that analysts projected.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer’s health, climbed 7.1 percent. At U.S. locations, they increased 8.9 percent.

For the year, The Home Depot Inc. reported a profit of $5.46 per share on revenue of $88.52 billion. Fiscal 2015 results included a pretax expense of 6 cents per share related to the company’s 2014 data breach.

Home Depot said Tuesday that it is raising its quarterly dividend by a dime, to 69 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on March 24 to shareholders of record on March 10.

Home Depot anticipates fiscal 2016 earnings between $6.12 and $6.18 per share. Sales are predicted to climb about 5.1 percent to 6 percent, with same-store sales growth of approximately 3.7 percent to 4.5 percent.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect full-year earnings of $6.15 per share.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A woman who authorities say was bitten by a tiger while trespassing at the Omaha zoo has been arrested in another case and accused of trying to bite an officer.

A police report says Jacqueline Eide (eyed) tried to bite the officer as Eide was being booked into custody Saturday. Police say she was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and having an open liquor container in a public place.

The 33-year-old was being held in lieu of $25,000 bond Monday. Her attorney, James Martin Davis, says he hopes Eide can avoid an assault charge in the latest incident.

In November Eide was treated for finger injuries after trying to pet the tiger. Eide has made a deal with prosecutors in that case and will make the plea April 4.

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — Two people are seriously injured and eight others received minor injuries after a tractor-trailer sideswiped a tour bus that had pulled to the side of Interstate 70 east of Kansas City with a flat tire.

The bus carrying the driver and nine passengers was headed from St. Louis to Overland Park, Kansas, on Monday when the driver felt a tire was flat and pulled over.

Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Collin Stosberg says the semitrailer veered out of its lane around 10:45 a.m. and struck the bus, pushing it down an embankment.

The uninjured truck driver was cited for careless and imprudent driving.

One of the bus passengers was in critical condition Monday afternoon at an Independence hospital and one was in serious condition.

ST. JAMES, Mo. (AP) — A southern Missouri sheriff says remains have been found along a creek where a 13-year-old boy was last seen in July.

Phelps County Sheriff Richard Lisenbe said Monday that tests are being conducted on the remains, but it’s unclear if they belong to Johnathan Shay, who was reported missing July 9 after he and an 11-year-old cousin left his grandmother’s yard in St. James, about 100 miles southwest of St. Louis.

The younger boy was found the next day walking along a creek.

Lisenbe said someone noticed remains along the creek where Shay was last seen and contacted authorities. The area is about a half mile from the home the children had wandered from.

Lisenbe says a tennis shoe and other items were also found that appear similar to Shay’s.