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<p>ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Deep snow is slowing down mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, but the leader has a secret for dealing with the difficult conditions.</p> <p>“I’ve been training with 120 pounds of concrete and all the gear in the sled,” Thomas Waerner, 46, told a camera crew from the Iditarod Insider as he was preparing his sled to leave a checkpoint outside the Alaska community of Kaltag late Saturday.</p>

BOISE, Idaho - The world’s largest gun store, in metro Atlanta, has had lines that are six and eight people deep. A gun store in Los Angeles had lines that stretched down the block. And at least one store in Idaho put limits on sales after its shelves were nearly cleared out. Just as grocery stores have been stripped bare by Americans panicked by coronavirus, guns and ammunition have started flying off the shelves. Retailers say the buying frenzy is being fueled by consumers who are worried that people are becoming so desperate and unpredictable, they need to ensure they...

Link provides a live stream to Mike Dewine press conference starting soon. Rumors abound here in Ohio.

It is nothing new for Fox’s The Simpsons to mock Christians, but it happened once again in the March 15 episode titled “Better Off Ned.” Bart Simpson found himself in trouble and facing suspension from school over a prank gone bad, so he used a fake hand grenade during a school performance to cause a commotion. Superintendent Chalmers was about to suspend him when the Simpsons's neighbor Ned Flanders started to kneel in prayer. The superintendent freaked out since it was a public school. He took down a copy of Engel v. Vitale and began reading the Supreme Court decision...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has awarded a construction contract worth $175 million for an additional 15 miles of new border wall to be built in Starr County, according to a news release issued Monday morning. This is in addition to 15 miles of new border wall awarded to a New Mexico company — also to be built in Starr County — that the agency announced on March 2. CBP has said all 55 miles surrounding the rural South Texas county will be walled off... The contract was awarded to Randy Kinder Excavating, Inc., a company based in Dexter, Mo....

Vice President Pence is hiring a former George W. Bush administration official to serve as his office's legal counsel. Pence's office confirmed Monday that Gregory Jacob will take over the role being vacated by Matt Morgan, who is joining the Trump reelection campaign as director of litigation and legislation. "Greg is a man of deep professional experience, but also one of personal integrity and character, with a heart for helping those most in need," Marc Short, chief of staff to the vice president, said in a statement. "He’s going to be a perfect fit in the Vice President’s office.” Jacob...

Casino operations are set to close Monday, followed by MGM Resorts International's hotel operations The company with properties including the Bellagio, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay said on Sunday that it will not take reservations prior to May 1 The announcement came same day Wynn Resorts said in a statement that the two-week closure of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore would start March 17 at 6pm As of Saturday, health officials have announced 21 cases of coronavirus in Nevada MGM Resorts International announced on Sunday that it will be halting the operations of all of its Las Vegas hotels and...

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – People in Oregon are being asked not to call 911 if they’ve run out of toilet paper. Over the past week, hordes of shoppers flooded stores across the nation looking to stockpile the household staple. Not only has this put a squeeze on retailers, but apparently police as well. “It’s hard to believe that we even have to post this. Do not call 9-1-1 just because you ran out of toilet paper. You will survive without our assistance,” The Newport Police Department wrote on Facebook. The agency offered a tongue-in-cheek list of alternatives for those in...

Hunter Biden's overseas protection to make business deals was more expensive for taxpayers than combined Secret Service details for Trump's children. Then-vice president Joe Biden spared no words when he extolled the virtues of his second son, Hunter Biden, in a 2013 address to South Korean students at the elite Yonsei University. "And as I speak, my son has just boarded—my grown son has just boarded a plane, an aircraft—he’s heading to the Philippines," Biden said. "His name is Hunter Biden. He’s chairman of the World Food Program USA, and he's going there out in the field, like so many...

The Diamond Princess was the worst case scenario, according to Levitt. “If you compare the ship to a country—we are talking 250,000 people crowded into one square kilometer, which is horribly crowded. It is four times the crowding in Hong Kong. It is as if the entire Isaeli population was crammed into 30 square kilometers.” Furthermore, he said, the ship had a central air conditioning and heating system and a communal dining room. “Those are extremely comfortable conditions for the virus and still, only 20% were infected. It is a lot, but pretty similar to the infection rate of the...

ROME — The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen in the last 24 hours by 349 to 2,158, an increase of 19.3%, the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday. The total number of cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, rose to 27,980 from a previous 24,747, up 13%, the slowest rate of increase since the contagion first came to light on Feb. 21. However, the head of the agency said they were still awaiting data from the southern region of Puglia and the northern province of Trento. (Please see link...

Pope Benedict Embroiled in the War Between Re and Zen. But China Is Winning In the letter that the dean of the sacred college, Giovanni Battista Re, wrote on February 26 to all the cardinals, in contradiction with the previous letter addressed to them in September by Cardinal Joseph Zen Zekiun, there is one point on which the split between the two cardinal is absolute.In his letter Zen had written, regarding the provisional and secret agreement of September 22 2018 between the Holy See and China on the appointment of bishops:“I have cause to believe (and I hope one day...

Dr Simran Deo at Zava UK suggests that wearing gloves could actually increase your risk of catching coronavirus as droplets projected into the air by coughing or sneezing can stay on the surfaceCoronavirus cases in the UK have surpassed 380 this week, leading to widespread panic about the spread of the disease. Many worried Brits have taken to wearing gloves while out and about, in the hopes of protecting themselves from the virus. However, experts have warned against this practice, and suggest that wearing gloves could actually increase your risk of catching the virus. Dr Simran Deo at UK-based online...

Canada is closing its borders to non-citizens because of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday.U.S. citizens are exempt from the ban “for the moment,” he said. Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Gregoire, tested positive for COVID-19 week. Trudeau has no symptoms, but has been in isolation since last week as a precautionary measure.Canada is closing its borders to non-citizens because of the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, while noting that the ban, “for the moment,” does not apply to U.S. citizens.“We can still slow the spread of this virus,” Trudeau said at a press conference. “It is time...

I suppose this could be considered a waste of time, but I thought it might be a good ongoing thread to track cases of the Corona virus that are directly or tangentially impacting Freepers. We have 2 indirect contacts I know of so far.

Francis Caiazza does not have that warm, fuzzy feeling for Joe Biden, and he is not so sure he's going to ever find it. Caiazza has voted for whomever his party’s nominee has been since Lyndon B. Johnson, a streak he continued all the way up to and including both of Barack Obama’s elections. The only thing Hillary Clinton inspired Caiazza to do four years later was not vote at all. He says he feels “somewhat” better about Biden sidelining Sanders for his party’s nomination, but hardly comfortable. “First of all, I think he's too old to be president," he...

Global aviation is shutting down because of the coronavirus outbreak and travel restrictions designed to contain it, and many airlines will need government bailouts within weeks or face bankruptcy..... American Airlines said Saturday it would reduce its international capacity by three quarters between March 16 and May 6. United Airlines said it will be cutting capacity in half for April and May, while Delta is reducing capacity by 40% in the next few months — the largest cut in the company's history. Delta is down to just one flight a day on five European routes....

NEWPORT, Ore. (KMTR) — The Newport Oregon Police Department is notifying the public that they are not to call the emergency line simply because they ran out of toilet paper. While many people have been blitzing shopping areas in order to stock up on toilet paper, the police department is offering a number of alternative options you can use in case you run out.

................ America is in the grips of a panic the likes of which we haven’t seen before. What exactly is a pandemic, other than a scary sounding word from science fiction movies? According to WHO, “Pandemic refers to an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.” Per the Johns Hopkins dashboard, at the time of this writing, there are 147,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus spanning the globe, with 5500 deaths and 72.000 recoveries. Cases in China have leveled off over the past several weeks, suggesting that we in the U.S. may...

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday will order a statewide shutdown as the number of coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania continues to grow, according to three sources familiar with the decision. Wolf and other state officials will release more details to the public at 2 p.m. The governor had previously placed four counties — Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery — under a shutdown order. That involved asking non-essential businesses like gyms, hair salons, and concert venues to close for 14 days. Wolf said pharmacies, grocery stores, and gas stations should stay open. Residents there were urged to curtail any non-essential...