While 96 teams made the ceremonial start in Anchorage, only 95 will be racing out of Willow. Veteran G.B. Jones(45) of Wasilla, Alaska has pulled out for health reasons. He entered hoping to be well for the race, but he isn’t, so he decided to run in the 11-mile Anchorage parade and then scratch.

The Associated Press reports Feds say Southern water-sharing talks failed

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne acknowledged Saturday that White House-brokered water negotiations among Alabama, Florida and Georgia have failed.

Without an agreement, the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies will begin implementing a water-sharing plan of their own, Kempthorne said in a letter to the governors.

“Regrettably, it will necessarily be a solution being directed to the states instead of our much hoped for solution coming from the states,” he wrote in the letter, released Saturday.
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CNN reports that the Armenian president declares state of emergency

(CNN) — Armenian President Robert Kocharian declared a state of emergency Saturday night after a day of clashes between police and protesters, a spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

The protesters claim last month’s presidential election was rigged.

The state of emergency will “hopefully bring some order” to the capital, Yerevan, said Salpi Ghazarian, assistant to the Armenian foreign minister, who spoke to CNN early Sunday.

The state of emergency could last until March 20, she said, but the government hopes “that it will be lifted sooner.”

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As Mustang Bobby notes Ddyhea Buchedda Cymru!, it’s Saint David’s Day, a national holiday in Wales, which requires people to wear leeks or daffodils [called Peter’s leek in Welsh].

Note: very busy day, so I barely made it.

The ceremonial start of the Iditarod takes place today in Anchorage, with the real racing segment starting Sunday from Willow.

There are 96 teams starting the race, most from the US and Canada, but there are also 9 mushers from Europe: Sigrid Ekran(24) & Kjetil Backen(42) from Norway, Rudi Niggenmeier(52) & Benedikt Beisch(64) from Germany, Dries Jacobs(65) & Sam Deltour(63) from Belgium, Fabrizio Lovati(77) from Italy, Benoit Gerard(91) from France, and Kim Franklin(79) from the UK.

I’ll be keeping an eye on Lance Mackey(6), last year’s winner, and Rachael Scdoris(55).

The course is looking a lot better than last year’s, but one weather front can change everything.