On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog

There are some serious winds and wind chills around the Norton Sound.

Second Dog Dies:At approximately 10:00 a.m. today, George, a four-year-old male from the race team of Hunter Keefe (bib# 10), collapsed on the trail roughly 35 outside of Kaltag en route to Unalakleet.

Keefe Scratches: Veteran Iditarod musher, Hunter Keefe (bib #10), of Knik, Alaska scratched Sunday, March 10 at 11:30 p.m. at the Unalakleet checkpoint pursuant to Rule 42.

Naaktgeboren Scratches: Veteran Iditarod musher, Deke Naaktgeboren (bib #34), of Fairbanks, Alaska, scratched at 8:19 p.m. today at the Nulato checkpoint in the best interest of his team.

Burmeister Scratches: Veteran Iditarod musher, Aaron Burmeister (bib #29), of Nome/Nenana, Alaska, scratched at 11:00 a.m. today at the Unalakleet checkpoint. Burmeister’s reasoning for scratching is “to help promote the mental wellness and health of my team in the future.”

Standings at 11:00PM CDT (8:00PM AKDT):
Beyond Elim
1 Dallas Seavey (7)
Beyond Koyuk
2 Jessie Holmes (9)
3 Matt Hall (16)
4 Travis Beals (14)
At Koyuk
5 Jeff Deeter (18)
6 Paige Drobny (38)
7 Mille Porsild (12)
8 Jessie Royer (20)
9 Peter Kaiser (26)
10 Amanda Otto (28)
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We are now using Daylight Saving Time. At 11:30AM AKDT it was -23°F in Kaltag. – good mushing temperature.

Dog Dies: At approximately 9:46 a.m. today, Bog, a two-year-old male from the race team of Isaac Teaford (bib#15), collapsed approximately 200 feet from the Nulato checkpoint.

First Scratch: Rookie Iditarod musher, Erin Altemus (bib #23), of Grand Marais, Minnesota, scratched at 9:38 a.m. today at the Ruby checkpoint in the best interest of her team.

Scratch at Galena: Rookie Iditarod musher, Connor McMahon (bib #3), of Carcross, Yukon Territory, Canada, scratched at 4:30 p.m. today at the Galena checkpoint in the best interest of his team.

Scratch at Galens: Rookie Iditarod musher, Issac Teaford (bib #15), of Salt Lake City, Utah scratched at 2:25 p.m. today at the Nulato checkpoint pursuant to Rule 42 (Death of a Dog).

Standings at 10:00PM CDT (7:00PM AKDT):
Beyond Unalakleet
1 Dallas Seavey (7)
2 Jessie Holmes (9)
3 Matt Hall (16)
4 Travis Beals (14)
At Unalakleet
5 Paige Drobny (38)
6 Ryan Redington (21)
7 Jeff Deeter (18)
8 Mille Porsild (12)
9 Jason Mackey (19)
10 Peter Kaiser (26)
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We lose an hour Sunday morning when 2AM Standard Time becomes 3AM Daylight Saving Time.

Everyone has completed their 24-hour+ stop but Dallas has yet to make a 8-hour stop on the Yukon.

Standings at 11:00PM CST (8:00PM AKST):
Beyond Kaltag
1 Travis Beals (14)
At Kaltag
2 Jessie Holmes (9)
3 Paige Drobny (38)
4 Matt Hall (16)
5 Ryan Redington (21)
6 Dallas Seavey (7)
Beyond Nulato
7 Peter Kaiser (26)
8 Jason Mackey (19)
9 Wally Robinson (39)
10 Hunter Keefe (10)
11 Aaron Burmeister (29)
At Nulato
12 Matthew Failor (31)
13 Mille Porsild (12)
14 Amanda Otto (28)
15 Jeff Deeter (18)
16 Jessie Royer (20)
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Spring forward, Fall back.

Just to screw up your life, don’t forget that Congress has stolen 2:00 to 2:59AM Sunday from you. They should at least have the decency to wait until the equinoxes to do this sort of thing. There’s barely enough daylight to do what needs to be done, much less save.

It’s a government conspiracy to make you late for church 😈

We lose an hour Sunday morning when 2AM Standard Time becomes 3AM Daylight Saving Time.

Standings at 11:30PM CST (8:30PM AKST):
At Galena
1 Travis Beals (14)
2 Matt Hall (16)
Beyond Ruby
3 Dallas Seavey (7)
4 Peter Kaiser (26)
5 Jessie Holmes (9)
6 Paige Drobny (38)
7 Ryan Redington (21)
8 Matthew Failor (31)
9 Mille Porsild (12)
10 Hunter Keefe (10)
11 Jason Mackey (19)
12 Jeff Deeter (18)
At Ruby
13 Nicolas Petit (17)
14 Wally Robinson (39)
15 Aaron Burmeister (29)
16 Jessie Royer (20)
17 Amanda Otto (28)
18 Mats Pettersson (5)
19 Josi Thyr (22)^R
20 Jessica Klejka (8)
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Dallas Seavey won the race to Cripple and the Halfway Prize, but was fined 2 hours for not properly gutting the moose he shot.

Standings at 10:00PM CST (7:00PM AKST):
Beyond Cripple
1 Nicolas Petit (17)
2 Travis Beals (14)
3 Jessie Holmes (9)
4 Paige Drobny (38)
At Cripple
5 Dallas Seavey (7)
6 Ryan Redington (21)
7 Peter Kaiser (26)
8 Matt Hall (16)
9 Hunter Keefe (10)
Beyond Ophir
10 Jessie Royer (20)
11 Aaron Burmeister (29)
12 Jason Mackey (19)
13 Mille Porsild (12)
14 Mats Pettersson (5)
15 Gabe Dunham (24)^R
16 Matthew Failor (31)
17 Jeff Deeter (18)
18 Amanda Otto (28)
19 Jessica Klejka (8)
20 Josi Thyr (22)^R
21 Bailey Vitello (32)
22 Anna Berington (2)
23 Anna Hennessy (25)^R
24 Deke Naaktgeboren (34)
25 Erin Altemus (23)^R
26 Sean Williams (27)^R
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The temperature is forecast to be in the mid 10s to high 20s °F with snow which is borderline for running sled dogs. Many teams will rest during the day and run at night.

People are beginning to take their mandatory 24-hour layovers while Dallas is probably going for the Halfway Money at Cripple. He wants a big lead for his attempt at his sixth win.

Standings at 10:30PM CST (7:30PM AKST)
Beyond Ophir
1 Dallas Seavey (7)
2 Nicolas Petit (17)
At Ophir
3 Jessie Holmes (9)
4 Matthew Failor (31)
5 Jeff Deeter (18)
6 Anna Berington (2)
7 Deke Naaktgeboren (34)
8 Sean Williams (27)^R
At Takotna
9 Travis Beals (14)
10 Ryan Redington (21)
11 Peter Kaiser (26)
12 Matt Hall (16)
13 Hunter Keefe (10)
14 Paige Drobny (38)
15 Jessie Royer (20)
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Anchorage & Campbell Airstrip
Willow
Skwentna & Yentna, Finger Lake, Rainy Pass, Rohn
McGrath & Nikolai, Takotna, Ophir
Ruby
Galena
Nulato
Kaltag
Unalakleet
Shaktoolik
Koyuk
Elim
Golovin
White Mountain
Nome & Safety

The temperature is forecast to be in the mid 10s to high 20s °F with snow which is borderline for running sled dogs. Many teams will rest during the day and run at night.

On early Monday morning outside of Skwenta, Dallas Seavey encountered a moose which ended with a dead moose and one injured dog. Having lived in Alaska, trust me – moose are mental. They are the reason you go armed outside of town. Bears and wolves are not a real threat to humans most of the time, but moose are the biggest threat to people, dogs, and VW Beetles.

Standings at 11:00PM CST (8:00PM AKST)
Beyond Nikolai
1 Jessie Holmes (9)
2 Matt Hall (16)
3 Travis Beals (14)
4 Ryan Redington (21)
5 Dallas Seavey (7)
6 Hunter Keefe (10)
7 Mille Porsild (12)
8 Peter Kaiser (26)
9 Paige Drobny (38)
10 Matthew Failor (31)
11 Mats Pettersson (5)
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And they’re off. The temperature is forecast to be in the mid 10s to mid 20s F which which borderline for sled dogs. Many teams will rest during the day and run at night.

Standings at 11:00PM CST (8:00PM AKST)
At Rohn
1 Dallas Seavey (7)
Beyond Rainy Pass
2 Jessie Holmes (9)
3 Peter Kaiser (26)
4 Matt Hall (16)
5 Wally Robinson (39)
6 Mille Porsild (12)
7 Matthew Failor (31)
8 Travis Beals (14)
9 Ryan Redington (21)
10 Hunter Keefe (10)
11 Aaron Burmeister (29)
12 Paige Drobny (38)
13 Mats Pettersson (5)
14 Jason Mackey (19)
15 Jessie Royer (20)
16 Jeff Deeter (18)
17 Nicolas Petit (17)
18 Anna Berington (2)
19 Gabe Dunham (24)^R
20 Jessica Klejka (8)
21 Bailey Vitello (32)
22 Josi Thyr (22)^R
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And they’re off. The temperature is forecast to be in the low to mid 10s F which which is good for sled dogs. There’s about 5 hours of sunlight left at the starting time and teams leave at two minute intervals, so the last team out about an hour and a half after the first team.

Beyond Willow

1 Anna Berington (2)
2 Connor McMahon (3)^R
3 Will Rhodes (4)^R
4 Mats Pettersson (5)
5 Bryce Mumford (6)^R
6 Dallas Seavey (7)
7 Jessica Klejka (8)
8 Jessie Holmes (9)
9 Hunter Keefe (10)
10 Joshua Robbins (11)^R
11 Mille Porsild (12)
12 Lauro Eklund (13)^R
13 Travis Beals (14)
14 Isaac Teaford (15)^R
15 Matt Hall (16)
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It is the first Saturday in March which is Susan Butcher Day in Alaska and marks the Iditarod ‘parade’ from Anchorage to the airport. The actual race is set to start on Sunday in Willow.

It’s Saint David’s Day, and, as he is their patron saint, it is a national holiday in Wales. The Welsh wear leeks or daffodils [called Peter’s leek in Welsh] on this day.

Why are you being hustled by street vendors to buy sad and drooping former roses, vegetative matter that missed the cut for bouquets, or were too late to the hospital?

Blame Esther A. Howland (1828 – 1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts. Her guilt is writ large by the Greeting Card Association’s Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary. She imported the concept to the US from Britain to bolster her father’s stationery store in 1847.

Of course, it wasn’t long before the stationers had infiltrated school boards and imposed the now mandatory exchange in the classroom to push the low end product of Asian children and prisoners.
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