Viral News: The US is administering three million vaccinations a day but cases of Covid-19 are rising and health authorities fear that a fourth wave of the pandemic might be breaking.

  Saturday was the first time the country reported more than four million Covid-19 doses in a single day. The country rocketed from 800,000 shots a day in February to two million in March and now four million.

  The effort has been hurt by the accidental destruction of millions of doses at a Johnson & Johnson contract plant, depriving the vaccination campaign of much-needed doses and undermining public faith in the vaccines.

  In a story about “vaccine favoritism” last night “60 Minutes” reported that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a partnership with Publix grocery stores to distribute the vaccine in its pharmacies after Publix donated $100,000 to the governors political action committee. Both DeSantis and Publix say there’s no connection between the two events, kind of like when the nuclear reactor is melting down the power company says “there’s no danger to the public.” 

  This morning, 106.2 million Americans have had at least one vaccination shot. At least 555,001 have died of Covid-19, but only 222 deaths occurred in the past 24 hours.

Buzzer Beaters: Stanford beat Arizona  54-53 last night to win the NCAA women’s basketball title for the first time in 29 years. In the closing seconds, three Stanford players smothered Arizona’s Aari McDonald and her final shot bounced off the back of the rim.

  Baylor plays Gonzaga tonight for the men’s championship.

  On Saturday, Gonzaga beat UCLA 93-90 with an overtime buzzer-beater and Baylor crushed Houston, 78-59. UCLA challenged Gonzaga more than just about any team all year. They were tied at 90 when Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs banked a 40-footer at the buzzer. 

Family Feud: Officials in Jordan have arrested more than a dozen people, some of them high-profile members of the royal family, in a plot they say threatened the nation’s “security and stability.” Basically, they interrupted an attempted coup.

  Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said authorities intervened at a critical moment, according to the Associated Press. He said it was clear the plotters had “moved from design and planning into action.” “The plot is totally contained,” he said. “Our security and stability are not shaken.”

  Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, the half-brother of King Abdullah II and former crown prince, said he’s been placed under house arrest. The state news agency Petra said that Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, and Basem Ibrahim Awadallah, a former head of the royal court who formerly served as finance minister and planning minister, are among those detained “for security reasons” as well.

Checked Box: Donald Trump’s political campaign collected millions of dollars from online donors who unwittingly signed up for multiple donations, The NY Times reports.

  Donors who thought they were giving just one time didn’t see obscure pre-checked boxes that committed them to weekly donations.

  The Times tells the story of one man living on 1,000 a month whose bank account was tapped for $3,000 in 30 days. He told the paper, “It felt like it was a scam.” Another donor, a retired 78-year-old man who intended to give $990, ended up giving $8,000.

  Running low on money, and getting outspent by the Democrats, the Trump campaign resorted to a default setting on its website for multiple  donations. Donors had to read through the fine print and find the pre-checked box to avoid that.

  Banks and the Trump campaign were flooded with claims of fraud. After losing the election, Trump used money he collected to fight what he claimed was voter fraud to pay  back his bilked presidential campaign donors.

Closing Time: Another business fatality of the pandemic is Eliseevsky, the gourmet food shop opened under czarist Russia that survived wars, the Russian Revolution, the Soviet Union, and food shortages but couldn’t make it through the Covid crisis. It is set to close April 11^th  after 120 years in business. 

  The building occupied by the store had once been an ornate mansion owned by a princess. It represented the kind of wealth inequity that spurred the revolution. It has chandeliers, gilt columns, intricate woodwork, and stained glass in windows facing the street. Popular among Russians who had the money, it was a must-see for tourists.

  As much of a worry about losing such a traditional business is the building itself. The City of Moscow owns it, and says it will be preserved in some form.

The Obit Page: Alex Woo, the jewelry designer who put women’s initial on necklaces, has died of cancer at age 47. She was best known for her Little Icons collections. She designed the yellow gold “C” necklace worn by Carrie Bradshaw in “The Carrie Diaries,” and her jewelry was worn by many characters in “Gossip Girl,” including Blair Waldorf’s “BW” necklace. Woo also produced all the jewelry for Major League Baseball.  — Bibian Mentel, a champion Dutch snowboarder on her way to the Olympics who lost her lower right leg to cancer, then returned to dominate the sport in the Paralympics for 16 years, died at her home in Loosdrecht, the Netherlands at 48. 

  Mentel fought cancer her entire career, but it finally entered her brain and was inoperable. She was a celebrity and an inspiration in The Netherlands. Despite losing the leg, she was still considered one of the best snowboarders in the world.

Target Practice: Saturday Night Live’s Colin Jost took some easy shots at Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who’s under investigation on suspicion of sex with an underage girl and child trafficking. In the News Update Jost said the congressman “is reportedly under investigation for an alleged sexual relationship with an underage girl because Gaetz believes only voters should show ID.”

  Jost said, “Here’s the craziest part if this story to me. A sitting Congressman is being accused of child trafficking and the QAnon people are like, nahh, I need more evidence.”

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