National: The federal budget sequester and its $85 billion in cuts is beginning to hit home … all over the country. The Huffington Post collected 100 news stories about layoffs by military bases, cutbacks and closings at food pantries and job losses in tourism, education, and health care. No single headline captures the total of economic loss, but it’s happening.

• President Obama made an impassioned speech for gun control in front of 3,000 people in Hartford, Ct., saying, “Now’s the time to push back on fear and frustration and misinformation.” Losing initial momentum in the wake of the Newtown school shooting, the President is unlikely to win limits on assault weapons and may even have trouble passing universal background checks for gun purchases.

Final: Louisville came from 12 points behind in the first half to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA basketball championship. President Obama was half right. He picked Louisville to appear in the final game losing to Indiana, which was beaten by Syracuse two rounds ago.

World: Thirteen people died in a shooting rampage in a village 30 miles south of Belgrade, Serbia. A 60-year-old man is reported to have gone house-to-house starting at 5am. Among the dead were the shooter’s wife and a two-year-old child.

• Russian leader Vladimir Putin was confronted at a German trade fair by three young women who stripped off their tops and shouted obscenities at him. They appeared to be feminists protesting the jailing of the Russian female punk/protest group Pussy Riot. Putin was reported to have said about the brief demonstration, “I liked it.

Spring: It’s blizzarding in Colorado today and there’s a winter storm warning for the upper Midwest. Denver schools are closed and as much as 20 inches of snow is expected.

Fame: A guest on ABC’s talk show “The View” turned to co-hosts Sherri Shepherd and Elizabeth Hasselbeck and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.” It may be the smartest thing ever said on that show.

Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye: One-time Mousketeer Annette Funicello is being mourned as an icon of the early Baby Boom years. She died at age 70. Funicello was featured in the original cast of The Mickey Mouse Club television show and played in a series of innocent beach blanket movies with Frankie Avalon. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987. With her curly hair and wholesome smile, Funicello was one of few in the Mouse cast who continued with an acting career after the television show stopped production.

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