Spring Unsprung:A powerful spring storm is bringing a blizzard to six midwestern states today. Blizzard warnings have been issued from parts of northeastern Colorado to southeastern Wyoming, northwest Kansas, western and central Nebraska, much of South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota.

  There are even reports of “thundersnow,” a combination of snow and thunder as if it were a rainstorm. As the storm moves east, it will turn mostly to rain.

Barr Room Brawl:Testifying yesterday before the House Appropriations Committee, Attorney Gen. William Barr refused to say whether the White House has seen or been briefed on the Special Counsel report beyond what was in his summary letters Congress. “I’ve said what I’m going to say about the report today,” he said, trying sway the focus of questioning to other matters. “I’m not going to say anything more about it until the report is out and everyone has a chance to look at it.”

  President Trump has claimed that the report completely exonerates him of cooperating with Russians to get himself elected and of obstruction of justice. The attorney general told the panel that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was not involved with the drafting of Barr’s letters on the report.

  Barr said he still plans to release a redacted version of the report as soon as next week. Barr said he would be as transparent as possible, providing explanations for the blacked-out portions of the report.

  The House Judiciary Committee has demanded to see the full report and threatens to go to court if they don’t get it.

The Cheat Sheet:Federal prosecutors have brought additional charges against actress Lori Loughlin, her husband, the designer Mossimo Giannulli, and 15 other parents in the college admissions scam. They are turning the screws tighter on defendants who have not agreed to plead guilty.

  The added charges involve money laundering. The original charges were mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

  Loughlin and her husband were already accused of paying a half million dollars in bribes to get their two daughters into USC as members of the crew team.

Seeing Spots:Facing an outbreak of measles in the orthodox Jewish community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City has declared a public health emergency requiring unvaccinated people to get a shot. Mayor bill DeBlasio threatened a $1,000 fine for those who refuse to comply.

  It’s a conflict of first amendment and religious rights vs. the public health. A segment of the orthodox population doesn’t believe in vaccinations. Some orthodox anti-vaxers are spreading misinformation that vaccines are contaminated with pig DNA and rat blood

  At least 285 cases of measles, a disease once nearly eradicated, have been reported in New York since the fall. Twenty-one people ended up in the hospital. DeBlasio said children in four New York zip codes may not go to school or daycare until the outbreak passes.

  Authorities are also fighting a measles epidemic in rural Rockland County north of the city, also home to a concentration of orthodox Jews.

Blame:As The he and his administration consider harsher measures to stem illegal immigration, President Trump falsely claimed yesterday that it was President Obama who established the policy of separating migrant children from their families. Trump: “President Obama had child separation,” Trump said. “Take a look. The press knows it. You know it. We all know it. I’m the one that stopped it.”

  The Obama administration did separate some families but not on the large scale of the Trump administration, which now says it will take two years to re-unite thousands of separated families because they don’t know who or where everyone is.

  Trump said separating families is a great tool. “Once you don’t have it, that’s why you have many more people coming. They’re coming like it’s a picnic, because ‘Let’s go to Disneyland.’”

Israeli Election:It’s very close, but with 94 percent of the votes counted this morning, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be in a position to serve a fifth term. He may have enough seats in parliament to form a new coalition.

  After the polls closed Netanyahu and his opponent Benny Gantz, the former Army chief of staff, both declared victory in  yesterday’s Parliamentary elections, but Gantz is softening his claim.

  The election is a close call for the 69-year-old Netanyahu a dominant global player who has built a strong economy and kept a tough line on national security.

The Gun Beat:Following the massacre of 50 Muslim worshipers in Christchurch, New Zealand’s Parliament has voted to ban most semi-automatic weapons for civilian ownership. All but one of the country’s 120 members of parliament voted in favor.

The Couch Potato Report:As “Game of Thrones” addicts await the final season of the bloody HBO drama, The Washington Post has offered an illustrated guide to all 2,339 deaths so far in the series.

  Being a character in “Game” is a risky thing. The paper says of Season 1, “When Ned Stark, the main hero and character supposedly least at risk, was beheaded, viewers everywhere realized that no one was safe.”

  Deaths by arrow are common. So are killings  with a blade. An occasional burning. Doreah was sealed in a vault by Daenerys Targaryen. Joffrey Baratheon was poisoned by Olenna Tyrell. The beautiful red-haired Ygritte was killed with an arrow but lived in real life to marry Jon Snow.

  The place most likely to die has been Beyond the Wall with 993 deaths, followed by the infighting King’s Landing with 326.

  And winter is coming.

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