WELCOME, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR team owner Richard Childress is auctioning off one of racing legend Dale Earnhardt’s cars to raise
money for coronavirus relief efforts.

The Charlotte Observer reports that this is the first time Childress
has sold or given away an original Earnhardt car from his personal collection.

A news release Thursday from Richard Childress Racing officials
doesn’t specify which of Earnhardt’s trademark No. 3 race cars is
up for auction.

Childress tweeted Friday that parting with one of his cars is “a
small sacrifice” for him to make.

Earnhardt died in a crash during the last lap of the Daytona 500
at Daytona International Speedway in 2001.

The eBay site for the auction doesn’t list a deadline for bidding
on items.

Richard Childress (below) Racing is based in Welcome, North
Carolina.

Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. ( April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)

During the influenza epidemic of 1918, Portland converted one of its newest
and largest buildings, the Portland Auditorium, into a temporary hospital. 

The Spanish influenza pandemic became one of the deadliest events
in history. Although the Spanish flu struck Portland, Oregon more
than a century ago, how Portlanders reacted then has an uncanny parallel to what we’re experiencing now with the Coronavirus. The
first confirmed case in Portland was a soldier, a private on his way
to Texas for training.

Just a week after Portland’s first Spanish flu diagnosis, the Oregon
State Board of Health ordered all public gathering places to shut
down statewide. Parades were canceled. Church services were
suspended. Restaurants sat empty. Dance halls silent. And
suddenly, 36,000 Portland students had nowhere to go. 

In addition to the closures, stores and businesses limited hours. Portland’s famous department store, Meier & Frank, asked
customers not to come into their store but rather to make delivery orders.

Officials urged Portland residents to wash their hands and keep
at least 4 feet apart — the prototype of “social distancing.”
(OPB)

The Oregon Statesman.

Gunsmoke, was TV’s longest running prime time, live action
dramatic series for decades.The television series ran for 20
seasons from 1955 to 1975, and lasted for 635 episodes.

SANDY KOZEL

Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the
birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Today
marks the 50th year.