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Avon passes first test of adversity, responds with emphatic second half vs. Fishers

Avon, the top-ranked team in Class 6A, found itself in unfamiliar territory on Friday night — trailing by two touchdowns early in a game.

      




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Watch two styles of Native American drumming from Danville

Watch this style from the Dakotas, showing higher-pitched singing, and a lower-pitched style from Oklahoma, shown at a Danville pow wow on Saturday.

      




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Winter pow wow honors Native American tradition in Danville

The Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds hosted a Winter pow wow put on by Indianapolis Tecumseh Lodge, Danville, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020.

      




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It'll be Plainfield vs. Brownsburg in Hendricks County finals, though Bulldogs missing a key piece

Brownsburg upended Plainfield on Dec. 7 but the Bulldogs will be missing a key player when the two teams meet in the Hendricks County finals.

      




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Danville's Ella Collier is Hendricks County's all-time scoring leader — and she earned it.

Danville senior Ella Collier is Hendricks County's all-time leading scorer. And it didn't happen by accident.

      




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Brownsburg boys defeat Plainfield for third straight Hendricks County title

Brownsburg defeats Plainfield, 55-43

      




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3 things we learned from Brownsburg's Hendricks County girls title win

The Brownsburg Bulldogs are back on track after three dominant wins in the Hendricks County tournament.

      




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Plainfield police officer arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated

An off-duty Plainfield police officer was arrested Friday night on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

      




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Olympics can wait — Plainfield diver Daryn Wright first wants state title

Daryn Wright has a résumé, and a routine, unlike any other girl in this weekend's state swimming and diving championships.

      




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Here's what Danville looks like during coronavirus pandemic

A look at Danville, Indiana, during the coronavirus pandemic

       




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How funerals are removing dead from nursing homes during coronavirus pandemic

"We all struggled with personal protective equipment in the funeral industry," said Eric Bell, funeral director and owner of David A. Hall Mortuary in Pittsboro, Ind.

       




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Funeral director on how families are honoring their loved ones during coronavirus pandemic

Eric Bell, a funeral director in Pittsboro, Ind., says the longest he's waited to hold a memorial service is two months for a deceased person. He explains why.

       




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Oligarch says will sell to BP at right price

My colleague Tanya Beckett has conducted a rare and fascinating interview with Viktor Vekselberg, one of the billionaire oligarchs who co-own TNK-BP with BP - and who have fallen out with BP over BP's desire to form a business relationship with Rosneft, Russia's largest energy group, which would involve BP and Rosneft taking stakes in each other.

It implies, perhaps for the first time, that there may be a solution to a dispute that has damaged BP's reputation and jeopardised the value of its very substantial assets in Russia.

Because of the tensions that have arisen with AAR, the group that represents the oligarchs, BP in collaboration with Rosneft would dearly love to buy AAR's half share in TNK-BP. But their offer of $27bn for 50% of TNK-BP, which values the whole of TNK-BP at $54bn, was rejected earlier this month.

All may not be lost for BP, however. Mr Vekselberg suggests that a sale is possible. He tells Tanya Beckett:

"Of course it can be happen, for sure. If it will be [an] interesting proposal for us according to our understanding of (the) valuation of this company, of course we can accept. So far we have not received this."

So what would be an "interesting" valuation of TNK-BP? Well those close to the oligarchs say that they value TNK-BP at more than $70bn.

It's not clear BP and Rosneft are prepared to pay as much that. The difficulty for BP is that if it fails to reach an accommodation with Mr Vekselberg and his colleagues on price, then it will be stuck in a difficult place - because BP will have been publicly humiliated by the failure to consummate the Rosneft deal and will somehow have to rebuild relations with AAR in order to continue to extract billions of dollars in dividends from TNK-BP.

BP's partnership with AAR is in tatters, as Mr Vekselberg makes clear, in emotive terms, because of AAR's conviction, upheld in arbitration proceedings, that BP's proposed deal with Rosneft breached its contract with AAR:

"The picture is really simple. TNK-BP was created eight years ago, 2003. It was created like [a] joint venture between Russian shareholders and BP, huge global player... The company grew very active; it's now one of the best companies - not just Russian but internationally, because we have investment outside Russia...
 
And really I personally was surprised, I was surprised why BP decided to do something which [was] not according to our shareholders agreement. I am not surprised why BP would like to do this but I am surprised why they did it without any consulting or even just like, just inform us about that (sic). I was very upset, I am still upset even now".

Mr Vekselberg says he is "not so interested in money". The billionaire
adds: "I have enough money, for my life, for my family, for all that".
But "we are businessmen, we are not ideological or something", so of course a sale to BP and Rosneft "can happen".

So what would occur if BP and Rosneft were to make him several billion dollars richer? "I am already very upset" he says "but I will [be] double upset if I have to decide to sell. It's because I dedicated for this company almost like 15 years".

These remarks by Mr Vekselberg are a sign that the impasse over the purchase by BP and Rosneft of AAR's stake in TNK-BP can be overcome.
It offers hope to BP, perhaps for the first time, that it may be able to buy AAR out of the joint venture by the time of the May 16 extended deadline set by Rosneft.

But here's the question? Is the price that Mr Vekselberg and his fellow billionaires will accept one that BP's owners will see as acceptable?

Some of them are already dubious about the terms of the new partnership it wants to form with Rosneft. At a time when BP remains financially stretched by the costs of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, BP's shareholders won't want it to further enrich Mr Vekselberg more than is strictly necessary.

For more on the Vekselberg interview, see Russia Business Report.




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What price a Greek haircut?

One of Europe's most influential bankers said to me the other day that he thought it would be a disaster if any of the eurozone's debt-stretched nations imposed a reduction in the value of their respective sovereign borrowings, or - to use the jargon - took a haircut on their debts.

For him, the eurozone approach of muddling through - providing IMF and eurozone loans to those countries that cannot borrow on markets - is the right approach, even if it hasn't actually solved anything for the eurozone in a permanent sense.

It is curious he should take that view, given that the rescues of Greece and Ireland that took place last year are already having to be renegotiated. And the bailout of those countries didn't stop the rot: Portugal is well into the process of obtaining emergency finance from eurozone and IMF.

Wouldn't it be better to cut what Greece - or Portugal or Ireland - owes down to a manageable size, in tandem with the imposed shrinkage of its public sector, to put its public finances back on a basis that is sustainable for the long term?

The markets are saying that's the only way forward. Over the course of a year, the market price of Greek government debt has fallen by more than half, for example. The yield on 10-year Greek government bonds is well over 15%. Which is an unambiguous statement from investors that there is not the faintest chance that they will lend to Greece again, unless and until its debt burden is reduced to a manageable size.

Or to put it another way, markets are presenting a simple choice to eurozone government heads and the IMF: they can continue to lend to Greece for an indefinite period, in the hope that Greece's economic growth will eventually pick up and generate incremental tax revenues, which would allow the Greek government to perhaps start paying down its debts; or they can bite the bullet and put Greece into the equivalent of what the Americans call Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to restructure and reduce what Greece owes so that it is consistent with the market price of all that debt.

Now as of this instant, option one looks a bit naive, in that what's happened subsequent to the first bailout of Greece a year ago is that its ratio of debt to GDP has been growing in leaps and bounds to more than 150% of GDP (and for more on the heroic challenges faced by Greece, see reports in the next day or two from Stephanie Flanders, who is in Athens).

So you would have expected my influential banker - who knows a thing or two about the markets - to be in favour of what the markets are saying is inevitable. Surely he should be calling for that most humiliating event for any creditor, a formal admission by Greece that it can't pay what it owes, which goes by the moniker of a haircut, or restructuring, or default?

But Mr Big Banker doesn't think that's the right way forward. His reasoning is that he fears a debt restructuring would weaken many of Europe's banks, such that they would be forced to raise new capital - perhaps from their respective governments. And, for reasons that slightly elude me, he sees that as a worse outcome than leaving Greece trapped in an unbreakably vicious cycle of economic decline.

The odd thing, however, is that the official statistics really don't seem to indicate that a haircut on Greek debt would be Armageddon for Europe's banks.

It would be a disaster for Greece's banks, that's certainly true, given that (according to Bank of England figures) a 50% writedown of Greek sovereign debt would wipe out more than 70% of their equity capital. Or to put it another way, they would be bust and would have to be recapitalised.

But, sooner or later, Greece's banks are going to need strengthening in any case. Fixing Greece's public finances won't fix Greece unless its banks are mended too. So any estimate of the costs of rehabilitating that country will include the price of providing new capital to the banks.

The more relevant question, perhaps, is what a Greek haircut would mean for banks outside Greece.

The latest figures from the Bank for International Settlements, published a few days ago, show that at the end of last year banks outside Greece had lent $146bn to Greek banks, companies and the public sector - down from $171bn three months earlier. And, of this, loans to the public sector (largely holdings of Greek government bonds) were $54bn.

To be clear, this doesn't take account of exposure through derivatives, credit commitments or guarantees. So the world's banks probably have a further $100bn exposure to Greece.

The sums at risk therefore look serious though not - on their own - potentially disastrous for the health of the financial system.

Now as luck would have it, the banks most at risk happen to be those of the eurozone's two largest and strongest economies, Germany and France. The exposure of German banks to Greece is $34bn, including perhaps $20bn of loans to the Greek government, while the exposure of French banks is $57bn, of which again around $20bn is probably sovereign lending

Now because of what some would say is the madness of how the global Basel rules - that measure the strength of banks - are applied, there would be a double whammy for eurozone banks if there were a write-off of Greek sovereign debt.

The banks with Greek sovereign exposure would have to reduce their respective stocks of capital by the amount of the loan loss. And they would have to inflate the size of their balance sheets, because the residual exposure to the Greek government would lose its official (and some would say insane) zero risk weighting. So the fall in the capital ratios of banks with exposure to Greece would be magnified in a painful way.

Of the larger listed banks, only one, the Franco-Belgian group Dexia, looks as though it would be seriously hurt by a Greek debt writedown. According to Morgan Stanley, Dexia has 4.9bn euros of exposure to Greek sovereign debt, equivalent to more than half the value of its equity capital. Dexia would be significantly weakened by a 50% Greek haircut.

Next at risk, according to Morgan Stanley, would be Commerzbank of Germany, with €3bn of Greek sovereign debt, equivalent to 15% of its capital. Meanwhile BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole of France, Erste of Austria, KBC of Belgium and Deutsche Bank of Germany all have meaningful though not devastating exposures.

Less visible is the Greek exposure of Germany's state backed landesbanks - which regulators tell me is considerable. But if they were to incur large losses on it, Germany could afford to recapitalise them.

So what is going on? Why are eurozone governments so wary of a restructuring or haircut of Greek sovereign debt, given that banks in the round won't be killed by the consequential hit?

There seem to be three reasons.

First, in Germany, it is apparently politically more acceptable to provide rescue finance to Greece directly than to rescue German banks that foolishly and greedily bought Greek debt for its relatively high yield.

Second, a Greek debt restructuring would be a severe blow to eurozone pride in the strength of the currency union.

Third, a Greek haircut might be the thin end of a large wedge. If it created a precedent for haircuts in Portugal and Ireland, the losses for the eurozone's banks would begin to look serious. But again, if there were just a trio of national debt haircuts, if the rot were to stop with Ireland and Portugal, eurozone governments could afford to shore up and recapitalise their banks.

That said, what the eurozone could not afford - or so regulators fear - would be haircut contagion to the likes of Spain and Italy.

But Spain and Italy are looking in better shape. Spain, for example, is taking steps to strengthen its second tier banks and its banks in general have become less dependent on funding from the European central bank (which is a proxy for their perceived weakness).

So here, I think, will be what will determine whether Greece gets its haircut in the next two or three months: if eurozone governments come to believe that Spain is well past the moment of maximum risk of financial crisis, there will be a bold restructuring of Greek debt.

But, to use that awful footballing expression, if they do go for a Greek debt haircut or writedown, it will be squeaky bum time in government buildings all over Europe.




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Peston Picks is moving

My blog is dead. Long live the new blog. Or to put it another way, my page - and those of other BBC bloggers - is having a makeover. So if you don't want to read on, and you simply want to read my latest post, click here.

The reason for the change is to bring together more of my output in one place. So on the new page, you'll find many of my TV and radio pieces, and (soon) my tweets.

If I go mad and decide to do other social media, that'll be there too.

Fingers crossed that you like what you see. I can't hope that all of you will love all the changes. And in particular, I am sure some of you will be frustrated that (for cost reasons) there is now a 400 character limit on the comments you can leave.

Please don't let that put you off expressing yourselves. I can't tell you how much I value your opinions and the debate we have.

As for the posts I've written since Picks was launched in January 2007, the best place to find them is here. For future posts, the best URL for me is still bbc.co.uk/robertpeston




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IndyCar's Hinchcliffe: Dance practices cause sore feet

Andretti Autosport needs sponsorship to re-sign Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi

      




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Great way to spend holiday cash: '100 Years, 500 Miles' historic Indy 500 book

Coffee table picture book tells the 100-year history of the famous race

       




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As one Indiana school district closes amid COVID-19 concerns, others consider eLearning

As districts prepare for the possibility of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in their schools, most consider a move to online learning.

      




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Most Marion County public schools will close Friday, all will close Monday

Most Marion County public schools will close Friday and all public schools in the county will close by Monday.

      




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Indianapolis police investigating homicide on city's northwest side

Indianapolis Metropolitan police are investigating after a man was found shot on the city's northwest side Thursday night.

      




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An untrue April Fools' Day prank scared students and angered officials

The April Fools' prank is being shared in Indiana and other states across the nation.

      




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Indiana schools closed through the end of the academic year

Indiana's K-12 schools will stayed closed through the end of the academic year as the state continues to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

      




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How closed schools impact English learners and how teachers communicate amid coronavirus

While learning loss is a concern, ESL teachers are finding ways to stay connected, even if that means doing more in students' native languages.

       




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Where kids from Central Indiana school districts can get meals for the rest of the year

Governor Holcomb announced schools will be closed for the rest of the school year, but districts are committed to continue providing meals for kids.

       




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Rap videos, virtual running club, bookmobile: Teachers go above and beyond amid pandemic

Join IndyStar and #ThankATeacher during Teacher Appreciation Week. These are some educators that are making the best of a bad situation.

       




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Notre Dame turns down $5.8 million in stimulus money amid endowment criticism

The private Catholic university in South Bend with $11 billion in reserves follows similar decisions by other endowment-rich institutions.

       




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Sintomas do coronavírus: quais os novos sinais de covid-19 que as autoridades americanas acrescentaram à lista

Ao longo da pandemia e com rápida propagação do vírus, que já atingiu mais de 3 milhões de pessoas, tem surgido diversos outros sinais associados à enfermidade, como tremores e calafrios persistentes.




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Autoridades americanas comemoram 'efeito certeiro' de remédio contra coronavírus

No mesmo dia, entretanto, uma publicação no periódico Lancet colocou dúvida sobre eficácia do remdesivir.




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O que se sabe sobre a 'invasão frustrada' que terminou com a prisão de dois americanos na Venezuela

A tentativa resultou em pelo menos oito mortes e a prisão até agora de 13 pessoas, incluindo dois cidadãos americanos.




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'Bolsonaro é líder mais isolado do populismo de direita hoje', diz pesquisador do extremismo político

Para Cas Mudde, que há três décadas estuda movimentos de ultradireita, presidente brasileiro pode sair politicamente enfraquecido da pandemia de covid-19.




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Os 6 casos envolvendo aliados ou família de Bolsonaro que ficam em evidência com mudança de comando da PF

Ex-juiz da Lava Jato, Moro anunciou sua demissão do governo e acusou o presidente Bolsonaro de tentar interferir em investigações.




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Coronavírus: 'O presidente revelou meu diagnóstico de covid-19 ao vivo na TV'

Sita Tyasutami foi identificada como a 'paciente zero' da doença na Indonésia.




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Coronavírus: o mapa interativo que mostra as medidas e tipos de isolamento adotados na América Latina

Mapa interativo mostra medidas que países vizinhos vêm tomando desde primeiros casos registrados de covid-19 para restringir movimento dos cidadãos.




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Como convencer as pessoas a lavar as mãos? Causar nojo nelas parece ser o jeito mais eficaz

Há milhões de pessoas que não lavam as mãos infiltradas entre nós, mesmo com acesso a água encanada e sabão. Mas por que elas não incorporam esse simples hábito de higiene, e como podemos mudar suas cabeças?




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Dia do trabalhador sem estatística de emprego: governo não divulga número de contratações e demissões desde janeiro

Governo pretende divulgar os dados atrasados em maio, segundo afirmou à BBC News Brasil secretário do Trabalho do Ministério da Economia, Bruno Dalcolmo.




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Coronavírus: inércia política aumenta número de mortes, indica estudo

Intervenções drásticas (como a imposição de isolamento rigoroso) até 25 dias depois da primeira morte confirmada é capaz de impedir até 80% de novas mortes por coronavírus em um país, aponta pesquisa.




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Coronavírus: entregadores de aplicativo trabalham mais e ganham menos na pandemia, diz pesquisa

Estudo feito com trabalhadores de quatro Estados brasileiros apontou que 89,7% dos entrevistados tiveram ganhos iguais ou menores em relação ao período antes da pandemia.




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Coronavírus pode ser só 'ensaio' de uma próxima grande pandemia, diz médico e matemático da USP

Eduardo Massad diz que próxima pandemia depois de coronavírus deve ser avassaladora e defende que o mundo aprenda mais sobre medidas de distanciamento social.




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'Parece uma cidade após a guerra': brasileiros em Wuhan descrevem recomeço em primeiro epicentro do coronavírus

Cidade em que pandemia começou, concentrou o maior número de mortes na China e foi a primeira a impor rigoroso lockdown; habitantes, antes acostumados a apertos e aglomerações, agora vivem outra realidade.




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Secret to landing top-30 target Zeke Nnaji could lie in Indiana's music department

Zeke Nnaji, a four-star, top-30 power forward from just outside Minneapolis, is arguably as good a pianist as he is a basketball player.

       




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Hunter Dickinson likes that 'big-man factory' Purdue is prioritizing him

Purdue, along with Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Louisville and Kentucky are recruiting Dickinson. Duke is also in the mix but has yet to offer Dickinson.

       




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Michigan RB David Holloman commits to IU football

Holloman, a three-star prospect from Auburn Hills, also had offers from West Virginia, Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa State, and Central Michigan, among others.

       




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Doyel #senior class: Miranda Stickel ran on legs she knew might break

Chatard's Miranda Stickel was so determined to return to state, she ran on legs she knew might break. Then the coronavirus pandemic ended her career.

       




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Larry Rush, a Lawrence North superfan, dies of complications from COVID-19

Lawrence North superfan Larry Rush died March 28 from health complications related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

       




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We're moving on in our Build-A-Team bracket, and you get to pick the roster additions

The 64-team 'Build-A-Team' first-round results are in as bracket moves into second round this week with roster additions

       




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Too early to ask? No. There's 'significant concern' Indiana high school football at risk.

It might sound alarmist to even wonder about having fall sports. But we are probably well past the point of anything sounding alarmist.

       




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Discover: Vicksburg

When you visit Vicksburg (Mississippi) National Military Park, you can see one of the first ironclad gunboats, dating back to US Civil War times.




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Cathartic recession?

Is there such a thing as a "cathartic recession"? A recession that purges the demons of excess from the economy and punishes the badly-behaved for their sins? I'm not sure there is. But I unwittingly found myself in an argument...



  • Notes on Real Life

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Indiana 5th Congressional District: Republican candidates on debt, gun control and more

IndyStar reached out to every candidate to ask questions about topics Hoosiers care about. Here's what the Republicans on the ballot said.

      




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How COVID-19 could impact the May primary in the 5th District and across Indiana

So far, Indiana leaders haven't made a decision to postpone the May primary over coronavirus despite decisions to do so in Ohio and Kentucky.