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weeks.
• A funding cutoff for much of the government began Tuesday as a Republican effort to kill or delay the nation's health care law stalled action on a short-term, traditionally routine spending bill. Republicans pivoted to a strategy to try to reopen the government piecemeal but were unable to immediately advance the idea in the House.
• National parks like Yellowstone and Alcatraz Island were shuttered, government websites went dark and hundreds of thousands of nonessential workers reported for a half-day to fill out time cards, hand in their government cellphones and laptops, and change voicemail messages to gird for a deepening shutdown.
• The Defense Department said it wasn't clear that service academies would be able to participate in sports, putting Saturday's Army vs. Boston College and Air Force vs. Navy football games on hold, with a decision to be made Thursday.
• Even as many government agencies closed their doors, health insurance exchanges that are at the core of President Barack Obama's health care law were up and running, taking applications for coverage that would start Jan. 1.
• ___

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The usually bustling District of Columbia will be uniquely affected Wednesday by the first government shutdown in 17 years, with thousands of federal employees who make up the backbone of the metro area's workforce ordered not to report to work.
• Furloughed workers facing the prospect of an uncertain time without work -- and without paychecks -- were offered everything from free burgers, sandwiches and cups of coffee to admission to private museums, pilates lessons and activities at community centers.
• At Pork Barrel BBQ in Alexandria, Va., just outside the District of Columbia, the disdain for the stalemate in Congress that led to the shutdown was clear. The restaurant gave away 275 pulled pork sandwiches to workers with a government ID on Tuesday, though it took pains to note in its Twitter announcement that the offer "EXCLUDES CONGRESSMEN."
• Many workers were on edge, unsure of how long it may be before they could head back to work.
• "Even if it's just shut down for a week that's a quarter of your pay this month.

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