Most had lost their jobs back in the contiguous states, and pawned all they had to try their luck mining.

FORBES: Discovery Channel's Post-Oscar Gold Rush

If states agree not to release precinct data until all the polls are closed in the contiguous 48 states, it doesn't matter what the networks decide.

CNN: Major Garrett on election reform recommendations

Every state in the contiguous United States saw above-average temperatures in 2012, with 19 of them setting annual records of their own, NOAA said.

CNN: NOAA: 2012 broke U.S. heat records

The report also contained some controversial recommendations: It asks all broadcast and cable networks to refrain from projecting the outcome of presidential voting in any state while polls remain open anywhere in the contiguous 48 states.

CNN: Bush endorses principles of election law report

The agency's report, issued in March, found that a relative dearth of snow throughout the contiguous United States contributed to snow cover levels in North America being the fourth lowest since such records were first kept.

CNN: Anchorage breaks seasonal snowfall record

Near the Carbon River entrance to the park, Sunrise offers some of the most sweeping views of Mount Rainier's peak and of Emmon's Glacier, which, at 4.3 square miles, has the largest surface area of any glacier in the contiguous United States.

BBC: Seattle side trips in every direction

Just two days before McCain announced Palin as his running mate, she signed the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, awarding a license to Calgary-based TransCanada to begin work on a natural gas pipeline from the northern part of the state to the contiguous United States.

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The research looked specifically at production farms using open, outdoor fresh water ponds applying current technology, and considered such factors as suitable land use, topographical features, weather patterns and sky conditions available in the contiguous U.S. states.

FORBES: By Benghazi Illogic, Try This Absurd Headline: "CIA Finds Hurricane Sandy Caused By Obscure Anti-Gore Video"