Travis Alexander's sister Tanisha Sorenson, left, and husband Harold Sorenson leave the court house after the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial in Phoenix on Thursday, March 5, 2015. Arias was spared the death penalty on Thursday after a jury for a second time could not decide on her punishment.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Much of the start of the world's most famous sled dog race is covered in barren gravel, forcing Iditarod organizers to move the start further north where there is snow and ice.

A weather pattern that buried the eastern U.S. in snow has left Alaska fairly warm and relatively snow-free this winter, especially south of the Alaska Range.

“If I have one more person say to me to move the Iditarod to Boston, I'm going to shake my head,” said race director Mark Nordman.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starts Saturday with a ceremonial run through Anchorage. But the official start two days later has been moved 225 miles north, over the Alaska Range, to Fairbanks to avoid the area that left many mushers bruised and bloodied last year. Iditarod officials said the conditions are worse this year.

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers extended a healthy streak of hiring in February by adding 295,000 jobs, the 12th straight monthly gain above 200,000.The Labor Department says the unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent. But the decline in the rate occurred largely because some people out of work stopped looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed.The strong job gains weren't enough to boost wages by much. The average hourly wage rose just 3 cents to $24.78 an hour in February.Over the past year, 3.3 million more Americans have gotten jobs. More jobs and lower gas prices have led many consumers to step up spending. That's boosting the economy, offsetting sluggish economies overseas and giving employers confidence to hire.

PHOENIX — Officials say taxpayers shelled out around $3 million to prosecute and defend convicted murderer Jodi Arias at a series of trials that have finally concluded with jurors deadlocked on whether she should be executed or sent to prison for life for killing her lover.Thursday's impasse at the sentencing retrial ensures that Arias will get a life sentence, possibly with the chance at parole.Some criticized prosecutors' decision to hold a second sentencing trial after a 2013 jury deadlocked on Arias' punishment, arguing the drawn-out trial achieved little beyond rehashing the crime's gruesome and sometimes tawdry details.The mistrial marked a disappointment for prosecutors leading the nearly seven-year legal battle. But Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said he had no qualms about pursuing the death penalty again.