Hello, everybody. As the 2008 Iditarod reaches the homestretch, things are really scorching as far as Lance Mackey and Jeff King are concerned. More on that later, but first up...

ANOTHER POLITICAL SCANDAL!!!!! And this time, it involves the man who's holding New York's top job...at least for now. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was linked to a Brooklyn-based prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP, which arranged sex between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in some U.S. and European cities, with clients paying $1,000-$5,500 an hour. Four people involved with running the ring were arrested and charged last week, putting Spitzer's political future in question.

A federal wiretap caught Spitzer identifying himself as "Client 9", aka "George Fox"; according to online reports, he may have wanted unprotected sex with a prostitute named "Kristen." The transcript also said that "Client 9" wanted to know the stats of "Kristen" and that she should go to a Washington hotel room to make an offer for sex. The offer: $4,300 in cash.

When he found out about the scandal thanks to an article posted on the "New York Times" website, the 48-year-old married father of three and one-time "Sheriff of Wall Street" as New York's Attorney General faced the cameras and apologized to his family and his state.

Resignation is imminent, and we have learned that Lieutenant Governor David Paterson is expected to take the reins as also the state's first black governor.

This latest political scandal reminds me of one we had here in Alaska involving State Senator George Jacko of Pedro Bay. And if I can rack my brain about all this, since this was in 1993...his involved sexual harassment with a legislative aide, and Jacko was stripped of his committee chairmanships. The damage would be done the following year when he was voted out. And by the day...isn't it ironic that his last name is "Jacko", though we would be nicknaming Michael Jackson that much later when his sex scandal broke?

Back to the latest mess and Spitzer: If I was him, I would resign immediately.

Now...the very latest on the Iditarod, and for Lance Mackey and Jeff King, we could be seeing a re-creation of 1978 just like we saw Lindsay Lohan re-creating Marilyn Monroe weeks ago. The two exited Koyuk at 5:41 and 5:57 pm Alaska Time respectively on Monday, and the remaining 150 miles to go as they head to the coast proves to be nail-biting with every checkpoint. By the way -- after only a few days in the ranking, Rick Swenson fell out of the top ten.

But in the words of horse racing announcer Dave Johnson, DOWN the stretch they really come as Mackey and King may be nearing a photo finish. And if my instincts tell me, we may see one of both teams approach the Burled Arch in Nome around Tuesday night or even early Wednesday morning. If it's the latter, the East Coast may be waking up to either Mackey repeating as Iditarod champion or King joining the Five-Timers Club. We'll find out then, so so long and stay strong.