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WASHINGTON — The coronavirus relief bill enacted Friday includes direct cash payments to help people through the crisis — but one red flag that can cost otherwise eligible Americans money is owing past due child support.

Owing back taxes or other debt to the government is not a problem, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Finance Committee and a key author of the bill.

The legislation "turns off nearly all administrative offsets that ordinarily may reduce tax refunds for individuals who have past tax debts, or who are behind on other payments to federal or state governments, including student loan payments," Grassley wrote in a medium.com post.

"The only administrative offset that will be enforced applies to those who have past due...

Joe Diffie, an icon to many country fans for his string of No. 1 hits in the 1990s, has died from complications related to the coronavirus, a spokesperson revealed Sunday afternoon. He was 61.

“Grammy-winning country music legend Joe Diffie passed away today, Sunday, March 29, from complications of coronavirus (COVID-19),” the statement read simply. “His family respects their privacy at this time.”

On Friday, Diffie become the first country star to go public with a coronavirus diagnosis. “I am under the care of medical professionals and currently receiving treatment,” a statement attributed to him read. “My family and I are asking for privacy at this time. We want to remind the public and all my fans to be vigilant, cautious and careful during this pandemic.”

Diffie, a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 25 years, is a household name to any country fan who came of age listening to the format in the 1990s. He had more than 20 top 10 country hits, five of which went to No. 1 (“Home,”...

Part of the U.S. Army's Northern Command in charge of homeland security is isolating at the Cheyenne Mountain bunker in Colorado as the coronavirus spreads across the country.

The bunker is a command and control site which was built inside the mountain of the same name, located near Colorado Springs.

'To ensure that we can defend the homeland despite this pandemic, our command and control watch teams here in the headquarters split into multiple shifts and portions of our watch team began working from Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, creating a third team at an alternate location as well,' Air Force General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, head of U.S. Northern Command and NORAD, said during a...