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Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will face Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a special election for South Carolina's first district congressional seat May 7. NPR's Ken Rudin, NPR's Kathy Lohr and Robert Oldendick, University of South Carolina, discuss the candidates, the debate and the district.

When Scott Brown decided not to seek the Republican nomination in the state's special election to replace Sen. John Kerry, it left political observers predicting a very easy Democratic win in the blue state. Republican and Democratic experts discuss what's going on in Massachusetts.

For more than a decade, a nonprofit in Tanzania has been using the rat's keen sense of smell to detect buried land mines around the world. Now the group is training the critters to help diagnose tuberculosis at rural clinics.

Also: a lost love poem by Vita Sackville-West; the history of the octopus in Western culture; and why The Great Gatsby endures.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is trying to end federal oversight of his state's prison system, with little success. Legal experts have compared his position to those of Southern governors who defied court orders to integrate public facilities in the 1950s.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the legislation requiring weapons collected in buyback programs to be re-sold. She also signed a separate bill that bars local governments from keeping lists of people who possess firearms.

Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, a Republican, and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, faced off Monday night in the only debate before a special congressional election in South Carolina. Sanford is trying to make a comeback after he lied about an affair with an Argentine woman while he was in office. His ex-wife has also accused Sanford of trespassing at her home.

The country is preparing to host the 2014 World Cup by refurbishing its stadiums for soccer's biggest event. But some of the venues are behind schedule, and the preparations are costing taxpayers more than they expected. Some now wonder if all of the fanfare is worth the effort.

The Boston Police Department and cooperating law enforcement entities were praised for working together to track down suspects in the marathon bombings. Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi asks whether police could have done more in the months, weeks, and even hours before the explosions.

After at least three years of red ink, most states have budget surpluses. It's a sign of a recovering economy and leaves states with a new dilemma: how best to spend the money.