State and National News

Aid work is often seen as tough, but rewarding. In a recent blog post, Quinn Zimmerman offered a more nuanced take on his work in Haiti. He wrote about his frustrations with locals, fellow aid workers, and himself, for expecting something more than the reality on the ground could deliver.

Three days after Vice President Joe Biden voiced his own support, President Barack Obama described his "evolution" on the issue and became the first sitting president in U.S. history to declare himself in favor of same-sex marriage. Listeners react to the news.

In 2008, a horse named Eight Belles collapsed with two broken ankles just after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby. She was euthanized directly on the track. After her death, the thoroughbred industry organized safety and drug testing committees to make the sport safer.

But industry practices continue to put both horses and riders in harm's way. On average, 24 horses a week die at racetracks in the United States. Many horses that break down run with injuries masked by injected painkillers.

For arranger Gil Evans' centennial, we celebrate a concert from the 2011 Monterey Jazz Festival. Evans was born on May 13, 1912. In three collaborations in the late 1950s, two friends — Evans and Miles Davis — steered their projects into a new era for jazz.

Their first album was Miles Ahead. Named in its honor, this concert is "Still Ahead," with music from the pair's second and third records, Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain.

America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff is facing a lawsuit from the federal government.

Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff, became a controversial national figure for his tough stance on immigrants. The Justice Department had previously warned Arpaio that his department had engaged in a pattern of misconduct, violating the civil rights of the Latino community in his district.

In a hastily arranged radio interview, Mitt Romney apologized Thursday for pranks he played in high school that "might have gone too far."

The interview came a few hours after The Washington Post published a detailed story recounting incidents from Romney's years at Michigan's prestigious Cranbrook prep school in the 1960s.