Sacramento, CA, USA. One of the nation's most successful state health care programs stands to lose the bulk of its funding. The move may cost California more money than it saves.

When Melba Fritts was discharged from the hospital after bronchitis three years ago, doctors wanted her to go directly to a nursing home. Confined to a wheel chair and plagued by swelling limbs and skin sores, the 88-year-old Fritts suffers from congestive heart disease and diabetes. She needs full-time care.

Washington, DC, USA. Online startups such as Minnesota’s MinnPost, The Texas Tribune, the Connecticut Mirror and California Watch have established themselves as must-reads among aficionados of statehouse news. The question is whether they can raise enough money to keep going.

Only four years old, the nonprofit online news site MinnPost has yet to match its cross-town rival, the venerable Minneapolis Star Tribune, for size, budget or readership. But it sure can bring out big names for a party.