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There's plenty of action to be found on statewide ballots this election season. Colorado voters must decide whether to raise income taxes to provide more funding for public schools, and how much to tax marijuana sales. In Washington state, a fight over labeling genetically modified foods is drenched in cash.

A tightly-fought Australian general election campaign reaches its climax on Saturday — and the major issues will be familiar to an American audience. With little to choose between the economic policies of the two major parties, immigration and same-sex marriage are top of the news agenda.

Melissa Block speaks with Jocelyn Guyer from the health policy consulting firm Manatt Health Solutions about the good and bad of the state health exchanges so far.

Flooding in Colorado has taken a toll on the state's small businesses. In the small town of Lyons, the road to recovery looks especially long. Businesses there not only need to repair damage, but also stay afloat for as long as six months without much of their customer base. That's because damaged water and sewage lines have made many parts of town unlivable.

Over the past week, prosecutors gave closing arguments in the case against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, two top members of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime. Host Arun Rath speaks with journalist Elizabeth Becker about the U.N. tribunal trying the Khmer Rouge members for war crimes. Becker covered the conflict in Cambodia in the 1970s and was one of the few journalists to enter the country while the Khmer Rouge was in power. She is the author of When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution.

Running a hospital that scores well on keeping more patients alive or providing extensive charity care doesn't translate into a compensation bump for top executives. Nonprofit hospitals have been under scrutiny for paying high salaries to chief executives while skimping on benefits for their communities.

With the debt ceiling deadline looming just two days away, Senate leaders say they're close to a deal that would reopen the government and avert default. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have been leading bipartisan talks on a way out of the deadlock. Even if a bipartisan agreement clears the Senate, it will likely be a hard sell to House Republicans.

Steve Inskeep talks to David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal, for a preview of what Friday's jobs report is likely to say about the U.S. economy. The stock market is setting records and though profits are up, wages are stagnant.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is taking his first overseas trip since taking the top job at the Pentagon. He'll be visiting troops and key officials in Afghanistan. Host Rachel Martin speaks with NPR's David Welna, who is along on the trip.

Nearly 7 million people visit the Chateau at Versailles a year. But one day a week, it's closed. That's a spa day of sorts, when conservation work and cleaning takes place at the Grande Dame of France royal residences. The hardwood floors alone require nearly 1,000 gallons of wax a year.