Morning Edition

In central Italy, a man grew up hearing about Boston. His mom had lived there. So when he died last summer, he left the city an estate valued at $700,00. One catch: a couple of dogs and a batch of cats to care for.

Plugging a one billion dollar budget shortfall may seem easy to state lawmakers compared to redrawing the state’s congressional boundaries.

Education cuts continue to be a focal point as lawmakers gear up to debate next year's budget. On Monday education advocates delivered more than 5,000 signatures from parents and teachers to lawmakers. They want lawmakers to look beyond the numbers to the deeper impacts the cuts will have on kids.

The attacks on Sept. 11 prompted analysts to ponder this question: How bad does a disaster have to be for it to bring down a country's whole economy?

Marcus Noland, deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, says it all depends on whether the effects of a disaster spread beyond the local area and make their way through a country's power, transportation or communication networks.

Japan's domestic auto industry has ground to a halt following last week's massive earthquake and tsunami. All the major auto makers there have scaled back production, and rolling blackouts could keep factories shutdowns. Shortages of parts produced in Japan could have an impact throughout the global auto industry.