NATION
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he's engaged to the Argentine woman he secretly left the state to visit under the cover story he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Sanford on Sunday confirmed a statement provided to CNN that announced his engagement to Maria Belen Chapur.
Sanford was a rising Republican political star before he vanished for five days in 2009.
The father of four admitted he was in Argentina with Chapur, who he later called his soul mate.
The affair destroyed his marriage, which ended in divorce.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas may be forced to reconsider a state law that allows prosecutors to charge prostitutes with a felony and send them to prison after three misdemeanor convictions.The Austin American-Statesman reports that more than 350 prostitutes currently occupy bunks in state prisons, and now some officials wonder whether that makes sense.State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, says “it's nuts” that Texas has so many prostitutes in prison.The newspaper says it costs between $15,500 and $18,538 a year to house a convict in a state prison or lower-security jail. By contrast, community-based rehabilitation programs cost about $4,300 a year.
NEW YORK — Organizers of the county fair on New York's Staten Island are making a dogged effort to prevent the spread of swine flu.The Staten Island Advance says this year's Richmond County Fair is forgoing pig races in response to a new swine flu strain. Instead, the Labor Day weekend fair will feature dogs running down an elevated plank and diving into the water.
