Rick Santorum came surprisingly close to an upset in Wisconsin this week, losing to Mitt Romney by less than 5 percentage points. It was not as heartbreakingly close as his previous losses in Michigan and Ohio, but it was one more reminder of what might have been.

With a win in Wisconsin, Santorum would have confounded the ruling media narrative of the moment, which wants to turn from the primary season of spring to the autumnal matchup of Romney and President Obama.

Hearing about golf these past couple of years has turned into some sort of dual universe. On the one hand there is the real world, like: "Smith and Jones Tied for Lead in Cat Food Open."

But then, in more detail, the larger shadow story reads: "Tiger's Putter Falters, Trails By 12 Strokes."

Golf has become like fantasy football or Rotisserie Baseball. Only, imagine if everybody has the same guy — Tiger Woods — on his team. No other golfers seem to exist, except possibly The Ghost of Jack Nicklaus.

Audie Cornish talks to NPR's Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving about Tuesday's primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Audie Cornish talks to NPR's Ron Elving, Ari Shapiro and David Welna about the Republican primary in Wisconsin.

A controversial federal immigration program is now in effect across all of Washington State, as of today . The statewide rollout came earlier than some anticipated.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington Governor Chris Gregoire’s deadline for a bipartisan budget deal has come and gone. Lawmakers Tuesday failed to agree on a plan to rebalance the state budget and implement so called government reforms.

Now, House Democrats say they will pass their own budget in hopes of breaking the logjam.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Thousands of long-term unemployed workers in Washington and Oregon will no longer receive unemployment checks soon. The federal government won't pay for extended benefits anymore because the jobless rates have improved in both states.

Secretary of Health Mary Selecky announced today that as of last month, there have been 640 cases of whooping cough. That’s compared to 94 in the same period last year.

Selecky: “If this pace continues, we’re on track to have the highest number of whooping cough cases in our state in decades.”

RICHLAND, Wash. – A new report says the geothermal industry is steadily growing. projects are planned throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Although renewable energy development faces uncertainties with production tax credit extensions, the Geothermal Energy Association says its industry is expanding. A new report found about 150 projects in the works in the western United States.

Horizon Air will be establishing new inland northwest bases of operation starting in August. The airline plans to expand to three Northwest cities.

Horizon Air now bases its flight crews in Seattle and Portland. By the end of the summer, its nearly 900 pilots and flight attendants will also call Boise, Idaho, Medford, Oregon and Spokane, Washington home. Paul McElroy is a spokesman for the airline.