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Voters will decide 174 ballot propositions across 37 states this election, and some of those decisions could change the day-to-day lives of average Americans more than who wins the presidency.

The beachfront, blue-collar town in Queens, N.Y., was hit hard not only by Superstorm Sandy's raging winds and floodwaters, but also by a massive fire that tore through the area. More than a hundred homes were destroyed as firefighters battled for nearly 10 hours. A local fire commander says he's hopeful Breezy Point will recover but knows it will take time.

In 2009, Don Williamson was mayor of Flint, Mich., and resigned while facing a recall movement. But now he's been immortalized. The Flint Journal reports he has a statue of himself on his lawn. It resembles a statue you'd see in a courthouse square. The ex-mayor says it's left over from a business he ran.

A week after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Northeast, temperatures are dropping and forecasters warn of another storm on the way. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands remain without power, gas shortages continue and tens of thousands still don't know when they'll be able to return to their homes.

A possible merger of local governments in Indiana faces trouble on Tuesday's ballot. Despite promises that a combined government would bring costs down, residents worry that their taxes could go up even as the quality of services declines.

The death toll in the U.S. has topped 100 and the number of customers without power still exceeds 1.3 million. Looking for how you might be able to help? WNYC and The Star-Ledger have compiled lists of groups that are assisting the storm's victims.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo began looking out for his mother early in life. In his new memoir, Elsewhere, Russo writes not only of his mother, but of the vanished world that shaped her. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls the book "gorgeously nuanced."

New York University's Langone Medical Center wasn't the only New York hospital to have to evacuate in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. All told, five New York City area hospitals were caught unprepared for the storm's fury and had to move patients to other facilities.

The cost of the 2012 election will top a record $6 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. If you find it difficult to visualize that figure, here are a few other ways to think about what $6 billion could buy.

The folks who went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Washington, D.C., this weekend found out that a little sugar, a chance to meet wax figures of presidents, and voting in life-like voting booths may help kids begin to develop a passion to participate in elections.