Here is a look at some of the stories that CNN plans to follow this week:

Republican National Convention in Tampa

Setting the stage for the race to November, The Tampa Bay Times Forum hosts the Republican National Convention. The Republican National Committee canceled the program's first day because of Tropical Storm (soon to be Hurricane) Isaac. The convention will convene on Monday and then immediately recess until Tuesday afternoon, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said.

The convention has been scheduled to culminate Thursday with Mitt Romney accepting the GOP nomination for presidential candidacy. However, a GOP source confirmed to CNN late Sunday afternoon that Republican Party officials are considering extending their convention by a day.

Once considered Romney's fiercest competitor for the Republican presidential nomination, Rick Santorum will speak at the RNC. Also expected to speak are former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and  Ann Romney, the candidate's wife.

You can check out the full list of speakers here. The wild card, however, is Tropical Storm Isaac, which could further disrupt the schedule.

On the entertainment side of things, 3 Doors Down, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Oak Ridge Boys, Randy Owens, Neal Boyd, the Tampa Gospel Choir and legally blind 17-year-old keyboardist and guitarist Conrad Oberg will rock the convention. The gentlemen's clubs of Tampa are also hoping Republicans will "make it rain" during the convention.

CNN.com will bring you continuous coverage all week long, and you can follow along with our "Convention Floor Pass" app as well.

Burning Man heats up the Nevada desert

Also kicking off on Monday is Burning Man in Black Rock City - specifically, the inhospitable Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It runs through September 3.

The annual art event and temporary community,  "based on radical self-expression and self-reliance in the desert," has grown from a small gathering that started in 1986 to more than 48,000 people, according to the event's website.

For what is considered to be a mind-altering experience of survival amid 107-degree temperatures, people bring enough food, water and shelter with them to make it in the extreme environment for a week. They create incredible works of art and make connections for life. And when all is said and done, "no trace" that they were ever there is expected. The desert is to be left in pristine condition. People dismantle or take what they make with them.

In the end, it's all about participation. From painting your body with Day-Glo paint to creating massive structures and statues, it's all about keeping the creative fire alive. The CNN Photos blog offers a gallery of past Burning Man experiences - and truly, it's the best way to begin to understand this event.

Hearing on Colorado theater shooting suspect's notes

A Colorado judge will hear arguments Thursday on how prosecutors and defense attorneys should handle a collection of notes James Holmes sent to his psychiatrist before a man shot up a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

The shooting rampage, which occurred during a midnight screening of the film "The Dark Knight Rises," left 12 people dead and 58 wounded. Holmes was arrested in a car parked behind the theater moments after the shooting stopped.

A court document revealed that Holmes was a patient of University of Colorado psychiatrist Lynne Fenton, who before the shooting had expressed concerns about his behavior, CNN affiliate KMGH reported. Sources close to the investigation told KMGH that in June, Fenton contacted several members of a "behavioral evaluation and threat assessment" team to say Holmes could be a danger to others, the station reported.

Holmes is believed to have mailed a packet of papers to Fenton sometime before the shooting spree. The content of the material in the packet is not known, but Thursday's hearing will revolve around whether it can be entered into evidence or is protected by physician-client privilege.

Developing nations summit in Iran

Diplomats from more than 100 countries are gathering in Tehran for a six-day meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Leading off the summit on Sunday, Iran called for the United Nations to restructure its Security Council to make it more democratic.

New Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy plans to visit the Bushehr nuclear facilities while in the country for the summit, Press TV reported.

Iran denied reports Sunday that Hamas, Gaza's ruling party, had been invited to the summit.

Penn State's first game

Although the 2011 Penn State University football season ended in November, the scandal surrounding it was only heating up. On Saturday, the embattled football program opens its 2012 season at home in Beaver Stadium against Ohio University.

This is Penn State's first game since former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 of 48 counts of child sex abuse. The graphic testimony and stories of abuse from eight victims was disturbing beyond belief but became even more unspeakable when it was revealed that former head football coach Joe Paterno knew, and didn't try to stop it.

Months of investigation, ordered by Penn State itself, found Paterno and a few other top officials not only showed a "callous and shocking disregard for child victims," but also helped "empower" Sandusky to attract and develop victims, according to former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who spearheaded the review.

The results of the Freeh Report caused the NCAA to slap Penn State with a $60 million fine, strip 14 seasons of football victories from Paterno and the school, ban Penn State from postseason play for four years and take away 20 football scholarships a year for four seasons.

The Penn State community is more than eager to move past the cloud of scandal surrounding its once-heralded football program. The athletics site sports a "one team" motto, underneath a banner announcing "the next chapter" of Penn State football under new coach Bill O'Brien.