Is the floundering U.S. economy hurting local businesses? It depends who you ask. Business owners admit the economy has had some negative effects on them—their cost of living has increased along with everyone else's. But many say their sales haven't dropped. Others haven't been so fortunate.

The state's Bureau of Elections is without two key officials as Election Day closes in.

After a six-month stint as the administrator for the state's Bureau of Elections, Daniel Miera quit to take a position as town manager of Taos on July 1.

After a little more than a year as the director of the state's Bureau of Elections, Daniel Ivey-Soto resigned to pursue other career opportunities in March.

Neither position will be filled until August, about three months before Nov. 4, when New Mexicans will cast their ballots on one Senate and three House seats—and a charged presidential race in which New Mexico is a swing state. Add to that the notorious problems the state has with its elections.

Which Albuquerque business caught fire? Campaign contributions from a questionable source. Who's being named in a civil suit? And Los Alamos National Labs may be ...

Government-funded abstinence-only education may finally be on its way out. Twelve years after the national program started, only slightly more than half the states are still on board, according to a June 24 Associated Press article. The rest decided in recent years to wash their hands clean of the poorly performing initiative, with New Mexico jumping on the common-sense bandwagon at the end of 2007.

Syndicated cartoonist Ben Sargent drew a grandmotherly elephant sitting at a gas station. Granny GOP reads a fairy tale to a fuming motorist: “Is it true?’ asks Sally Consumer. “The very day we open the offshore and Arctic leases, we can supply all our own oil, and gasoline will be a dollar a gallon again?” “Oh yes!” says the Magic Petroleum Fairy.

Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are vying for the title of Change Agent in Chief because they recognize that Americans want the country to take a different direction from the course we’ve wobbled along on for eight pain-filled years. The public opinion polls clearly point out the despair the majority of voters feel over where we’re headed as a nation.

DATELINE: China—The most celebrated pig in China has added another chapter to his charmed life. The Chengdu Business Daily reports that Zhu Jianquiang (or “Pig Strong Will”), an animal that survived for more than five weeks on rainwater and charcoal while trapped in rubble caused by earthquakes in Sichuan in May, will be adopted by the Jianchuan Museum. The museum promises to care for the pig for the remainder of his natural life. In an official announcement, a Jianchuan Musuem curator stated that Zhu Jianquiang was “a symbol of Chinese endurance” and that an application would be filed with Guinness World Records officials. Said the pig’s owner, Wan Xingming: “When my wife fed him, two lines of tears dropped from his eyes.” Biographical movie proposals are reportedly in the works.

Monday, July 7, I saw a tourism ad on TV for Chihuahua, Mexico. Immediately following the ad was another ad featuring Mayor Marty talking about a car being stolen every few seconds in Albuquerque. I wondered if the underlying message was to go to Chihuahua to look for your stolen vehicle.