Who started a petition against Gov. Bill Richardson? What kind of punishment could be abolished in New Mexico? Where, oh where to put an arena in Albuquerque? What's the hot item for thieves this season?

About 5 percent of the trash the city picks up gets recycled.

Mayor Martin Chavez and the City Council would like to see that number go up, but deciding the best way to make that happen is tricky.

Albuquerque doesn't actually recycle anything itself. Instead, recyclable materials left on the curb are sent to the city's processing facility, where items are sorted, crunched into WALL-E-style bails and shipped out of town to recycling plants.

Dr. Carlton Huitt tries to move out of the way when the Akita lunges into consciousness. He steps back as one of the dog’s legs makes contact with the bowl full of fluid he just pulled from the dog’s lungs with a large syringe. The container goes airborne, showering the doctor and veterinary technicians as they move quickly to hold the dog in place and keep her from falling off the X-ray stand.

The Alibi's classified ads have yet again made local TV news—and even msnbc.com. An ad was calling all finks—criminals who need cash enough to rat out other criminals.

Oh, fair New Mexico! Our glorious skies! Our 70-mile views, our wilderness and our long, lonesome roads!

Dateline: Japan—Puzzled zookeepers at the Kushiro Municipal Zoo in Hokkaido have finally figured out why a pair of polar bears intended for breeding have failed to get it on: turns out neither is a lesbian. Since June, Tsuyoshi, a four-year-old “male” polar bear, has been paired with an 11-year-old female partner named Kurumi. Neither showed much romantic interest in the other, leading zookeepers to a belated conclusion. “Observing his behaviors, we got suspicious as to whether or not Tsuyoshi was really a male,” the zoo said in a statement. The zoo put Tsuyoshi under an anesthetic early last month for a gender checkup and determined that he was a she. “I have mixed feelings,” Yoshio Yamaguchi, head of the zoo, told reporters. Tsuyoshi is very popular at the northern Japanese zoological park, and Kyodo News agency reported that zoo officials would not change his name to a female name. Tsuyoshi is a common Japanese name for boys. Experts say when polar bears are young, it is difficult to determine their gender as their long hair covers reproductive organs.

[Re: Letters, “The Don on the Art of Nudity,” Nov. 20-26] I am very disappointed that the Alibi continues to print the same demented letters from the Don. There is no doubt he is insane. But, I must ask, why would the Alibi print letters from such a weird source? The only answer I can come up with is the Alibi has such an extremely small readership that they must resort to the absurd. Add to that the shock value and you have a rag magazine that is nothing more than toilet paper for birds and rabbits. I have to say that the Alibi is extremely antagonistic toward normal thinking. Why be normal, you ask? Why be fucking nuts, I ask? Answer this question: I can think of the most absurd ideas that will make most people cringe. Is it really noteworthy? Who gives a shit?

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as hundreds of Christmas trees filling up Albuquerque Convention Center’s Ballrooms A, B and C from Friday, Dec. 6 through Sunday, Dec. 8 from 10am to 6pm. This 12th annual Festival of Trees raises funds for the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation through the $1 donations requested at the door. It is chock-full of Christmas decorations, wreaths, Santa, hot cocoa and, of course, trees. For more information on this all-ages event, see festivaloftreesnm.com.