January 4th, 1 AB

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson has withdrawn from consideration for the position of Secretary Of Commerce in president-elect Barack Obama's cabinet due to an investigation into how donors to Richardson earned a state contract; a California company that contributed money to Richardson was recently awarded a transportation contract from the state in excess of $1 million. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, under investigation for allegedly trying to sell the vacated Senate seat of the president-elect, announced his displeasure, stating that if these investigations are allowed to continue, "the cabinet will be left bare."

Former president George H.W. Bush has said he would like to see his son, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, one day become president. Current president George W. Bush, son of former president Bush and brother to Jeb, refused to comment on his father's statements, saying only, "That makes one of us."

Industry analysts have announced that box office receipts for the 2008 year are down four percent from 2007. While lower than the previous year, the downturn seen in the film industry is far less than those seen in other facets of the economy. Warner Brothers, behind the $500 million domestic gross of The Dark Knight, led the way with a revenue of $1.77 billion, the most ever for any studio. In an effort to become more competitive, rival studio Sony Pictures announced it had signed Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan to helm the next installment in the Spider-Man series, which will star Christian Bale as Spider-Man and the corpse of Heath Ledger as an as-yet-unnamed villain.