KUNC-FM: Kirk Siegler

It's been a week since Adam Lanza went on a horrific shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 children and six adults. Authorities have been combing through evidence trying to piece together an explanation of why Lanza did what most consider the unthinkable.

A couple of high-profile incidents over the last week have increased attention on smuggling operations off the coast of California. Mexican cartels bring drugs and illegal immigrants up the coast of California in small fishing boats. Stiff border defenses are pushing the boats farther north.

Cargo started moving again on Wednesday at the nation's largest ports. An eight-day strike by clerical workers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is over. Melissa Block talks with Kirk Siegler from the port, where clerks, longshoremen and truckers are all glad to be back on the job.

How do you reach an audience of more than 200,000 people a day in an important swing state without buying an expensive TV ad? If you're Mitt Romney supporter Sid Overton, you build a blimp and fly it alongside one of Colorado's busiest freeways.

Certain sectors of the state's economy are more robust than they were four years ago, but that doesn't mean everyone's happy with the recovery. The state is sharply divided about the role of government in the economy, an issue that will be at the forefront of the upcoming presidential debate there.

A total of 21 groups have spent almost $20 million on 18,956 ads in the Denver market airing between July 30 and Nov. 6, an analysis shows. It found that President Obama and his allies are outspending Republican Mitt Romney and conservative groups allied with him, at least for now.

The deadly movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., is starting to play out in two tight congressional races in that battleground state. The shootings left twelve dead and injured 58 more. In the weeks since, the two Democratic candidates running in districts in and around Aurora have called for stricter gun laws. But conservatives have accused them of trying to politicize the tragedy.

As conservative advocacy groups ike Americans for Prosperity shuffle their ad dollars, they are focusing on key swing states like Colorado. Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips says states like Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico "haven't seen the results from the president's policies."

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is considered a rising stary in the Democratic Party. He will address the Democratic National Convention in prime time Wednesday night. So far, the former Denver mayor and brew pub owner has rebuffed speculation that he has national political aspirations.

In one House race, a conservative group is accusing a Democrat of politicizing the shootings after he called for stricter gun control laws. And in a newly redrawn district that includes Aurora, the tragedy could permeate the general election campaign.