Daily Herald business

It's not all doom and gloom in the U.S. economy. Some products are bucking the recession and flying off store shelves. Sales of chocolate and running shoes are up. Wine drinkers haven't stopped sipping; they just seem to be choosing cheaper vintages.

Talk at the community center in this small Navajo town isn't as focused on the economy as it is in many places off the reservation. That's because the people living on the largest American Indian reservation have been largely unscathed by the recession.

Looking for signs of economic recovery? Try counting the number of trucks on the road.Trucks carry almost all the manufactured and retail goods in the country -- from refrigerators to lumber, detergents to toys.

A decision by troubled automaker General Motors to drop 20 percent of its dealers in the U.S. is due in part to an oversized network that created stiff internal competition and gave shoppers too much leverage to talk down prices, hurting chances for future sales.

The investigation into the commuter plane crash in upstate New York that killed 50 people in February has exposed the long hours and low pay of some U.S. regional airline pilots. Lawmakers now are wondering if such working conditions are more widespread and pose safety risks.

ComEd promoted Cheryl Hyman to vice president, operations strategy and business intelligence, a new department that will cover the area of operational strategic initiatives, business intelligence and operational analysis and serve as the strategic arm of the company. Hyman was previously director of government and legislative affairs.