Dispensaries in Colorado and other states with legal marijuana have struggled with the cash only business as federal banks have found loopholes to deal with the federally illegal industry. Setting a landmark precedent, the SAFE Banking Act, implemented by Colorado Representative Ed Perlmutter, has become the first marijuana bill to reach the congressional floor and the first to pass. “The SAFE Banking Act will help thousands of employees, businesses and communities in Colorado and across this country who have been put at risk because they have been forced to deal in piles of cash,”... Read More

Before you get too worked up–they didn’t find microplastics in your tea if you were using paper tea bags. Generally, pyramid shaped tea bags are made of plastic, while paper bags are flat. The plastic tea bags did surprise researchers at McGill University, however, as they expected at least some microplastics to show up in their testing, hence the reason for the study. They did not expect that there would be billions of microplastics in a single tea bag. “We were expecting to find a few plastic particles, maybe hundreds or thousands,” a researcher said. “But we were extremely... Read More

A new federal law proposition entitled “Next Generation Votes” hopes to follow in Colorado’s footsteps to increase voter turnout of young people, a notoriously underrepresented group in elections. The law would allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote while getting their license. A law for this had been passed in 2013 in Colorado. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office says nearly 156,000 16-and-17-year-olds in Colorado have pre-registered to vote since the law took effect. This in turn has made it so 60% of young people in Colorado voted in last year’s election compared to... Read More

With the weather finally cooling down a bit, ski resorts are looking to start the new season. “We could go any night,” said Alan Henceroth, chief operating officer at Arapahoe Basin. “We could go on an hour’s notice. We’re thinking towards the end of the week, we’ll have a good chance to make some snow.” Arapahoe Basin will be competing with Loveland and Keystone to be the first Colorado ski area to open for the season. Arapahoe Basin: Mid-October Loveland: Mid-October Keystone: October TBD Wolf Creek: Nov. 1 Breckenridge: Nov. 8 Copper Mountain: Nov. 8 Winter Park: Nov. 14 Vail:... Read More

Two people were injured after an elk charged a woman in Estes Park earlier this week. Jason Clay, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said, “She miraculously came out unharmed. She had some scrapes. She was not transported and did not require medical attention.” An employee got in between the woman and the elk with his vehicle, causing the elk to attack the vehicle and giving the woman time to escape. A man was also injured after jumping out of the way of the elk, though he did not make contact with the animal. He slipped on a rock while jumping away and has been hospitalized. The... Read More

Rambo is worth taking seriously. Okay, stop. Please, please stop laughing. I’m serious! Well…kind of. I know that in the world of pop culture, Rambo occupies a very distinctive place. A place that’s viewed as anti-intellectual, overly aggressive, and more than a tad racist. Sylvester Stallone’s musclebound murderer has been featured in movies, books, video games, and even a Saturday morning cartoon. Maybe it’s not quite fair to put the ownership of Rambo entirely upon Stallone. The character was first introduced in David Morrell’s 1972 novel First Blood. It’s a lean and mean thriller... Read More

A planned Pokémon theme pop-up bar was supposed to occur in Denver on Sunday, but has been shut down due to licensing issues with Nintendo. The bar was supposed to offer burgers that were decorated to look like Pokémon and drinks inspired by the franchise. Tickets were $45. The event has been rescheduled for November 3rd, however it will change to a generically named “The Monster Brunch” with “a themed burger and trivia brunch.” This has presumably been done to avoid any further conflict with Nintendo, who owns the Pokémon brand. People who have already purchased tickets... Read More

As lung injuries from vaping have exploded across the country in the last month, the CDC has been scrambling to figure out what exactly is causing the injuries when vaping has long been touted as a safer alternative to smoking. It turns out, many of the injuries may be related to solvents used in black market THC cartridges. The findings have linked back to vitamin E acetate and myclobutanil, both found in the bootleg cartridges that the CDC tested, but notably not found in the legal and regulated cartridges from dispensaries. Vitamin E acetate is used to cut cannabis for use in vape pens. Myclobutanil,... Read More

A wave of vaping related illnesses has swept across the country, showing more than 500 cases and 11 deaths. In Colorado alone, there have been 8 cases of this illness, and 6 have been hospitalized. There have been several proposals for what to do about the situation, including calls to raise the nicotine age to 18 or sweeping bans on all electronic cigarettes or flavored electronic cigarettes. 10 local governments in Colorado have already raised the age to 21. Colorado topped the nation for teen vaping in a survey of more than three dozen states last year. Of the cases of vaping related illnesses... Read More

Monday morning was just the start of a week-long climate change protest that is being led by Extinction Rebellion Denver. 5 people were arrested in Monday’s protest, which saw activists blocking the intersection at Broadway and 9th. Extinction Rebellion Denver aims to bring awareness to climate change through non-violent civil disobedience. Protesters began their peaceful march at Speer Boulevard and Bannock, where they stayed for at least one light cycle. Arrests occurred once the protestors had reached Broadway and 9th. “We’re raising awareness to people and to the government about... Read More