Photos, videos below.

After the passage of a driving-under-the-influence-of-drugs bill, we wondered if Westword medical marijuana critic William Breathes would ever be able to drive legally again, since he'd registered nearly triple the proposed limit while sober during a 2011 test.

Tonight at 10 p.m., CBS4 dives into the drugged driving debate -- and its tests of various subjects showed wide variations, both when users were stoned and sober.

See a preview video, a clip of a previous TV report on the subject and more below.

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Ward.

Last week, we posted about Patrick Ward, the man charged with assorted vehicular crimes related to the death of cyclist Michel Van Duym in Lyons. Ward's past negative comments about cycling reignited the debate between cyclists and drivers. Here's one especially interesting take on the subject.

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Tulowitzki.

Denver blog posts really mean it.

Purple Row's Jay Tymkovich thinks the Rockies' series win over the San Francisco Giants makes a statement.

Colorado Pols thinks the lack of viable Republican candidates to challenge Governor John Hickenlooper or Senator Mark Udall means the GOP has no bench.

Denver Frank: Want some Native Tongues goodness?

Tweets and more below.

Last week, a Centaurus High student was busted after an explosive device was found near a high-traffic area of the school.

So it's understandable that the discovery of what was termed a suspicious bag would cause a freak-out among officials at Boulder's Fairview High School, not to mention the media.

Turns out, though, that the item wasn't a bomb. It was a science project.

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Big photos below.

Following last month's attack at the Boston Marathon, people planning to take part in the Colfax Marathon, as well as the upcoming BolderBOULDER, took to social media to make it clear they would still hit the pavement.

Plenty of them did so safely at the Colfax Marathon this weekend. Our Danielle Lirette captured the scene, which, fortunately, was all about enjoying Colorado. Check out a sampling of her images below and click to view the complete Colfax Marathon 2013 slide show.

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Big photos below.

There's an undeniable fascination about urban bears rescues, as witnessed by the way a photo of a bear in Boulder last year went viral; see the original pic, plus a meme and GIF below.

No telling if images of a bear being plucked from a tree in Colorado Springs yesterday will become equally ubiquitous. But the operation, which involved not one but two tranquilizer darts and a precarious effort utilizing a fire truck's ladder, was certainly striking. See photos, a video and more below.

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Big photos below.

Late last year, when we first posted about the search for Kara Nichols, she was nineteen.

Today, more than eight months after she set out from her Colorado Springs home for Denver, she turns twenty. Her loved ones are marking the date even as they're emphasizing that despite the passage of time, they're not giving up on locating an aspiring model said to have been involved in drugs and prostitution. Photos, details and our original coverage below.

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Big photos below.

To mark National Dog Bite Prevention Week, the U.S. Postal Service has assembled an unusual list: The top fourteen cities during fiscal 2012 when it comes to dog attacks on postal workers.

No, dogs biting mail deliverers isn't just a staple of old sitcoms. It actually happens a lot, and Denver made the roster. The entire list is below, complete with terrifying photos that should probably be rated PWG -- Postal Worker Guidance advised -- plus USPS tips about avoiding bites. Check it all out below.

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Big photos below.

Our Melanie Asmar has been writing about a new film incentives law that aims to attract movie- and TV-makers to Colorado -- and in March, she revealed that Dear Eleanor, a movie produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's company, would soon start lensing here.

Lo and behold, it's happening -- and while producer Caleb Applegate reportedly wanted to keep many of the locations quiet, the City of Niwot had other ideas. See photos and get details below.

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Photos, video below.

Who goes into Pleasures adult entertainment stores during the age of the Internet, when footage of naked people getting horizontal (and every other direction) is just a mouse-click away? Among other folks, thieves. The owner of the branch in Aurora says the business suffers about eight robberies per year.

In the past, such stick-ups have been injury-free, but not the one that took place yesterday. The broad-daylight incident ended with a bullet to the chest. Continue for photos, video and details.

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This week's Cannabis Time Capsule, which stems from Ouray and goes all the way back to 1910, shows what might be the modern origins of stoner lore that the word "assassin" stems from hashish.

According to legend, hash-stoned mercenaries carried out murders for their blood-thirsty ruler in exchange for more ganja.

So is it true? Partly -- but it's not what you'd describe as "accurate."

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Dobson.

Yesterday, we posted about claims by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson that the IRS had discriminated against one of his other operations for political reasons. This alleged mistreatment put Dobson back in the public eye, and his reappearance took one of our readers by surprise.

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Charles Woodson.

Denver blog posts are voice-activated.

Mile High Report's Bronco Mike digs into the team and roster implications that will face the Broncos if they add Charles Woodson, who visited Denver on Wednesday -- and is slated to stop in Oakland next week.

Denver Urbanism's Ryan Mulligan: "East Rail Line crews have begun laying the first sections of ballasted track!"

Denver PR Blog: #Triathalonfail.

More photos below.

On the Schmuck of the Week beat, figuring out who's the schmuck turns out to be more of a challenge than it might seem at first blush.

The arrest of Fountain police officer Daniel Barkus on a stalking charge is a case in point. Based on the information that's surfaced thus far, it's difficult to tell if he did something wrong or if he's simply the victim of a big misunderstanding, albeit a high-profile one, due to his association with the reality TV series Prospectors and its sexy star, Amanda Adkins.

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A new government report on the rate of sexual victimization in America's jails and prisons lists the Denver Women's Correctional Facility as having the highest rate of sexual assault and misconduct by staff of any lockup in the nation -- four times the national average, in fact. That figure is dismaying state corrections officials, already reeling from parole snafus and the murder of prison chief Tom Clements.

It may also be more than slightly misleading.

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Outside Union Station.

Things have gotten hot at Union Station, where two model-train clubs are scrambling to find new spaces for their train layouts, which have occupied space in the basement for decades. Although both groups had been told in the fall of 2011 that the layouts could remain through the remodeling job, and then reopen along with the transformed building in the summer of 2014 -- they were recently told they needed to move. Permanently. And Union Station got really hot this morning, when a truck in front caught fire, sending flames towards the building's historic ornamentation.

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Big photos below.

A Montbello High student who says a schoolmate, nineteen-year-old Paris Bonds, tried to sexually assault her was so traumatized by what took place that she sought therapy before she reported the alleged crime to police.

But with the therapist's encouragement, the young woman contacted the Denver PD weeks after the disturbing incident happened. As a result, Bonds has now been formally charged with three counts, including two felonies. Details below.

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More photos below.

The campaign to either save Nathan Dunlap from the death penalty or execute the man convicted of four brutal murders at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in 1993 has turned into something of a public-relations competition. As the Arapahoe District Attorney's Office continues to dole out statements from victims and associates who believe he deserves the ultimate punishment, Dunlap's advocates are working to humanize him even as they emphasize broad support for Governor John Hickenlooper to alter his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Marijuana addiction specialist Dr. Christian Thurstone conjured images like the one seen here when, earlier this week, he shared what he sees as evidence of weed users searching for bigger and bigger highs -- and added his fear that such people may soon turn to injecting THC, the active ingredient in pot.

Dr. Bob Melamede, among the country's most vocal advocates for the medicinal benefits of cannabis, pulls no punches when asked his opinion about such a prospect. "This is nonsense," he says. "It's idiotic."

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Maps, videos below.

On May 17, 2009, The Latest Word launched the Mile High Murderarchive. Today marks MHM's fourth anniversary, and as is clear from the following compilation of cases we've covered over the previous 365 days, it's been a very grim year.

Example: Last year on this date, the archive's total was 49. This year, it's 77 -- so many that in order to include interactive maps, videos or photos from each, we had to break the list into two sections. See part two below, and click to access part one.

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