A few months ago Cathy Ritter was settling into Denver's Congress Park neighborhood with her husband, walking to Rockies games and relishing being close to her daughter's family.

Then the former director of the Illinois Bureau of Tourism saw a job posting that could work for her.

On Thursday, Gov. John Hickenlooper named her as the new director of the Colorado Tourism Office, replacing Al White.

Ritter — no relation to former Gov. Bill Ritter — plans a 90-day listening tour of Colorado.

"I want to get familiar with the faces and places of Colorado so I can be as informed as possible," said the 13-year employee of the Illinois government and former newspaper reporter.

Last week, as the glorious autumn foliage blazed out across America’s Midwest, I travelled to Kansas City for an economics seminar. I found a place throbbing with joy: the Kansas City Royals, the local baseball team, had just won the World Series, against steep odds. It was also a city full of political debate, largely about Donald Trump and the other Republican candidates.

CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois' new medical marijuana shops sold nearly $211,000 worth of cannabis in the first week, with less than a quarter of eligible patients buying so far.

The state's first regulated marijuana dispensaries opened Monday.

Program director Joseph Wright said Friday the dispensaries served 806 customers. They purchased about 460 ounces of marijuana, or about a half an ounce per person, on average.

Green Thumb Industries CEO Ben Kovler says the numbers are "a very strong start."

What a thriving business it is for Marijuana shop owners in Oregon as news reveals more places to get pot in the state.

Latest news has revealed that the number of Marijuana shops have increased in the state of Oregon, and it's mostly because of medical requirements although recreational use has already been legalized.

LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) – Fifteen years after Nevada voters approved legalizing medical marijuana and three months after the first dispensary opened for business in Las Vegas, patients can now get medicine delivered to their doorstep.

Euphoria Wellness started free home deliveries throughout the Las Vegas Valley early Friday. However, that new service still has competition with illegal delivery services that are often advertised on the Internet.

“When you deal with [those] delivery services, you don’t know what you’re getting,” said Edward Eng, who has had bad experiences with those services before.

That’s where Euphoria Wellness hopes to capitalize, offering free delivery services throughout the valley.

THE MICHIGAN STATE POLICE Forensic Science Division finds itself embroiled in scandal as newly released emails paint a picture of a crime lab in turmoil over how to classify marijuana. Attorneys and medical marijuana advocates accuse Michigan prosecutors of pressuring the state’s crime lab to falsely classify the origins of THC found in hash oils and marijuana edibles as “origin unknown.”

Joe Brennan faces a lot of the same worries as all businesspeople — sourcing inventory, regulatory headaches, competitors popping up like weeds.

But those weeds give Brennan a whole new set of worries. His business? Mindright, a medical marijuana dispensary in Detroit.

Brennan said he has tried to do everything legitimately. But he is in an industry that is known for angering neighbors, accused of promoting drug abuse and inviting heavy scrutiny as dispensaries proliferate in the city.

Before opening earlier this year, he obtained a city license for a retail-medical sales business, bought insurance, hired a security guard and made sure his marijuana products were tested for purity. "We want to be completely professional," he said.

Canada's new justice minister has questions about the recent Nanaimo RCMP crackdown on pot shops, after 10 shops received letters from police, asking them to cease sales within seven days or risk criminal charges.

Jody Wilson-Raybould was asked if the RCMP's move to stop marijuana dispensaries ran counter with the government's direction on pot. One of Justin Trudeau's campaign promises was to legalize pot.

"We were very clear in our platform and certainly we will be moving forward with this. I will be having discussion with my colleague [Public Safety] Minister Goodale on this matter," Wilson-Raybould told CBC's Early Edition this morning.

One morning in September, I logged on to the website of HelloMD, a medical start-up that promises to connect patients with doctors instantly over the Internet. I filled out my personal details, explained my ailment — I often get heartburn — and entered in my credit card number to cover the $50 consultation fee.

Illinois medical marijuana dispensaries sold nearly $211,000 worth of medical cannabis to patients in the first week of legal sales, as reported by the Associated Press.