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.

DENVER — Governor John Hickenlooper issued an executive order that says marijuana grown with dangerous chemicals will be removed from stores and destroyed. That happened Thursday.

It’s the first time the Governor has addressed the issue since concern over marijuana pesticides started circulating.

The order raises an alarm. “When a pesticide is applied to a crop in a manner that is inconsistent with the pesticide’s label, and the crop is contaminated by that pesticide, it constitutes a threat to the public safety,” the order reads.

On Nov. 12, 2015, the Colorado Division of Securities issued an investor alert titled, “Are you an Informed Investor? The Next Big Thing.” The alert addressed the popularity of investments in marijuana, binary options and digital currencies, and how potential investors need to conduct due diligence before making any decisions.

With its focus on issues of market volatility, lack of data, federal illegality and scam artists, the alert’s discussion of marijuana is of particular interest to those hoping to enter the legal marijuana market.

What does our nation’s capital Washington D.C., Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Colorado have in common? Their economy is rapidly growing due to a huge spark in the use of recreational marijuana. Among the most common, Colorado, there are four other areas where the recreational use of the plant is legal. Since then, four out of the five areas discluding Alaska, fall onto MSN’s top ten best economies in the country. There are also 18 other states that have legalized the medicinal use of cannabis as well.

Colorado Harvest Company, a premium retail cannabis enterprise owned by pioneers in Colorado's legal marijuana industry, is growing rapidly and is adding more than 50 new jobs in 2015, resulting in a total full time workforce exceeding 100. It added a third Colorado location; has begun construction on a fourth store in Aurora; doubled the footprint of Colorado Harvest Company-Broadway on Denver's Green Mile; and has increased its warehouse cultivation area to 55,000 sq. ft.

Federal prosecutors say a Colorado attorney charged in connection with major raids on state-licensed medical marijuana businesses is not protected by a new law that tells the feds to back off.

Attorney David Furtado was one of four men charged after sweeping raids two years ago targeting the VIP Cannabis dispensary and related businesses. The men were ultimately indicted on charges of money laundering and trying to deposit money from an illegal enterprise into a bank account.

Last month, Furtado raised a novel legal argument: That a federal budget amendment passed last year means the U.S. Justice Department is prohibited from spending money on prosecutions like his. He asked the judge to throw out the case against him.

Denver is in the midst of discussing the end of the moratorium for retail marijuana businesses. The moratorium is set to expire January 1, 2016.

As the president of the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce (C4), a statewide organization dedicated to the business growth of the cannabis industry, I believe it is an important step for Denver to not renew the moratorium.

One week after announcing a deal to put its products into Oregon and Arizona pot shops, the licensing arm of Denver-based Dixie Elixirs on Thursday announced its first international foray — into Australia and New Zealand.

Dixie Brands and its Australian partner, Cann Group, announced two licensing agreements Thursday night at the Marijuana Business Conference in Las Vegas.

Marijuana legalization opponents in Colorado say Texas shouldn't legalize marijuana, citing, among others, marijuana-related traffic deaths. Meanwhile, marijuana advocates say legalized pot increases job and provides more taxes to the state.(Photo: KHOU)

The marijuana industry in Colorado now employs an estimated 16,000 workers, generates $1 billion in annual sales and in 2014 generated approximately $76 million in taxes funneled into the state’s general fund.

But marijuana legalization opponents like Bob Doyle, the co-chair of Better Way Colorado (formerly known as Project SAM – Smart Approaches to Colorado), offered this advice for other states like Texas.

Denver’s marijuana regulators are asking the City Council to expand rules that would bar any new players from entering the state’s largest market.

For two years, a city moratorium aimed at controlling industry growth has allowed only existing medical marijuana businesses to open recreational dispensaries, grow houses or edible manufacturers. That’s set to expire Jan. 1, a prospect that’s had eager entrepreneurs and investors lining up.