Photos by Seth McConnell, Special to The Denver Post

Estimating that as many as 5 million people, including 140,000 Coloradans, used psilocybin over the past year, the Colorado Department of Transportation and State Patrol officials announced they’ll team with facilitators at healing centers to encourage safe rides home. Colorado’s laws against driving under the influence of alcohol and cannabis also apply to natural psychedelics and synthetics such as LSD.

“With psilocybin growing in popularity, hundreds of thousands of people across America may now be microdosing,” CDOT spokeswoman Tamara Rollison said. “We know many of these people must be driving.”

As part of the campaign, state social media postings warn that users’ perceptions, reaction time, and decision-making can be altered for hours, advising would-be drivers to “plan your trip before you trip” and stating that “decriminalization doesn’t mean driveable.”

Psychedelics can lead to visual and auditory hallucinations, disordered thinking, loss of muscle control, and “seeing colors and hearing sounds that are not real” — potentially impairing a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle, according to state campaign materials.

“There isn’t a model that we’re following, but there wasn’t one when Colorado legalized recreational cannabis either,” Rollison said.  “We created that playbook, and we’re doing the same with psychedelics. It’s about applying established impaired-driving safety principles to a new policy environment.”

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They unveiled the finalists following a dozen Front Range Passenger Rail District brainstorming sessions over two months that whittled down 100 ideas:

•  Colorado Connector (CoCo)
•  Colorado Ranger
•  Rangelink
•  Front Range Express Destinations (FRED)

“If there’s a clear winner, then we have an answer,”  district director Sal Pace said, pointing to Amtrak’s new Mardi Gras Service twice-a-day trains linking Mobile, Alabama, with New Orleans. Those trains started Aug. 18, and ridership in the first five months exceeded the annual target.

“It’s a reminder to us about how important it is to come up with a good service name that really epitomizes Colorado and Colorado’s Front Range,” Pace said. “The name should be something the communities of the Front Range can relate to. It’s going to be the brand of the service. This is going to be a multi-generational service — not just for today’s Coloradans but our grandkids as well.”

Gov. Jared Polis kicked off the voting on Monday morning. “Front Range Passenger Rail will connect communities across the Front Range, increase transportation options for Coloradans and visitors, reduce traffic and pollution, and save us time and money,” Polis said in a statement.

Coloradans can vote online at ridethefrontrange.com/namethetrain through March 23. Voters’ preference, combined with “public and stakeholder input gathered across the Front Range,” will help decide the name of the train, district spokeswoman Tara Trujillo said.

A decision on whether a half-cent tax increase will appear on the November ballot could be made as late as August, Pace said. The proposal that FRPRD officials are refining would give municipalities along the 180-mile corridor shares of the revenues raised for 25 years, ranging from $1.5 million to $4 million a year based on population, to help fund local train-related development projects.

Starting in 2029, a Front Range “starter service” linking Denver, Boulder, Longmont, and Fort Collins would rely on funds from the Regional Transportation District and Colorado’s fee on rental cars, Pace said. District officials have estimated the cost of the full Front Range service from Trinidad to Fort Collins at $2 billion to $14 billion, including annual operating and maintenance expenses of around $76 million.

Front Range trains would use existing tracks and right-of-ways and run at speeds up to 79 miles per hour, competitive with driving along Interstate 25, depending on traffic, according to district documents. District staffers have been considering ticket prices of around $12 to $15 for a one-way trip from Denver to Colorado Springs.

The names brainstorming was done with help from marketing firms and attorneys who vetted ideas that would have infringed on trademark protections. “The Colorado Eagle,” for example, reviving the name of a train that linked Denver and Pueblo half a century ago, clashed with the name of the Colorado Eagles, a minor league hockey team based in Loveland, and Amtrak’s Texas Eagle train linking Chicago and San Antonio.

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The Denver Police Department first posted about the hit-and-run near East Eighth Avenue and Josephine Street at 1:34 a.m. Monday. The intersection is just west of Congress Park and south of Denver Botanic Gardens.

Three drivers were involved in the crash, and one driver left the scene, police said. Paramedics took two people to the hospital with unknown injuries, but police officials did not specify which vehicles those people were in.

As of Monday morning, Denver officers were still working to identify the driver who left the scene, police said.

Additional information on the crash was not immediately available.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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Nathan MacKinnon hasn’t flashed a smile like that on the ice since, what, June 2022?

Just saying.

“I’ve been here a short while, and I think we’ve got what it takes (to win it all),” Kadri said Sunday after helping the Avalanche snatch a scrappy shootout win over the Minnesota Wild in Naz’s Denver return.

“Being around the guys and understanding their level of focus … they understand that we’ve got ourselves a great opportunity here. And when everyone’s on that same page … (During the) 2022 (Stanley Cup run), that’s exactly the feeling I had. So, I mean, there’s a lot of work to be done. Nobody’s going to give it to us. But we’re going to work for it.”

Speaking of work, it only took Kadri about a period-and-a-half to remind Avs fans exactly what they’d missed about him. The poking. The prodding. The pressing.

With 7:41 to go in the second stanza, the veteran Avs forward closed in and nagged Wild defenseman Brock Faber behind the Minnesota goal — intercepting Quinn Hughes’ drop pass for Faber in the process.

“I think we had some good pressure on the forecheck,” Kadri said. “Made a good read, picked off a pass and found Nate in the slot. He’s going to bury that.”

Whenever MacKinnon’s lurking nearby, it only takes a split second to turn a moment of chaos into utter genius.

Sure enough, Kadri spotted a charging Nate Dogg all alone in the right face-off circle, and fed the Avs center a laser from goalie Jesper Wallstedt’s blind spot. MacKinnon celebrated the gift by launching a wrister over the Wild netminder’s shoulder, putting the hosts on the board with a 1-0 lead.

Cue that smile. Oh, doctor. It was luminous. It’s the one MacKinnon saves for Cup clinchers, downtown victory parades, and reunions with his closest pals. Nate Dogg hugged Kadri. Avs fans hugged one another.

NHL? You’re in trouble deep.

Lord Stanley? We’ve got a table waiting for you at Fogo De Chao.

The helper was Naz’s first point with the Avs since his winning goal in overtime at Tampa to close out Game 4 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals.

Mike Penny actually saw that last one in the flesh. Sort of. The Avs diehard was part of a pack of about seven “KADRI 91” sweaters sitting shoulder to shoulder in Sections 128 and 130 Sunday.

“It was amazing,” Penny said of that Naz game-winner. “We were catty-corner from where the goal got scored. And we saw these four Avalanche fans just jumping up and down. And we’re like, ‘They must have scored! They must have scored!’

“So we started jumping up and down. And then next thing you know, the whole crowd erupts.”

“Even the Lightning fans?” I wondered.

“Well, not really,” Penny replied. “But all the Avs fans in the crowd.”

Can’t make this stuff up, kids.

“We knew Naz was coming back (today), right? So we all decided to keep our tickets,” Penny’s friend Marc Angel explained. “And we were all like, ‘Look, we are wearing the Naz (sweaters on Sunday).'”

Angel showed me a group text they’d put together after Avs GM Chris MacFarland landed Kadri from Calgary this past Friday. a coordinated effort to make sure everybody nabbed those old 91s out of the back of the closet. Like Colorado’s power play, it takes a village, sometimes.

“Ever year, (Penny) would get mad at me and tell me, ‘He’s coming back, he’s coming back, I know he’s coming back,'” Angel recalled. “This year, it actually happened.”

“Look, I kept the sweater,” Penny countered. “I don’t know what else you want!”

One more Cup?

One more summer cigar at Civic Center park?

“I’ve never been a (trade) deadline guy,” Kadri said. “But, you know, to come here and play in front of these fans and play with this team is exactly what I could have asked for.”

If Sunday was any indication, the love affair between Avs fans and Kadri burns as hot as ever.

Derek Huffman brought a 2019-2020 game-worn No. 91 with him from Thornton for Sunday’s homecoming. He’s got two more Naz sweaters back home.

“I call him, like, a Claude Lemieux. Like a hemorrhoid,” Huffman said. “The ones you want on your team. And hate when they’re not on your team.

“The guy just pokes and pokes and knows where to poke at.”

Huffman was on a Teams call in his home office around 2-ish this past Friday afternoon when news of the Kadri trade broke.

His daughter, working upstairs, let outt a cry.

“OH MY GOD!”

She went running down the steps and burst into Derek’s room. Huffman turned his mute on and his camera off. Why let a business call ruin a moment of absolute elation?

“We landed him,” she told Huffman. “Oh my God.”

“For what?” he queried.

Once they found out?

Oh. My. God.

“It’s the best thing in the world. I think (Kadri) might be the missing piece,” Huffman gushed. “When you add that back in there and the grit — you already saw it in the beginning of the game, just a grit, (his) back-checking. Getting his face in the middle of the net and everything else. Just being him.”

Naz skated with the top line and opened on the first power-play unit.  With 13:03 to go in the first period, the Avs ran a video tribute to Kadri’s first Denver stint, capped by a WELCOME HOME message on the scoreboard.

Kadri looked up, briefly, then wagged a gloved finger in appreciation. As the applause continued, his gaze turned back quickly to the ice.

“It’s almost like a ‘pinch-me’ type moment,” Kadri said later. “Like, ‘Wow, this is crazy. Hey, guys, can you settle down? I’ve got to focus here.’  But no, of course, I love the noise. I love the support. And these fans are special.”

You’ve heard of fans who can’t wait to drive a player to the airport, right? Avalanche faithful apparently tried to get Kadri from DIA back to Ball Arena quicker after his plane landed late Saturday night.

“You get spotted?” I asked Naz.

“Several times, yeah,” Kadri replied. “But they actually helped me out with my luggage.”

Denver fans with the assist. Naturally. Some legends write themselves. And some sequels are worth the wait.

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Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin scored in the one-on-one competition Sunday afternoon, and the Avs knocked off the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, at Ball Arena. They also beat the Dallas Stars in a shootout Friday night, securing a huge four points to put the Central Division title and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in clear view.

Colorado led the Stars by nine points and the Wild by 10 after the win, though Dallas had a game to play later Sunday night. The Avs were 1-5 in shootouts before this weekend.

“It was great,” Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood said after making 32 saves and three more in the shootout. “I think it foreshadows that it is probably going to take some extra time come playoff time. I think you just get that upper edge. You feel like you beat them, regardless of how you beat them.”

Nazem Kadri had an assist in his return to the Avs after being acquired Friday afternoon in a trade with the Calgary Flames.

Two of the other new guys teamed up to help the Avs get even at 2-2. Nicolas Roy tipped a Brett Kulak shot from the left point past Minnesota goaltender Jesper Wallstedt at 12:39 of the third period. It was Roy’s first goal with the Avs after being acquired Thursday in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Colorado entered the day 33-0-0 when leading after two periods. The Avs wobbled in the third, but they are now 34-0-0.

“Obviously at that point, we needed a goal,” Roy said. “Just tried to switch the mindset up a little bit, tried to attack a little more. It was good to get one there. Good timing.”

While the Avs have been historically great for much of this season at even strength, they nearly lost this contest on special teams. Minnesota rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the first half of the third period with a pair of special-teams tallies.

Kirill Kaprizov scored four seconds into a Wild power play after Ross Colton went to the penalty box for slashing. Kaprizov was shooting for Matt Boldy’s stick, but the official scored determined it went off Brent Burns’ blade instead and just inside the far post at 4:17 of the third.

Then, with the Avs on the power play, old friend Nico Sturm got behind everyone and scored shorthanded at 7:01. That is Colorado’s 11th shorthanded goal against this season, which leads the NHL.

The Avs went 0-for-5 with the man advantage in this contest and yielded a shorthanded goal. That’s a bad day at the office, even though Colorado’s first unit did create far more chances than it has on other scoreless days this season.

MacKinnon had the lone goal of the opening two periods. Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes tried to leave the puck for a teammate, but Kadri jumped the drop pass and then sent it to MacKinnon cutting to the net.

The league leader scored his 43rd of the season at 12:19 of the second, and immediately pointed across the to ice to Kadri.

The Ball Arena crowd gave Kadri several loud ovations — during warmups, when he was introduced in the starting lineup and after a welcome back video during the first television timeout. He got another one after setting up MacKinnon’s goal.

Kadri spent three seasons with Colorado from 2019-22, but became one of the most popular players in recent franchise history.

His run culminated with the club’s third Stanley Cup championship in 2022. Kadri signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Calgary Flames a few weeks after lifting the Cup with the Avs, then returned Friday afternoon in a trade completed just before the deadline.

“It was emotional,” Kadri said. “Just seeing the support I get here, it was absolutely incredible. Just makes me want to play harder for these fans and this team.”

FOOTNOTE: Avs captain Gabe Landeskog missed the game is “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury. Landeskog got hit in the groin area with a Cale Makar shot during the second period Friday night, but finished the game and played nearly 23 minutes in the 5-4 shootout win. He took nine shifts in the third period.

“It’s a lower-body injury, not a comfortable one,” Bednar said. “That’s the timeframe the doctor gave us.”

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His next challenge is make an impact when he’s on the court.

His third will be to stay there.

“Obviously, I’ve gotta play better on the offensive side,” he said after his first game in more than a month. “And defense. I’ve just gotta play better for us to have a chance to win. I think as I get my legs back under me, I’ll do that. So I’ve gotta be better for us.”

Gordon was blunt about his performance but upbeat about the state of his right hamstring — it might as well be the state of the union for the Nuggets — while reflecting on a 1-for-7 shooting night Friday. It was supposed to the power forward’s triumphant return after missing 17 consecutive games with a reaggravated hamstring strain. Instead, it was Denver’s worst home loss in franchise history, a 142-103 smackdown by the Knicks at Ball Arena.

Consider Gordon unfazed.

“I’ve gotta stay on top of it. But I play without worry,” he said when asked about the risk of re-injury. “When you’re worried about an injury out there, that’s usually when it happens. So I feel great. My body feels good. It’s just the timing and the pace of the game that needs to come back to me now, but I feel good.”

Gordon returned from the injury for 10 games in January, only for it to emerge again during a game in Milwaukee. He was welcomed back by a rousing ovation Friday at Ball Arena. He played 21 minutes in the loss, amassing three points, three rebounds and three assists. His playing time will remain restricted for now.

“It’s fun. I’m grateful to be able to play this game and be out there and express myself through the game that I love to play,” Gordon said, “and to be out there with the fellas. So win, lose or draw, I have gratitude. Obviously, it’s better to come out with a win, and that’s what I’m looking for day in and day out. But I’m grateful to just play the game.”

His second game back could require a step up in speed and physicality. The Nuggets will visit Oklahoma City on Monday for a rematch of their chippy overtime affair with the Thunder 10 days earlier. Gordon is still shooting 39% from the 3-point line this season, but he thinks there might be something to the notion that he was out of rhythm Friday in part because his conditioning was in catch-up mode.

“Anybody in the league can make shots when there’s no cardio involved, when no one’s tired,” he said. “But as soon as you start running up and down, it gets a little bit harder to make shots and be in the right place at the right time. But I’m not here to make excuses. I played bad (against the Knicks). And I know that affected us losing the game.”

The Nuggets are 17-7 when Gordon suits up this season. They’re 12-4 when he plays 25 or more minutes, with three of those losses by one-score margins and all four of them by single digits.

“Aaron was on an emotional high, but he’s still trying to find a rhythm in a real game,” coach David Adelman said. “… When (Nikola) Jokic came back, he was trying to find his rhythm. Even him. So it’s part of the whole thing. But regardless of how we lost or whatever it is, it’s good to have him back.”

In the meantime, Gordon pinpointed the timing of his pregame routine when asked if there are any strategies he’s implementing in an attempt to prevent more health complications for the rest of the season.

“I’m getting to the gym earlier,” he said. “Much, much earlier. Warming up more diligently.”

Jamal Murray day-to-day

Jamal Murray avoided a serious injury Friday and is considered day-to-day with a mild left ankle sprain, league sources told The Denver Post.

The Nuggets were optimistic after their loss to New York that Murray would not miss extended time. The All-Star point guard was helped off the court by two teammates late in the first half after stepping on Jokic’s foot. He’s officially going to be listed as questionable for Monday’s game.

The Nuggets didn’t hold a formal practice Sunday before they flew to Oklahoma City.

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And the success of the two former Gold Glove winners will be central to the Rockies’ rebuild as they climb out of the ashes of a 119-loss season.

“Everyone, I think, has the same mentality,” Tovar said early in spring training.  “What happened last year already happened, and we can’t fix it. We can’t fixate on it when we enter this year, because I think that’s when problems happen.

“All of us have to turn that page, but we can still learn from what happened last year.”

Doyle echoes Tovar’s silver-lining sentiments.

“It was a bumpy year for us — for me — highs and lows,” said Doyle, who’s been slowed by a sprained left wrist during this spring training. “We know those lows help show you what needs to be done to get back to the highs. It was a good learning year, and I was glad I ended it on a strong note.”

At this time last year, Tovar and Doyle were golden. Coming off breakout seasons, the duo seemed poised for stardom.

Tovar won his first Gold Glove in 2024, becoming the youngest shortstop to win the award in National League history. He led the NL with 45 doubles, hit a team-high 26 homers, and ranked second in the league with 75 extra-base hits.

“I think he’s one of the most — no, make that the most underrated player in the league,” Doyle said of Tovar last spring.  “He doesn’t get a lot of attention, but the sky is the limit for that kid.”

The same could have been said for Doyle. In 2024, he slashed .260/.317/.446 and reduced his strikeout rate from 34.9% to 25.4%. He hit 23 homers, 24 doubles, and stole 30 bases. He became the first outfielder in National League history to win a Gold Glove in his first two major league seasons. In 2023, he became the first NL rookie outfielder to win the award.

Padres manager Mike Shildt raved about Doyle, who must patrol center at Coors Field, home of the biggest outfield in the majors.

“He does it all,” Shildt said. “He’s got instincts and takes the right routes and angles. He’s got a strong arm. He’s the real deal.”

A painful 2025 for Tavor

But the deal was pretty raw for both players last season, when the Rockies posted one of the worst seasons in major league history.

Tovar took a hit early. In the season’s third game, he suffered a painful left hip contusion on a sliding backhand play on the hard infield at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Tovar tried to play through the pain but eventually spent a month on the injured list. Tovar later missed over a month due to a left oblique strain.

“The worst thing was just sneezing … I mean, I felt it,” he said of the oblique injury that turned him into a mere bystander. “You feel it in your stomach and all over. With that kind of injury, when you get up from bed, and you do all of the little everyday things … it hurts you.”

The one-two injury punch limited Tovar to 95 games, a .253/.294/.400 slash line and just nine home runs. His absence left a hole in a defense that posted a .981 team fielding percentage, the second-lowest in the majors behind Boston (.980) and the fourth-lowest in franchise history.

And, when the Rockies lost Tovar, they lost their sparkplug.

“When ‘Tovie’ is in the lineup doing his thing, he energizes people,” manager Warren Schaeffer said.

Tovar doesn’t have any grandiose plans to retool his game this season, though the Rockies want him to lower his 41.1% chase rate, which was well above the MLB average of 28.4%.

“It’s about keeping things simple,” he said. “I think last year I complicated things. I was doing too much, I was doing too much movement. I think I can do more by doing a little. It’s about understanding what I can do and not trying to push it.”

Doyle working to keep it simple

Doyle had to push through a lot of things last season. He suffered a left quadriceps injury in April. Later in the month, Doyle shared on social media the news that his wife, Shelby Rose, had a miscarriage. Doyle missed seven days on the bereavement list and later said he wished he had taken more time away to be with his wife and family.

Before the All-Star break, Doyle hit just .202 with a .576 OPS and seven home runs. After the break, Doyle hit .287 with a .779 OPS and eight homers. He reasoned that during the first half of the season, he hit a lot of hard shots directly at defenders.

“The back of the baseball card wasn’t looking like how you wanted it to,” Doyle told The Post in September. “But there were a lot of good underlying numbers, and you kind of just had to trust the process and trust that this game will even out at some point. That’s what it’s been doing in the second half for me.”

This spring, Doyle, like Tovar, has concentrated on keeping things simple.

“I liked my approach late last season,” he said. “So I didn’t feel like I had to make big adjustments.”

Doyle’s defensive metrics were not great last season, at least not compared to 2023 and ’24 when he won his Gold Gloves. In ’23, he posted a 13 outs above average (OAA), and posted a 14 OAA in ’24. Last season, that number slipped to six, according to Baseball Savant. OAA is a defensive metric that measures how many outs a fielder saves compared to an average fielder. It considers the difficulty of plays, distance, and time to reach a ball.

“I felt like I had a good year, defensively, last year,” Doyle said. “I didn’t get a chance to throw out as many runners, but they didn’t run on me as much. I never thought my (struggles) on offense affected me in the outfield.”

Schaeffer is all in with Doyle as his center fielder.

“Last year was his third year in the big leagues,” Schaeffer noted. “The first two years, he’s a Gold Glove winner in center field, in Coors Field. I mean, give the guy a break that he didn’t win a Gold Glove last year. He’s gonna be fine. ‘BD’ is a top-notch defender. I mean, he’s the best in the biz out there.”

Clearly, the Rockies have a mountain of work to do just to become a competitive team this season, but Schaeffer is confident that Tovar and Doyle will return to their gold standards.

“If they are both playing at the level we know they can play at, and if they are healthy for 162 (games), that absolutely makes us a better team,” he said. “Both of them are Gold Glove winners.

“I feel like I say that all of the time, but I don’t want to diminish what that means. Because a Gold Glove defender in the middle of the diamond is special. Not every team has that. And then you add the offensive capabilities of both of them, with the power contributions that they can both offer in the lineup every day. It’s huge.”

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Antonio Vasquez, 21, and Jason Trujillo Jr., 19, were initially charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder after police say they shot and killed Dacien Salazar outside the aquarium at 700 Water St. on Feb. 14, 2024.

Investigators found that Salazar was visiting from Pueblo and was targeted by Vasquez and Trujillo, who drove to the Denver area from southern Colorado to kill him.

Salazar’s friends told police he had received threats from gang members and from Trujillo before the shooting, according to an arrest affidavit.

Vasquez, who police said shot and killed Salazar, was sentenced to 40 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Trujillo, who police said was driving, was sentenced to 20 years.

“Dacien Salazar’s murder was not just a tragedy for his friends and family, it was a crime that shocked countless Denver residents – a shooting in broad daylight in a busy public place,” Denver District Attorney John Walsh said in a statement.

“(The) sentences ensure that Antonio Vasquez and Jason Trujillo will pay a heavy price for their cold-blooded actions,” Walsh continued.

Vasquez was represented by the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, which does not comment on criminal cases. An attorney for Trujillo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Denver Police Department officers responded to an assault just after 2 a.m. Sunday in the 9700 block of East Hampden Avenue, which is near the Kennedy Soccer Complex and just north of the reservoir.

The victim, an adult man, was taken to HCA HealthONE Swedish and pronounced dead at approximately 3:48 a.m., according to the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner. City officials identified him as Neal Jones Jr. and said the cause and manner of his death are pending.

Investigators on Thursday arrested Derek Wafford, 39; Demetrius Davis, 37; and Gregory Manard, 31, on suspicion of second-degree murder. All three are in custody at the Downtown Detention Center.

Detectives identified the three men “through an extensive investigation, which included a Crime Stoppers tip, a license plate reader hit and video evidence,” Denver police said in a post on X.

Bail information was not immediately available for Davis, who is set to appear in court March 31.

Wafford and Manard are both in custody on $100,000 bails. Manard is set to appear in court March 9, and Wafford’s next court date was not available.

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