When it comes to preventing serious car crashes — either with another vehicle or, more often, pedestrians and cyclists — the key is left-hand turns. So said Boulder’s traffic engineers at a Tuesday study session on the city’s goal to do just that, and completely eliminate traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries by 2040.

Crashes are up by as much as 6 percent in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, compared with neighboring states that haven’t legalized marijuana for recreational use, new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) shows. The findings come as campaigns to decriminalize marijuana gain traction with voters and legislators in the U.S., and Canada begins allowing recreational use of marijuana this month.

More than a half dozen residents and businesses have filed a lawsuit against the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad accusing it of starting the 416 Fire that scorched 54,129 acres of mostly U.S. Forest Service land.

Colorado insurance rates had been rising for years — by more than 67 percent for homeowners and 52 percent for vehicle owners — even before three hailstorms hit Colorado’s Front Range over the past two months, generating more than $500 million in insurance claims.

When it comes to extreme weather events, hurricanes and wildfires tend to grab the most attention, but there’s another natural beast causing billions of dollars in damages every year in North America alone — hailstorms.

An Aug. 6 storm that battered southwest Colorado Springs and Fountain with up to softball-size hail caused $172.8 million in damage to vehicles, roofs, siding, windows, skylights and other parts of homes, an insurance trade group said Wednesday.

Nine people were injured, one critically, on Tuesday afternoon when a large explosion rocked a Denver neighborhood. The blast, which is believed to have been caused by natural gas, heavily damaged a four-plex residential building located on Santa Fe Drive between 3rd and 4th Avenue.

Chunks of hail the size of golf balls rained havoc on a Colorado zoo on Monday, shattering windows, damaging cars and sending animals and humans running for cover.

Insurtech company REIN has launched DroneInsurance.com, with underwriting by Liberty Specialty Markets, providing usage-based insurance for commercial drone operators and simplifying the process of obtaining both base and liability coverage.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is warning people about leaving their cars unlocked after several incidents, including one caught on video, in which bears have gotten into vehicles.

A community has a lot to clean up after a tornado dealt widespread damage to the city of Brush in Fort Morgan County. The storm hit Sunday afternoon knocking out power and leaving electrical lines down on the roads.

A Colorado widow is battling her late husband’s insurance company because it decided to cut his worker compensation over marijuana. Adam Lee died in December while working at a Colorado ski mountain.

A massive sinkhole opened up and swallowed a Toyota RAV4 SUV on Oxford Avenue in Sheridan Tuesday evening. Sheridan police tweeted that the driver was OK and shared a photo showing the vehicle submerged in water 15 feet down.

A Grand Junction man accused of filing two insurance claims for the theft of the same road bicycle, and another for a home burglary that his girlfriend at the time said never occurred is facing fraud charges.

Vernon Jones dropped his car off at a pop-up hail dent repair tent but says the company never finished the job and forged his signature to get more than $5,000 from his insurance company.