A SESSION ON SESSIONS

20: Number of times Colorado lawmakers have been called back into special session since 1961. A look at the topics of some of those sessions:

• 1965 - Flood damage

• 1978 - Grasshopper infestation

• 1997, 1998 - Refunds under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights

• 2001 - Growth

• 2002 - Capital punishment sentencing, wildfires and drought

• Currently - Illegal immigration, common-law marriage and ballot initiative deadlines

ROVE A DENVER NATIVE

Karl Rove, the political strategist beloved by Republicans and loathed by Democrats, was born in Denver. Rove, 55, lived in the area until he was almost 10. During the 1960 presidential election, Rove got his first taste of the dark side of politics when he put a Nixon bumper sticker on his bike and got pushed over by a girl who backed John Kennedy.

NOAH IN NIKES?

The winner of a 7.8-mile Summer Roundup Trail Run through muddy Bear Creek Regional Park in Colorado Springs on Sunday had an all-too-fitting name: Noah Zark.

Actually, the 21-year-old Colorado College student with the bouncing blond hair is Alex Nichols.

"I picked 'Noah Zark' because it's funny and I thought I could get by with it," Nichols said. "It had been raining a lot. And it was muddy. I was like a boat floating over the mud."

Source: The Gazette, Colorado Springs