IN THE FAST LANE

While the feds were busy turning down metro Denver's request for aid to extend toll lanes on U.S. 36, drivers have been signing up for prepaid accounts they can use on E-470, the Northwest Parkway and the Interstate 25 Express Lanes.

Last weekend, ExpressToll, the system that handles the automatic toll-paying, recorded its 250,000th account. Here's a rundown of the top 10 cities in total number of accounts:

Aurora 27,218

Parker 21,183

Littleton 17,841

Denver 12,947

Fort Collins 12,711

Boulder 11,444

Highlands Ranch 11,289

Colorado Springs 9,857

Castle Rock 9,388

Centennial 9,179 Source: E-470 Public Highway Authority

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, IT'S MASSARO!

"You're the last guy I want to talk to when I'm sick. You write about all those dead guys."

Ray Aguilera Pueblo city councilman, to Rocky columnist Gary Massaro. Aguilera suffered chest pains at a council meeting Monday and had a stent inserted to open a blocked artery in a procedure at St. Mary- Corwin Medical Center.

COLORADANS TAKE AIM

265,000 people in Colorado said they hunted during 2006, according to preliminary data from the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife- Associated Recreation. But even though we Coloradans are big on the outdoors, Texas tops all the other states in hunting, with 1.1 million residents reporting that they hunted during 2006.