Democratic gubernatorial candidates demonstrated their early fundraising prowess in reports filed with the Secretary of State Monday, July 17. Nearly $6 million has been raised or loaned in the wide-open race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.

More than $3 million of that comes from the pockets of Republican businessman Victor Mitchell, who loaned the money to his campaign earlier this year.

A case of mad cow disease has been found in a cow in Alabama.

U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists confirmed Tuesday that an 11-year-old cow found in an Alabama livestock market suffered from the neurologic cattle disease, formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The animal “at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or to human health in the United States,� according to the USDA.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who is serving a 15-month prison sentence for hush money payments to cover up sex abuse, has been transferred to a Chicago facility in anticipation of an Aug. 16 release.

Hastert started his sentence at a Minnesota prison hospital last June. Now, records from the Federal Bureau of Prison indicate Hastert is currently at a "residential re-entry management field office" in Chicago. Hastert's transfer was reported by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

On the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death, the Bank of England has unveiled a new banknote featuring the beloved author.

The new notes, made of polymer, will be entering circulation in September.