ARLINGTON, Texas -- Carlos Pena is back in the major leagues with the team that drafted him in the first round quite a while ago. Pena rejoined the Rangers on Tuesday, a week after signing a minor league deal and going to Triple-A Round Rock, and 13 years after making his major league debut with Texas. He was the 10th overall pick in 1998. "God is good, man. Here I am, where it all started for me and its truly very special," Pena said the home series opener against Detroit on Tuesday night, when he was batting sixth and playing first base. "Just to think back where it all started. ... This is crazy. I was looking at a picture I had of my first at-bat ever and it was with a Rangers uniform. My wife sent it to me this morning." The Rangers designated first baseman/outfielder Brad Snyder for assignment when they purchased the 36-year-old Penas contract from Round Rock. Since losing Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland to season-ending injuries, Snyder was splitting time at first base with Donnie Murphy. Neither Snyder nor Murphy had played first base in the major leagues before this season. "We just brought in a first baseman to play first base, and he has a presence," manager Ron Washington said. "He may be a little older, but he has presence. Throw something in the wrong spot, and he will hurt you. He knows how to play around that bag. He knows what to do, he knows where to be. Its second nature to him." In seven games at Round Rock, Pena hit .333 (8 for 24) with one home run. The only person to go longer between games for the Rangers was Sammy Sosa, who made his major league debut for Texas in 1989 and then played his final season there in 2007. Fielder had a cervical fusion of the C5 and C6 disks in his neck last month. Moreland had ligament reconstructive surgery and bone realignment in his left ankle Monday, and the team said he went home to Mississippi. Fielder and Moreland are expected to be ready for spring training next season. After playing 22 games for the Rangers, Pena was traded to Oakland that winter. He has also played for Detroit, Boston, Tampa Bay, the Chicago Cubs, Houston and Kansas City. He was an All-Star in 2009 with Tampa Bay, when he had an AL-high 39 homers. Pena went to spring training with the Los Angeles Angels, but was released March 23 after hitting .139 in 20 spring games. "I was training. I was staying ready. I had faith that something was going to happen," he said. "At the same time, I didnt want to force it. I wanted to make sure it was right and it was the right spot, the right situation." Air Max 95 Cheap Authentic .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. Cheap Wholesale Nike Air Max 95 . 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But theres mounting anxiety that ski towns have embraced stoner culture a little too much, potentially damaging the states tourism brand.That worry flared up in two resort towns last week. In Breckenridge, residents voted overwhelmingly to force downtowns lone dispensary off Main Street to a less-visible location. And just up the road in Granby, town officials used a property annex to prevent a dispensary from opening.Its not a morality issue, or that we think marijuana is bad, said Breckenridge councilman Gary Gallagher, who supported legal marijuana but also voted to force the Breckenridge Cannabis Club out of downtown. Marijuana, it is not in this countrys DNA yet. Its a little bit too early.So far, theres no indication that legal pot has damaged tourism, Colorados No. 2 industry. The state notched a record $17.3 billion in tourism spending the year after legalization, with a record 64.6 million visitors, and state tourism officials say 2014 is poised to top last years record.But its an open question whether pot has anything to do with it. Officials cite the improving economy and the weather, with healthy snow totals historically being the most significant driver for mountain visits.The state and its marijuana industry are barred by law from advertising weed out of state, and the head of the Colorado Tourism Office says the state isnt tracking the role of marijuana in tourist behaviour.Its all anecdotal, Al White said. I have heard from some angry parents who said theyll never come back to Colorado because of marijuana. And Ive also heard from people who say they came to Colorado just to see the marijuana.At the end of the day, it may be having a modest effect, but its not huge either way.The recent friction isnt the first time officials have moved to lower marijuanas profile.The nations largesst ski operator, Vail Resorts, made headlines over the last year tearing down makeshift shelters built illicitly in hard-to-reach areas and used by stoners to get safe, mountain slang for toking up out of the cold and away from ski patrollers.dddddddddddd. Resorts across the state are dotted with the so-called smoke shacks, and some of them are decades old.We will continue to communicate that consumption of marijuana is illegal in public and on federal land, Vail Resorts Russ Pecoraro said in a statement about destroying the shacks in its four areas, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail.Still, at rates greater than their urban neighbours, mountain communities backed marijuana legalization in 2012, including Breckenridge, an early and enthusiastic support base, and theres no doubt that recreational pot has had an effect on ski towns.A state-produced July report on the new marijuana industry concluded that 90 per cent of recreational sales in mountain resort communities go to out-of-state visitors.The influx of shoppers — and camera crews that have become frequent sights as they work on pot-themed news stories and documentaries — has prompted a lively debate among residents about how pot is changing their resorts.Whether youre pro-marijuana or against marijuana, you have to be concerned about how tourists react to seeing it, said Bob Gordman, a Breckenridge retiree who voted to move the dispensary.Others say the marijuana novelty will die down naturally and that resort towns shouldnt worry about dispensaries or the souvenir shops that put Rocky Mountain High puns on T-shirts.In five or 10 years, itll be no big issue, said Bill Kiser, a Breckenridge retiree who voted to keep the dispensary on Main Street.Why dont families get turned off when they go on vacation and see a bar and people drinking alcohol? 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