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Colorado - Mon. 07/06/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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SOME CONTAINMENT OF ASPEN ACRES FIRE; WILLOW FIRE - MORE EVACUATIONS
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Aspen Acres Fire
On the Fourth of July, firefighting crews, made up of more than 350 individuals, made substantial progress on the Aspen Acres Fire reaching 13 percent containment as of Sunday morning, July 5. The fire has burned 86,983 acres and is the eighth-largest wildfire in Colorado history. The fast-moving fire ignited June 29 near the Aspen Acres campground in Custer County. It has forced evacuations of thousands of residents, including the entire towns of Beulah, Rye, Wetmore, and San Isabel as well as Colorado City. Although there has not yet been detailed information released on individual neighborhoods or specific addresses of structures affected by the blaze, it is known that at least 212 structures have been confirmed as destroyed, with 157 in Pueblo County and 55 in Custer County. The actual number is likely higher. One of the buildings lost was the historic Horseshoe Lodge in the Beulah Mountain Park, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Willow Fire - Leadville
New mandatory evacuation orders were issued Sunday morning for the Willow fire burning in Lake County. The Sunday morning evacuations in Lake County included County Road 11, County Road 11A and the Lake Fork Trailer Park. The evacuation zone is bordered to the north by Lake County Road 9A, to the east by Lake County Road 25 and U.S. 24, to the south by Echo Creek and to the west by Twining Peak.
Additional pre-evacuation orders included:
- The Twin Lakes area
- The Pan-Ark Subdivision
- EE Hill
- Colorado 82 west to the summit of Independence Pass
- The Mount Elbert Forebay Reservoir
- U.S. 24 between mile-marker 180 and mile-marker 186
- County roads 10, 24D, 44, 45, 46 and 136
- Forest Service Road 130
- Valley Road
- Crystal Ridge Road
- Loop Road
- Stargazer Circle
As of Sunday, the Willow fire was burning on an estimated 3,957 acres with 1 percent containment. That’s just over 6 square miles.
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ALDI MOVING INTO COLORADO, WITH 50 STORES COMING
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Aldi, the German-based no-frills grocery store chain, has big plans for moving into Colorado, having announced that it will open 50 stores in Denver and Colorado Springs over the next two years, with a total of 2,800 stores in the U.S. by the end of 2026. Aldi opened its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976. The grocer has filed plans for its Denver store in the Central Park neighborhood, with a 19,432-square-foot store at the corner of Interstate 70 and Central Park Boulevard. The plan for the second Denver Aldi store is a grocery with beer and wine on a 2.37-acre site at the intersection of East 57th Avenue and Tower Road.
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NEW MODEL FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION ON WATER: N.W. COLORADO’S “STORY MAP”
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The Yampa-White-Green Basin Roundtable, in partnership with Yampatika and Four Corners Consulting, has launched an interactive “StoryMap” to help Northwest Colorado community members better understand how water works and where it comes from. The story map, called “A River’s Reach: Water and Balance in the Yampa-White-Green Basin” is also supported by the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The story map is designed to streamline local insight, scientific data and water-planning information into a single, user-friendly experience. To view the StoryMap, visit tinyurl.com/4xjax4ku.
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WHO GOES TO ASPEN? ACRA RELEASES VISITOR PROFILE STUDY
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The Aspen Chamber Resort Association released the results of its latest visitor profile study, which was conducted in March of this year and was generated from over 900 surveys conducted March 6-23 from visitors who traveled to Aspen in 2025, who were over the age of 18 and lived outside Colorado. Aspen had over 1.1 million visitors in 2025; generated $1.7 billion in direct visitor spending and had a total economic impact of $2.0 billion supporting more than 15,000 jobs. Visitors generated almost $114 million in county and local tax revenue. Of the 1.1 million visitors, 625,110 visitors, or 57.2 percent of the total, were day visitors. Forty-one percent of the visitors came from Colorado, with Denver the largest metro market for Aspen.
The origin states for visitors to Aspen in 2025 outside of Colorado: California, 5.5 percent; Florida, 5.3 percent; and Texas, 5.2 percent. More than half the visitors in 2025 also traveled to Aspen in 2024. In another example of loyalty, the visitor base to Aspen in 2025 averaged 12.9 lifetime trips to Aspen. Most of the visitors in 2025 were not aware that the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport would be closed in the summer of 2027. Just one-third of visitors were aware of the planned closure. Nonetheless, 66.3 percent of respondents expected the closure to have no impact on their Aspen travel plans, with just 15.1 percent being less likely to visit. The Visitor Profile Study findings report is available at aspenchamber.org/membership/data-center/reports-surveys.
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RUTH POWELL HUTCHINS WATER CENTER AT CMU ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD CREATION
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The Water Center at Colorado Mesa University was launched in 2010 and in 2015 it was named the Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center at CMU to honor Ruth Powell Hutchins, a longtime proponent of the preservation of water rights on the Western Slope. This week, Colorado Mesa University named nine people as members of the newly formed executive board for the Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center, as part of a longer-term effort to restructure the organization. All of the appointments came with nominations from the former advisory council, with the final decision made by CMU President John Marshall.
The board’s makeup includes himself, Colorado River District GM Andy Mueller, Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District GM Andy Rossi, The Nature Conservancy Colorado River Program Manager Celene Hawkins, cattle rancher Janie VanWinkle, Colorado River District Board Member Kathy Chandler-Henry, former State House Speaker Rep. Russell George, CMU Political Science Professor Tim Casey, and Delta County Commissioner Wendell Koontz. The Ruth Powell Hutchins Water Center at CMU seeks to coordinate research, education and dialogue on the issues facing the Upper Colorado River Basin. The center sponsors continuing education classes and seminars and CMU's Tomlinson Library has a digital Western Water Resources collection that aims to educate communities on a variety of water topics.
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BETTING ON WORLD CUP GAMES COULD BE BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR
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The World Cup is the most popular sporting event worldwide, and that is being reflected in the results of having it in North America this year, as gambling firms in the U.S. say it is on the way to being the biggest event of the year, topping the NCAA Basketball Tournament, another multi-week event that attracts a huge waging audience. World Cup wagering has been bolstered by the success of the U.S. team. At the beginning of the World Cup matches, Team USA was a 50-1 longshot. After the U.S. won its first two games and moved into the knockout round playing Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mark Bickerdike, Caesars Sports head of soccer trading, said the USA-Bosnia game was "...our highest soccer handle ever, the most wagers placed on a soccer event in our book’s history, and the highest number of unique customers wagering." He expects that to be topped by wagers Monday on the USA - Belgium match.
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THE STORY OF “AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL” – A TRUE AMERICAN & COLORADO TALE
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As Colorado celebrates its 150th-year of statehood this year, and the United States celebrated 250 years on July 4 this year, there is another Colorado-U.S. connection that is 133 years old, “America the Beautiful.” The song came from a poem penned by a 33-year-old teacher, following a trip to Colorado Springs and ascending Pikes Peak. In 1893, Katherine Lee Bates, who was teaching English literature at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, had the opportunity to lead a summer session at Colorado College. Bates took a steam train across the U.S. to arrive in Colorado Springs. Bates was instantly charmed by the progressive energy of the young city. She and her companions made the most of their free time. "We were driven to Manitou, to The Garden of the Gods… to canyons... and cascades innumerable, all so marvelous that our stock of exclamations gave out," Bates journalled. "An enchanted summer!"
Bates and fellow teachers took the horse-drawn wagon up Pikes Peak, with a stop halfway up for the horses to be replaced by mules. Bates’ viewing on top of Pikes Peak was cut short due to one of her colleagues fainting from the altitude, but nonetheless, she journaled, "Most glorious scenery I ever beheld.” Leah Davis Witherow, curator of history for the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, said, "Combined with her journey across America on the train – seeing the plains of Kansas, the corn fields, the wheat fields – coming to the top of Pikes Peak and looking out on this vastness deeply impressed her," and it was that trip, ascent and views that were the basis of Bates writing a four-stanza poem titled “America.” In July 1895, it was printed in Boston's weekly newspaper and in 1910, it was paired with a musical arrangement by Samuel A. Ward, re-titled "America the Beautiful."
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CNN TRAVEL: BEST U.S. TOWNS TO VISIT FOR 250TH CELEBRATION: FORT COLLINS IS 5TH
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CNN Travel released its third annual list of America’s Best Towns to Visit. This year, the list was designed to recognize less-discovered communities or places whose unexpected histories and curiosities have been obscured by splashier attractions as part of celebrating America’s 250th birthday. CNN Travel surveyed readers and staff to produce a list of the Top 10 based on: attractions, food and beverage offerings, cultural and nightlife scenes, diversity, sense of identity, proximity to other interesting spots and “wow factor.” They also looked at travel essentials, including lodging options and the ease of getting there.
The top 10:
- Sarasota, Florida
- New Haven, Connecticut
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Burlington, Vermont
- Juneau, Alaska
- Iowa City, Iowa
- Lawrence, Kanas
- Roanoke, Virginia
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MARKET UPDATE - 07/02/2026 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 07/02/2026)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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