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Colorado - Fri. 10/02/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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KEN GRIFFIN IS MAKING THE LARGEST DONATION TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN U.S. HISTORY
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Hedge-fund titan Ken Griffin is donating $2 billion to start a Carnegie Mellon University campus in Miami, part of the largest-ever individual gift toward higher education. The Pittsburgh-based university, known for its expertise in computer science, artificial intelligence and robotics, will open a 35-acre campus in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood that will focus on technology and innovation. Citadel’s chief executive is also giving $1 billion to Carnegie Mellon’s main Pittsburgh campus. Griffin’s combined $3 billion donation is the largest single gift toward higher education from any individual. The donation helps advance Griffin’s aim to establish South Florida as a leading global-business and technology hub. A spokesman said Griffin has now given $2.4 billion in donations to South Florida, where he moved his firm Citadel’s headquarters, and more than $5.7 billion in total charitable giving.
In addition to the donation, Griffin is joining Carnegie Mellon’s Board of Trustees. CMU’s computer science school in Pittsburgh will also be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. While Carnegie Mellon operates satellite campuses in New York City; Mountain View, Calif.; and Qatar, serving up to a few hundred students each, Miami will be its largest expansion by far. The university projects the campus will eventually support more than 3,500 undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. students, nearly 300 faculty and over 600 staff members. Carnegie Mellon’s new Miami campus will sit on a roughly 30-acre site purchased from developer Moishe Mana for $1.1 billion. Details about who ultimately will hold the deed to the 35-acre property weren’t made public. Construction is slated to begin in 2027, with the campus aiming to enroll its first students in 2028.
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MORTGAGE RATES SURGE, NOTCHING LARGEST WEEKLY GAIN IN FOUR YEARS
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Mortgage rates posted their largest increase in four years this week, one of the clearest signs of how the recent bond-market selloff is spilling into the broader economy. Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages leapt to 7.28 percent from 7.03 percent, the biggest jump since October of 2022, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates are rising as inflation, a surge in government debt and heavy corporate borrowing for the build-out of AI push up bond yields, which move in the opposite direction of bond prices. The bond-market selloff is raising borrowing costs for home buyers and dealing blow after blow to a limping housing market. For the week ending Sept. 25, mortgage applications fell 6 percent, the fourth consecutive week of declines, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
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DENVER WATER'S NEW LAWN-WATERING BAN TAKES EFFECT TODAY & FINES START AT $500
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Denver Water customers are banned from watering their lawns starting Thursday, and the state’s largest utility is threatening steep fines for those who break the drought-induced rule. The prohibition outlaws lawn watering and the use of spray irrigation at the start of October for the rest of the warm season, though customers can still hand-water trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables. Residential customers who break the rule once will face a $500 fine. The fine increases to $1,000 for each subsequent violation and, if the watering does not stop, Denver Water says it will shut off the customer’s water service. The utility — which serves 1.5 million people across metro Denver — has sent postcards to customers warning them about the ban and the potential fines.
Denver Water’s reservoirs are typically 91 percent full at the beginning of fall, but they were only 67 percent full this week, despite rainfall in the mountains in recent weeks. The utility’s officials estimated the watering ban could save 5,000 acre-feet of water — enough water to serve more than 10,000 families for a full year. Multifamily residential customers and nonresidential customers will face higher fines than individual homeowners if they violate the ban. First offenses will carry a $1,000 fine, and subsequent violations will cost $2,000 and a suspension of service. The lawn-watering ban will remain in effect until lifted by the board of commissioners. Denver typically sees its first freeze about a week into October, but that milestone can vary widely year to year.
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FEDERAL JUDGE RULES AGAINST SOUTHWEST COLORADO GROUP'S ATTEMPT TO CLAIM SWATH OF FEDERAL LAND
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A federal judge has ruled that a group in southwest Colorado that fenced off more than 1,400 acres of the San Juan National Forest in 2024 has no legal claim to the land. In a 12-page order issued Wednesday, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico wrote that the Free Land Holder Committee and its two identified representatives, Patrick Pipkin and Bryan Hammon, could not build another fence or obstruct public access to the land. The land at issue is outside the town of Mancos, about 30 miles northwest of Durango. The ruling granting an injunction comes two years after a conflict over the land erupted between the little-known group and local residents. The U.S. Dept. of Justice filed a lawsuit in November 2024, asking a judge to block the Free Land Holder Committee’s attempts to fence off the land.
Pipkin bought three 60-acre tracts of land that abut the San Juan National Forest in 2020 at a courthouse auction. The land had previously been owned by Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also referred to as the FLDS. Jeffs and the FLDS lost the property once he was sent to a Texas prison on rape charges. While Pipkin has said he was never a member of the FLDS because he was not baptized into the church, he told The Denver Post in an October 2024 interview that he had five mothers and 37 brothers and sisters. He also successfully sued the FLDS and the cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, in U.S. District Court in Arizona for illegal arrest, excessive force, unlawful police practices and discrimination.
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RMNP SETS OLD FALL RIVER ROAD CLOSING DATE
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If you're trying to catch the fading fall colors in Rocky Mountain National Park, you better hurry as the park is closing Old Fall River Road for the season. The scenic winding gravel road will close to vehicles Oct. 6 and to all uses through Oct. 9 to allow park staff to conduct road maintenance. The road will reopen temporarily to bicycles, leashed pets and walkers Oct. 10-12 then Oct. 13-16 will close again to all uses for continued road maintenance work. The road will reopen Oct. 17 to bicycles, leashed pets and pedestrians for the winter. Leashed pets and bicycles are only allowed on the road, not on side trails. Paved Trail Ridge Road remains open. There is still time to take in the fall colors and the elk rut in the park and Estes Park, both of which generally continue into October. For more information about the park, visit nps.gov/romo/index.htm.
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ASPEN'S 2027 NONPROFIT GRANT CYCLE TO OPEN APPLICATIONS
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The city of Aspen will open applications for the 2027 nonprofit grant cycle Tuesday for nonprofit organizations that provide high-impact services and programming throughout Aspen and the greater Roaring Fork Valley. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 10. The city has been partnering with nonprofit organizations to strengthen the community through arts and culture, health and human services and community programs for nearly 30 years. Since 1996, the city’s grant program has invested more than $33 million into nonprofit organizations serving residents in the area.
This year, funding opportunities include cash grants in community nonprofit and health and human services divisions, mini grants in community nonprofits, arts and culture, as well as in-kind support through participating city facilities. Following the introduction of two-year funding terms in arts and culture, the community nonprofit division will now also offer standard cash grants with two-year funding terms. Nonprofits interested in applying are encouraged to review eligibility requirements, funding opportunities and evaluation criteria. To apply, visit aspen.gov/383/Grants.
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JUDGE SIGNS OFF ON CONTENTIOUS $15M SALE OF GLENWOOD CAVERNS ADVENTURE PARK
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To the disappointment of parents whose child died on one of its rides, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park above Glenwood Springs will be sold to a Seattle firm for $14.8 million. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Kimberly Tyson ruled Tuesday that the only mountaintop amusement park in the U.S. can be sold to an ownership group 80 percent controlled by the company Gondola Ventures. Steve Beckley, the founder of Glenwood Caverns, will hold a 20 percent stake. That is unwelcome news to Estifanos Dagne and Rahel Estifanos, whose daughter Wongel fell 100 feet to her death in 2021 on the park’s Haunted Mine Drop after workers there failed to notice her seat belt was not fastened. A jury awarded $205 million, which is being appealed.
The Estifanoses, who will receive $5 million from the sale of Glenwood Caverns in addition to $7 million from its insurance company, have fought the sale, believing the price is too low and that Beckley kept it that way as a member of both the selling and buying entities. A slower auction process and a sale in 2027 rather than 2026 would net a higher price, they argued. The Estifanoses pointed to their own expert’s valuation of Glenwood Caverns, which placed its worth at $35 million, and noted that it sold for $30 million just six years ago, in 2020. “No matter who owns the park, we are going to keep doing everything we can to make the park safer,” Estifanos Dagne and Rahel Estifanos say. “We don’t want any other child to be killed the way our beautiful daughter was. And we don’t want any other parents to suffer this way.”
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FIFTH ANNUAL NOCHE LATINA RETURNS TO GLENWOOD SPRINGS
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The City of Glenwood Springs will host the fifth annual Noche Latina on Saturday at the Bethel Plaza, bringing Latin American traditions, music, and culture to downtown Glenwood Springs. Held in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the free, family-friendly event brings together the distinct cultures of Latin America while celebrating the Latino community that makes up a significant portion of Garfield County. No registration for the event is required. The celebration will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday with a Latin Cultural Fair featuring Glenwood Springs High School students representing more than 20 different Latin American Countries.
Each student will host a cultural display highlighting the traditions and history of their country and share what they have learned with attendees. Arts and crafts for children will be available from 4 to 6 p.m., along with costumed characters, outdoor games and activities, and live music played by Orquesta MEDIA LUNA. After 6 p.m., the celebration will continue with dancing, a DJ, and other entertainment. Food and alcohol will not be provided at the event, a decision to encourage attendees to support local businesses in the heart of Glenwood Springs. For more information about the free community event, visit cogs.us.
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DURANGO'S MICROTRANSIT RIDE SERVICE EXPANDS LATE NIGHT WEEKEND HOURS STARTING FRIDAY
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Durango’s evening microtransit curb-to-curb service is extending its weekend hours starting Friday. DuranGO! will offer two extra hours of service on Fridays and Saturdays, extending service hours to range from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. The expansion will go into effect this coming weekend after Durango Transit received funding through Colorado’s Clean Transit Enterprise to fuel the expansion. The ride service that operates within city limits currently operates until midnight daily. The transportation department conducts an annual ridership survey, and for years, the top concern was service not running late enough into the evening. The department has a 64 percent transit-dependent ridership – people who get around only using transit – and those people had no mode of transportation in the evenings before the microtransit service started. An average of 2,300 to 2,400 riders use the microtransit service a month.
DuranGO! runs from 5 p.m. to midnight, but that still wasn’t enough for riders, though. Through the Clean Transit Enterprise, Durango received $43,244 in annual funding, which covers 90 percent of the expansion’s cost. The city is paying roughly $10,000 a year for the expansion and is looking for other funding partnerships to cover the remaining cost. The expansion will go into effect this weekend. The fare costs $2 per ride and offers curb-to-curb pickup and drop-off for riders in Durango and Three Springs.
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CITY OF STEAMBOAT SPRINGS LAUNCHES MOUNTAIN RAIL STATION LOCATION STUDY
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The city of Steamboat Springs, in partnership with the Colorado Dept. of Transportation, Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad, has officially launched the long-awaited Passenger Rail Station Location Study as part of the broader Mountain Rail initiative. The six-month study will assess possible locations for one or more future stations while exploring how the station could function within Steamboat Springs, including access, connections, amenities and surrounding land uses. The study is not intended to establish whether passenger rail service will materialize, as “many details” of the greater Mountain Rail project remain to be determined, but to provide an opportunity to see what that station could look like and how it could work “if passenger rail service becomes available.”
- The next stakeholder meeting is on Wednesday, Oct. 28 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Timber & Torch, where the stakeholder committee will talk station planning updates from the various municipalities expected to be included in passenger rail service.
- Steamboat’s online questionnaire, open through Nov. 1, will ask community members how they might utilize passenger rail and what they would like to see in and around a future station.
- A guided site tour is also planned for Oct. 28 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., where local residents can get a closer look at possible station-area locations and share their initial observations. The tour will include stops near the Historic Depot, the Howelsen Hill Rodeo Grounds and Emerald Park.
- To take the questionnaire, visit TinyUrl.com/3chw5tt5. To RSVP for the guided site tour, visit TinyUrl.com/5n7vkr28.
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ALPINE SHRED DAY IN STEAMBOAT OCT. 2
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Alpine Bank invites the community to a community shredding event, on Friday, Oct. 2, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Alpine Bank - Steamboat Springs, 1901 Pine Grove Rd., to securely dispose of unwanted documents and personal information. Shred old bank statements, old medical records, canceled or blank checks, credit card statements and personal bills. Staples or paperclips do not need to be removed. There is a maximum of four boxes per household and business. All shredded paper is recycled. For more information call 970-871-1901 or visit the link below.
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IN COLORADO, THE MAJESTIC PONDEROSA PINES ARE DYING
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Damage wrought by the mountain pine beetle in Colorado is already evident in the stands of thousands of dead and dying red-needled ponderosa pine. Their gray skeletons line highways, heighten already elevated wildfire risk and threaten watersheds that millions of residents rely on for clean drinking water. On some mountain properties about 40 miles west of Denver most every pine is dead. Many residents cannot afford to remove the infested century-old ponderosas. One quote ran $15,000 an acre. The growing price tag to mitigate the damage and protect high-value trees from the next onslaught presents a quandary for local, state and federal agencies. An historic drought weakened ponderosa pines, allowing the beetles to chew their way through hillsides of trees bordering mountain towns at the gateway to popular ski areas and hiking trails.
- Impacted acreage increased 148 percent to 5,544 acres in 2025, when compared with 2024, alarming foresters, communities and lawmakers.
- This year, the breadth of the insect’s footprint and the intensity of its attack is expected to expand exponentially. At stake: More than 600,000 acres of ponderosa pine forest woven throughout areas where about 4 million people live in nine counties on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. “We anticipate there to be anywhere from twice as much, to three times as much, activity as we saw last year,” Dan West, an entomologist with the Colorado State Forest Service, told Capital & Main in June.
- A U.S. Forest Service map of the endemic pest’s potential to spread through 2030 is equally startling: Dark red blotches indicating infestation intensity cover forests at every latitude from Boulder, north of Denver, to the Black Forest, where high-end suburbs hug Colorado Springs, to areas behind Pikes Peak to the south. The counties most at risk contain thousands of acres of ponderosas. Some of the pines sit just outside the state’s Capitol.
- Females who burrowed into large green trees in 2025 laid double the number of larvae the scientist observed in previous infestations. The lack of sub-zero temperatures this winter — which marked the state’s lowest snowpack on record — ensured their survival.
- The last major outbreak, which spanned 1996 to 2013 and decimated about 82 percent, or about 3.4 million acres, of the state’s pine forests, is fresh in Coloradans’ minds. In some ski communities, such as Winter Park, entire mountainsides of trees perished, dramatically altering the landscape.
- Dead lodgepole pines intensified the two largest wildfires in state history in 2020. The Cameron Peak Fire swept through 326 square miles of forest in Larimer and Jackson counties and Rocky Mountain National Park, along with 492 structures, while the East Troublesome Fire burned through Grand County and Rocky Mountain National Park, reducing to ash over 300 square miles and 500 structures and killing two.
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MARKET UPDATE - 10/01/2026 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 10/01/2026)
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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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