The Colorado Department of Education Tuesday released information for local school districts, a "tool kit," to assist the opening of schools for the fall semester. However, the department of education did not declare that in-person classrooms would return for sure in the fall. The CDE is recommending that schools utilize remote learning, with in-classroom instruction, stagger student schedules and conduct health screenings.

The Colorado Legislature reconvened Tuesday for the first time since March 14, with members wearing masks and respecting physical distancing. The session has 50 days remaining in its 120-day term, but legislators say they plan to meet only three weeks. They are required by statute to pass a budget for the coming fiscal year and they also immediately took on another initiative…to repeal the Gallagher Amendment. The amendment has been in the state Constitution since 1982 and was intended to keep property taxes low. However, it has squeezed revenues for the state's schools, fire and police departments.

The Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora will reopen its water features to the general public on June 25 and is offering summer room rates to local residents and leisure travelers to drum up business. The Gaylord Rockies Resort is the state's largest hotel, with 1,501 rooms. It closed on March 25. When the resort reopens it will implement new cleaning technologies, hospital-grade disinfectants, frequent sanitizing of public spaces and social distancing practices.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment last Saturday granted a variance from state regulations for Garfield County to allow restaurants, gyms and fitness centers and places of worship to reopen at 50 percent capacity. However, one part of the county's application, to open tourist attractions, like the hot springs and the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park, was denied. Garfield County commissioners will meet today to discuss the county's public health policies and may decide to formally ask again if tourist attractions can open before the June 1 date when the CDPHE said it would review opening tourist attractions statewide.

The Pitkin County commissioners Tuesday reviewed plans for moving tourists to Maroon Lake this summer. The Maroon Creek Road will open June 8, and the Maroon Bells Recreation Area will open the same day. The shuttle bus service, operated by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, will begin June 28. The shuttle bus service will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. The shuttle service will cost $15.95 for adults and reservations can be made starting June 2 at the Aspen Chamber Resort Association website. Parking is available at Maroon Bells between June 8 and June 28, as well as before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m. Parking is by reservation only and costs $10 per car.

Aspen City Council on Tuesday extended its mandatory face covering public health order to June 17 as the city will open restaurants and lodges at limited capacity this week. Council first passed the mask law on April 27, which was effective for 30 days and was set to expire Wednesday. The Basalt Town Council Tuesday extended its requirement that people must wear face coverings in places of business that are open to the public until June 23. The board voted May 1 to require masks or other coverings. That rule was set to expire Wednesday at midnight.

Garfield County Fair Board Chairman Levy Burris met with the county commissioners Tuesday and stated "we have not canceled the fair," but the fair will not have a pro rodeo, or bull riding, or live concerts, or a demolition derby, no monster truck show and there will be no carnival. The fair, which runs July 27-Aug.2, will have an online 4-H/FFA junior livestock show and auction, an on-site car show, the family rodeo event, and the open class home canning, baking and arts and crafts exhibits and judging.

The Telluride Town Council, at a special meeting Tuesday, gave unanimous approval to a measure that will allow restaurants and retailers on Colorado Avenue in downtown Telluride to conduct business in the street. The resolution was designed to "encourage and permit outdoor dining, retail display and transactions, local art display and performance to assist local businesses in response to the town’s local disaster emergency regarding COVID-19.” The resolution goes into effect June 1 and on June 2, the council will consider whether to expand the resolution to include side streets.

The Telluride Society for Jazz, the organizers of the Telluride Jazz Festival Tuesday announced the 44th Annual Telluride Jazz Festival has been postponed from its scheduled Aug. 7-9 date to Aug. 13-15, 2021. Ticket-holders have the options of rolling over tickets to next year's festival, obtaining a full refund, partial refund or making a partial donation to the Telluride Society for Jazz, or donating the ticket price to the organization.

Burton Snowboards Tuesday announced it was canceling the 2021 Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, scheduled to take place March 1-6 at Vail Mountain's Golden Peak. The company said it was a very difficult decision and was made because the uncertainties surrounding the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible for Burton "to invest millions in an event that could end up being canceled." The U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships are titled as the world's longest continuously running snowboard event.

From an idea generated by Gypsum Town Manager Jeremy Rietmann, the town of Gypsum, along with the Vail Valley Partnership, the Vail Valley Foundation, Vail Health and a number of businesses in the Vail Valley, have launched the "Welcome Home" campaign. The Welcome Home program is designed to get second-home owners in the Vail Valley to spend the summer in the valley, instead of just coming for a weekend or a few days. The program has a toolkit available to send to anyone in the valley who knows second-home owners, such as Realtors, ski instructors, etc.

The Routt County commissioners Tuesday decided not to extend the order from the public health department to ban lodging. The lodging ban was due to expire May 31, and now, lodging companies, including hotels, motels, short-term rentals and campgrounds, will be allowed to open June 1. Because most the events this summer have already been canceled, bookings for June are down by 50 percent.

Last Saturday, Arapahoe Basin received approval for the request to reopen, and the ski area will open today, with a maximum of 600 skiers. At its opening, A-Basin will have two beginner runs, 18 intermediate runs and one advanced run open, along with Black Mountain Express, Lenawee Mountain and Pallavicini lifts. Skiers and snowboarder were so amped up to get back on the slopes, the A-Basin reservation system crashed almost immediately after it opened Monday evening. The reservation system was never relaunched and instead, the access will be determined by a random drawing for each day of skiing or riding. Information is available at: ArapahoeBasin.com/may27-reopening.

Forbes published its fourth annual Top Women Wealth Advisors list. The ranking was compiled by SHOOK Research from a list of 32,000 nominations. SHOOK used both qualitative and quantitative measures, including in-person interviews of 2,356 candidates. Top 10, with name of their firm, location and amount under management:

1. Rebecca Rothstein, Merrill Private Wealth Mgmt., Beverly Hills, CA: $3.48 billion
2. Cheryl Young, Morgan Stanley Wealth Mgmt., Los Gatos, CA: $1B
3. Colleen O'Callaghan, JP Morgan Securities, New York, NY: $1.9B
4. Susan Kaplan, Kaplan Financial Svcs. Newton, MA: $1.9B
5. Lori Van Dusen, LVW Advisors, Pittsford, NY: $1.8B
6. Laila Pence, Pence Wealth Mgmt., Newport Beach, CA: $1.6B
7. Elaine Meyers, JP Morgan Securities, San Francisco, CA: $2.9B
8. Louise Gunderson, UBS Private Wealth Mgmt., New York, NY: $907M
9. Mary Deatherage, Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Mgmt., Little Falls, NJ: $2.8B
10. Johanna Walters, Merrill Lynch Wealth Mgmt., Blue Bell, PA: $5B

Youthentity empowers young people through financial literacy and career preparedness programs. The organization's financial literacy programs teach kids the basics of finance - such as credit, debt, investment and saving - so that they can understand the concepts that will help shape their futures. Career development programs show kids the job and career possibilities available to them. Youthentity's annual Pig Roast fundraiser is critical to the facilitation of these programs, and this year, it will be held online via Youthentity.org, June 24-26. The online fundraiser offers great products such as local art, gift baskets and amazing getaways - all of which help support Youthentity youth programs! To learn more, visit the link below or call 970-376-7574.

Rocky Mountain PBS is partnering with the Colorado Governor’s office, the Colorado Dept. of Education and the Colorado Education Initiative to offer K-3 Read With Me at Home. There is remote learning programming each weekday along with work packets and lesson plans that can be accessed online or can even be printed and mailed to families. The wonderful part of this plan is that the programs are on-air with no internet connection required thereby reaching families without computers or access to high-speed internet. The Colorado Education Association has provided access and a stipend for master teachers who have created the videos and tools for this project. Click on the link below for more information about the project.