HOTTEST SEPTEMBER ON RECORD FOR COLORADO

Colorado recorded its hottest statewide September temperature ever, according to preliminary data from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). NCEI is an operation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and it recorded an average statewide temperature of 62.9 degrees in Colorado for September. That tops the previous statewide average record of 62.6 degrees set in 2015 and it was 5.6 degrees above the 125-year average.

NUMBER OF WORKERS FALLS, SO DOES UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

According to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the number of nonfarm jobs fell by 1,900 between August and September, the first month-over-month decline recorded since September 2018. Despite the drop in payrolls, the unemployment rate, which is based on a separate household survey, fell to 2.7 percent in September from 2.8 percent in August, with 3,100 fewer people describing themselves as being without a job and actively looking for one. For the year, the state's nonfarm payroll count is up by 56,900.

LAMAR TRAIN DEPOT ON NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

According to the National Park Service website, "…almost every county in the United States has at least one place listed in the National Register [of Historic Places]." There are more than a dozen in Prowers County, in Holly, Granada, Wiley and Lamar. Now, there is one more. On July 19, 2019, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway train depot was added to the list and on Oct. 16, National and State Register Historian Amy Unger made the formal presentation of the plaque in ceremonies in Lamar. The train depot was built in 1907 after the original station burned down. It still serves as an Amtrak stop today.

WINTER FLIGHT SCHEDULE FOR ASPEN: UP SLIGHTLY

The number of seats available on commercial flights to Aspen is up 2.1 percent from December to April over the corresponding period last winter. The season is divided into four "sub-seasons": Dec. 4 to 18; the holidays Dec. 19 through Jan. 5; Jan. 6 through Feb. 13 and Feb. 14 through April 2. For the first period, Dec. 4-18, United Airlines has added a fifth daily round trip to Denver and a nonstop flight to/from San Francisco. There will be 38 daily flights over the holiday period. Overall capacity will go up 2.8 percent in the Jan. 6-Feb. 13 period and starting in March United will increase Denver service with a ninth daily flight and add a fifth Chicago flight.

ASPEN UPDATING INVENTORY OF HISTORIC HOMES

The city of Aspen is home to some 300 historic structures, all but 40 of which date to the Victorian era. Now, the city is undertaking a survey to update documentation on all its historic properties and has retained Bendon Adams to begin the process of updating the documentation. The initial contract will cover 80 properties. The first round covers the city's West End, with a surveyor taking pictures and interviewing homeowners. The previous inventories were conducted in 1980, 1993 and 2003.

TWO GJ ECO-DEVO EFFORTS RECOGNIZED

At the annual conference of the International Economic Development Council Oct. 13-16 in Indianapolis, the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce received a Gold level award, for communities of 25,000 to 200,000 people, in a category called Innovation in Economic Development Week. It was one of only 34 total awards given by the IEDC. The economic development week, held in May each year, featured a campaign by the GJ chamber entitled "We Are Champions." Also, at the conference, the Grand Junction Economic Partnership and Executive Director Robin Brown were recognized with a Silver level award.

MORE THAN 400 NEW HOTEL ROOMS COMING TO DURANGO

There is an 82-room Sleep Inn/MainStay Suites hotel under construction on Escalante Drive near the Goodwill store south of downtown Durango. It Is one of several new hotels under construction that will add 435 new hotel rooms to Durango. There are about 1,894 hotel and motel rooms in the current inventory in Durango and the rooms currently under construction will add 23 percent more rooms to the market. That does not include 103 rooms being added at Purgatory Resort.

FARMINGTON FIRM RECRUITS TEACHERS FROM PHILIPPINES

The Aztec Municipal School District has had seven teaching positions vacant for seven years, unable to recruit teachers to fill the posts. That changed this school year as eight teachers from the Philippines filled positions that had been vacant for years. The teachers were recruited from the Philippines by Bepauche International, which is based in Farmington, N.M. Bepauche has a pool of 500 to 1,000 teachers and was launched in 2015 to bring Filipino teachers to Navajo Nation schools.

MINTURN BIKE PARK RAISES $40K, READY TO APPLY FOR GOCO GRANT

Organizers of the project to build a new bike park in Minturn had hoped to raise $30,000 in support of the park and to serve as matching funds for a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado. In just a few weeks, about $40,000 has been raised and now organizers can apply for a $250,000 GOCO grant. The Vail Valley Trails Alliance will submit the grant application next week. If GOCO funds the request in March, construction could begin by May, with the park opening by late summer/early fall 2020.

WANT TO MAKE A MOVIE IN COLORADO?…PROBABLY NOT

In 2012, Gov. John Hickenlooper launched the state's film incentive program, with $5 million in funding appropriated by the legislature. That amount has dwindled over time and in the current state budget, the Colorado Office of Film has only $750,000. That money ran out in about two months. The Colorado Economic Development Commission last week provided the state's film incentive program with a $1.25 million lifeline, with the hope that the governor and legislature will fund the program in next year's budget. The Colorado film incentive program provides a rebate of up to 20 percent of the cost of production spending in the state. Colorado is not competitive when it comes to luring film companies. New Mexico has a film incentive budget of $110 million. Utah has $9 million. Montana has a budget of $9 million. Movie producers clearly have multiple mountain states that offer incentives to film scripts that call for a Colorado location.

COST OF GOING TO COLLEGE IN STATE

The most expensive in-state tuition costs in Colorado? Colorado Mesa University was No. 13 with an annual total in-state tuition cost of $26,699. Colorado Mountain College was No. 16 at $15,688. Total annual in-state tuition cost:

1. The Colorado College: $68,616
2. University of Denver: $65,376
3. Regis University: $51,202
4. Johnson & Wales University of Denver: $47,252
5. Colorado Christian University: $43,486
6. Colorado School of Mines: $33,648
7. University of Colorado Boulder: $30,178
8. Colorado State University Pueblo: $26,702
9. Fort Lewis College: $26,691
10. Colorado State University: $25,929