HOLIDAY HOURS

All branches of Alpine Bank will be closed Tuesday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. Have a safe and happy holiday! And remember, you can still bank with Alpine anytime, anywhere using Alpine Online at www.alpinebank.com, AlpineMobile or by calling the Alpine InfoLine at 888-4-ALPINE (888-425-7463). For a complete list of bank holidays, click on the link below.

LIVE MUSIC RETURNS TO THE ELITCH THEATRE

It was the summer of 1994 and the Elitch Gardens amusement park was preparing to move to the Central Platte Valley in the fall. For the final summer at the historic Elitch Theatre, there were performances by Emmylou Harris and Air Supply, among others, before the venue was shuttered. Now the historic venue has undergone a restoration and Saturday night live music returned with performances by the Sweet Lillies and The Sunnyside All-Star String Band. Although the venue is in the third-stage of its restoration, it still needs another $2 million in interior improvements and there will be a fundraiser on Aug. 26.

ARMY TESTING VEHICLE OF THE FUTURE AT FT. CARSON

The U.S. military is the world’s largest consumer of diesel fuel, with diesel fuel costing the American military some $13 billion per year. Getting fuel to remote places, like Afghanistan, can cost as much as $400 a gallon when transportation costs are added in. The Army has been testing a vehicle at Fort Carson that holds the promise of reducing the cost/need for diesel. It is a 3-ton, hydrogen-powered ZH-2, an experimental truck built by General Motors. It has no pistons, no cylinders, but instead is powered by a fuel cell that turns pure hydrogen into electricity to run the truck, with just water vapor out the exhaust.

QUICK LOOK AT HOW 2017 HAS GONE SO FAR

The second quarter closed out last week and here is a quick look at how the market has done so far this year. Analysts forecast the S&P 500 to end the year up 5.5 percent at 2362, but through the first six months, the S&P has outperformed that, finishing up about 8 percent and setting 24 new closing records. The dollar was expected to strengthen, but has actually weakened against other major currencies. The 10-year Treasury was expected to be pushed higher by Federal Reserve action and pro-growth policies, but the yield has fallen to 2.28 percent on Friday from 2.44 percent at the end of 2016.

TCI RANCH ON HWY. 82 SOLD FOR $7.2 MILLION

The 100-acre parcel known as the TCI Lane Ranch or the McClure River Ranch, which is located on the south side of Highway 82 just east of the Catherine Store, has been acquired by a group headed by Marc and Melissa Ganzi and affiliated with the Aspen Valley Polo Club at Catherine Store, which was co-founded by Ganzi. The property will provide additional space for polo fields and barns. The history of ranching on the property began in 1892 when Thomas McClure homesteaded it. McClure is famous for developing his Red McClure potato on the property.

SUNLIGHT’S SEASON HAD ITS UPS AND DOWNS

Sunlight Mountain Resort suffered from a less-than stellar snow season as local skiers and boarders did not make the trip up to the ski area when conditions were the very best. Sunlight actually sold slightly more season passes for the 2016-17 season than 2015-16, but visits from passholders were down 15 percent. That is probably due to snowfall totals being 25 percent below the yearly average. Sales of the Sunlight Ski, Swim and Stay packages were up 28 percent, helping to offset the downturn in season passholder visits. Overall, Sunlight’s total visitor numbers were down 4 percent.

STATE ECONOMIC PICTURE LOOKS STRONG, SLIGHT GROWTH IN GJ

The Leeds Business Confidence Index for Colorado was released by the Leeds Business School at the University of Colorado and it showed the business outlook for the state heading into the second half of 2017 remained strong. All seven metropolitan statistical areas reported growth in the second quarter, although the Grand Junction Metro Area barely squeezed out 0.3 percent growth, well below the two percent-plus growth in most other areas and the 4.7 percent growth in the Fort Collins-Loveland area.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP OPERATION LAUNCHES IN MONTROSE COUNTY

Paradox Ventures LLC last week began planting hemp at two locations in Montrose County, with about 14,000 plants going into 10 acres in western Montrose County and another 10,000 plants in eastern Montrose County. Both fields will supply hemp for a processing facility that Paradox Ventures is building in Nucla. The entire hemp plant – leaves, stalks, oil and seeds – are used to produce everything from cosmetics, to clothing and paper, bio-fuel and even building materials.

WALK AND READ IN TELLURIDE

The Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride has taken its latest project to the streets, well, not actually to the streets, but to the San Miguel River Trail. The library’s new Story Walk was unveiled last week. It is a sequential display of 14 story boards posted on the San Miguel Trail displaying pages of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” in Spanish and English. The Story Walk in Telluride is modeled after one at the Kellogg Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Vermont and similar to one created at the Montrose Botanic Gardens last fall by the Montrose Library.

WESTERN STATES REPORT HEAVY WINTER LOSSES OF ELK, DEER

Record snowfall in California and parts of the Northwest and Wyoming, coupled with cold temperatures, resulted in above-normal losses of deer and elk across the West. South-central Colorado and the Gunnison Basin had high rates of fawn mortality this spring, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In California, there were an unusually high number of deaths in the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep herd because of the heavy snow. In Wyoming, the mule deer and pronghorn antelope west of the Continental Divide suffered some of the greatest losses in 30 years, according to Wyoming Game and Fish.

HUGE CROWDS EXPECTED IN THE VAIL VALLEY FOR HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

The Vail Fire Department and Vail Police Department are gearing up for large crowds to be in town for the Fourth of July. The Vail fireworks display is expected to go off as scheduled, although fireworks shows in Steamboat Springs, Aspen and Snowmass have been canceled. As many as 10,000 people are expected for the Vail America Days parade. That will not be the biggest crowd in the area for the holiday, as 20,000 are expected to be on hand for the 31st annual Westin Salute to the USA at Nottingham Park in Avon this evening.

MORE FIRES ON THE WESTERN SLOPE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL

A new wildfire sprung to life Sunday afternoon in rugged, mountainous terrain near Kremmling. The Gutzler fire, as officials have named it, is about 14 miles southwest of Kremmling and 9 miles east of the hamlet of State Bridge. The fire was approximately 250 acres and burning in mixed conifer and timber. Smoke may be visible from the State Bridge area in Eagle County, and from Highway 9 in Summit County. There were also fires reported in Routt County and Garfield County. The Mill Creek Fire is about 13 miles northeast of Hayden in Routt County and had burned about 140 acres. A fire was also reported late Sunday night near Triangle Park, about 22 miles north of New Castle along the Buford Road.

MORE HOUSES NEEDED, NO CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AVAILABLE

All across the state of Colorado there is a need for more housing. The state remains a magnet for attracting more people needing more new houses and the unemployment rate is at a record low. Industry officials in Colorado say the shortage of skilled laborers is at a crisis level. Right now the construction industry employs 148,604 workers. The Colorado State University department of construction management estimates that by 2025, the state will need to add 56,000 new construction jobs and there will be another 40,000 available from retirement, meaning a 38 percent overall increase in workers from today. In 2007, before the recession, the median wage for construction workers in the state was $13 an hour and construction managers made $77,720. By May 2016, the median pay was $16.17 an hour, and construction managers made an average of $92,370 a year.

COLORADO’S FASTEST-GROWING PUBLIC COMPANIES

Ranked percentage increase from 2014-2016, with 2016 net income:

1. Century Casinos, Colorado Springs: 647.97 percent, $9.22 million
2. Vail Resorts, Broomfield: 425.86 percent, $149.75 million
3. Heska Corp., Loveland: 303.69 percent, $10.51 million
4. Molson Coors Brewing Co., Golden: 284.79 percent, $1.98 billion
5. CoreSite Realty Co., Denver: 157.89 percent, $58.71 million
6. National Bank Holdings Corp., Greenwood Village: 151.31 percent, $23.06 million
7. Century Communities Inc., Greenwood Village: 147.43 percent, $49.54 million
8. Liberty Media Corp., Englewood: 133.92 percent, $924 million
9. Liberty Interactive Corp., Englewood: 129.98 percent, $1.24 billion
10. Level 3 Communications Inc., Broomfield: 115.61 percent, $677 million