LARGEST HOTEL IN THE STATE TO GET EVEN BIGGER

Colorado’s largest hotel, the 1,501-room Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, announced Thursday that it will grow even bigger, adding another 317 rooms as part of an $80 million expansion effort that gets underway this spring. The Gaylord Rockies opened just over a year ago. The new rooms will be added to the east side of the property, where a surface parking lot now sits. The site plan for the expansion has been approved by the city.

POWERLINE COMPLETE, BRINGING WIND POWER TO DENVER AREA

Xcel Energy, the largest utility in Colorado, announced Thursday that it has completed and powered up a transmission line that will move electricity generated from wind turbines in Morgan County near Brush some 125 miles to the Daniels Park in Douglas County. The last 20-mile segment linking a substation in Aurora to Daniels Park was completed in December. Xcel says completing the links to wind power on the Eastern Plains are critical to its plans to source 80 percent of its energy in Colorado from carbon-free sources by 2030.

INTERIOR’S PLANS FOR RE-SIZED BEARS EARS AND ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENTS

The U.S. Department of Interior Thursday released new management plans for the “rightsize” Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National monuments in southeast Utah. The boundaries of the two national monuments were shrunk in 2017 in an effort to “rightsize” the footprints of the monuments. The management plans set new rules for what activities can take place on both what was former national monument lands as well as activities that can take place on the remaining monument lands. That includes timber harvesting and off-road vehicle use.

STAY ON TOP OF WEATHER, DRIVING CONDITIONS

With the continued severe weather conditions forecast across the central mountains and Interstate Mountain Corridor, here are some sources for information:

• National Weather Service Grand Junction: weather.gov/gjt
• Storm warnings and advisories: wrh.noaa.gov
• Road conditions, closures and traffic cameras: cotrip.org
• Travel information by phone: 511 (in Colorado) or 303-639-1111
• Avalanche danger and conditions: avalanche.state.co.us

SNOW DAY! NO SCHOOL IN RE-1 AND ASPEN

The Roaring Fork School District Re-1 announced Thursday that all the district schools would be closed Friday in anticipation of continued adverse weather. The Aspen School District has canceled classes for Friday because of the major snowstorm that started early Thursday morning and is expected to last into Saturday. All after-school and extracurricular activities were also cancelled in Re-1. In the Aspen School District, the closure includes Aspen Community School, Wildwood School and Aspen Country Day.

PLENTY OF POWDER FOR SKI SPREE THIS WEEKEND

The heavy dose of new powder arrived on cue for Ski Spree this weekend at Sunlight Mountain Resort. Ski Spree will have the Mountain Treasure Hunt on Saturday and Sunday, beginning both days at 9 a.m. The highlight of Ski Spree will be the fourth annual Taste of Sunlight, which will take place apres ski on Saturday. Providing the food are The Pullman, Carbondale Beer Works, Patina Bar & Grille, Heidi’s Deli, Uncle Pizza, Jimmy Johns, Sweet Coloradough, Qdoba, the Sunlight Mountain Inn, and Sunny Pop and taco samplings from Sunlight’s Compass Mountain Grill food truck. The Torchlight Parade and fireworks will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday night.

CANADIAN FIRM TING INTERNET ACQUIRES CEDAR NETWORKS

Durango-based Cedar Networks, which has approximately 1,400 customers and 6,400 addresses served by fiber optic internet, has been acquired by Toronto-based Ting Internet. Ting Internet is a subsidiary of Toronto-based Tucows Inc. Tucows paid $9 million in cash and $2 million in stock for Cedar Networks last month. Cedar Networks has 14 employees in Durango and 5 in Carbondale. Officials with Cedar Networks look to expand operations with capital provided by Ting and are looking to hire technicians.

SOUTHWEST CONSERVATION CORPS LOOKS TO HIRE 65 STUDENTS

The Southwest Conservation Corps is preparing to hire one of its largest summer work crews ever. In 2016, the Southwest Conservation Corps hired 16 youths. This summer, it is looking to hire 65 students. The Southwest Conservation Corps runs a young adult AmeriCorps program and a youth program for high school students throughout the Four Corners. The youth crews are primarily from La Plata, Montezuma, Archuleta and San Juan counties in Colorado. The youths are paid minimum wage for their project work during one of two four-week sessions offered each summer.

EAGLE COUNTY SCHOOLS CLOSED TODAY; I-70 CLOSES AT 7 A.M.

The Eagle County School District announced Thursday that all Eagle County schools will be closed Friday, Feb. 7. The Colorado Department of Transportation announced that both eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 70 over Vail Pass will be closed at 7 a.m. today for avalanche control work. CDOT did not provide any indication how long I-70 would be closed but avalanche mitigation work could take hours to complete.

SUMMIT SCHOOLS CLOSED FRIDAY

The Summit School District announced Thursday evening that all schools will be closed Friday, Feb. 7, due to hazardous conditions anticipated from the heavy snowfall.

TOP JOBS THAT DON’T REQUIRE A COLLEGE DEGREE

U.S. News & World Report compiled its 2020 ranking of the top-paying jobs workers can get without a college degree. The top 10 from U.S. News, with median annual wage:

1. Patrol officer: $61,380
2. Executive assistant: $59,340
3. Sales representative: $58,510
4. Electrician: $55,190
5. Wind turbine technician: $54,370
6. Structural iron and steelworker: $53,970
7. Plumber: $53,910
8. Hearing aid specialist $52,770
9. Sound engineering technician: $52,930
10. Brickmason and blockmason: $50,950 per year