GOV. POLIS: BUDGET CUTS, BAN ON EVICTIONS, SKI AREAS CLOSURE EXTENDED

Late Thursday night, Gov. Jared Polis announced executive orders which cut $228.7 million from the state budget, banned evictions statewide and extended closures at the state's ski areas until May 23. The budget cuts were made in the current fiscal year ending June 30 and impact nearly every sector of the budget, but do not involve any layoffs or furloughs of state employees. The majority of the cutbacks, $183 million, will come from Medicaid services.

NEW WEEK, MORE SAFER-AT-HOME OPENINGS

Today, Monday May 4, offices across most of the state will be allowed to reopen and bring back some employees, with strict limitations. Offices can reopen at 50 percent in-person staffing levels starting today. Child care facilities can also expand or reopen if they are following best practices. The relaxed measures do not apply to counties where stay-at-home restrictions have been extended until May 8: Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Gilpin and Jefferson. Much remains closed under the state’s “safer-at-home” rules, including restaurants, cafes, bars, brew pubs, tasting rooms, cigar bars, gymnasiums, yoga and fitness studios, bowling alleys, playgrounds, libraries, movie and performance theaters, concert halls, museums and casinos.

CAN'DAID DELIVERS WATER TO NAVAJO, HOPI NATIONS

Can'dAid, the Longmont-based nonprofit, has teamed with Oskar Blues Brewery, Coyote Logistics, Atlas Copco, Ball Corporation and CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective to ship 50,400 cans of water to people living on Navajo and Hopi land. The first shipment went out April 6 and the second will arrive Monday. Many of the 138,000 people living in the Navajo Nation and on Hopi land across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah have to travel at least an hour one way to reach clean drinking water. Can'dAid has provided water during 27 disasters since 2015.

ASPEN MUSIC SCHOOL AND FESTIVAL CANCELS COMPLETE 2020 SEASON

The Aspen Music Festival and School announced Monday that it will cancel the entire 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic and the expected public health restrictions expected to continue through August. It is the first time the Aspen Music Festival and School has cancelled for an entire season since the Festival's founding in 1949. Originally scheduled to begin July 2, the season was to include more than 400 concerts and public events while hosting a student body of as many as 600 and a faculty of 150.

GLENWOOD: NO FOURTH OF JULY SHOW, DOWNTOWN MARKET IS ON

The city of Glenwood Springs’ Fourth of July celebration is canceled because of COVID-19. For the last two years, the city has hosted a Fourth of July celebration at Two Rivers Park with live music, food vendors and a laser show, with the laser show replacing fireworks due to fire danger. Glenwood's Downtown Market & Music Series on Tuesdays in the summer will continue this summer, but will move from the location at Centennial Park, where it has operated since starting in 2005, to Seventh Street. There will be booths set six feet apart and there will be no live music.

TOWNS OF GYPSUM, EAGLE TAKE FINANCIAL HIT FROM CORONAVIRUS

The Gypsum Town Council last week received a financial report which forecast a 50 percent drop in sales tax revenues for the remainder of the year. Fortunately, the town has a very adequate fund balance to cover the anticipated shortfall in revenues. Gypsum had an approved operating budget of $9.5 million for 2020 and now plans to cut $1 million from the budget. The current fund balance is about $4.2 million. In Eagle, the town is planning for a 25 percent drop in sales tax receipts for 2020. Eagle also has a healthy reserve fund available for 2020.

RURAL JUMP START PROGRAM STILL HOLDING IN COLORADO LEGISLATURE

The Colorado Legislature interrupted its 2020 session in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and when it resumes later this month, it faces the prospect of making cuts of billions of dollars in the fiscal 2021 budget due to projected shortfalls in revenue due to COVID-19. The proposed budget of about $30 billion will require reductions by about $3 billion, according to analysts. The Legislature also needs to complete its unfinished business left in the 2020 session.
One of those measures is House Bill 1003, the Rural Jump-Start Zone Act, which was introduced by Rep. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon and Rep. Janice Rich, R-Grand Junction. The bill passed the Colorado House before the session was interrupted. The Jump Start bill would expand the popular Rural Jump Start Tax Credit Program started in Mesa County in 2016. The bill provides certain startup companies that create new jobs special tax breaks from income and sale taxes for owners and employees. Leading the bill in the state Senate are co-sponsors, Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail and Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction.

WITH ALL COVID-19 LAYOFFS, LOCKHEED MARTIN IS HIRING IN DENVER AREA

Aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin recently hired 400 new workers in the Denver area and has 500 more positions to fill: The 500 open positions include:

• Communications
• Cyber security
• Finance
• Engineering

To search jobs available, go to: www.lockheedmartinjobs.com/ and select a location

ALPINE BANK BRANCH STATUS

Alpine Bank Customer Service Center (1-800-551-6098) hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For convenient automated account information, please call our Alpine Bank Info-line at 1-800-698-4433, 24 hours a day, or visit www.alpinebank.com. Online banking and mobile banking are available for customers to access their accounts 24/7. To report a lost or stolen debit card, please call 1-888-425-7463. To report a lost or stolen credit card, please call 1-888-284-3703. Thank you for the opportunity to be your bank. We appreciate your business.