JAPANESE SPACE FIRM, ISPACE, LOCATES U.S. HEADQUARTERS IN DENVER

A Japanese aerospace company, ispace, that is developing a lunar lander for use in making deliveries to the moon will locate its U.S. headquarters in Denver. According to ispace CEO Kyle Acierno, Denver was selected because of the "dynamic aerospace ecosystem" in Colorado and the "abundance of talent" available. Ispace is building a commercial lunar lander intended to provide low-cost delivery service to the moon. The company reports it has raised about $125 million for the project.

COMMENT TIME EXTENDED ON DRILLING NEAR NATIONAL MONUMENT

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management was set to close the comment period for a proposal to lease land for drilling near the Chimney Rock National Monument in southwest Colorado on Tuesday. However, local elected officials, tribal officials and even officials of the state government sent requests to the BLM to extend the time for comment. On Wednesday, the BLM agreed to extend the comment period to Nov. 25. Some of the parcels in the leasing proposal are close to Chimney Rock which has more than 150 archaeological sites.

ENTRANCE TO NATIONAL PARKS IS NOW FREE FOR ALL VETERANS, GOLD STAR FAMILIES

On October 28, 2020, Interior Secretary David L. Bernhardt announced a Secretarial Order granting Gold Star Families and U.S. military veterans free access to national parks, wildlife refuges and other sites managed by the Dept. of Interior. The order went into effect on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. The waiver of entrance fees does not cover expanded amenity or user fees for activities such as camping, transportation, special recreation permits or special tours. The definition of a veteran for purposes of this program includes all individuals who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, including the National Guard and Reserves and who are able to present: a Dept. of Defense Identification Card (CAC Card); or Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC); or Veteran ID Card; or Veterans designation on a state-issued U.S. driver's license or identification card. More details are available at nps.gov.

INDEPENDENCE PASS CLOSES FRIDAY

The Colorado Dept. of Transportation Wednesday announced that Highway 82 over Independence Pass will close for the season on Friday at 7 p.m. The closing of the pass this year is more than two weeks later than in 2019, when the pass closed Oct. 28. The latest closing time for the pass was Nov. 17 in both 2016 and 2017. This year, the pass opened June 1 because CDOT was concerned about visitors coming to Aspen during the coronavirus pandemic. The typical opening date is the Thursday before the Memorial Day weekend.

ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OK'S SNOW POLO AT RIO GRANDE PARK

The Aspen City Council Tuesday voted to have the World Snow Polo Championships in December at Rio Grande Park. The decision to use Rio Grande Park as the venue for the snow polo championships is a reversal from the council's earlier direction when city parks and special events staff said that holding the three-day championships at Wagner Park would bring some vitality to downtown Aspen. The event this winter will have a reduced attendance due to county public health orders and safety guidelines. The championships typically draw more than 1,000 attendees, but this year only 48 are allowed.

RIVER DISTRICT OUTLINES PLANS FOR EXPENDITURE OF INCREASED REVENUE

At the Nov. 3 election, voters in the 15-county Colorado River District gave overwhelming approval to a proposal to increase the mill levy for the district which will increase the annual revenue for the district by nearly $5 million next year. The district plans to use 14 percent of the new revenues to shore up its finances, funding existing staff positions and business expenses. The rest is to be used to partner with others on projects focused on agriculture, infrastructure, healthy rivers, watershed health and water quality, and conservation and efficiency.

GOV. POLIS, GJ CHAMBER URGE PEOPLE TO SHOP LOCAL

Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade have launched the #ShopLocalColorado program to encourage Coloradans to support their local retail establishments during the Christmas shopping season. State officials say there are more than 611,000 small businesses in the state, which make up more than 99 percent of all Colorado businesses and of every $100 that consumer spend locally, about $70 of that money stays local. Diane Schwenke, president and CEO of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce, notes that for small businesses, as much as 40 percent of their annual income is derived from the holiday shopping season. More information is available at coloradoosbdc.org/local.

WITH RECORD-BREAKING SEPTEMBER, SUMMIT COUNTY REAL ESTATE SALES TOP $1B

Real estate sales in Summit County lagged March through June this year, due to all the issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including the fact that agents could not show properties. When summer arrived, sales boomed and in September sales hit $344 million, a record for the month. The September sales volume was 87 percent higher than September 2019. Total year-to-date sales through September reached $1.3 billion, however, that is just 1 percent higher than sales for the corresponding period last year, due to the second quarter slow down.

CHINESE CONSUMERS READY TO SPEND AND VOILÀ…SINGLES DAY ARRIVES

Double Eleven, November 11, is Veterans Day in the United States. It is Singles Day in China. Singles Day was started by university students to counter Valentine's Day. The day, 11-11, was selected because of its four single ones, numerically. In 2009, e-commerce giant Alibaba took over Singles Day and with Alibaba's enormous reach, Singles Day is now a bigger single-day sales event than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. This year, Singles Day took on an even broader specter in that it was viewed as a showcase for the country's success and economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the Chinese economy returned to positive growth, consumers were ready to "spend like crazy" reported one market researcher. Market research firm Oliver Wyman found that 86 percent of Chinese consumers were willing to spend the same as, or more, than they did during last year's Singles Day. Alibaba jumped on the opportunity adding three more days, Nov. 1-3 to Double Eleven. As of the first 30 minutes of sales Wednesday morning, plus the added three days, the total taken in by Alibaba was $56.3 billion. That is already more than the $40.5 billion sold at last year's Double Eleven.

WOW, WHAT A HURRICANE SEASON IN THE ATLANTIC

This week, Theta became the 29th named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season:

• The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to Nov. 30
• The 29th named storm is a record topping 2005 when there were 28 named storms
• The number of storms making landfall in the U.S. this year: 12
• That is a record, topping the 9 that made landfall in the 1916 season
• The season continues for another 2 ½ weeks and it is highly likely that No. 30 will become a named storm, Iota, before Nov. 30