COLORADO ADDS HIGH PAYING JOBS AT LOW RATE

Colorado and the Denver metro area have an above-average share of jobs paying more than $100,000 or more a year. Because of having a high number of six-figure jobs, it had a lower rate of adding more jobs of $100,000 or more over the past five years. According to a new study from Tessa, a property management software firm, Colorado went from having 181,830 jobs paying $100,000 or more a year in 2015 to 248,520 such jobs in 2020, a growth rate of 36.7 percent. That ranked the state in between Massachusetts and Alabama in 37th place nationwide. Hawaii was No. 1 with a 367.7 percent growth rate. Nevada, Utah, Arizona and North Dakota round out the top five states in adding high-paying jobs at the fastest rate.

LOW-COST CARRIER, FLAIR AIRLINES, TO START FLIGHTS DIA TO TORONTO

Flair Airlines, a low-cost carrier based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada announced it will begin service from Denver International Airport to Toronto next spring. Flair will fly from DIA to Toronto Pearson International Airport three times a week beginning April 5. Flair Airlines will become DIA's 25th airline. Based on 2019 data, Toronto ranked as DIA's largest market in Canada in terms of demand, with nearly 125,000 travelers annually between the two cities. Flair will fly the Boeing 737 MAX 8, with 189 seats, on the DIA-Toronto route.

FIRST BITCOIN ETF HAS BIG FIRST TRADING DAY ON NYSE

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, with the ticker symbol "BITO," began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. It rose 4.8 percent in trading to close at $41.94. It is the first ETF to trade on the NYSE and it tracks CME bitcoin futures, or contracts speculating on the future price of bitcoin, not the crypto currency itself. The price and performance of the ETF will differ somewhat from the price of bitcoin itself. However, the price of bitcoin increased 4 percent Tuesday to close at $64,206.51, just short of its all-time high of $64,899 in April.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON LATINOS IN COLORADO, WEST SLOPE

Voces Unidas de las Montañas was formed in May 2020 as an advocacy group in the Roaring Fork, Eagle and Lower Colorado River valleys. It was one of four Latino advocacy groups that commissioned a poll by BSP Research in August to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latinos. The poll surveyed 1,000 Latino adults registered to vote in Colorado and it showed that statewide, 33 percent of those polled had trouble getting enough food to eat at some point during the pandemic. However, there was greater impact on the Western Slope, with 40 percent saying they had trouble. Complete results of the poll will be released in November.

NATURAL GAS PRICES ON THE RISE, WEST SLOPE DRILLING REMAINS THE SAME

Natural gas prices have consistently remained above $5.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that natural gas spot prices will average $5.67 MMBtu between October and March, the highest winter price since 2007–2008. Even with the higher prices Caerus Oil and Gas, and Terra Energy Partners plan to stick with just one-rig drilling programs on the Western Slope through 2022. Laramie Energy is considering resuming drilling again.

GJPD PRESENTS HIGHEST HONOR TO CPL. TAYLOR SCHREINER

At the annual awards banquet of the Grand Junction Police Dept. Tuesday, the department presented the Medal of Valor, the highest award the department can give out, to Cpl. Taylor Schreiner. The award was recognition of Schreiner's courage, quick action and disregard for his personal safety in responding to a report of a man with a gun at St. Mary's medical pavilion on June 25. Hospital President Bryan Johnson said, "We believe he [Schreiner] saved St. Mary's lives that day." Schreiner has been with the GJPD since 2014 and he received the department’s Lifesaving Award last year for actions taken to save a stabbing victim.

DJ DICKEY HONORED AS 2020 HOMETOWN HERO

Tuesday, the Grand Junction Lions Club presented its 2020 Hometown Hero Award to Derek "DJ" Dickey in ceremonies at the DoubleTree Hilton. The ceremony was originally scheduled to be held in November 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic. The Hometown Hero Award is given annually to a non-Lions Club member in the community “who is an unsung hero, a volunteer whose work is generally unrecognized by the public.” Dickey organized a project to build a shelter at Central High School that served as an outdoor classroom for Mount Garfield Middle School for several years, became an Eagle Scout master and advancement chair, and earned three college degrees — all while legally blind.

TELSKI WILL HAVE ITS ANNUAL LOCAL PASS SALE IN NOVEMBER

Telluride Ski Resort will host its local pass sale and rail jam event Nov. 13 at the Oak Street gondola plaza. The local pass sale is usually held in conjunction with the annual KOTO Ski Swap, but the radio station recently decided to cancel its event due to lack of volunteers and COVID-19 concerns. Telluride Sports and Bootdoctors are partnering with Telski for the event and the Oak Street office will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rail jam will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Local pass rates this season, with no blackout dates, are: $1,635 for adults; $1,300 for seniors (ages 65-plus); and $455 for a child pass (ages 6-12).

RIBBON CUTTING OPENS EAGLEVAIL PEDESTRIAN TRAIL

Officials from Eagle County, EagleVail and Colorado Dept. of Transportation Director Shoshana Lew were on hand Tuesday to cut the ribbon to formally open a new section of the Eagle Valley Trail. The section of the pedestrian trail, located along mile markers 172 and 173 on U.S. Hwy. 6 in EagleVail, was created by condensing Hwy. 6 from five lanes to three lanes. The section is part of the planned hard-surface trail from Vail Pass to Glenwood Springs. The project cost $5.9 million; Eagle County contributed $566,000 as well as design funds, including $56,000 from the EagleVail Metro District Board.

FORBES 400: RICHEST IN COLORADO

Forbes released its 40th annual list of the 400 wealthiest people in the U.S. Their fortunes were calculated on the basis of the stock prices and exchange rates of Sept. 3, 2021. The collective wealth of the 400 reached $4.5 trillion, up 40 percent over last year. There are 44 new names on the list, which now requires a minimum net worth of $2.9 billion, up $800 million from a year ago. Here the Coloradans on the 2021 list:

• 56. Charles Ergen: $13 billion, satellite TV
• 66. Philip Anschutz: $10.8 billion, investments
• 98. John Malone: $8.4 billion, cable television
• 224. Mark Stevens: $4.8 billion, venture capital
• 310. Kenneth Tuchman: $3.7 billion, call centers
• 340. Pat Stryker: $3.4 billion, medical equipment
• 358. James Leprino: $3.3 billion, cheese

SOCIAL SECURITY "WAGE BASE" TO INCREASE

The Social Security (SS) “wage base” will increase to $147,000 for 2022, up from $142,800 for 2021. Wages and self-employment income above this threshold aren’t subject to SS tax. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) imposes SS tax and a Medicare tax on employees, employers and the self-employed. There’s no threshold for Medicare tax; all wages and self-employment income are subject to the tax. The FICA tax rate for employees and employers is 7.65 percent: 6.2 percent for SS and 1.45 percent for Medicare. The self-employed pay both the employee and employer portions. Wages or self-employment income above certain amounts are subject to an additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax.