MORE EVENTS CANCELED DUE TO SPREAD FROM OMICRON VARIANT

The recent rash of cancellations of theater shows in New York have now spread to Colorado as concerns are rising over the spread of COVID-19 driven by the omicron variant. Officials of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts canceled the Dec. 19 and 21 performances of the return of "The Lion King." The Feb. 14-16 Midwinter Bluegrass Festival at the Northglenn Ramada Plaza was canceled. The Colorado Symphony canceled Danny Elman’s Percussion and Piano Quartet show for Jan. 12 at Boettcher Concert Hall. For ticketholders, the cancellations and postponements prompt automatic refunds in some cases, but also 30-day limits to request a refund for others, so check with the agency that issued the tickets.

THE SUCCESSOR TO HUBBLE TO LAUNCH ON COMPLEX MISSION

The enormous James Webb Space Telescope, which is the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope, is set to launch on Friday. The 7-ton James Webb Space Telescope is 100 times more powerful than Hubble, and the $10 billion Webb telescope is so big it has be folded, origami-style, to fit into the nosecone of the European Ariane rocket. Its light-collecting mirror is the size of several parking spots and its sunshade the size of a tennis court. Everything needs to be unfolded once the spacecraft is speeding toward its perch 1 million miles away. After the launch, Webb's mirror and sunshield will unfold, a complicated process directed remotely. There is no backup for the more than 300 parts that are part of the process and failure of any of them could doom the mission. Webb will attempt to look back in time 13.7 billion years.

ORACLE MAKES $28 BILLION DEAL TO BUY CERNER

Oracle Corp. Monday announced its $28.3 billion purchase of electronic-medical-records company Cerner Corp. Oracle was built into its position as a leader in business software by making many acquisitions, but this was its biggest deal ever. Last year Oracle and a group of other companies tried to buy the U.S. operations of video-sharing app TikTok, which would have given Oracle’s cloud business a foothold in social media. With the Cerner acquisition, Oracle becomes a major player in healthcare, which is a major driver of growth for cloud computing.

PETITION TO REPEAL WEST GLENWOOD ANNEXATION RULED "SUFFICIENT"

On Friday, Glenwood Springs City Clerk Ryan Muse announced that the petition filed by the Glenwood Springs Citizens for Sensible Development, which was seeking a repeal of the annexation of a parcel in West Glenwood for the 480 Donegan development, was "sufficient." According to the city clerk, petitioners need to collect 299 signatures and petitioners turned in 907 signatures, of which 891 were deemed proper. As a result, the Glenwood Springs City Council will be presented with the petition at their regular meeting Jan. 6. The council can either repeal the annexation ordinance or submit the question to a public vote, most likely in the May election.

CITIZENS INITIATIVE PETITION TO REPEAL ASPEN'S MORATORIUM

On Dec. 8, the Aspen City Council passed an emergency ordinance which imposed a six-month moratorium on new residential development and the issuance of short-term rental permits. On Friday, two Aspen real estate agents, Bill Guth and Bob Bowden, filed paperwork with the Aspen City Clerk for a citizen-initiative to repeal the moratorium. The clerk has five days to accept the language of the initiative. If the initiative meets all requirements, Guth and Bowden will have 180 days to collect 993 signatures of registered Aspen voters, which constitutes 15 percent of the electorate. If there are enough signatures collected the Aspen City Council must either repeal the emergency ordinance or put the issue before the voters.

APPRAISALS QUESTIONED BY PUBLIC LANDS GROUP IN USFS LAND SWAP

The San Juan National Forest Pagosa Ranger District has granted preliminary approval to a proposed land swap near Pagosa Springs between the San Juan National Forest and Boot Jack Ranch owner Kelcy Warren. The proposed swap would convey nine parcels of U.S. Forest Service land totaling 380 acres to private ownership under Warren and three other parties. In exchange, the Forest Service would obtain the nearby 880-acre Valle Seco private inholding owned by Warren, which would become public federal land. The parcel includes critical big game wildlife habitat and is surrounded by national forest. Colorado Wild Public Lands have challenged the proposed swap and filed a federal lawsuit to force the Forest Service to release the land value appraisals that the decision was based on.

STEAMBOAT NAMES ITS FIRST FEMALE POLICE CHIEF

Steamboat Springs City Manager Gary Suiter announced that Sherry Burlingame is the new chief of police for the city of Steamboat Springs. She was selected from four finalists for the position and is the first woman to ever hold the top job of the police department. Burlingame most recently was the assistant chief in Tempe, Arizona. Prior to that, she worked for the police department in Mesa, Arizona for about 23 years. Before engaging in her law enforcement career, Burlingame was a captain in the U.S. Air Force for nine years. Burlingame is scheduled to begin in Steamboat on Jan. 17.

"SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY OUT" MOVES INTO 2ND PLACE IN ALL-TIME OPENING REVENUES

There was an adjustment to the gross revenues on Sunday for Sony's "Spider-Man: No Way Out" and the three-day total for North American box office revenues moved to $260 million pushing the latest version of the Spidey series past Avengers: Infinity War. The top openings, with eventual total gross:

1. Avengers: Endgame: $357,115,007 (opening); $858,373,000 (total gross)
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home: $260,000,000; $260,000,000
3. Avengers: Infinity War: $257,698,183; $678,815,482
4. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens: $247,966,675; $936,662,225
5. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi: $220,009,584; $620,181,382
6. Jurassic World: $208,806,270; $652,270,625
7. The Avengers: $207,438,708; $623,357,910
8. Black Panther: $202,003,951; $700,059,566
9. The Lion King: $191,770,759; $543,638,043
10. Avengers: Age of Ultron: $191,271,109; $459,005,868

GIVE AND RECEIVE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AT GLENWOOD CAVERNS

Together, we can help our neighbors. Give a $25 City Market gift card to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park any time before Christmas and receive up to four Gondola tickets. Gondola tickets are valid until Feb. 28, 2022. All City Market gift cards will be donated to LIFT-UP. LIFT-UP is the leader in providing fresh sustainable food security for individuals and families; educating, building understanding and support to end hunger from Parachute to Aspen. For more information, call 970-945-4228x154.

SUPPORT FOR FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES

This year, one in eight individuals in Colorado and Wyoming are projected to face food insecurity. Struggling with hunger at any time is difficult, but can be felt even more acutely during the holidays. With so many families, children, older adults, and individuals experiencing hunger right now, your community needs your support more than ever. For the best ways to support Food Bank of the Rockies, this holiday season, visit the link below.