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Colorado - Thu. 12/21/23 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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ALPINE BANK HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
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In celebration of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, Alpine Bank will be closed on Monday, Dec. 25, 2023, and Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. We invite you to use Alpine Online and the Alpine Mobile app for 24/7 account access, even on the days when the bank is closed. Another important reminder: Friday, Dec. 29, 2023, is the last business day of the year. Transactions that take place on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, will be recorded in 2024. Warm wishes for a happy holiday season!
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NEW AREA CODE COMING TO NORTHERN/WESTERN COLORADO IN 2026
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The Colorado Public Utilities Commission Monday announced that beginning in 2026, customers requesting a new phone line in northern and western Colorado will be assigned a new area code, 748. The current area code for northern and western Colorado, 970, is projected to run out of available phone numbers by the first quarter of 2026. Customers with a 970 area code currently will retain that code and their phone numbers. The 970 area code stretches as far west as the Utah border and as far east as Julesburg. It includes Fort Collins, Aspen, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction and Durango, among others. Once in place, 748 will be the second new area code introduced in less than five years. In 2022, state officials approved the introduction of the 983 area code to the Denver metro area, where residents previously received 303 or 720 area codes.
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FILE YOUR TAXES, COLORADANS TO GET $800 REFUND ON STATE INCOME TAX RETURNS
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During the Nov. 20, 2023, special session of the 74th Colorado General Assembly, the Colorado Legislature passed SB23B-003, which adjusts the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) refund mechanism for one year only, 2023. The TABOR refund will require Coloradans to file an individual income tax return, instead of a direct payment to Colorado residents. Each resident filing an individual state income tax return will receive $800, or $1,600 for two qualifying individuals filing jointly. In total, the state will refund nearly $8.7 billion in the over collection above the cap established by TABOR.
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WORLD’S LARGEST SHIPPERS ARE AVOIDING THE RED SEA
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Many of the world’s largest container shipowners are abandoning one of the world’s busiest trading routes via the Red Sea and diverting vessels to avoid the area due to mounting attacks from Iranian-backed rebels in the region. AP Møller-Maersk, which operates the world’s second-largest container shipping fleet, became the latest to reroute its vessels around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope because of the “highly escalated security situation.” Last month, MariTrace, a ship-tracking service, reported about 330 vessels traversing the region. As of this week, only 210 ships were traversing the Red Sea, the route to and from the Suez Canal.
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ICELAND HAS SPECTACULAR SHOW OF FIRE, SMOKE AND LAVA
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There were as many as 1,400 earthquakes in a 24-hour period in November on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, forcing the evacuation of the town of Grindavik. The earthquakes were a harbinger of imminent volcanic eruption, and on Monday, the eruption came “uncomfortably close to town,” according to one resident. The eruption was 1.8 miles from town, and it was a spectacular show of flames and smoke, turning the skies orange and red, with smoke billowing some 300 feet into the air and lava flowing on the surface. By 2 a.m. Tuesday, the eruption had started easing, reducing the lava flow to just “one-quarter” of the levels seen on Monday, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in an update Tuesday.
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SOME X GAMES EVENTS WILL HAVE ADMISSION CHARGE FOR VIEWING
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Valerie Ryan of Sports Content Creation LLC, the new owner of the X Games, gave an informational presentation to the Pitkin County commissioners this week, and said the X Games 2024 will have a charge for prime viewing spots during the games, Jan. 26-28. It will cost between $30 and $70 for adults to watch slopestyle, knuckle huck, big air and superpipe competitions from the corrals at the bottom of the courses, with the charge determined by the time of the event. The daytime events on Saturday and Sunday will cost $30 for adults and $25.50 for children; the nighttime events Friday through Sunday will be $45 for adults and $38.25 for children; and a corral ticket for the premiere event, the superpipe competition on Saturday and Sunday evenings, will be $70 for adults and $59.50 for children. Ryan said residents of the Roaring Fork Valley will receive a 15 percent discount on the ticket prices.
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FRUITA CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO SELL ENOCH LAKE
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On Tuesday, the Fruita City Council voted unanimously to sell the Enoch Lake property which is owned by the city to the three neighboring landowners. The council has been considering options for the 51-acre property since February. The city received an appraisal of the property for $425,000 in March. In April, the three adjacent property owners, Ronald Tipping, Stan Muhr and Rodney Power submitted an unsolicited offer to purchase the property and water rights for $500,000 and forgiveness of $140,000 the city owed to Tipping in non-monetary terms. Last fall, the council listed the property but there were no offers.
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EAGLE COUNTY NONPROFITS RECEIVE FUNDING TO EXPAND OUTDOORS ACCESS
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On Friday, Dec. 15, Gov. Jared Polis, the Outdoor Equity Grant Board and Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced that it would award over $2.2 million in outdoor equity grants to 35 organizations across the state. Included in the organizations receiving funding were three in Eagle County: Eagle County Mountain Pride, $45,100; SOS Outreach, $65,000; and The Cycle Effect, $100,000. The three Eagle County nonprofits will use the funding to extend their programming in the areas of equity and access.
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NINE STEAMBOAT MINERAL SPRINGS DESIGNATED HISTORIC SITES
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The city of Steamboat Springs has one city-owned mineral spring, Lithia Spring, designated on the city’s register of historic sites. This week, the Steamboat Springs Historic Preservation Committee moved to add additional city-owned mineral springs to the city’s register of historic places with the hopes of collectively landing them on the National Register of Historic Places. Those springs are Iron Spring, Lake Spring, Narcissus Spring, Terrace Spring, Soda Spring, Steamboat Spring, Sulphur Cave and Spring, Sulphur Spring and Sweetwater Spring. The city will begin preparing applications and paperwork for the state and national historic designations next year with the hope of processing and gaining approval by 2025.
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STEAMBOAT REALTORS PROVIDE COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS DINNER FOR 37TH YEAR
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The Steamboat Springs Board of Realtors Community Christmas Dinner will take place 1 to 5 p.m. on Christmas Day. The dinner is free, and all are welcome. The realtors Christmas dinner began 36 years ago when a Steamboat realtor invited people with no family, and some of the lift operators, to come over for dinner and then decided to do dinner for the entire community. In the kitchen for that first dinner was Ray Wright and for the 37th year, Ray Wright will again head the kitchen crew for this year's Christmas dinner. Wright said there are already 35 turkeys, 20 hams and hundreds of pounds of mashed potatoes. More food and volunteers are needed and welcome.
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UBER BREAKS THROUGH IN JAPAN, CAN BEGIN OPERATING IN APRIL
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In Tokyo, Japan, taxis used to appear everywhere. Japan is clearly one of the world’s biggest taxi markets. Now, after more than a decade of lobbying, Uber has managed to open the market to services without licensed drivers. Uber has been fighting for a place in Japan’s $17 billion taxi market for years but was long blocked by rules that generally limit ride-sharing services to licensed taxi drivers working for authorized taxi companies. On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the government would largely lift the ban on ride-share services in April and allow regular drivers to use their own cars to give fare-paying passengers a ride.
There will be some restrictions, but the market is essentially opened to services that are convenient and less expensive, a move that recognizes the record number of Americans and other tourists who have arrived in Japan following the lifting of the pandemic-era restrictions. Although Uber could not ferry passengers, the company established a successful food-delivery service.
Through November this year, a record 1.86 million American visitors have traveled to Japan. Among the reasons for easing restrictions is the shortage of taxi drivers. There are around 230,000 taxi drivers active in Japan today, which is down from some 275,000 five years ago.
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FREEDOM TO TRAVEL THE WORLD, WHICH COUNTRY’S PASSPORT AFFORDS MOST PLACES
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Henley & Partners is a London-based company that consults with individuals and governments on investments, residency and citizenship and it compiles the Henley Passport Index, the authority on passport strength. This was the Henley Passport Index world passport ranking for 2023, ranked by the number of countries a passport holder can visit with:
- Passport only
- Electronic travel authorization (eTA)/online visa waiver
- Visa on arrival
- Singapore: 193
- Japan: 191
- Finland, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Sweden: 190
- Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom: 189
- Belgium, Malta, Norway, Portugal: 188
- Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland: 187
- Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, United States: 186
- Hungary: 185
- Lithuania: 184
- Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia: 183
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BEST AIRPORTS IN THE WORLD 2023, RANKED BY PERFORMANCE
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AirHelp Inc. analyzes customer claims for flight cancellations, delays and lost luggage to rank 4,000 airports worldwide to determine the best performing airports:
- Muscat International Airport, Oman (MCT)
- Recife/Guararapes-Gilberto Freyre International Airport, Brazil (REC)
- Cape Town International Airport, South Africa (CPT)
- Brasilia-Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport, Brazil (BSB)
- Doha Hamad International Airport, Qatar (DOH)
- Osaka Itami International Airport, Japan (ITM)
- Belem/Val-de-Cans International Airport, Brazil (BEL)
- Belo Horizonte Tancredo Neves International Airport, Brazil (CNF)
- Tokyo Narita International Airport, Japan (NRT)
- Amami Airport, Japan (ASJ)
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WORST AIRPORTS IN THE WORLD 2023, RANKED BY PERFORMANCE
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AirHelp Inc. analyzes customer claims for flight cancellations, delays and lost luggage to rank 4,000 airports worldwide to determine the worst performing airports (No. 1 is ranked as worst):
- Banjarmasin Syamsudin Noor International Airport, Indonesia (BDJ)
- Malta International Airport, Malta (MLA)
- London Gatwick Airport, UK (LGW)
- Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport, Portugal (LIS)
- Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, Serbia (BEG)
- Denpasar International Airport, Bali (DPS)
- Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada (YYZ)
- Sofia Airport, Bulgaria (SOF)
- Marseille Provence Airport, France (MRS)
- Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, Indonesia (HLP)
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MARKET UPDATE - 12/20/2023 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 12/14/2023)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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