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Colorado - Wed. 06/18/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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MESSAGE FROM ALPINE BANK: JUNETEENTH HOLIDAY CLOSURE JUNE 19
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All Alpine Bank branches will be closed Thursday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day. We invite you to use Alpine Online or the Alpine Mobile app for 24/7 banking access, even when we are closed. Learn more at the link below.
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NEW COLORADO DASHBOARD SHOWS HOW MUCH FEDERAL MONEY HAS BEEN CUT
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Colorado has lost more than $76 million in federal funding and has another $56 million at risk, according to a new public dashboard launched by Gov. Jared Polis’ office on Tuesday. Polis created the dashboard to highlight the push for Coloradans to “get a fair share” of the federal taxes they pay, according to a news release. Polis cited a study by the Rockefeller Institute of Government showing that for every $1 Colorado pays in federal taxes, the state receives only 90 cents back in federal investment, not including COVID-related spending. Colorado has also “successfully defended” another $282 million that the federal government sought to cancel, suspend or otherwise delay.
The state data does not include proposed changes under the federal budget bill that is sitting in the Senate. The Trump-backed tax-and-spending bill has already passed the House. The dashboard also breaks down cuts and attempted cuts by county and congressional district. It shows the 3rd and 4th congressional districts facing the biggest enacted and proposed cuts, at $25.7 million and $21.8 million, respectively. The dashboard does not include freezes or cuts to institutions of higher education, local agencies, nonprofits or other community partners.
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SAFEWAY WORKERS IN MORE PARTS OF COLORADO HIT THE PICKET LINES
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Colorado grocery workers who went on strike at a handful of Safeway stores over the weekend were joined Monday by employees at Castle Rock and the Littleton location on Mineral Ave. That brings the number of locations on strike to seven, which includes stores in Estes Park, Fountain, two in Pueblo, plus a Safeway distribution center in Denver. Workers are on the picket lines to protest understaffing, proposed cuts to employee health care benefits and a change to pension benefits for retired workers. Kim Cordova, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 7, vowed that more of the 105 Safeway and Albertsons stores in the state could join the strike if an impasse between Albertsons-owned Safeway and the labor union isn’t resolved. All Safeway stores in Colorado remain open. The union said there are about 7,000 Safeway workers in Colorado represented by the union.
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THESE COLORADO PUBLIC LANDS COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR SALE UNDER REPUBLICAN BUDGET BILL
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Federal public lands in Colorado eligible for sale under Republicans’ current budget bill include a popular mountain biking area outside of Grand Junction, a beloved hiking area in Durango’s backyard and thousands of acres of forest abutting the Front Range’s Brainard Lake Recreation Area and Indian Peak Wilderness. More than 14 million acres of federal public land in Colorado could be eligible for sale if Congress passes the current version of the budget bill mandating the sale of a fraction of the nation’s public lands. The eligible parcels cover chunks of mountain, foothills and plains along the Front Range and the Western Slope.
- On the Western Slope, eligible lands include chunks of BLM land north of Blue Mesa Reservoir and along the Gunnison River below the reservoir’s output.
- Swaths of land in the Book Cliffs immediately north of Palisade could be for sale, as well as the popular Lunch Loops mountain bike trail system outside Grand Junction.
- Durango’s beloved Animas Mountain recreation space is eligible, as is land along the scenic U.S. 550 between Durango and Silverton — known as the Million Dollar Highway.
- In the Arkansas River Valley, thousands of acres would be eligible across the Sawatch Range west of Twin Lakes, Buena Vista and Salida.
- Another large tract covers a huge chunk of mountains north of Aspen.
- Nearly all the mountains immediately east of Steamboat Springs, which serve as popular camping, hiking and biking areas, would be included.
- Closer to the Front Range, nearly all of the Forest Service land in the hills west of the Interstate 25 corridor between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs is eligible.
- Forest Service land abutting the eastern borders of the popular Brainard Lake Recreation Area and Indian Peaks Wilderness would be eligible as well.
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HISTORIC HEAT ADVISORIES ISSUED IN ALASKA
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Heat advisories continued in Alaska on June 17, as temperatures were again forecast to soar into the upper 80s in many locations across the state. "Individuals not accustomed to these unusually hot temperatures for this region may experience heat related illnesses," the National Weather Service warned. The current heat wave is the first time in recorded history that heat advisories have been issued in Alaska, following the transition from a previous advisory system. The heat advisory in Alaska has been in place from 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 15.
Before June 2025, the weather service had issued information about high temperatures using special weather statements. However, starting June 1, the weather service permitted heat advisories to be issued in Alaska. Hawaii and the other 48 states in the contiguous U.S. already use heat advisories, making Alaska the last state to switch to the warning system. For outlying regions around Fairbanks, such as the North Slope, an advisory is sent out if the temperature is forecast to reach 75 degrees, and in the interior, 85 degrees. In Juneau, advisories will kick in when the temperature is forecast for 80 degrees or higher. Those who live in sunbaked southern states in the nation may scoff, but in parts of Alaska that’s enough to make conditions dangerous. Red flag warnings for wildfires and flood warnings due to melting snow were also in place across Alaska on June 17.
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RIVERFRONT HOME NEAR DOWNTOWN ASPEN HITS THE MARKET FOR $58.5 MILLION
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A riverfront home in Aspen is going on the market for $58.5 million. The sellers are retired real-estate developers Jeff Grinspoon and Jon Foley. The pair bought the land in 2014 for $4.375 million and demolished the existing 1960s house. They completed their five-bedroom home in 2017. The nearly 1-acre property is on the Roaring Fork River about two miles from downtown Aspen. The home’s style draws from industrial architecture; in the great room, they repurposed a factory boiler-room door as a whiskey bar. The home has a gym with a locker room and a patio. The vintage lockers are around 100 years old and came from a country club in France. The grounds also contain a hot tub and a bridge that leads to a small island, where a covered patio is used for yoga and dinner parties. So far this year, there have been four home sales in Aspen that were over $50 million. Last year, a roughly 22,400-square-foot home sold for $108 million, setting a state record.
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ASPEN LOOKS TO HIRE FROM WITHIN FOR CITY MANAGER
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The city of Aspen will seek an internal candidate for a new city manager, pivoting from the national search process that was initially planned and was previously conducted during the city’s last city manager search. Aspen City Council asked staff to post the city manager job listing internally during a special meeting Monday because council members believe there is already an internal candidate who is the right person for the job. The city was in the middle of identifying an executive recruitment firm from a pool of respondents to a request for proposals to conduct a national search. The council did not identify the internal candidate by name. The council’s decision to bypass a headhunter in favor of an internal search comes while Pete Strecker, the city’s finance director, works as its interim city manager. The city council appointed him to the post in March following Sara Ott’s resignation as city manager in late February.
An internal candidate could benefit the city as it works through several major projects and developments. The city is in the middle of a land-use review for the Armory Hall redevelopment project and the 277-unit Lumberyard affordable housing project, the city’s largest ever single affordable housing development. The city will post an internal listing for the position and keep it open for 30 days. An internal listing is required by state statute, regardless of whether a potential candidate has been identified.
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AVON'S PROJECT TO IMPROVE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ON U.S. HWY. 6 BREAKS GROUND IN JULY
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Avon’s planned pedestrian safety improvements along U.S. Hwy. 6 will break ground in mid-July. The project, which encompasses the 2-mile corridor from Post Boulevard to West Beaver Creek Boulevard, will mobilize on July 7. Construction will begin on Hwy. 6 around July 14. The planned improvements include a traffic signal at Stonebridge Drive, additional sidewalks, several landscaped median islands designed to slow traffic and four lighted pedestrian crossings. CDOT will also lower the speed limit to 35 miles per hour on the east side of Avon Road. The pedestrian crossings will be placed at Mountain Stream Condominiums, Stonebridge Drive, Eagle Bend Apartments and River Edge Apartments, all high traffic areas with Core Transit bus stops on each side of the road. The project is expected to reach “substantial completion” in November 2025 and finish in March 2026. The project is slated to cost $6.1 million.
After the state made cuts to this year’s transportation budget, Avon lost some anticipated funding, but the Colorado Dept. of Transportation will still provide $4.6 million in grants. Avon has committed to contributing from its capital improvement projects budget, Eagle County committed $200,000, and Avon and Eagle County will split the cost of the remaining $1 million. Avon has been working on making Hwy. 6 in and around town safer for pedestrians for over 10 years. Hwy. 6 has long been recognized as dangerous for pedestrians. Several pedestrians have been injured or killed over the last 15 years.
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FOUR COLORADO 14ERS TO GET SPECIAL ATTENTION FROM TRAIL CREWS THIS SUMMER
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Crews will be working to maintain the trails that lead hikers to the summits of some of Colorado’s most popular 14,000-foot peaks this summer. The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative has projects planned at Mount Democrat, Mount Bierstadt, Mount Blue Sky and Mount Shavano — peaks that draw tens of thousands of hikers every year. With hand tools, trail crews, sometimes assisted by volunteers, do the dirty work of moving rocks and dirt to build, restore and maintain the trails, Fourteeners Initiative Executive Director Lloyd Athearn said. The nonprofit brought on 32 seasonal employees this summer, who have been brought up to speed on how to work in the alpine, where rare and fragile native ecosystems exist. This year, the Fourteeners Initiative plans to host more than 40 volunteer projects with the goal of completing more than 1,000 volunteer days of trail work this season.
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MOTORIZED BOATS ARE BANNED AT THESE SIX COLORADO MOUNTAIN LAKES
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Quiet isn’t a given in a state as populous as Colorado, especially on the Front Range. But you can find it. Here’s a list of quiet lakes to add to your summer travel plans where the wake from motorboats won’t jostle or flip a paddleboard.
- Chambers Lake: This pretty lake is about 60 miles northwest of Fort Collins, off Cameron Pass, just north of Rocky Mountain National Park. There’s a large campground adjacent to the 255-acre lake, with a $30 per-night fee. Reservations are recommended at recreation.gov.
- Haviland Lake: Twenty miles north of Durango, 80-acre Haviland is practically next to a major highway, but you’ll still feel a world apart. Above the lake, there’s a 43-site campground with overnight fees of $27 to $54. You can make reservations at recreation.gov.
- North Fork Reservoir: This stunning lake west of Salida is tough to reach but worth it. The 6-mile stretch of Forest Service Road 240 is steep, narrow, and rocky, so you’ll want a four-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicle. The lake is at 11,000 feet in a gorgeous alpine bowl. There’s a small, primitive campground. It’s first-come, first-served and has a $20 per night fee.
- O’Haver Lake: Easy to reach from Poncha Pass in southern Colorado and can be driven in any car. At 13,971 feet, Mount Ouray towers over the lake. There’s a 32-site campground around the lake; most sites have great lake views. The camping fee is $28 per night, and reservations can be made at recreation.gov.
- Pearl Lake State Park: North of Steamboat Springs, you won’t find swimmers or water skiers at this 167-acre lake. Ringed by green mountains and stunning any time of year (but especially in fall), there’s a 36-site campground. The camping fee is $28 per night, and reservations can be made at cpwshop.com.
- Sylvan Lake State Park: Escape the hustle and bustle of the Interstate 70 corridor in the mountains at this small lake tucked among the hills. A 44-site campground overlooks the lake, with cabins and yurts available to rent. The camping fee is $28 per night, and reservations can be made at cpwshop.com.
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U.S. NATIONAL PARKS, MONUMENTS & MORE PUBLIC LANDS WILL BE FREE ON JUNETEENTH
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The U.S. National Parks service will be offering no-cost admission to all of its parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite on Juneteenth as part of its 2025 Fee Free Days. Though most National Parks are free to enter, a number of them charge an entrance fee. On Juneteenth, visitors will be able to enter parks at no cost. They will, however, still be required to pay any fees associated with camping, boat launching, tours and activities in the park. The National Parks Service recommends that visitors arrive early.
These are some of the parks that will be free on Thursday, June 19:
- Acadia National Park, Maine
- Arches National Park, Utah
- Glacier National Park, Montana
- Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
- Yosemite National Park, California
- Zion National Park, Utah
If you can’t make it to a National Park on Thursday, don’t worry. There are a few more fee-free days left in 2025. Depending on the day, areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service will be open to visitors free of charge. Be sure to check the U.S. Dept. of the Interior website to see which lands will be available each day.
These are the remaining fee-free days this year:
- Thursday, June 19 (Juneteenth)
- Wednesday, July 16 (Bureau of Land Management’s birthday)
- Monday, Aug. 4 (Great American Outdoors Day)
- Saturday, Sept. 27 (National Public Lands Day)
- Sunday, Oct. 12 (National Wildlife Refuge Week)
- Tuesday, Nov. 11 (Veterans Day)
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MARKET UPDATE - 06/17/2025 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 06/12/2025)
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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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