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Colorado - Thu. 05/07/26 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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MEDIA PIONEER & GIANT DIES AT 87
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Ted Turner, the media maverick and philanthropist who founded CNN, a pioneering 24-hour network that revolutionized television news, died peacefully Wednesday, surrounded by his family. He was 87. He was best known for turning the billboard-advertising company he inherited from his father into Turner Broadcasting System. He bought up radio stations, then branched into television in 1970 by acquiring a struggling station in Atlanta known as Channel 17. In 1976, he beamed Channel 17’s signal up to a satellite and it became cable TV’s first superstation, reaching cable subscribers across the country. As he built the Superstation WTBS, he set his sights even higher – a 24-hour news channel. On June 1, 1980, CNN – the first 24-hour news channel – went live and has been on the air ever since. He eventually sold Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner in 1995.
Turner was not defined only by his media career:
- Turner was a world-class yachtsman, winning the America's Cup in 1977
- Turner owned sport properties including the Atlanta Braves baseball team, Atlanta Hawks basketball team and Atlanta Thrashers ice hockey team
- Turner, a major philanthropist, donated $1 billion to the United Nations and millions more to environmental causes, and promoted and invested in clean energy
- Turner was known across the West as the owner of 2 million acres of land in nine states and in Argentina, plus 51,000 bison.
- Just over a month before his 80th birthday in 2018, Turner revealed that he had Lewy body dementia, a progressive brain disorder.
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TRAIN-TANKER TRUCK WRECK CLOSES U.S. HWY 6 & AMTRAK TRAIN TRACKS
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The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and Colorado Dept. of Transportation reported that at about 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the scene of a truck-train accident on U.S. Hwy. 6 between Mill Pond Road and Peterson Lane (near Rifle) at Mile Point 94.5. The crash caused the tanker to split open, derailed six passenger cars and two locomotives, and damaged the train track. The spill released an estimated 6,000 gallons of road oil onto the ground. No train passengers reported any injuries, and the truck driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Buses are taking train passengers to their next destination. The train, the Canyon Spirit, is a luxury train taking passengers from Denver to Glenwood Springs to Moab to Salt Lake City. U.S. Hwy. 6 was closed in both directions for an extended period of time. The railroad will also be closed indefinitely because the tracks were damaged in the crash.
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GIANT, WORLD’S LARGEST BICYCLE MANUFACTURER, U.S. HQ IN BOULDER
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Taiwan-based Giant Group Manufacturing Inc., the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer, announced in December that it was relocating its U.S. headquarters, Giant Group USA, to Boulder from Newbury Park, California. On April 3, Giant signed a ten-year lease for some 44,000 square feet of space in a 100,000-square-foot warehouse at 3825 Walnut St. in Boulder. Giant said there will eventually be about 125 workers in the Boulder headquarters. It will take about nine months to renovate the leased facility, with the remodeled space to include offices, retail space and a showroom.
The relocation is related to the company’s 2024 acquisition of Boulder-based Stages Cycling’s assets after its parent company, Foundation Fitness, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2024. A subsidiary of Giant Group, SPIA Cycling, bought the company in 2024. Stages Cycling plans to close its Boulder site, at 5335 Sterling Dr., to move into Giant USA’s new headquarters. The 22,065-square-foot building is listed for sale on LoopNet for $5.5 million.
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MAY SNOWSTORM KNOCKS OUT POWER ON FRONT RANGE
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The heavy, wet snow that blanketed the foothills and Front Range cities Tuesday night dropped upwards to a foot of snow in the Boulder area, with nearly two feet in Estes Park, while the official recording at Denver International Airport was less than 5 inches. However, with trees and vegetation in full spring conditions, the heavy snow caused more power outages than a winter storm. Xcel Energy Tuesday morning reported the loss of power to 55,117 customers on the Front Range.
Outages reported by Xcel included:
- Roughly 3,000 customers in Adams County
- 3,500 customers in Denver
- 3,700 customers in Arapahoe County
- 4,700 customers in Broomfield County
- 13,200 customers in Jefferson County
- 16,500 customers in Boulder County
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GRACE PERIOD OVER, FINES ON I-25 EXPRESS LANES IN LARIMER, WELD COUNTIES START
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The Colorado Dept. of Transportation installed sensors and roadside cameras on the Interstate 25 North corridor between Berthoud and Fort Collins to detect when a vehicle enters and exits express lanes in an effort to improve safety. For a 30-day grace period, beginning April 7, CDOT issued warnings to those motorists who illegally entered/exited the express lanes. During that period, CDOT issued 3,504 warnings. Express lanes are marked with dashed and solid lines, and drivers may only enter and exit express lanes when the dashed line is on the side closest to them. Beginning today, Thursday, May 7, drivers who enter and exit express lanes outside of the designated areas may receive a $75 fine in the mail, according to CDOT. If the fine isn’t paid within 20 days, it will increase to $150. Fines are sent directly to the address that the vehicle is registered to, and the penalty can be paid online, ExpressLaneSafety.com, or via phone, 1-800-343-2633.
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ADP RELEASES STRONG JOBS REPORT, OTHER INDICATIONS SHOW LABOR MARKET SOLID
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On Tuesday, the Labor Dept. reported that hiring picked up considerably in March in its monthly survey of job openings. That was the first of indications that the labor market is showing strength. Payroll processing firm ADP, Wednesday, reported U.S. employers added 109,000 jobs in April, considerably higher than the 61,000 reported in March and topping the Dow Jones estimate of 84,000 for the month. Education and health services again dominated, adding 61,000 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities gained 25,000. Construction, another consistent leader in recent months, rose by 10,000.
A clearer picture of the labor market's recovery will come Friday, when the Labor Dept. publishes its official April jobs report. Unlike ADP’s figures, which sample businesses that happen to be ADP clients, the Labor Dept. numbers come from a broad national survey of hundreds of thousands of employers and include public-sector jobs. Month to month, the official government data sometimes differ substantially from ADP’s numbers. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expect 55,000 net new jobs were added in April, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.3 percent.
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2 HIKERS INJURED BY BEAR ATTACKS IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
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On Monday, the National Park Service reported that two hikers sustained injuries by one or more bears on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. National Park Service emergency services personnel responded to the incident, and it remains under investigation. Videos from another hiker show an injured person lying on the ground and a person being airlifted to a helicopter. This is the first incident of a bear injuring a person in Yellowstone in 2026, according to the NPS.
As a result of the attack, the NPS reports the following trails, campsites and trails are closed:
- Area west of Grand Loop Road from north end of Fountain Flat Drive to Black Sand Basin
- Fairy Falls Trail north of the Grand Prismatic Overlook
- Sentinel Meadows Trail
- Imperial Meadows Trail
- Fairy Creek Trail
- Summit Lake Trail
- Backcountry campsites OG1, OD1, OD2, OD3, OD4, OD5
- Fishing along the Firehole River and associated tributaries within the closure area
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RECENT STORM ALLOWS ROARING FORK WATERSHED TO RISE OUT OF RECORD LOWS
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It took until May, but the latest storm has pushed the snow-water equivalent levels measured in the Roaring Fork Valley watershed out of the record-breaking lows that have been registered all winter. Although that is a good sign, the snow-water equivalent levels are not high, but merely have risen to a level that is above the previously worst-recorded season at this time, May of the 2011-12 season. Drought and wildfire concerns remain. Erin Walter, Service Hydrologist at the National Weather Service, indicates it will take higher levels of precipitation over a longer period of time to alleviate wildfire concern. In addition, Walter adds that June is typically the driest month.
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SOME DURANGO BUSINESSES WILL HAVE BUMP-OUTS THIS SUMMER
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One of the safety measures implemented in downtown Durango during the COVID-19 pandemic was bump-outs, the seasonal outdoor seating areas extending into the street from a restaurant or business. By 2022, the bump-outs had proven so popular the Durango City Council established a five-year program to continue them. During the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, the bump-outs were free, but with the 2022 program, business were charged $6.30 per square foot to have a bump-out for the summer. The average bump-out is 30 feet by 9 feet, meaning most businesses pay about $1,700 total. Payments are a lump sum due when the bump-outs are built. The payments from businesses helps to offset lost costs from parking meters blocked by the bump-outs. This year, the bump-outs are taking up 23 city parking spots.
Eleven restaurants and businesses built bump-outs this week for the summer. Businesses installing traditional bump-outs include Nini’s Taqueria, Fuzziwigs Candy Factory, Chimayo Stone Fired Kitchen, Oye Oysters and Small Plates, Cream Bean Berry, Carver Brewing Co., and Rice Monkey. Taco Libre, Maria’s Bookshop, FiredUp Pizzeria and Derailed Pour House will be extending their sidewalk areas using pedlets.
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HONG KONG MAKING SIGNIFICANT REBOUND WITH 1ST QUARTER EXPANSION
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Even with the uncertainty resulting from the conflicts in the Middle East, Hong Kong’s economy expanded at its fastest rate in nearly five years in the first quarter of 2026. On a seasonally adjusted basis, GDP increased by 2.9 percent in the first quarter compared with 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Leah Fahy, a senior China economist at Capital Economics, said the 2.9 percent rise was the “fastest pace of quarterly expansion in over 15 years,” beating Capital Economics’ forecast at 1.2 percent. She said the main drivers of growth in the first quarter were investment expenditure and, in particular, private consumption.
Much of the rebound in domestic demand reflected the impact of falling interest rates as the benchmark Hong Kong interbank offered rate slid in the first quarter. “That’s helped to drive up business investment. It also supported a continued recovery in property prices in the city, boosting both household wealth and consumer confidence, as well as broader investor sentiment,” Fahy said. “What’s more, because most mortgages in Hong Kong are variable, payments will have fallen, increasing household disposable incomes.” She said the outlook for Hong Kong’s economy was “looking increasingly rosy.”
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A COMET FROM DEEP SPACE WILL BE VISIBLE FROM SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
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For the next two weeks, there will be a very rare scene in the nighttime skies of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, as well as other spots in the Southern Hemisphere - the glowing blue-green comet, known as C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS. The comet, discovered in 2025, was believed to have originated in an icy region at the edge of the solar system and is a long-period comet. Short-period comets, like Halley’s Comet, take 200 years or less to orbit the sun (Halley’s Comet will return in 2061). Long-term comets take much longer, as an example, C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS may not return for another 170,000 years. The comet will be visible for about two weeks through a telescope, binoculars or camera lens before it decreases in brightness and fades away for tens of thousands of years. Although long-period comets are discovered each year, most can only be seen with specialized space telescopes, very few are visible through an amateur telescope.
Astronomers believe the comet originated in a region called the Oort cloud, which lies beyond Pluto at the edge of the solar system and is made up of icy, comet-like objects. Many long-period comets come from this part of space. As to the name of the comet, the letters and numbers reflect what type of comet it is, when it was discovered and by whom. In this case it was discovered by Yudish Ramanjooloo, a planetary defense junior researcher at the Pan-STARRS project at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy.
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STARGAZING: 10 OF THE BEST HOTELS IN THE WORLD FOR SEEING THE NIGHT SKY
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Travelers are now going around the world to see the aurora borealis, eclipses, meteor shows, and even the stars. With so many hotels in urban areas where light pollution washes out views of the sky, travelers who want to get away to view the night sky and still have a quality hotel experience should consider these 10 selection options from Afar Media's guide to the “19 Best Hotels in the World for Stargazing”:
- Adero Scottsdale Resort, Autograph Collection (Arizona)
- Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas (Maldives)
- Americana Motor Hotel (Arizona)
- &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge (Namibia)
- Astrostays (India)
- Basecamp Samburu (Kenya)
- Battlesteads (England)
- Dark Sky Dome (Scotland)
- Explora Atacama (Chile)
- Hoshinoya Taketomi Island (Japan)
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MARKET UPDATE - 05/06/2026 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 04/30/2026)
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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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