“CU students are going hungry, but nobody is sure how many,” reports The Boulder Daily Camera. “CU officials do not yet have an estimate, and local service providers see and serve CU students but do not track their numbers. They are in agreement, though: Food insecurity affects CU students, as it does college students around the country. The USDA defines food insecurity as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.”
“The latest contract proposal by Denver Public Schools to add millions of new dollars to base pay for teachers and offering bonuses for educators working in high poverty schools may still not be enough to avert a teacher strike early next year,” reports The Denver Post. “The current pact between the district and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association expires Jan. 18 and the union said its members are prepared to walk out of classrooms the next day if an agreement is not reached on time. DPS last week offered a new salary structure that would boost the salary for first-year teachers by nearly 8 percent, to $45,000 annually. But the DPS package still falls short of a long-stated union goal of paying a teacher with 20 years of positive evaluations and a doctorate a base salary of $100,000 a year.”
“Authorities have finished searching the Teller County home and ranch of a missing Woodland Park woman’s fiance but did not reveal if clues to her disappearance were found,” reports The Colorado Springs Gazette. “No arrests were announced in the news release Sunday sent by the Woodland Park Police Department announcing the end of the search, which began Friday morning. About 75 law enforcement officials, using backhoes and dogs, scoured the 35-acre ranch near Florissant owned by Patrick Frazee. Frazee’s fiancee, Kelsey Berreth, 29, has been missing since Thanksgiving.”
“Despite a decisive election battlefield victory this year for opponents of a state drilling setback ballot measure, the larger war over the issue is looking to be far from over,” reports The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “The group behind this fall’s Proposition 112 measure, which lost by a 55-45 percent vote, says it is planning another oil and gas ballot initiative for 2020.”
“Jet Blue airlines landed at Yampa Valley Regional Airport on Saturday morning under blue skies to launch the winter air service program for the 2018-19 ski season,” reports The Steamboat Pilot & Today. “The flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was the first flight of the winter tourism season in Steamboat Springs, and it was the first time a Jet Blue airplane has had its wheels down on the airport runway. The landing of the A-320 plane that can hold up to 150 people launched the start to a busy season at YVRA and the tourist season at Steamboat Resort. More than 500 people were expected to arrive on flights Saturday, which now has a total of five airlines that offer nonstop flights to those wanting to visit Steamboat. ‘The access for our guests is a huge benefit,’ Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort CEO Kara Stoller said during a ceremony to welcome the inaugural flight.”
“Residents of the Lawson Hill subdivision four miles outside of Telluride live right in the thick of wildlife. … Deer are common year-round and in the springtime, newborn fawns delight residents. There are rabbits, raccoons, owls, songbirds, mice, rock chipmunks, bears, coyotes and more. And, though they’ve always called the area home, a bobcat has been a frequent — and photographed — sight of late,” reports The Telluride News.
“Before they decide whether to add a fee to the Devil’s Backbone and to increase fees at other parks and open spaces, the Larimer County commissioners will listen to residents,” reports The Loveland Reporter-Herald. “The elected board will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. Tuesday on a proposal from the Larimer County Department of Natural Resources to raise fees at open spaces and parks to cover operations costs. They will vote on the proposal, which came from a fee study by consultant Harvey Economics, at a future meeting. The only piece of the proposal that, so far, has drawn some criticism is the plan to add a daily access fee at the Devil’s Backbone, an open space west of Loveland that has always been free.”
“St. Vrain Valley’s high school students report drinking less than the previous school year, but were more likely to try vaping, based on results from the district’s in-house student wellness survey. The district first piloted the Wellness, Culture and Safety Inventory four years ago at about half its high schools, giving it to students at all its high schools for the past three years,” reports The Longmont Times-Call. “About 69 percent of St. Vrain’s high school students took the voluntary, anonymous survey in October, up from 65 percent respondents last year.Diane Lauer, assistant superintendent of priority programs, noted some positive changes, including that 82 percent reported not drinking alcohol in the past month — up five percentage points from the previous year.”Our students are making very responsible choices,” she said.About 82 percent also reported not experiencing cyberbullying in the last year, an improvement over last year of two percentage points.”
A single townhome in Aspen just sold for $9 million, reports The Aspen Times.
“With the busy Christmas season looming, many local businesses still have ‘help wanted’ signs out. At this point, though, there are more jobs than people to fill them,” reports The Vail Daily. “According to data from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, there were 1,611 job vacancies advertised in Eagle County on Thursday. As you might expect, a good portion of those vacancies — 585 — were with Vail Resorts. But some of the valley’s bigger lodges also appear on the list.”
