1. ‘Buy dirt’ ringing true for commercial real estate investors

Real estate agents in the commercial arena in Steamboat say many investors bought vacant land for development or vacant lots for commercial redevelopment during the past two or three years, leaving little commercial-zoned space available within city limits.

2. CPW finds no evidence of wolves near Meeker, where 40 cattle have been found dead inexplicably

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Initial reports from early October blamed wolves for the death of 18 calves on White River National Forest land where cattle were grazing, which, if confirmed, would have meant there was another wolf pack making a return to Colorado ahead of schedule.

3. Steamboat could see foot of snow starting Monday night

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The start of a multi-day storm came early in the week and the latest rolled in on Friday.

4. Merger of grocery titans: Cause of concern or a boon for consumers?

The proposed $25 billion merger between Kroger — the parent company of Colorado’s largest retail grocery chain, King Soopers — and Albertsons, which operates Safeway, is raising questions about whether the state’s shoppers will ultimately benefit.

Government officials, academics and union representatives fear a future with climbing costs, more food deserts throughout the state and farmers receiving unfair prices. But others aren’t worried yet about the impact of the deal approved by the boards of both companies, which is expected to close in early 2024.

5. New school hopes to offer faith-based alternative for Steamboat community

In January, a task force will introduce a new educational concept to the community with hopes of opening Steamboat Christian Academy by fall 2023.

“We have a curriculum developed, and we’re putting together a team of educators,” said Jen Foss, a member of the task force that’s doing some of the groundwork for the school. “We are putting together our admissions platform, and we’re going to start rolling out information to share with the community in January.”

6. Steamboat Springs officials urge residents to remove, store snow properly this winter

Officials in Steamboat Springs are urging residents to remember that residential and commercial snow removal and storage can have long-lasting effects if not handled properly.

“Melting snow is stormwater water too. Snow picks up debris, chemicals and other pollutants that can end up in our streams and river,” said Water Resources Manager Julie Baxter in a news release. “We’re asking everyone to keep this in mind this winter and pay attention to where you put your snow.”

7. An area in Routt County is more at risk for avalanche than most of the state right now

After some big storms early in November, conditions have dried out around Steamboat Springs, but a storm is forecasted to bring at least a few inches of snow this week. If that happens, it could elevate the risk of avalanche.

“The surfaces are all weakening, which right now means that they‘re getting softer, but when storms begin to move in again, that‘ll be quite a dangerous layer,” said Rebecca Hodgetts, a forecaster for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

8. Routt County mountains under avalanche warning

While this warning pertained to earlier in the week, the CAIC has put the Park Range and Flat Tops under another warning through Sunday.

9. Routt County real estate sales eclipse $18M from Nov. 18-24

Real estate transactions in Routt County surpassed $18.1 million across 17 sales for the week of Nov. 18-24.

10. Summit County ski areas rise and fall on Condé Nast Traveler and Ski Magazine’s best ski area lists

Every year, ski and snowboard publications — like Condé Nast Traveler and Ski Magazine — release lists for the best ski areas in the U.S. Without fail, all four of Summit County’s ski areas land somewhere within the top-30 to top-40 of the best ski areas in the nation.

Summit’s ski areas made the cut for the list again this year, but several improved their ranking from last year while others made a significant drop.