INFLATION

roughly in the United States. But that means we’ve lost ground. We basically have had negative income for the last couple of years. And that’s hard,” said Stephan Weiler, an economics professor and co-director of the Regional Economic Development Institute at Colorado State University. “I mean people get excited about a 3% raise or 5% raise. Unfortunately, it’s not even keeping up with in ation. And that doesn’t go away. ese prices stay higher. It’s fairly rare that prices come down.”

One item did drop in the past year: Used car prices, down 10.6% from a year earlier. But if you recall, a shortage of vehicles pushed used car prices up 43.4% by January 2022. e auto industry is still recovering. Here’s how in ation a ected di erent types of purchases for the past two years.

As a reminder, the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t track in ation by state. It doesn’t have the resources, we’ve been told. e change in CPI is recorded nationwide and in nine Census divisions and certain metro areas, including Denver.

Rising the fastest since November was the cost of apparel and recreation, which were so much higher than other categories that the BLS pointed them out.

Apparel costs had ratcheted up by double-digit increases for several months in 2021 as people headed back to work at the o ce or just got dressed to go out in public. However, the 8.5% higher cost for apparel in January was actually slower than the rate a year ago.

As for why Coloradans are spending more on recreation, that’s likely seasonal, said Julie Percival, a BLS regional economist. ere are above-normal levels of snow in the mountains and this is, afterall, Colorado “with a lot of people taking advantage of going out to recreation facilities at this point in time,” she said. Recreation costs increased 4.7% since November and 7.7% in the past year.

And then there are gas prices. e cost of gasoline is typically less in Colorado than in other states, thanks to lower fuel taxes. And until late 2022, the Front Range bene ted from an oil re nery in Denver’s backyard that produced 98,000 barrels of gasoline and petroleum products a day. Since Suncor’s re nery in Commerce City temporarily closed in December after a re damaged equipment, gas prices have shot up. Without the extra supply, Denver-area gas prices reached $4.08 this week, up nearly $1 a gallon since before Christmas, according to AAA Colorado. Nationwide, a gallon of regular averaged $3.42.

It’s still about housing costs

But higher gas prices have less impact on CPI than you’d think, Weiler said. at’s because it’s just a small part of the overall basket of goods that the BLS calculates the change in prices. Gas is about 3%, according to its o cial “weight.” ose higher egg prices? One-sixteenth of a percent. It’s the larger items, like rent or a mortgage, where small increases can make or break a consumer’s budget.

Housing, for example, is one-third of a household’s monthly budget.

“Shelter is a big deal. It’s a full-third of what the index is composed of,” Weiler said. “It’s just in a nick of time that housing prices are beginning to mellow. Otherwise, with that 33% weight, shelter could have us ahead of the United States in ation rate pretty quickly.”

Home sales have slowed as interest rates added hundreds of dollars to a monthly mortgage payment. at priced many renters out of the market and home prices in Colorado have attened, with the state’s median sales price unchanged from a year ago at $520,000. Median prices in the Denver metro were down 1.4% from a yearago in January.

But Denver’s cost of housing still went up 10% in January overall. at’s because CPI takes into account the new cost of homeownership and buying a house at interest rates that are double what they were a year ago. For existing homeowners, housing costs probably didn’t budge much in the past year. Between the two groups, home owners saw a 9.2% increase in costs.

Meanwhile, renters paid even more, or approximately 12.7% compared to a year-ago January. at increase is roughly a third more than what homeowners experienced. In other words, if new homeowners are saddled with a mortgage that is $100 higher than what it would have been a year ago, renters are paying $133 more.

“Rent is pushing up faster than what they call the ‘owners’ equivalent of rent,’” Weiler said. “So, yes, people who don’t own are experiencing faster ination than people who own homes. And that’s a pretty big di erence — a 33% greater cost basically.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

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Legal Notice No. 24957

First Publication: February 23, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Elbert County News

All

Elbert County News

Children Services

(Adoption/Guardian/Other)

Public Notice DISTRICT COURT, ELBERT COUNTY STATE OF COLORADO 751 Ute Avenue Kiowa, Colorado 80117 Telephone: (303) 621-8521

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO

In the Interest of: BABY GIRL VIGIL DOB (09/06/2022)

Child, ELBERT COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Petitioner, And Concerning:

JADE VIGIL, DONNIE TORRES, JASON MICHELL and JOHN DOE

Respondents

JAMES VIGIL and KIM VIGIL Special Respondent

Stephanie L. Exner, #42535 Elbert Special County Attorney P.O. Box 1462 Eastlake, CO 80614 (303) 362-3749

Stephanie.Exner.Law@gmail.com

Case No: 22JV9 Division: 1 SUMMONS

TO THE ABOVE-NAMED RESPONDENT:

JOHN DOE

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that a verified petition has been filed in the above-named case in which it is represented to the Court that: the child named above is/are alleged to be dependent and neglected as defined in the State Children’s Code, C.R.S. 19-3-102 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e) for the reasons set forth more fully in the Petition, a copy of which is attached to this SUMMONS and incorporated by reference herein.

YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that a failure to appear at the hearing set forth below or otherwise defined in this action may result in a DEFAULT JUDGMENT of adjudication and/or termination of the parent-child relationship being taken against you, and/or a BENCH WARRANT being issued for your arrest.

YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Court has set the Petition for hearing on March 16, 2022 at 2:30 PM in Division 1, Elbert County District Court, 751 Ute Avenue, Kiowa, Colorado 80117.

YOU ARE FURTHER COMMANDED to appear before the Court at said time and place.

Dated this 22nd day of February, 2023.

/s/ Stephanie L. Exner

Stephanie L. Exner, #42535 Elbert Special County Attorney P.O. Box 1462 Eastlake, CO 80614 (303) 362-3749 Stephanie.Exner.Law@gmail.com

Legal Notice No. 24962

First Publication: March 2, 2023

Last Publication: March 2, 2023

Publisher: Elbert County News ###