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WASHINGTON — A measure of consumer sentiment ticked higher this month, after soaring in December and January, underscoring that Americans are starting to feel better about the economy after several years of gloom. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, released Friday, ticked up to 79.6 in February, from 79 in January. The small gain followed two months of sharp increases that were the largest in more than 30 years. How Americans feel could impact the presidential race this year, which will likely focus…

NEW YORK — Big name advertisers will be pulling out all the stops on Super Bowl Sunday — enlisting high-profile actors, investing in dazzling special effects and, they hope, going for laughs as they seek to win over viewers during game breaks. In an increasingly fractured and polarized media environment — and with fewer people watching live TV — the Super Bowl is an anomaly. The big game’s viewership has actually increased, with a record 115.1 million people tuning in last year. So marketers will use the game on Sunday,…

The city of Brighton is about to get a little greener. This week, the Brighton City Council voted 7-2 to allow recreational marijuana shops for the first time. The council-approved ordinance allows for the establishment of four stores, with two of the licenses reserved for social equity applicants. Applications open March 1. This will be the first time Brighton, which is located primarily in Adams County, has ever allowed cannabis businesses within city limits, despite the fact that recreational weed has been legal in…

The first Colorado Buc-ee’s location is expected to open to the public in a few months. Josh Smith, operations director with the Texas-based chain of travel centers boasting gas, food and much more, said the team is hoping to open the location off Interstate 25 in Johnstown on March 18. “We are on schedule and ready to rock and roll,” he told the Reporter-Herald. Crews work from scaffolding Tuesday around the 120 gas pumps at the new Buc-ee’s being built in Johnstown. Buc-ee’s officials expect a March opening. (Jenny…

When Marijane Sisson looks out the kitchen window of her home outside Cañon City, she is greeted with views of rolling hills and a grassy meadow. Some days, when she’s lucky, a herd of elk appears in the meadow. Sisson and her husband purchased the property in June and moved from Louisiana to live in the South T Bar Ranch development. In the neighborhood of more than 100 properties, located a 45-minute drive northwest of Cañon City, they found a peaceful home nestled in a remote community. Then the couple received a…

The date was Nov. 9, 2006. The venue was the Broomfield Event Center. The place was packed. Then-Mayor Karen Stuart took the stage with a music legend and christened the $45 million, 6,500-seat venue — a gleaming arena built to anchor the nascent Arista development, Broomfield’s ambitious foray into urban living. “I stood on stage with Bonnie Raitt and introduced her as the first act,” said Stuart, who along with her Broomfield City Council colleagues decided to give the guitarist-singer, who had turned 57 the day before,…

Since November, Joe and Sarah Webber have searched for a larger home to replace the small bungalow they own near the University of Denver in the Corey-Merrill neighborhood. They want to stay in that part of Denver, with its spacious parks, but doing so will cost them at least $1 million for a basic home large enough to accommodate future kids. They are realizing that $1 million, even $1.2 million, doesn’t buy what it used to, much less what they hoped it could. “We are feeling like prices are high, which we knew. But it…

The state’s private sector sat on the sidelines when it came to hiring workers as last year came to a close, according to a monthly update from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Colorado added an anemic 300 nonfarm jobs in December, with private sector employers shedding 1,700 and governments adding 2,000. November counts, which had initially shown a decline of 700 jobs, were revised to show a loss of 2,500 jobs, all driven by the lack of private-sector hiring. For the full year, private sector employers…

A committee of Pueblo community members has recommended that Xcel Energy-Colorado replace a coal plant, beset by longstanding mechanical and operational problems, with modular nuclear units or a gas plant that would capture the carbon dioxide emissions. However, a report released Friday by the Pueblo Innovative Energy Solutions Advisory Committee made clear that the group’s top choice is what it calls advanced nuclear technology. A nuclear facility will create more jobs and tax revenue for local governments, the report…

The 118th edition of the National Western Stock Show officially kicks off this weekend on its historic stomping grounds, which are in the middle of a makeover to turn the 250-acre complex in northeast Denver into a year-round attraction. Depending on the weather, the 16-day event could set an attendance record, said Paul Andrews, stock show CEO and president. The record is 726,927 visitors, set in 2006 on the event’s 100th anniversary. Last year’s total of approximately 702,000 visitors was the stock show’s fourth-highest…