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Buc-ee’s has made it to Colorado. A red-capped beaver, the mascot of the super-sized, Texas-based travel centers, was front and center on outdoor signs and throughout the 74,000-square-foot store that officially opened at 6 a.m. Monday in Johnstown. The store is the first Buc-ee’s in Colorado and the company’s farthest west. The grand opening was expected to draw the uninitiated, curious about the excitement over the cornucopia of food and merchandise, as well as devotees of what has been a popular franchise located…

A Denver distillery is relocating operations to the suburbs, and when it does it will close its taproom and restaurant in the city. Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, which opened in the River North Arts District in 2018, will soon break ground on a brand new production facility located at 1303 Empire Rd. in Louisville. According to an announcement Wednesday, the new spot will enable the company to bring its distillery and barrel-aging program under one roof and to provide a new drink-centric destination for locals.…

A bill that would provide state tax rebates to draw data centers to Colorado has run into opposition from critics who warn of the facilities’ large demands for energy and water and potentially higher costs for other electric customers. The legislation would offer state sales and use tax rebates for construction materials and equipment starting in 2026. Senate Bill 24-085 declares that investing in projects such as data centers “is crucial for the economy of the future” and Colorado, considered a growing high-tech hub, is…

Update 9:11 a.m. Friday: This story will no longer be updated. Click here to see the latest update on Friday delays/cancellations at Denver International Airport.  Update 8:30 p.m.: There were 830 canceled flights and 427 delayed flights at Denver International Airport as of late Thursday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. All airport operations were normal, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Update 2:00 p.m.: Snow is finally falling at Denver International Airport, though operations…

The National Association of Realtors announced Friday that it had reached a legal settlement that upends the traditional model of sellers paying for the buyer’s agent in a home purchase. The agreement has the potential to save home sellers billions of dollars every year, but could also complicate purchases for buyers. The NAR, the largest trade group representing residential real estate agents, agreed to pay $418 million over four years to settle claims that the group and its members engaged in uncompetitive practices…

In November, a year after ChatGPT’s release, a relatively unknown Chinese startup leaped to the top of a leader board that judged the abilities of open-source artificial intelligence systems. The Chinese firm, 01.AI, was only eight months old but had deep-pocketed backers and a $1 billion valuation and was founded by a well-known investor and technologist, Kai-Fu Lee. In interviews, Lee presented his AI system as an alternative to options such as Meta’s generative AI model, called LLaMA. There was just one twist: Some of…

EMERYVILLE, Calif. — Companies such as OpenAI and Midjourney build chatbots, image generators and other artificial intelligence tools that operate in the digital world. Now, a startup founded by three former OpenAI researchers is using the technology development methods behind chatbots to build AI technology that can navigate the physical world. Covariant, a robotics company headquartered in Emeryville, California, is creating ways for robots to pick up, move and sort items as they are shuttled through warehouses and…

The fires are out at Tilford’s Wood Fired Pizza. The business, one of the original concepts in Edgewater Public Market, closed its doors and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as Tilford’s Edgewater LLC on March 1. Chapter 7 bankruptcies are typically a liquidation process, where a trustee is appointed to oversee a selloff of the debtor’s assets. Tilford’s owes $605,939 to 14 creditors, according to court filings, and has assets worth $18,326. Burton and his wife opened Tilford’s Wood Fired Pizza as a food truck in 2016…

Colorado’s economy did much better than first estimated when it came to adding jobs last year and hiring is off to a strong start in 2024, according to an update Monday from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics initially reported Colorado employers adding 24,100 nonfarm jobs between December 2022 and December 2023, with the private sector adding only 1,100 jobs and the public sector adding 23,000. That worked out to a 0.8% growth rate, which lagged behind the U.S. rate of…

Kyle Shirley put off a marketing plan for his roofing company after insurance premiums for his work trucks shot up 55%. Becky Brinkerhoff’s insurance bill has doubled and she is checking with other companies for a better deal. Stephanie Rankin will likely reduce the coverage on one of her vehicles to help cover the 44% increase in her insurance rates. The three Denver-area residents are among Coloradans reeling from rising auto insurance costs on top of higher grocery bills and other expenses. The insurance rates are…