Nintendo's Wii U Tests Hardware Strategy

Colorado has the second-lowest gas prices in the country — for now. The statewide average price is $3.16 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas, 51 cents below the national average. The statewide average is down from $3.58 per gallon at the same time in 2023 and up about 10 cents on the month, AAA Colorado said Thursday. “Coloradans should make the most of comparatively low prices while they can,” Skyler McKinley, regional spokesman for AAA, said in a statement. McKinley said expectations of an upcoming robust summer travel season coupled with the federally mandated switchover to reformulated gas mean it likely won’t be long until Colorado’s gas prices climb to above the national average. In 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency classified Denver and the northern Front Range as “severe” violators of federal air quality standards, which requires motorists to use a special blend of gasoline that reduces harmful emissions.

A private jet charter firm that was bailed out by Delta Airlines last year is laying off 65 employees as it ceases operations at a Jefferson County airport. New York-based Wheels Up informed the state of the cuts at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in a Wednesday letter. The layoffs will occur by June 16, Chief People Officer Brian Kedzior wrote, and affect all Wheels Up employees based at the airport except for “selected administrative and office employees that will be maintained due to their role supporting other Wheels Up’s locations.” Those affected are generally mechanics and technicians, according to the letter. Wheels Up said in a press release issued after this story was initially published that the cuts in Jefferson County were part of a larger corporate restructuring.

Adams County may soon land its third large-scale battery manufacturing plant, one producing more affordable and environmentally safer batteries. The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved $1,053,000 in state Strategic Fund incentives on Thursday morning to Project Eleven, the code name for a startup developing sodium-ion battery technologies. “The main drivers for the location decision are incentives, a business-friendly tax environment, access to talent and renewable energy policies,” Michelle Hadwiger, director of global business development at the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade told commissioners. State support, which will come in the form of cash rather than the usual tax credit, is tied to the creation of 162 jobs over five years at a research and development campus and a battery foundry in Commerce City.

Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” has died. He was 80. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer died at his home in Osprey, Florida, David Spero, Betts’ manager of 20 years, confirmed. Betts had been battling cancer for more than a year and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Spero said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “He was surrounded by his whole family and he passed peacefully.

Bonny Barker and Emily Hunt have gained an online following making videos about Taylor Swift, turning a fun side hobby to a full-time career. They discuss the community their channel has fostered, why Swift and her music mean so much to them and their supporters, and what it was like to get noticed by Taylor herself.