WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Monday that it has tentatively settled its antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment, striking a deal to ultimately lower ticket prices for consumers and end an illegal monopoly over live events in America.

But some states signaled they won’t join the deal and will continue an ongoing trial.

After the Justice Department announced the deal at the start of the trial day in Manhattan federal court, Judge Arun Subramanian called it “entirely unacceptable” that no one informed him of the tentative deal until late Sunday. A term sheet for the expected settlement was signed on Thursday, he said.

A senior Justice Department official, though, spoke effusively of the looming settlement on the condition of anonymity Monday during a phone call with journalists under terms set by the department to release some information about the proposed settlement.

Live Nation would pay a fine of up to $280 million and divest itself of at least 13 amphitheaters across the country as it opens up its ticketing processes so that competitors can share in the sale of tickets, the official said.

The official called it a “win-win for everybody” that will bring immediate relief for consumers and protect venues from retaliation when they choose companies other than Live Nation to handle tickets or promotions for events.

A double-digit number of states were expected to join the proposed deal, the official said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement the Justice Department deal “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case” and that she would not agree to it.

“My attorney general colleagues and I have a strong case against Live Nation, and we will continue our lawsuit to protect consumers and restore fair competition to the live entertainment industry,” James said.

A release containing her statements said New York state was joined in its decision to continue pursuing claims by attorneys general in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia.

In a release, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown said the bipartisan group of state attorneys general who joined the Justice Department’s lawsuit in May 2024 would continue because the “case against Live Nation is strong, and the state coalition is committed to holding the company accountable for its illegal behavior, protecting consumers and restoring competition to this market.”

Adam Gitlin, a lawyer for the District of Columbia, told Subramanian that several states had not decided what they would do, including Texas, Florida and Louisiana. He said Texas had expressed “serious concerns” about the deal.

Gitlin requested a mistrial on Monday, a week after opening statements, but David Marriott, a lawyer for Live Nation, opposed the request. The judge informed the jury of the proposed deal and told jurors that “certain states are proceeding” with their claims and the trial was expected to resume next week.

Live Nation didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press for comment.

The continuation of the trial will leave the states to press claims to further dismantle a monopoly the Justice Department said was squelching competition and driving up prices for fans.

The case, brought under President Joe Biden ‘s administration in 2024, accused Live Nation of using threats, retaliation and other tactics to “suffocate the competition” by controlling virtually every aspect of the industry, from concert promotion to ticketing.

The Justice Department accused Live Nation of engaging in a slew of practices that have allowed it to maintain a stranglehold over the live music scene. It has said the company uses long-term contracts to keep venues from choosing rival ticketers, blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers and threatening venues that they could lose money and fans if they don’t choose Ticketmaster.

Live Nation has maintained that artists and teams set prices and decide how tickets are sold.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment, based in Beverly Hills, California, have a long history of clashes with major artists and their fans, including Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen.

Ticketmaster, which was established in 1976 and merged with Live Nation in 2010, is the world’s largest ticket seller across live music, sports, theater and more.

Neumeister reported from New York.

Residents in this well-heeled Douglas County city, along with the mayors of nearby Parker and Castle Rock, say the 800-acre Crowsnest annexation request would pave the way for an overly dense development. It’s a plan that they don’t see as fitting with the area’s bucolic character — for an area that isn’t even contiguous to Castle Pines.

“The sense of community we have on the east and west side (of Interstate 25) will be fractured,” said Donna Cook, a Castle Pines resident for the last 18 months. “I started the opposition to this because I didn’t see a benefit to the residents.”

Meanwhile, negotiations between the developer and Castle Pines continue in real time. Late last week, VT Crowfoot Valley Landco LLC adjusted the parameters of the project to make it more palatable to the city, reducing the number of homes proposed from nearly 4,000 to 3,646 — all single-family homes. It also nearly doubled the amount of open space it would dedicate on the site.

The developer plans to formally file its newest proposal — its fifth revision thus far — with the city on Tuesday.

Last week, the group People Against Annexing Crowsnest launched a website against the project. It describes the property, which is at the southwest corner of Crowfoot Valley and South Chambers roads in unincorporated Douglas County, as a “remote, disconnected island that would burden existing taxpayers with unsustainable service costs.”

VT Crowfoot Valley Landco, a limited liability company formed in September, shares the Englewood mailing address of Ventana Capital, a company that’s no stranger to development fights in Castle Pines.

The developer is proposing a “flagpole” annexation, using Crowfoot Valley Road as the connecting conduit to physically link Castle Pines and the site where it wants to build — an approach that the company described in a February news release as “a well-established path in Colorado law.”

But flagpole annexation efforts have faced a rough patch in recent months.

Last year, Colorado Springs voters rejected a flagpole annexation for a planned 6,500-home development, dubbed Karman Line, over concerns about an adequate water supply.

And last month, a developer pitching a flagpole annexation into Palmer Lake to accommodate the construction of a Buc-ee’s travel center on I-25 — just south of the Douglas County line — withdrew its application following vocal community opposition to the project.

The Castle Pines City Council late last month approved a resolution finding the Crowsnest property eligible for annexation under state law. A vote on the annexation itself isn’t expected until late April.

Until then, opponents vow to fight — including with a possible ballot measure that would attempt to reverse any city approval. Lacy Bradley, a 3-year resident who has been helping spearhead opposition to the annexation, said Castle Pines is a low-density community with an emphasis on the peace and quiet that comes with plentiful open space.

“It all boils down to: It doesn’t meet Castle Pines standards,” Bradley said of Crowsnest. “I think it erodes the character of the city.”

Neighbors in the city of 16,000 also worry about where Crowsnest’s water will come from, the traffic it will generate and the development’s impacts on wildlife.

Ventana Capital was at the heart of a fight in Castle Pines a couple of years ago, when residents pushed the council to turn down the company’s attempt to build a McDonald’s in the upscale town. Ventana sued the city, and last year, a judge upheld Castle Pines’ rejection of the fast-food giant.

The developer says its new project, now at 4.9 dwelling units per acre, would be less dense than Parker’s Looking Glass neighborhood directly to the north.

“Nearby projects like Looking Glass faced public concerns about wildlife, water, traffic and density that closely mirror what’s being raised about Crowsnest today,” Ventana’s Dan Williams wrote in an email response to questions sent by The Denver Post. “Parker worked through those concerns in a thorough public process and ultimately approved Looking Glass.”

Crowsnest, Williams said, wouldn’t be an “isolated subdivision,” since it’s “surrounded on three sides by existing and approved development, with a planned four-lane arterial bisecting the site.”

“In this case, the Crowsnest property lies less than a half mile from the existing Castle Pines boundary at its closest point, so it is already part of the same development corridor as The Canyons,” he said.

The Canyons, a 5,000-home development on the east side of I-25 in Castle Pines that is about half complete, generated similar pushback nearly a decade ago when it was getting underway, with concerns about traffic and wildlife corridors.

The developer points to an economic modeling report from financial services firm D.A. Davidson that concluded Crowsnest could generate $650 million in revenue for Castle Pines over the next 40 years. That includes $263 million in projected sales tax revenue. The project will feature about 120 acres devoted to commercial uses.

It’s not clear whether those economic impact numbers would change as a result of alterations made to the plan late last week.

Parker Mayor Joshua Rivero said Crowsnest, by its proximity, will significantly impact his town — and not for the good.

Traffic from Crowsnest’s homes will flood Parker’s southern street network, he said. Because the project was originally slated to have just 70 acres of open space — less than 10% of the total property acreage — Rivero said Crowsnest residents would inevitably slip over the town line and use Parker’s parks and green spaces “without paying their way.”

The developer bumped up its open space dedication at the site to 132 acres late last week.

“If this is built, these roads suddenly fail,” Rivero said, noting the careful planning Parker undertook in fostering its own growth. “It directly impacts all of us, and we want Castle Pines to understand what they’re putting on our back step.”

Castle Rock Mayor Jason Gray also weighed in last month with a letter to Castle Pines’ elected leaders. Aside from concerns about where Crowsnest would get its water — Parker Water and Sanitation District told Castle Pines last month that it “is not ready and willing to serve the Crowsnest development” without more project details — Gray worries about impacts to his town’s “already burdened” Founders Parkway and Colorado 86 interchange.

“This traffic, which will never touch the rest of Castle Pines, will significantly create traffic safety and congestion concerns for Castle Rock,” he wrote.

Williams told The Post that the developers envision more roads for the Crowsnest site, including a thoroughfare dubbed Canyonside Boulevard that would connect Crowfoot Valley Road to The Canyons — and eventually to I-25.

“Together, these connections place Crowsnest within a broader network of planned corridors between Castle Pines and Crowfoot Valley,” he said.

For Irene Bonham, who lives due east of the proposed development in Parker’s Trails at Crowfoot Valley neighborhood, Crowsnest would literally be across the street.

Bonham, who is running for Douglas County commissioner, acknowledges the irony of resistance to new growth from communities that have experienced their own explosive growth in recent decades. Parker, for instance, went from 3,000 residents in the late 1980s to 72,000 today, while Castle Rock’s population is fast approaching 100,000, up from fewer than 10,000 in 1990.

But she can’t help feeling like something is being lost.

“We have elk herds here, we have bald eagles — what would be the impact to them?” she said. “At some point, we’re starting to lose that distinction that made this area intriguing in the first place.”

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According to notices published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week, an internal component inside the infotainment system of certain 2021-2026 Ford Broncos and 2021-2024 Ford Edges may overheat and shut down — preventing the rearview image from displaying when drivers are going in reverse. Meanwhile, some 2020-2022 Ford Escapes and Lincoln Corsairs, as well as 2020-2024 Lincoln Aviators and Explorers, may show a flipped or inverted rearview image.

The recalls cover 849,310 Broncos and Edges as well as 889,950 Escapes, Corsairs, Aviators and Explorers. Ford estimates that all of these vehicles have the defects. But the company is not aware of any injuries or accidents spanning from either recall, NHTSA documents show.

Still, the NHTSA is warning drivers that both issues could increase crash risks.

For impacted Bronco and Edge owners, Ford is offering a free software update for the vehicles’ Accessory Protocol Interface Module (APIM). Owner-notification letters will be mailed out at the end of the month, with the fix available either at a dealer or through an “over-the-air” update.

But a remedy is still under development for the recall impacting the Escapes, Corsairs, Aviators and Explorers, this week’s recall announcement noted. In the meantime, interim letters to notify owners of the safety risks are set to be mailed out in the coming months.

The Associated Press reached out to Michigan-based Ford for further comments on Saturday.

For more information, drivers can visit the NHTSA website and Ford’s online recall lookup using their vehicle’s VIN number, or call the company’s customer service line at 1-866-436-7332.

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Elevation Development Group, founded by Brent, Brad and Gregg Farber, sold 0.68 acre at 3301-3333 Mariposa St. in Denver on Wednesday to Greenwood Village-based Century Communities.

Century, a large homebuilder that also develops apartments, paid $9.5 million, records show. That works out to $322 a square foot.

The Farbers bought the property in 2019 for $5.65 million, records show. At the time, it was home to industrial buildings, which have since been demolished.

The site is zoned C-MX-5, which generally allows a mix of uses up to 5 stories.

The Farbers, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, submitted initial plans in late 2020 for apartments on the site. The latest version, which has been approved by the city, calls for 116 units.

Century Executive Vice President Jim Francescon confirmed in a statement that the company will build that project. It will break ground this week, he said, and wrap up sometime in 2028.

The Farbers, who operate out of Cherry Creek, have built two office buildings in that neighborhood. Last year, they completed the Steel House office building in RiNo in partnership with Boston, Massachusetts-based Beacon Capital Partners.

The Farbers also own half a city block along Market Street in downtown Denver, where they’ve proposed apartments.

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The lawsuit, filed in San Miguel County District Court on Feb. 24 by lawyers for TSG Ski and Golf LLC, accuses former Mountain Village mayor Martinique Prohaska, former Telluride Town Council member Meehan Fee, and Mountain Village town manager Paul Wisor of using their positions to try to “harass and pressure” the resort into selling a majority share. It also alleges the three officials did so while offering incentives to resort ownership worth “millions of dollars of economic value,” thereby violating municipal ethics codes.

As a result of these actions, the lawsuit alleges Telluride Ski and Golf, known locally as Telski, has suffered damages “reasonably estimated at several million dollars.” Resort spokesperson Nancy Clark declined to comment Friday due to the ongoing litigation.

Reached by phone, Prohaska and Fee declined to comment. Wisor was not immediately available.

The allegations in question date back to December, when the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association walked off the job after months of negotiations with Telski over a new union contract. The strike started Dec. 27, during the height of holiday tourism, and lasted 13 days.

Telluride Ski Resort closed for the majority of that time, as it was not able to operate without patrollers who perform avalanche mitigation and other duties to ensure the safety of the mountain, as well as respond to emergencies involving skiers.

In an interview earlier this year, Prohaska told The Denver Post that she and Fee traveled to California on Dec. 27 to meet with Horning and discuss the patroller strike in hopes of finding a resolution not just immediately, but also long-term. The women spoke with Horning and some of his associates face-to-face about the resort, its challenges and alternative ownership models for the ski area, Prohaska, then mayor of Mountain Village, said in an interview on Jan. 14.

On Dec. 29, Prohaska and Fee presented a purchase offer intended to transfer a 51% stake of the resort into the hands of an entity called the Telluride Ski Resort Fund. The purchase price was listed at $127.5 million.

In her interview, Prohaska said she and Fee were acting on their own accord as private citizens — not elected officials. However, the offer suggests that if a sale were finalized, the buyer would direct both towns “to take commercially reasonable efforts to broker a cessation to the ski patrol strike,” in addition to addressing municipal projects such as workforce housing, future water needs, infrastructure upgrades and generating more tourism to the area, according to documents reviewed by The Post.

In its lawsuit, Telski alleges that Prohaska and Fee “represented that they had the power to control a labor strike, and other resources, that prevented the resort from being open and operational from December 27, 2025, through January 7, 2026.” It also alleges Wisor was instrumental in coordinating the deal and drafting the contract.

Prohaska resigned in mid-January, and the towns of Mountain Village and Telluride are now investigating the matter. Fee originally said she would temporarily step back from her duties as an elected official during the investigation, but has since announced she will resign after the inquiry is concluded.

Wisor is currently on paid administrative leave after disclosing that he connected the women with prospective investors who were interested in buying into the resort. (Wisor made that disclosure during an executive session of the Mountain Village Town Council, a recording of which was made public after the council didn’t cut the YouTube streaming feed.)

In addition to claims for civil conspiracy and tortious interference with prospective business relations related to the strike, Telski alleges the defendants engaged in intentional interference with a contract when they suggested, in their purchase offer, that the towns would not increase the price of water that the resort uses to make snow should a sale go through.

Telski’s lawsuit is the latest conflict to come from years-long tension between resort owner Horning and the towns of Telluride and Mountain Village. In recent years, the parties have sparred over land usage for a summer concert series in Mountain Village, how to pay for upgrades to the area’s signature gondola transportation system, and affordable housing projects.

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Other standout luxury sales last month included a Castle Rock equestrian estate, a newly built home near Washington Park and two mansions in Cherry Hills Village.

When the Blake O’Shaughnessy 2006 Trust purchased the Race St. property for $3.8 million in January 2020, the 7,500-square-foot home had already been gutted.

Now, the nearly 12,000-square-foot residence features six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. It sold for $9 million Feb. 18, making it the most expensive home sold in the Denver area that month.

The home features reclaimed antique European limestone floors and custom millwork.

Jim Rhye of Kentwood Real Estate Cherry Creek represented the seller. Wendy Glazer of Kentwood Real Estate DTC represented the buyers, David Bruce Pittaway and Jeannine DuFresne Pittaway.

David Pittaway is a director at Castle Harlan Inc., a New York–based private equity firm.

Based on MLS data, here are the next four most expensive home sales in the Denver area for February:

Canon Ridge Road in Castle Rock: $5.3 million

Listing agent: Audrey Will of LIV Sotheby’s International Realty

Buyer’s agent: Elyse Anderson of Key Team Real Estate

Details: This equestrian estate spans 35 acres and features a 7,000-square-foot mansion with eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms, as well as a 900-square-foot apartment in the walkout lower level. The property’s southern boundary adjoins 8,800 acres of protected conservation land.

The estate offers a farm-to-table lifestyle with chickens, cows, gardens and a vineyard. Equestrian amenities include an Olympic-sized indoor arena connected to a 22-stall barn with radiant-heat flooring, an outdoor arena, automated watering systems, a tack room, an office, a viewing lounge overlooking the indoor arena, and two bathrooms.

An additional six-stall barn has been renovated into a two-chair hair salon, complete with a bedroom, a three-quarter bath, a loft bedroom, a kitchen with dining space and a bar-lounge with a fireplace.

Sellers Rodger and Lisa Garcia bought the estate for $1 million in May 2012.

Listed for $5.5 million Sept. 16, the Castle Rock property went under contract Jan. 30 for $5.3 million. Buyer Bonfire and Boots LLC closed on the property Feb. 27.

South Gilpin Street in Denver: $4.5 million

Listing agents: Jacci Geiger and Sana Wood of Kentwood Real Estate Cherry Creek

Buyer’s agent: Mary Thomas of Coldwell Banker Realty 24

Details: Galaxy Custom Homes acquired the property near Washington Park for $1.3 million in February 2023 and transformed it into a 6,400-square-foot modern coastal mansion with five bedrooms and six bathrooms by 2025.

The mansion was listed for $4.6 million Oct. 23 and went under contract Dec. 17 for $4.5 million. The buyers, Steven and Cathy Connolly, closed on the property Feb. 13.

Charrington Drive in Cherry Hills Village: $4.3 million

Listing agent: Shelby Schulz of Sterling Real Estate Group

Buyer’s agent: Shelby Schulz of Sterling Real Estate Group

Details: Nathan and Danielle Adams purchased the Cherry Hills Village property for $3.95 million in March 2022. Nathan Adams is CEO of RedT Homes.

The estate offers nearly 14,000 square feet of living and recreation space on 2 acres of landscaped grounds. The property features a 6,856-square-foot main residence and a 7,020-square-foot heated and cooled indoor arena with a sand volleyball court, a half-court basketball court, and a regulation pickleball court.

The sellers initially listed the property for $5.8 million in May 2024, then removed it in July of that year. They listed it again for $4.6 million in June 2025.

Bret Bostwick and Amy Jacobs bought the property for $4.3 million. Bostwick, a physician-scientist and drug developer, is a venture adviser for Breyer Capital.

South Franklin Street in Cherry Hills Village: $4.2 million

Listing agents: Julie Egan and Sallie E. Grewe of Kentwood Real Estate DTC

Buyer’s agent: Afshin Sarvestani of Kentwood Real Estate Cherry Creek

Details: Sellers Mohsen and Donnamae Pazirandeh purchased the 7,900-square-foot mansion for $503,000 in August 1993. The 2.2-acre property includes multiple gardens and a fruit tree grove.

The sellers listed the property for $4.8 million in February 2025, then reduced the price twice before it went under contract Dec. 12.

The buyers, Afshin and Azita Mehr, closed on the property Feb. 19 for $4.2 million.

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A big reason for February’s surge was a steady drop in mortgage rates, which fell below 6% by the end of the month, according to this month’s report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.

Lower median sale prices, down 5% for attached homes and 2% for detached homes compared to last year, also brought buyers back.

Pending sales jumped over 29% from January and more than 15% year-over-year as buyers acted quickly on well-priced homes.

“Buyers who entered the market early this year have benefited from softer pricing and lower mortgage rates,” said Amanda Snitker, chair of the DMAR Market Trends committee.

Inventory carried over from 2025 motivated sellers willing to negotiate on price and offer concessions. Well-priced, move-in-ready homes in prime locations attract multiple offers.

“Buyers are selective in this market, but they’re prepared to move quickly when the right opportunity comes along,” Snitker said.

Buyers get more options

More homes came on the market in February, with new listings up 12% from January. Overpriced or outdated homes stayed on the market longer and attracted bargain hunters, while move-in-ready homes appealed to buyers wanting to settle quickly.

The number of days homes spent on the market dropped sharply, down 30% for attached homes and 40% for detached homes. Closed sales rose nearly 30%, and the close-price-to-list-price ratio hit 98.7%, up from 97.9% in January, showing strong demand.

Even with the gains, year-to-date numbers for 2026 remain behind those for 2025. Sales volume is down about 10%, and the median close price is down about 3%.

Still, the Denver market is becoming more balanced, giving buyers more choices and helping sellers sell faster.

Luxury home sales record strong gains

In the luxury market, which includes homes priced at $1 million or more, closings for detached homes between $1 million and $1.49 million rose 35%.

Sales of homes priced between $1.5 million and $1.9 million increased by nearly 66%. Homes priced at $2 million or more saw a slight decline, but overall luxury sales increased 36%.

Michelle Schwinghammer, a market trends committee member, described the luxury market as “normalizing,” with buyers exercising greater selectivity and patience.

“Multiple offers on turnkey homes in desirable locations are absolutely (and somewhat unexpectedly) back,” she said.

“Precision pricing and thoughtful presentation continue to determine sellers’ outcomes. When those elements align, homes are snapped up. When they don’t, days in MLS quickly become a liability that’s difficult to overcome.”

The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — American employers unexpectedly cut 92,000 jobs last month, a sign that the labor market remains under strain. The unemployment rate blipped up to 4.4%.

Hiring deteriorated from January, when companies, nonprofits and government agencies added a healthy 126,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had expected 60,000 new jobs in February.

Revisions also cut 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls.

The surprisingly weak employment picture in February adds to the economic uncertainty over the war with Iran, which has caused oil prices to surge and saddled business and consumers with unforeseen costs.

“The job market is struggling in the face of so many headwinds,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Companies are going to be even more reluctant to hire this spring until the war ends and they can see consumers still spending. It’s a tense time for the U.S. economy.”

The job market had been expected to rebound this year from a lackluster 2025 when it was buffeted by President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policies, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates. In 2025, employers added just 15,000 jobs a month. Hopes for a 2026 rebound rose after January hiring came in above expectations.

“Just when it looked like the labor market was stabilizing, this report delivers a knock-down blow to that view,” said Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economics at Fitch Ratings. ”It’s bad news whichever way you look at it.”

The job losses were widespread.

Construction companies cut 11,000 jobs last month, which likely reflects frigid weather. And healthcare firms shed 28,000 jobs after a four-week strike by more than 30,000 nurses and other front-line workers at Kaiser Permanente in California and Hawaii. Health care has been one of the job market’s strong points.

Factories cut 12,000 jobs and have now lost jobs for 14 of the last 15 months. Restaurants and bars lost nearly 30,000 jobs. Administrative and support services firms cut nearly 19,000 jobs and courier and messenger services almost 17,000.

Financial firms added 10,000 jobs, though job cuts continue to hit that sector as well this year.

Average hourly wages rose 0.4% from January and 3.8% from a year earlier.

The outlook for the job market – and the entire economy – is clouded by the war with Iran.

The combination of weak hiring and increasing inflationary pressures arising from the war creates a nightmare for the Federal Reserve, which must decide whether to cut interest rates to help the job market or hold off to help keep a lid on prices. “This is probably the worst scenario for monetary policy,″ said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.

Employers were reluctant to hire last year because of uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs – and the unpredictable way he rolled them out.

The impact of Trump’s aggressive trade policies may recede in 2026. His import taxes became smaller and less erratic after he reached a trade truce last year with China and deals with leading U.S. trade partners such as Japan and the European Union. A lot of businesses have also learned how to offset the costs of the tariffs, often by passing them along to customers via higher prices.

Brian Bethune, an economist at Boston College, said that Trump’s 2025 tariffs were a shock to companies’ business plans. Now, just as they’ve adjusted to them, “Guess what! All of a sudden their 2026 business plans are upended by an increase in fuel costs’’ caused by the war with Iran.

Jay Foreman, CEO of the toy company Basic Fun, expects to get some relief from Trump’s tariffs after the Supreme Court last month struck down the biggest ones and potentially created a path for importers to get refunds for the levies they paid. The refunds would allow Foreman to invest more in his Boca Raton, Florida, company, which makes Lincoln Logs and Care Bears. He can also hand out more generous raises to employees and hire new people.

“We are expecting a record year,’’ he said.

Yet under new tariffs sought by Trump, Foreman estimates that Basic Fun’s tariff bill will more than double this year to $15 million. That is partly because the firm will be paying for a full year of Trump tariffs in 2026. Tariffs last year were not rolled out until spring or later.

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this report.

Anne D’Innocenzio reported from New York.

But it will remain in the same spot it has occupied since 1999. And it is open for business.

It’s a testament to the resiliency of independent booksellers that the Highland institution has remained open, and a new independent bookstore in Uptown recently opened, in the face of pressure from national chains and buyers’ online habits. Trade organizations report rising numbers of new stores, a trend they say gained momentum as readers rallied to support local businesses when the pandemic hit in 2020.

While staying put, West Side Books & Curios has changed ownership. Matt Aragon-Shafi, the former manager, has taken over the business from Lois Harvey, who retired in February after more than 40 years as an independent bookstore owner in Denver.

Aragon-Shafi and Harvey have mixed emotions about their new roles. Aragon-Shafi said moving from an employee to owner feels good. “But it’s overwhelming in a way.”

Harvey turned in her keys to the building at 3434 W. 32nd Ave. on Feb. 3.

“There was a certain amount of relief,” Harvey said.

She oversaw the moving of roughly 40,000 books to go from a 3,000-square-foot space to the current 1,000-square-foot space at the front of the building.

“It had been so much work getting that done,” Harvey said.

But it’s sad “to see what had been built and dismantled,” she added.

West Side decided to scale back because the lease was set to significantly increase. Grant Gingerich bought the building in 2021 from Harvey’s brother, Jim Harvey. Gingerich said high commercial property taxes and increases in other business expenses necessitated raising the rent.

Gingerich said he wants to work with West Side Books to keep it in the neighborhood where he has another building up the street and has been part-owner of a local restaurant for about 18 years. He’s looking at using the space behind the bookstore for events and an adjacent vacant lot as community open space.

“My wife and I are dug in. This is our community,” Gingerich said. “There’s nothing more that I want than to have West Side Books thrive for another 25 years.”

Rising costs, the dominance of online behemoth Amazon in bookselling and disruptions during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic shook independent bookstores nationwide for years.

In Denver, a seismic event struck the bookstore scene in 2024 when the Tattered Cover, a nationally renowned independent bookseller, was sold to the Barnes & Noble chain. The 50-plus-year-old Denver store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023.

However, Harvey, who opened her first bookstore in 1980, said the market started evolving during the pandemic when local stores, with the help of industry organizations, started or expanded online sales. She said customers stepped up to support local businesses and protests of George Floyd’s murder boosted interest in reading about politics and culture.

“The bookstores I know of are doing well. I’m just so proud of them,” Harvey said.

The state of independent bookstores in the Denver area and the region is positive, said Heather Duncan, the executive director of the  Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association. The organization has members in 14 states.

“Our membership is increasing every year fairly significantly. The (store) openings are outpacing the closings by far,” Duncan said.

The association has 82 members in Colorado. Not all independent bookstores are members. In a “good guestimate” of the regional growth of the local stores, or “indies,” Duncan said at least a third of the association’s 328 members opened in the past two years.

“I’ve been in the bookstore business for 40 years and this has been one of the biggest growth periods that I’ve seen,” Duncan said.

The American Booksellers Association, a national trade organization for indie stores, reported 3,281 member locations in 2025, up from 2,844 in 2024 and 2,209 in 2020.

Duncan agreed with Harvey that more people turned to books and wanted to stand behind local businesses when the pandemic hit. Right before COVID-19 broke out, Bookshop.org started. The platform is an online bookseller geared to independent stores and shoppers looking for an alternative to Amazon. As a certified B corporation, which meets certain social and environmental standards, it shares its profits with bookstores.

“That allowed a whole bunch of bookstores, especially small mom-and-pop stores, pop-up stores and mobile bookstores, to have this really strong web presence instantly where they could sell books online and ship them to customers,” Duncan said.

And there is “a whole bunch of young and demographically diverse people opening bookstores,” she said.

Harvey said younger people are increasingly reading physical books rather than scrolling on screens. They’re attracted to beautifully illustrated and decorated first editions and books of different genres, she said.

One bookstore maintains, one starts anew

As West Side Books maintains its foothold in the Highland neighborhood, a new independent bookstore has opened its doors in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood. The Denver Book Society officially opened Feb. 20 at 1700 Humboldt St, once the site of the well-known Strings Restaurant.

A partner in the new venture is not new to the indie scene. Kwame Spearman was CEO of the Tattered Cover when the store filed for bankruptcy. He and his current partner, Rich Garvin, made an unsuccessful bid to buy Tattered Cover out of bankruptcy.

Deciding to build an independent bookstore from scratch, Garvin bought a 9,000-square-foot building for $2.9 million. Besides the bookstore, the building houses two restaurants and has space for a third.

“I had spent all this time learning about bookstores. I thought I still really wanted to have a bookstore,” Garvin said. “I decided it would be good to have a building that you own to put your bookstore in because many bookstores fail because of the rent.”

Garvin moved from San Francisco to Denver after the pandemic started. He had retired from his business that organized conferences and managed events for large corporations. He met Spearman through a mutual friend.

While upbeat about the new bookstore, which has a children’s section and a coffee bar, Spearman acknowledged his last time in the business didn’t end well.

“I would say that my experience as CEO was probably ultimately one of the bigger failures I’ve encountered,” Spearman said. “I think over the past two years, there’s been a lot of time to reflect.”

Spearman and two other Denver natives, David Back and Alan Frosh, bought the Tattered Cover in 2020 as part of an investment team. The company struggled to compete with large retailers such as Amazon and the pandemic.

“I think that when we took on the business, it was a business that was on fumes and basically headed towards bankruptcy during a really difficult period,” Spearman said.

The owners opened new Tattered Cover stores in Westminster and Colorado Springs and completed the move of the Lower Downtown location to a new one in McGregor Square.

Spearman took a leave of absence as CEO in 2023 to run for Denver mayor and then stepped down ahead of an unsuccessful run for the Denver school board. Before then, some Tattered Cover employees made claims of bullying and ageism, allegations that Spearman denied.

In an email, Back, Spearman’s former business partner at Tattered Cover, disputed Spearman’s characterization of the business when they took over. He echoed employees’ complaints about Spearman.

Spearman, who attended Yale Law School and Harvard Business School, said he got back into the bookstore business faster than he anticipated.

“As long as I am in Denver, I am going to, in some way, shape or form, try to be involved in the local economy,” Spearman said. “I think the thing that separates really outstanding cities from OK cities is when you have a thriving local environment.”

Spearman and Garvin want to make the Denver Book Society a community gathering space. They have started board-game nights and are hosting book clubs. They’re partnering with the theater company at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts on events at the store.

Garvin’s dog, Cooper, an Australian shepherd, is a kind of mascot for the store. A “Cooperish” mug of a dog is part of the store’s logo.

“I fundamentally believe the same thing I felt with Tattered Cover, that books are this unifier,” Spearman said. “They are this opportunity to create community. And we need a third space now more than ever.”

He and Garvin are encouraged so far by the response to the new store. They sold 1,500 books and 500 cups of coffee over their opening weekend.

Aragon-Shafi at West Side Books said the community has supported the business as it makes the transition in ownership. People volunteered advice and spaces to store items and books. They helped with such tasks as alphabetizing books.

Although the store has culled most of its used books, Aragon-Shafi plans to still sell some of the used and rare inventory that West Side was first known for. He said his opportunity to run a business is part of a family tradition.

“My dad owned a convenience store for a long time. My grandpa owned an import store when he came here from India,” he said.

Aragon-Shafi also feels he is entrusted with keeping the beloved community bookstore going. He was a regular at West Side since attending nearby North High School.

“I see other bookstores that have been here for years and years, and I want us to be here for years and years.”

Updated March 6, 2026, to add comment from former Tattered Cover co-owner.

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In recent weeks, the ice cream and soda shop closed its Wash Park location at 712½ S. Pearl St. in Denver. The spot opened at the corner of Pearl and Exposition Avenue on March 3 last year, according to an Instagram post from owner Tullie Bailey.

Bailey and his wife and co-owner, Senait Eritrea, did not respond to requests for comment from BusinessDen.

The couple opened the inaugural Colfax and Cream at 1238 E. Colfax Ave., formerly home to Ice Cream Riot, in May 2024. That shop closed last year, Westword reported.

The business’ second location, at 1100 N. Broadway, met the same fate in December. That store, which was on the ground floor of the 11th Avenue Hostel, started scooping in October 2024 and is now home to Might Tea Samurai. That outfit opened in January.

The Wash Park closure appears to end Colfax and Cream’s nearly two-year run.

Bailey used to be the general manager for CoClubs, the Regas Christou-led group that includes Milk, Bar Standard and, formerly, Church Nightclub and Club Vinyl. Bailey told Westword a year ago that he opened the shop after the pandemic froze Denver’s nightlife scene.

During that time, Bailey picked up a job as a manager of High Point Creamery, the ice cream shop with several locations across the city and Fort Collins.

“When I got there, I really enjoyed the culture of it,” he said of working at High Point. “I loved the clothes. It kind of reminded me of bartending, in the sense that people come in, pick their flavors, you tell a little joke and, you know, it was lighthearted and interesting.”

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