Edelman Sees Light at End of COVID-19 Tunnel, Restores Staff Salaries

“Edelman is restoring staff salaries cut due to COVID-19 and is making hires and investment again, as the agency begins to bounce back after being forced to make mass redundancies in June,” Maja Pawinska Sims at Provoke Media reports.

“Edelman also said that the world’s largest PR firm was ‘making hires again in fast-growing areas like financial PR and healthcare.’ … Edelman described the firm’s performance over the past six months as ‘like a coffee cup’ with a steep decline, a flat base and now starting to rise again.”

Husband of Former 9News Sports Anchor Accused of Sexual Assault at CSU Stadium

A Colorado State University student has filed suit against the school after she claims she was sexually assaulted by Michael Best, the husband of former 9News sports anchor and current KOA NewsRadio Broncos sideline reporter Susie Wargin, CBS4 reports.

“(The student) said she loved her job working as a waitress at the CSU football stadium. She had worked there for a year, and said it was a great experience. That all changed in fall of 2019 when she claims prominent donor, Michael Best, husband of local radio personality and realtor Susie Wargin, touched her inappropriately and called her vulgar names while she was serving him in his private loge box.”

Centura Health’s St. Anthony Hospital an Indirect Sponsor of Anti-Mask Events at Bandimere Speedway

You would think a hospital system would be the least likely organization to support anti-maskers during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Centura Health’s St. Anthony Hospital remains a sponsor of one of the state’s largest organizer’s of anti-mask protests – Bandimere Speedway.

Bandimere and Jeffco Public Health are locked in a legal battle over the county’s health orders requiring masks and social distancing. Earlier this week, Bandimere hosted a “COVID Chaos” protest event in which more than a thousand non-masked participants violated the county’s health orders and stood on the track shoulder-to-shoulder for a group photo as an expression of defiance.

And, despite this month’s long public health battle, St. Anthony Hospital remains listed on Bandimere’s website as one of its sponsors.

As Election Approaches, Trump Administration Offers $250M Comms RFP to Help ‘Defeat Despair’

Politico: “As the presidential election fast approaches, the Department of Health and Human Services is bidding out a more than $250 million contract to a communications firm as it seeks to “defeat despair and inspire hope” about the coronavirus pandemic, according to an internal HHS document obtained by POLITICO.”

“Several weeks ago, the department sent out to a number of communications firms a ‘performance work statement,’ which lays out what work will be expected of the winning firm. The document says that the vast majority of the money will be spent from now until January.”

“The document also lists the goals of the contract: ‘defeat despair and inspire hope, sharing best practices for businesses to operate in the new normal and instill confidence to return to work and restart the economy,’ build a ‘coalition of spokespeople’ around the country, provide important public health, therapeutic and vaccine information as the country reopens, and give Americans information on the phases of reopening.”