Who Had the Worst Week?

• Denver was named the nation’s 9th most-rat-infested city.
• A lifeguard shortage means that five Denver city pools will not open this summer.
• Colorado home values are inflated by 38.5% above the expected trend line, indicating that our housing market is the most overpriced it has been in three decades. For context, the housing bubble that burst in 2008 was only 20% above the expected trend line. Pop!
• Denver landlords have no legal requirement to disclose lead pipes to their renters. Denver’s Department of Public Health & Environment requires landlords to inform renters about peeling or deteriorating lead paint, but not about lead pipes.
• Southwest Airlines is suing the state of Colorado over the “Colorado Healthy Families and Workplace Act,” a move that could reduce sick leave benefits for all Coloradans. The Act establishes sick leave standards that are in conflict with what Southwest currently offers, and Southwest has already been fined more than $1 million for violations of the Act.
• Two workers died when a coal pile collapsed at Xcel’s Comanche power plant in Pueblo.
• Millions of miller moths will invade Colorado this month. If you find them irritating, you are “selfish” and lack “compassion,” according to CSU entomologist Maia Holmes.
• Wild Animals 2, Humans 0: A woman was trampled by a moose in Breckenridge and a bison gored a woman in Yellowstone National Park.
• Actress Amber Heard has been ordered to pay $10 million in damages for defaming actor Johnny Depp.
• The U.N. says that a sand shortage is about to become a “global crisis.” You read that right: a global sand shortage.
• Deranged-billionaire-genius-mad-scientist
• Elon Musk has ordered Tesla employees to return to the office full-time immediately or face termination.
• Swedish people were roasted this week after a Reddit post claimed that many refuse to feed guests. The post claimed that some Swedish families do not invite their children’s visiting friends to eat with them at mealtime, leaving them instead to play alone while the family eats.
• ESPN basketball announcers Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen missed game one of the NBA Finals last night after testing positive for COVID-19.
• JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says that there is an economic “hurricane” on the horizon, caused in large part by shifting Federal Reserve policies and the war in Ukraine.

So, who won the week?

• Tom Cruise was adamant that “Top Gun: Maverick,” which was ready to premiere in theaters two years ago, should not be dumped on a streaming platform during the pandemic, and that stubbornness is being rewarded. Cruise saw his film deliver the first $100M+ opening weekend of his career.
• Kate Hill’s 1985 hit song “Running Up That Hill” climbed to #1 on iTunes this week after being featured in the season four premiere of “Stranger Things.”
• New CNN CEO Chris Licht has ordered his staff to quit labeling every story it airs as “breaking news.” In an all-employee memo, Licht said the channel will follow “new guidelines for deciding whether a story is truly breaking.”
• The Ukrainian men’s national soccer team‘s attempt to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup was delayed until this week due to the invasion by Russia. The team defeated Scotland 3-1 on Wednesday and will face Wales on Sunday. The winner of that game qualifies for the World Cup.
• NBA superstar LeBron James has officially become a billionaire, according to Forbes.