• Hurricane Ian has caused a once-in-500-years flooding event in Florida, and officials estimate at least 21 Floridians are dead.
• The body of Colorado’s Hilaree Nelson, a legend in the ski climber community, was found by Nepalese searchers on Mount Manaslu. She apparently was caught in an avalanche as she scaled the mountain in an attempt to then ski down it.
• Rent in Denver is among the most expensive in the country, driven by a 45% increase since August 2021. And in what may be a leading indicator that benefits renters in the future, Colorado home prices saw some of the steepest price drops in the nation this summer.
• Former NFL QB Brett Favre‘s troubles continue. After reports surfaced that he helped steer $5 million in welfare funds to build a volleyball stadium at his alma mater, he has now been dropped by SiriusXM and ESPN Milwaukee as they seek to distance themselves from him.
• Speaking of the NFL, the Miami Dolphins are under intense scrutiny for letting QB Tua Tagovailoa play Thursday night after he appeared to suffer a concussion four days earlier in last Sunday’s game. In Thursday’s game, Tagovailoa was again slammed to the ground and this time he had to be carted off the field on a stretcher.
• You will no doubt be shocked to learn that Shotgun Willie’s has been accused of unethical behavior related to a wrongful death lawsuit.
• Air Force is the best college football program in the state, and now we may know why. The NCAA has put the school on probation for recruiting violations.
• Pop star Shakira has been ordered to stand trial in Spain on tax fraud charges that could net her an eight-year prison sentence.
• Satellite images show a 10-mile-long traffic jam to leave Russia following Vladimir Putin’s efforts to conscript and mobilize 300,000 additional troops to fight in Ukraine.
• Fast Company had to shut down its website after it was hacked and used to send obscene and racist messages through its Apple News feed.
• Here’s hoping Coolio has a Fantastic Voyage to a Gangsta’s Paradise.
• The CEO of Clearwater, Fla.-based PostcardMania held a staff meeting to encourage employees to defy Hurricane Ian evacuation orders and instead remain at work because, “It’s not going to be that bad.” Following a social media backlash, the company said the CEO’s remarks – delivered at a staff meeting – were “personal opinions” that did not reflect “an official PostcardMania position in any way.”

So, who won the week?

• John Hall has launched Hallway Communications, a Denver-based agency focusing on wireless and future-of-work clients. Hall previously worked at Dish Network, CenturyLink and Clear Channel Radio.
• Elaine Reddy has joined The Ad Hoc Group as Senior Communications Manager.
• Tracy Weise has joined Cisco as Executive Communications Manager.
• Lu Stasko announced that she has returned full-time to the Stasko Agency following two years battling cancer.
• Lori Lizarraga, the former 9News reporter who alleged the station racially discriminated against employees of color, has been named co-host of NPR’s “Code Switch” show.
• Jon Ekstrom of Deft Communications and the “Jon of All Trades” Podcast has partnered to create the “Happy Friday” podcast, a new weekly show “focusing on cool stuff to do around Colorado, good vibes, and fun banter.”
• Professional wrestler-turned-actor John Cena completed his 650th wish for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. No other person has granted more than 200 wishes in the organization’s 42-year history.
• Edelman, the largest independent PR agency in the world, passed $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time.
• The Top 5 favorite brands among Gen Z: YouTube, Google, Netflix, Amazon and M&Ms.

• The University of Oregon apologized to BYU after students chanted “F— the Mormons” at last week’s football game, And in one of the swiftest examples of karma, Oregon was hosting one of its top QB recruits at the game, a Mormon who left at halftime because of the chants.
• Phil Washington, the CEO of DIA and President Biden’s nominee to lead the FAA, was the subject of a search warrant related to alleged corruption at the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority when he led that organization. I’d expect Washington to quietly withdraw from consideration for the FAA position in the coming weeks (Friday afternoon news dump?).
• Apple completed filming a $120 million Will Smith movie just weeks before the star slapped Oscars host Chris Rock. Now the company doesn’t know what to do with the film.
• Denver Public Schools is in a dispute with four students about who owns the rights to a podcast created by the students using school resources.
• Barney Fife apparently transferred from Mayberry to Platteville. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating a Platteville Police officer who placed a woman under arrest in the back of his cruiser that he parked on top of railroad tracks. As he helped other officers search her car, a freight train hit his cruiser, seriously injuring the woman.
• The Wall Street Journal wrote about growth in Colorado Springs, but many readers couldn’t get past the third paragraph when the Portland-based reporter described the city as a “bedroom community of Denver.”
• A city audit found that the Denver Police Department left nearly $400,000 in grant money for mental health support unused. The department was forced to return the money to be redistributed elsewhere.
• I don’t know what the problem is with ants, but they are underperforming. A report this week estimates there are 20 quadrillion ants in the world – that’s 20,000 trillion, or 2.5 million ants for each human on earth. And yet they haven’t taken over anything but the occasional picnic.
• It was a tough week for Denver radio. Four popular KUVO radio hosts have been fired or pushed out as the station and its listeners engage in a debate about what the jazz station should be. And sports radio station 104.3 The Fan cut a number of hosts this week, including longtime favorite Sandy Clough.
• Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was suspended for the upcoming season after having “an inappropriate relationship” with a female team employee.
• College graduates who majored in the English Lit, foreign languages, communications, philosophy and religious studies have the highest unemployment rate. Education, health, transportation and agriculture majors have the lowest rate of unemployment.

So, who won the week?

• Tech salaries in Denver grew the third-fastest in the country – 10.6% – in 2022.
• DIA’s Canine Airport Therapy Squad (CATS) program has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world. The program includes 83 dogs and one cat.
• Denver is the second-best city in the country for beer lovers.
• Adnan Syed, the subject of the “Serial” podcast that raised questions about his murder conviction, had his conviction overturned this week. Prosecutors have 30 days to decide whether to retry him.
• Tennis star Roger Federer will play his last tennis tournament this weekend. He retires with 20 major championships, including eight at Wimbledon.

• Slip-and-fall attorney Frank Azar is fighting a lawsuit from a former employee who claims that Azar’s law firm has a “culture of heavy drinking and drug use” during work hours.
• A presumably novice hunter was seriously injured after a bull moose attacked him in Larimer County.
• Centennial’s St. Thomas More Catholic School has “disinvited two metro-area Catholic high schools from an upcoming admissions event” because they aren’t Catholic enough.
• Football in Colorado is abysmal. The CU Buffs, CSU Rams and Denver Broncos are a combined 0-5, and collectively have been outscored 181-65.
• Speaking of football, it took 59 minutes into the first game for media and Denver Broncos fans to officially turn on new head coach Nathaniel Hackett. His decision to attempt a 64-yard field goal is being derided as a Top 10 all-time screw-up.
• Wells Fargo will pay $145 million to resolve allegations it screwed “shortchanged” its employees by overpaying for its own stock as part of 401(k) purchases.
• Denver and Boulder residents who think they are composting may not actually be.
• Ride-share giant Uber‘s computer network was hacked, forcing the company to take several of its communications and engineering systems offline as it investigated. 
• Pilots flying into DEN DIA have been experiencing numerous false alarms from their collision-warning systems. Their solution: turn the systems off.
• Robert Sarver, the owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, was suspended for a year and fined $10 million after an NBA investigation found repeated instances of racism and sexual harassment.
• Brett Favre is the PR disaster gift that keeps giving. This time he is alleged to have conspired with the former governor of Mississippi to divert $5 million in welfare funds to build a volleyball stadium at his alma mater.
• According to climate scientists (who may be delusional), climate change could make Colorado less popular with those relocating and make colder regions like Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit the hottest real-estate markets.
• Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel has apologized to Emmy-winner Quinta Brunson after a comedy bit at the awards ceremony went wrong and took attention away from the “Abbott Elementary” star during her acceptance speech.
• A semi truck spilled sex toys all over an Oklahoma highway when it flipped after colliding with a box truck. That fact was made clear when local TV anchors, live on the air, encouraged their news helicopter to zoom in so they could better see the debris.
• LIV Golf, a Saudi-backed golf tour designed to help repair the country’s image in the face of ongoing human rights abuses and the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, still cannot find a TV partner in the U.S. Those who have declined so far: ESPN, CBS, NBC, FOX, Amazon and Apple.
• Mortgage rates inched above 6% for the first time since 2008.

So, who won the week?

• The National MS Society named Jill Petersen Director of Employee Engagement & Communications.
• Turner Public Relations promoted Deborah Park to Senior Vice President.
• Colorado Succeeds named Rachel Van Brocklin Director of Communications.
• Danone named Danielle Kraycik Manager of Brand Communications.
• Janelle Orozco was appointed the Denver Police Department’s first Latina major.
• CDOT had already committed to a renovation of the Floyd Hill segment of I-70, but paying for it just got easier. The federal government said it would chip in $100 million for the project.
• The total cost to attend a Denver Broncos game (tickets, parking, food, etc.) is among the lowest in the NFL.

Chris Daniels at PRWeek: “The PR function has never been in a better position to flex its influence across multiple facets of an organization. That’s the big headline from the most comprehensive annual review of the industry, back for its fifth year. The 2022 PRWeek/Boston University Communications Bellwether Survey offers a wealth of data-supported insights to inform this hypothesis, from in-house comms functions, PR agencies, educators and tech suppliers.” …

“PR pros report feeling valued, both by their organization and executive leadership (4.03 and 4.04, respectively, on a 5-point scale). Two out of three participants agreed the comms function is involved in important business decisions. An almost equal amount, 65%, said their advice was valued in making these decisions.”

“’The function capitalized on the pivotal moment the pandemic provided in 2020,’ says Arunima Krishna, assistant professor of PR at Boston University’s College of Communication. ‘The latest results show comms has continued to grow in importance, and this gives a strong indication that its influence is here to stay.’”

• Denver Public Schools board member Auon’tai “Tay” Anderson was ticketed for speeding in a DPS school zone when he was running late to greet students on the first day of classes.
• Speaking of DPS, Denver students have enjoyed snow days forever, but now they are getting “heat days.” This week, 31 DPS schools were put on alert to close early due to temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Forty-eight DPS schools still do not have air conditioning.Juul
• E-cigarette manufacturer Juul has agreed to pay nearly $440 million to settle allegations it marketed its products to minors.
• Rocky’s Autos, which perfected, if not pioneered, the art of the campy car commercial, will close its doors after 40 years. Pour one out for the “Shagman.”
• Miles Robinson, a member of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team that will compete in the FIFA World Cup in a few months, was arrested at an Atlanta bar when he swiped a shot off of a drink tray and refused multiple times to pay $5 for it.
• The Pentagon has halted deliveries of the F-35 fighter jet because Lockheed Martin sourced a part from China, violating federal defense acquisition rules.
• It was a tough week for journalists – former CNN anchor Bernard Shaw and NPR correspondent Anne Garrels both died, and Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German was murdered, allegedly by a county administrator who had been the subject of several of German’s articles.
• An analysis of NFL teams finds that 28% are using some variation of former Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio’s innovative defense, yet Fangio remains out of work this season.
• Carnegie Mellon University is dealing with a backlash after one of its professors shared on Twitter that she hoped Queen Elizabeth II’s death was “excruciatingly painful.”

So, who won the week?

• La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal was named one of the country’s 50 best new restaurants by Bon Appétit.
• ESPN reported that Serena Williams’ last match at the U.S. Open was the network’s highest-rated tennis match ever, eclipsing viewership of Roger Federer’s 2012 Wimbledon win by 23%.
• Longtime University of Colorado Boulder Associate Athletic Director and Sports Information Director (SID) David Plati announced he will transition to SID-Emeritus and Program Historian effective January 1.

Denver Public Schools board member Tay Anderson didn’t even make it to the start of the first day of classes in the 2022-2023 school year before creating a new controversy – he was ticketed for speeding outside Montbello High School on his way to welcome students on their first day of school.

Credit to Tay – the guy knows how to stick to his messaging. Instead of accepting blame for speeding and quietly paying the $285 ticket, his statement to media focused on police brutality and criticism of the police for “being visible outside the school building on the first day of school.”

Longtime University of Colorado Boulder Associate Athletic Director and Sports Information Director (SID) David Plati announced he will transition to SID-Emeritus and Program Historian effective January 1. Plati has been with CU Boulder for 40 years.

Caitlin Oprysko at Politico: “Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy has enlisted the help of several American and European PR firms to launch a campaign aimed at attracting businesses and investors to the war-torn country, according to an outline of the effort filed with the Justice Department this week. Although the British conglomerate WPP announced the partnership with Ukraine’s ministry of culture in June, the DOJ filings this week offer more insight into who will be involved in the initiative as well as its general scope. GroupM Poland is coordinating the effort, but the firm’s U.S. arm as well as several other WPP subsidiaries including Ogilvy, Hill + Knowlton Strategies and Hogarth, will work on the multi-pronged and global initiative to signal that ‘Ukraine is still open for business and has the potential to be a key cultural and digital technology European hub,’ according to the documents.”

• Embattled Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen will step down next month in a move that did not feel like his choice. Crime in the city continues to increase and the recent LoDo shooting by officers that hurt six bystanders may have been the final straw.
• In what may be related news, a Denver police detective failed to visit the scene of a fatal bike crash for five weeks, greatly compromising any investigation. The detective lost two days of pay as punishment.
• Denver drivers can expect to pay 20-30 cents more per gallon for gas starting in 2024. That is when the EPA will require gas stations to sell reformulated fuel intended to help improve air quality that is not meeting federal standards.
• So many Fox31 reporters have left the station since last year that Westword has started formally documenting them. If you are keeping track, investigative reporter Lori Jane Gliha is the latest.
• Remote learning and other pandemic-related educational disruptions caused student test scores to plummet to levels not seen in decades.
• It took eight months for staff at an Ottawa hotel to notice that a photo of Winston Churchill valued at $100,000 had been stolen and replaced with a cheap copy.
• Poe, the mascot for the Baltimore Ravens, nearly delayed the start of the second half of a Ravens’ preseason game when he injured his leg and had to be carted off the field.
• Softball-size hail in northern Spain killed a toddler and injured 50 others.
• U.S. Open announcers Mary Carillo and Chanda Rubin confidently misidentified the legendary Dionne Warwick as Gladys Knight when she appeared on-camera at Serena Williams’ second-round match.
• Ravil Maganov, a senior Russian oil executive, became the latest critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin to die after falling out of a window.
• A Southwest Airlines pilot threatened to deplane passengers when someone started airdropping nude photos to dozens of fellow passengers.

So, who won the week?

• New Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson signed a five-year, $245 million contract extension. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t played a single game for the team yet.
• Twitter announced it will finally introduce an “edit” button.
• Netty, a 15-year-old dog that was dumped at an animal shelter by her longtime family to die is now living her best life.

The family of Brad Bawmann has released details about his memorial service:

10 am, Friday, October 7
Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
1980 Dahlia Street
Denver, CO 80220