Who Had the Worst Week?

• NPR announced it will lay off 10% of its staff after experiencing a $30 million budget shortfall.
• Expect a flurry of chaos as the Denver mayoral election approaches. Ballots will be mailed in less than three weeks and a recent bipartisan poll found that 59% of voters are undecided and that only three of the 17 candidates – Kelly Brough, Leslie Herod and Mike Johnston – are polling higher than the 4.8% margin of error.
• A gunman shot and killed a woman in Florida, fled, then returned to the scene of his crime and killed a TV reporter covering the first death.
• Coaches and the director of the University of Denver Junior Pioneers youth hockey team withdrew from a local tournament after one of its 12-year-old players was threatened by an opposing team member’s parent. That player, the son of Denver PR professional Margaret Fogarty, scored the winning goal in the game.
• Several weeks after Michael Roberts announced he was leaving Westword, Conor McCormick-Cavanagh made a similar announcement.
• Facing a recommendation from the superintendent to close three schools due to budget shortfalls and low enrollment, the Denver Public Schools board tabled a separate motion that would have raised their pay by 366%.
• The Mormon Church has agreed to pay a $5 million fine after the SEC accused it of hiding $32 billion in assets.
• DIA led the nation in delayed and cancelled flights in January, the result of unusually cold and snowy weather.
• Florida beach communities are preparing for an invasion of seawood this summer that one official likened to “a Stephen King movie.” The seawood washes ashore, covering beaches and making swimming next to impossible.
• Officials at Vanderbilt University apologized for for using OpenAI’s ChatGPT to write an email to students in the aftermath of the shooting at Michigan State University.
• The superintendent of a Texas school district resigned after a third grader found his gun unattended in a school bathroom.
• More Americans than ever distrust news media.
• Passengers aboard an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to New York City traveled 16 hours to reach … Auckland. A power outage shut down JFK and there wasn’t enough space at other airports to accommodate all the inbound international flights, so the Air New Zealand jet turned around eight hours into its flight.
• A woman at a Miami art exhibit couldn’t believe how much a Jeff Koons porcelain sculpture looked like the kind of twisted balloon animal you’d get at a kid’s birthday party, so she tapped on it, causing the $42,000 piece to fall and shatter.
• A passenger on a Ryanair flight who ate a full rack of ribs while occupying a middle seat has divided the internet as to whether he is a hero or villain.
• Looking for a good vacation home? A mobile home in a trailer park in the Hamptons just sold for $3.75 million.

So, who won the week?

• Kyle Henley has been named vice president for marketing and communications at Colorado State University. He joins CSU from the University of Southern California, where he was SVP/CCO.
• Denver’s Catalyst Marketing landed a three-year AOR contract with DIA that could be worth as much as $4.7 million.
• The Welton Street Cafe in Five Points plans to re-open in June. Community members contributed more than $100,000 to help the long-time restaurant build out its new location.
• Former Denver Business Journal reporter Ed Sealover has joined the Colorado Chamber to help it launch its own news site.
• Heather Dratler, the vice president of Brand Engagement at B Public Relations, is joining the board of directors of EatDenver.