You may find 9News anchor Kyle Clark arrogant, snarky or self-aggrandizing, but he’s not a man to be trifled with. He’s created a nightly news show – “Next with Kyle Clark” –that is light years’ more informative and entertaining than the competition’s, and his Norman Rockwellian presence belies an incredibly sharp mind and a masterful approach to both television news and social media.

The latest victim to underestimate Clark is Denver Public Schools board member Auon’tai Anderson. The recent East High School shooting has put Anderson under intense scrutiny due to his leadership role in kicking police officers out of district schools two years ago. Public pressure forced the school board to reverse its position last week, and Anderson chose to accept an invitation from Clark to discuss the issue.

To put it mildly, Clark was salivating at the opportunity. First, Clark boxed Anderson into a dialectic corner that forced him to say he believes that kids who have been charged with gun violence crimes should remain in regular classrooms as long as their crimes occurred off-campus. And, then when Anderson tried to minimize his conflict with police officers, Clark went for the jugular with this epic question: “In the 2020 social justice protests, you described police officers as ‘motherf*ckers’ and said they were all corrupt. Do you still believe that police officers are ‘motherf*ckers’ and they are all corrupt?”

To Anderson’s credit, he didn’t wilt, but I’d imagine his hopes for re-election this coming November are essentially gone.

• DIA chief Phil Washington’s U.S. Senate committee vote to lead the FAA was tabled yesterday, a sign that his nomination is in serious trouble.
• The SEC has filed suit against eight “celebrities” alleging that they promoted crypto assets without disclosing they were paid to do so. The celebrities are Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Soulja Boy, Austin Mahone, Lil Yachty, Ne-Yo, Akon and Kendra Lust.
• There’s no bad situation that with a little effort you can’t make worse. The Longmont’s bakery Babettes learned that the hard way when they responded to a negative online review with a threatening voice-mail. Naturally, the recipient immediately posted the voice-mail to social media.
• The Denver Public Schools board is reeling after the latest East High School shooting forced it to flip-flop on its ban of school resource officers on campuses. The DPS superintendent announced the shift in policy before the board had discussed it, essentially daring them to fire him if they disagreed. Several hours later, they voted to formally support the superintendent’s decision.
• Meanwhile, Denver-based Fox News national reporter Alicia Acuna stopped her live coverage of the East High School shooting momentarily to hug her son who is a student at the school.
• The NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks – who, no surprise, play their home games in Chicago, Illinois, USA – are opting out of a league Pride Night celebration because of a Russian law that restricts activities seen as promoting LBGBTQ+ rights. Several of the team’s players are Russian or have ties to Russia.
• Nickelodeon is playing defense after it was accused of discriminating against one of its young stars who came out.
• Police are investigating a punch thrown by a Memphis player in the handshake line of its Women’s NIT game against Bowling Green. The punch knocked a Bowling Green player to the floor.
• An Aurora dentist to the stars (if you consider KNUS radio host Steffan Tubbs a star) has been arrested for allegedly poisoning his wife. Local TV news stations could not get enough of this story.
• Six Maryland road construction workers were killed when a car crash sent a vehicle into their path.
• A new survey found that 25% of Black women say they have been denied a job interview because of their hair.
• Is peanut butter a liquid? The TSA says yes.
• In a move that may be a sign that eating Fruit Roll-Ups impairs cognition, General Mills is reminding consumers that they should not eat the plastic film on the leathery, fruity snack.

So, who won the week?

• A lonely, three-year-old zebra at a Seoul zoo lived his best life for a few hours when he escaped and took to the city’s streets.
• The value of the Colorado Rockies grew 6% last year to $1.475 billion. Imagine what they would be worth if they could win just half of their games. If you are keeping track, the New York Yankees ranked first at $7.1 billion and the Miami Marlins ranked last at an even $1 billion.
• Heavy March snow has pushed Colorado‘s snowpack to 136% of its 30-year-normal.

• Colorado Springs’ Sixty35 Media, a relatively new entity that includes the Colorado Springs Independent, Colorado Springs Business Journal, the Pikes Peak Bulletin and several other publications, laid off half its staff – 15 positions – after it discovered $300,000 in unaccounted for debt that carried over from its formation.
• If you have ever (allegedly) created a subsidiary company to quietly pay girlfriends, well, you could have a friend in the diamond business.
• The Colorado Times Recorder is punching back on the Denver Gazette’s attacks on The Denver Post.
• Colorado’s Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) lost $18 million when the value of its stake in Silicon Valley Bank plummeted last week amid its meltdown.
• Tattered Cover CEO Kwame Spearman dropped out of the 17-candidate-strong field for Denver mayor and threw his 1% support to Kelly Brough.
• The son of the Philadelphia Flyers GM apologized for throwing a woman’s wheelchair down a flight of stairs.
• Independent monitoring of air quality around the Suncor Energy refinery in Commerce City found previously unknown radioactive particles.
• New York Mets pitcher Edwin Diaz injured his knee celebrating a win in the World Baseball Classic and will miss the 2023 season.
• Five years ago, The Denver Post’s hedge fund overlords laid off one-third of the staff. That was a terrible, terrible day, but it did serve as a the catalyst for the Colorado Sun.
• If you see a 9News reporter today, give them a hug. The deal by hedge fund Standard General to acquire 9News parent company TEGNA for $24/share is falling apart due to concerns from regulators. As a result, TEGNA stock is currently fighting to stay above $15/share.
• Hardcore gym bros are eating dog food to get the protein that is apparently lacking from people food.
• Filippo Bernardini is accused of stealing more than 1,000 manuscripts from publishing houses not for money but because he just loved to read.
• A surprising number of upsets in the men’s NCAA tournament meant that only 0.12% of brackets were still perfect six hours into the first day.
• Friends and family of Denver Urban Spectrum editor and Metropolitan State University of Denver journalism professor Alfonzo Porter are mourning his passing. He was 60.

So, who won the week?

• Longmont data scientist Stephen Webb is on a seven-episode “Jeopardy” win streak.
• Denverites are among the biggest tippers in the nation.
• H&R Block’s campaign championing equity for women’s college athletics won Campaign of the Year at the PR Week U.S. Awards 2023.
• The Denver Nuggets won last night, clinching a playoff spot.

• CDOT celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Eisenhower Tunnel by … stopping westbound traffic for 50 seconds. I guess an artificial traffic jam is as appropriate a tribute as any.
• Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has been suspended for at least six games after he appeared to flash a gun in an Instagram Live video filmed at Shotgun Willie’s.
• Scientists have revived a “zombie virus” that has been frozen in permafrost for nearly 50,000 years. What could go wrong?
• It turns out Tiger Woods requires his girlfriends to sign non-disclose agreements. That’s a totally normal thing to do.
• The Colorado Rapids apologized for fans’ homophobic chants during its nationally televised game against Sporting Kansas City.
• NASCAR star Chase Elliott is out indefinitely after breaking his leg in a snowboarding accident in Colorado. He owns a home near Vail. Speaking of Vail …
• Vail Resorts is increasing the cost of its Epic Pass to $909 – a $68 increase. Alterra Mountain Co. also announced its Ikon pass will increase $80 to $1,159.
• Chocolate maker Toblerone is dropping the iconic image of the Matterhorn from its packages to comply with Swiss law as it moves production to Slovakia.
• A data breach at Denver Public Schools compromised employee data, and officials waited 58 days to tell them, according to 9News.
• Walgreens is the latest company to find itself a political football, caught between anti-abortion attorneys general and pro-choice customers.
• Adidas is trying to figure out what to do with $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy sneakers.
• If you don’t make the payments on your next Ford, it just might repossess itself.
• The Denver Art Museum has stripped Emma Bunker’s name from a gallery and returned $185,000 in donations after an investigation found she likely aided a criminal looting enterprise.
• Hard-to-find Raspberry Rally Girl Scout cookies are appearing on eBay for six times their list price. I hope the ones who are profiting are Girl Scouts earning their price-gouging badges.
• A survey found that Monaco Parkway has the worst potholes in the city.
• 9News parent company Tegna’s stock hit a 52-week low after the FCC raised questions about its proposed acquisition by hedge fund Standard General.

So, who won the week?

• The University of Colorado System named Jeff Howard its vice president of Communications.
• Paul Huberty has been named executive director of Wind River Development Fund. He formerly was VP of Strategic Services and Communications at Colorado Access.
• Mile High United Way’s Vanecia Kerr is the 9News Leader of the Year.
• Lindsey Runyan has been promoted to executive director of the Englewood Chamber of Commerce. She formerly was the organization’s Marketing & Communications director.
• Public Media Co. CEO Erin Moran has stepped down after more than a decade with the organization.

From a new Chipotle on Las Vegas Boulevard:

Photo: @Keith_lee135

• Dish Network continues to recover from a ransomware attack that interrupted its satellite service, internet sites and call centers. It also said customer information may have been taken.
• Xcel Energy, under intense scrutiny due to high bills, disclosed in a new filing that its Colorado revenue in 2022 was $5.7 billion.
• A Colorado landowner is closing public access to two of our state’s 14ers after lawmakers rejected legislation that would limit his liability.
• Spain’s Secretary of Transportation and the head of the state rail company resigned after they authorized a $270 million deal to build dozens of new trains that are too wide to fit through some tunnels in the country.
• The Aurora Sentinel is losing managing editor Kara Mason, who announced she is leaving.
• A New York City road sign honoring Jackie Robinson Parkway misspelled the late baseball player’s name.
• A Japanese hotel manager has apologized after it was revealed that it only changed the water in its spa bath twice a year. An inspection found that it was “teeming with potentially deadly bacteria.”
• Twitter laid off an additional 200 employees, lowering its headcount to 1,800. It had about 7,500 employees when Elon Musk acquired it October. Meanwhile, outages have increased significantly. It had four widespread outages in February, compared to nine total in 2022.
• Los Angeles County agreed to pay the family of the late Kobe Bryant $29 million to settle allegations that fire and sheriff’s department employees shared gruesome photos of the helicopter crash in which he died. The family said it would donate the money to its foundation.
• A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent who estimates he has deported thousands of undocumented immigrants learned that his U.S. birth certificate is fraudulent and he’s actually a Mexican citizen.
• Greek authorities released audio recordings that show a train conductor had been told by his bosses to ignore red track lights when it was involved in a head-on crash that killed 57.
• Denver’s mayoral election is just weeks away, and the latest poll indicates none of the 17 candidates has more than 5% support. 58% of voters remain undecided.

So, who won the week?

• United Airlines named Oscar The Grouch as its first Chief Trash Officer. Maybe Delta will respond by appointing the Count as its CFO.
• It’s been an especially cold and snowy winter, but summer isn’t too far off. Water World announced it is accepting applications for more than 1,000 positions.
• It’s 303 day for those who celebrate. Make it a good one.