Who Had the Worst Week?

• It’s not exactly “Ocean’s Eleven,” but the Monarch Casino in Blackhawk is out $500,000 after someone allegedly tricked a cashier into delivering them the money. You can read the details of the crime yourself, but suffice it to say that if they made a movie about this heist, a Don Knotts-type actor would play the cashier.
• A Florida school principal resigned after she wrote a $100,000 check from the school to an online scammer posing as Elon Musk. The scammer promised millions in exchange for a $100,000 upfront “investment.”
• Japan is on the verge of “societal collapse” due to its alarming drop in birth rates, so much so that lawmakers have introduced a host of bills – compulsory paternity leave, cancelling student debt for young parents, cash payouts for a third baby, for example – to combat the country’s population decline.
• As expected, DIA CEO Phil Washington withdrew his nomination to lead the FAA after shaky support from Democrats.
• The U.S. Army had to pause what had to be a multi-million dollar recruitment campaign after its star – “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Creed III” actor Jonathan Majors – was arrested for domestic violence.
• Amsterdam is awash in young, male British tourists, to the point that it is running digital ads discouraging any more from visiting
• Xcel Energy, under fire from media and ratepayers for high prices, revealed in court documents that it could spend as much as $31 million to clean-up contaminants in the Elitch Gardens area downtown. Xcel’s predecessor, Public Service Company, operated a plant there 100 years ago. Xcel’s media relations team should be prepared for a phone call from Marshall Zelinger to determine whether ratepayers or investors will pay the $31 million.
• Coloradans vying for a spot at a state university may find more competition in the future. A bill under consideration at the statehouse would allow Colorado universities to admit more students from out of state (who pay almost twice as much in tuition) in exchange for offering more financial aid to in-state students.
• Sixteen candidates are vying to be Denver’s next mayor. The election is four days away, and no one has any clue who is in the lead. Is this an unintended consequence of Denver’s Fair Election Fund?
• American Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Moscow after Russian authorities accused him of being a spy. The WSJ “vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter.”

So, who won the week?

• Longtime CBS4 anchor Jim Benemann officially retired.
• New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton purchased a $4.55 million home in a gated section of the Belcaro neighborhood.
• The Colorado Rockies won their Opening Day game 7-2 against the San Diego Padres.
• A Utah jury ruled actress Gwyneth Paltrow was not responsible for a ski accident that left a man with broken ribs and brain damage. She did, however, have to spend two weeks in a Utah courtroom, so maybe she belongs on the list above.
• Ken Griffey Jr. has not played for the Cincinnati Reds for more than 15 years, but the deferred compensation provision in his Reds contract means he will receive $3.5 million from the team this year – making him the team’s fourth-highest-paid “player.