Who Had the Worst Week?

• Yuma County, Colo., now can claim the largest hailstone in our state’s history, a fact that will surely be of interest to home insurance providers.
• Vail Mountain must pay $275,000 to the state for releasing hazardous water from its snowmaking system into the Mill and Gore creeks, killing fish and turning the creeks a toxic blue-gray color.
• A United Airlines pilot snapped and attacked a barrier gate with an axe at a DIA employee parking lot, causing about $700 in damage. Police said that he told them that he “just hit his breaking point” after being stuck in a long line.
• Vlatko Andonovski, the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, resigned after the team failed to advance in the knock-out round of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Spain and England will face off in the final Sunday.
• And it wouldn’t be a World Cup without FIFA officials saying something stupid. Right on cue, FIFA President Gianni Infantino used the world’s spotlight to declare that “women should ‘pick the right battle” to “convince us men” in the fight for equality. He was responding to criticism that women will receive about one-third of the prize money the men receive.
• Maui’s emergency management chief, Herman Andaya, resigned a day after facing mounting criticism for not activating the island’s public alert sirens during the recent wildfires. At least 111 people have died in the fires.
• Meanwhile, shares in the utility company Hawaiian Electric are down 61% this month. Officials suspect that the company’s power lines may have sparked some of the fires. For context, Xcel Energy’s stock fell only about 12% following the Marshall Fire.
• If you have ever wanted to see a trombonist chased by a buffalo, the Jazz Festival at Genesee Park is this weekend.
• Actor Bradley Cooper is receiving criticism for his prosthetic nose in his role as Jewish composer Leonard Bernstein in the movie “Maestro.” 
• The real-life people behind the feel-good movie “The Blind Side” are quickly positioning the film for a sequel. This one, however, will be a courtroom-based legal drama.
• Do you remember in 2012 when Denver-based Galvanize launched its coding school and co-working space that was going to revolutionize the tech industry? It played out a little differently.
• The Denver Catholic Archdiocese is fighting with the LGBTQ+ community again. This time, it has sued the state to allow it to exclude LGBTQ+ parents, staff and kids from its preschools that are part of Colorado’s new state-funded universal preschool program.
• A Vice News reporter who covers reproductive rights is sharing the weirdest sex-related PR pitches she has received. It will make you appreciate having relatively dull restaurant or healthcare clients.
• Beloved Colorado nature photographer John Fielder passed away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 73.

So, who won the week?

• Former Denver Post/AP/Colorado Sun reporter Brian Eason is returning to the Colorado Sun after a two-year stint with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• The reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets will kick-off the league’s 2023-2024 season with a primetime game against the L.A. Lakers.
• The San Miguel (Colo.) Sheriff’s Office saw one too many novices attempt to navigate the dangerous Black Bear Pass this week. In the most viral Colorado law enforcement tweet since “a large rock the size of a small rock,” the San Miguel sheriff declared that “ass clowns” who don’t know what they are doing “should be be prepared to abandon your vehicle, be stranded, or be seriously injured and inconvenienced.”
• Breckenridge and Vail announced they will open their lifts on Nov. 10.
• Who would you take in a fight between Batman and Barbie? In the box office battle, you’d want “Barbie,” which just surpassed “Batman” as Warner Bros. Discovery’s highest-grossing film ever. “Barbie” has now made $1.2 billion globally.