Month: May 2024

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment
  • Former Denver Broncos and current (for the moment) Washington Commanders kicker Brandon McManus is being sued by two women who say he sexually assaulted them on a team flight last year when he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He denies the allegations.
  • A man in Michigan joined a Zoom court hearing about his suspended drivers license while he was driving. The judge immediately revoked his bond.
  • A necklace straight out of the Mr. T collection likely saved a Colorado man’s life when it stopped a bullet, according to Commerce City police.
  • Deion Sanders‘ son Shiloh has filed for bankruptcy. Shiloh has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in NIL money, but he appears to be trying to get out from under an $11.3 million judgment against him from a civil trial alleging that he assaulted a school security guard when he was 15.
  • American Airlines quickly fired its outside law firm after its lawyers filed court documents blaming a 9-year-old girl for allegedly being secretly recorded in one of its airplane’s bathrooms by a flight attendant. The filing claimed that the young girl “knew or should have known” about the secret recording device. This should serve as a reminder to C-level executives that some lawyers care only about winning in court and do not consider what brand damage they may cause in pursuit of that.
  • Newcomers may complain about the skunky smell coming from grow houses along I-70, but those of us who have been here more than few decades know that the Purina pet food plant is the OG of I-70 nasty smells. Now, a group of nearby residents has filed suit, claiming that the plant emits “rancid” and “noxious” odors.
  • If you are headed to Red Rocks, you may want to closely follow the speed limit. The Town of Morrison‘s new radar camera system ticketed more than 10,000 speeders in its first two weeks. At that rate, Morrison will generate more than $10 million in annual revenue from the system.
  • The Denver Post‘s editorial page team is tightening its requirements for contributed articles after an open-records request identified that a lobbyist actually wrote a column submitted under the name of the mayor of Pueblo.
  • A freak lightning strike in Jackson County, Colo., east of Steamboat Springs, killed a rancher and 32 head of cattle.
  • Denver-based STK Steakhouse had its newest restaurant in Washington, D.C. reviewed by The Washington Post, and it was ugly. Describing his meal, food critic Tom Sietsema noted, “For a moment, I imagine(d) myself at 30,000 feet, eating an airplane meal.”
  • If you were wondering how fashion designer Alexander Wang got Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Ariana Grande and Kylie Jenner to appear in an ad campaign, it turns out they are actually celebrity look-a-likes. I wouldn’t want to be the person that has $1,500/hour attorneys, the FTC and the BeyHive after him.
  • TV networks are scrambling for advertising dollars as the median ages of their viewers continue to climb. Fun fact: the median age of MTV viewers is 51.
  • Nissan issued a rare “do not drive” warning for nearly 84,000 of its cars due to potentially exploding airbags.
  • An Ohio billionaire who apparently does not read the news has announced an audacious new plan – traveling to the wreck of the Titanic in a submersible.
  • Pope Francis has issued an apology after it was reported that he used an offensive slur to refer to gay men in a meeting with bishops.
  • June is Pride Month, but PR Week reports that “many brands are taking a break from Pride this year due to the economy or political opposition to DEI and ESG programs.”
  • Denver’s Carrie J. Austin wrote a letter to the editor of The Denver Post complaining about all the growth that Denver has experienced since she “relocated here in 1995 after having spent more than 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Manhattan and Brooklyn.”
  • Bill Walton was a Hall of Fame basketball player and one of the all-time eccentric basketball announcers. Like all of the all-time greats, he was loved by most and hated by some. He died at the age of 71 after a lengthy battle against cancer.
  • Correction: Last week, I expressed surprise that CPR agreed to a settlement with former host Vic Vela that included leaving the door open to collaborate on his “Back from Broken” podcast. CPR’s Clara Shelton let me know that the agreement is that Vela can continue his podcast on his own and that CPR would not be involved in any future editions.

Who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment
  • Coke bottles in Europe that have the tops attached to aid in recycling keep hitting drinkers in the face. “You literally have a fight with your bottle now every time you take a drink,” said one frustrated soda enthusiast.
  • Colorado Public Radio reached a confidential settlement with former host Vic Vela. The agreement opens the door for CPR continuing Vela’s “Back from Broken” podcast, which is a curious development since the news outlet previously claimed Vela was fired for “repeatedly fail(ing) to address his hostile behavior” in the workplace.
  • Speaking of CPR, it has now been nine months since the news organization received $8.3 million from a donor it still refuses to disclose.
  • Kid Rock went full-Kid Rock in a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, in which he allegedly “ranted about immigration, liberally used the N-word and, at one point, waved a gun in the air.”
  • The liability waivers that Colorado ski resorts have relied on to protect them from litigation and financial judgments aren’t as iron-clad as thought, according to a new ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court.
  • Colorado has seen a spike in gun-related road rage incidents over the past six years, and now has a rate that is double the national average.
  • The WNBA is investigating a mass sponsorship agreement between the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and all 12 players on the Las Vegas Aces that would give each player $100,000. The WNBA is concerned that the deal circumvents its team salary cap. The real issue is how vulnerable the WNBA is to outside influences such as gamblers and sponsors because its salaries are so low. Top veteran players barely make more than $200,000 per season, and rookie stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese make closer to $76,000.
  • Cable channel AMC‘s threshold for adding trigger warnings to old movies seems to be moving. It makes sense that AMC would add disclaimers disavowing racist or stereotypical portrayals of characters in movies such as “Gone with the Wind” or “The Jungle Book,” but the channel has now added them to “Goodfellas.”
  • Actress Scarlett Johansson has threatened a lawsuit alleging that OpenAI illegally copied her voice after she refused to license it to the company for its AI efforts. Johansson famously portrayed the voice of the AI assistant in the 2013 movie, “Her.”
  • Denver-based online worker training platform Guild unexpectedly laid off 25% of its 1,200 employees, and its explanation for why was a “buzzword salad” that felt like it was written by AI, according to SE2‘s Eric Anderson.
  • The chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), Martin Gruenberg, agreed to resign once a successor is confirmed following a damning report that concluded Gruenberg was responsible for a hostile workplace at the agency.
  • A recent Fox31 social media post about a drunk-driving crackdown in Denver featured a prominent photo of a police officer wearing a City of Miami safety vest. I guess the Fox31 photo archives aren’t curated all that carefully.
  • Tom Brady‘s attempt to purchase a minority stake in the NFL‘s Las Vegas Raiders has hit several road bumps with other team owners who must approve the sale. They are concerned that his presence as the lead FOX Sports analyst for NFL games poses a conflict, and they aren’t happy about the steep discount Raiders owner Mark Davis appears to be trying to give Brady.
  • A California mother was fined $88,000 after her children “collected clams — thinking they were picking up seashells — on the beach without a fishing license.” A judge has agreed to reduce the fine to $500.
  • The stock of E.W. Scripps, owner of Denver7/KMGH, is trading at about $2.50, its lowest level since 2009. You might want to say a prayer for the employer contribution portion of its employees’ 401(k)s.

Who won the week?

  • Altitude Sports’ Vic Lombardi is being inducted into the Heartland Emmy Silver Circle, which recognizes his 25 years in the television industry.
  • CBS4‘s 10 p.m. newscast finished the May ratings period as No. 1 among adults 25-54 for the first time since 1995.
  • The Trust for Public Land ranks Denver as the 13th-best big-city park system in the nation.
  • Liam and Charlotte were the most popular baby names in Colorado in 2023. Milo, Arlo and Atlas also made the top 100.
  • The median pay for CEOs of S&P 500 companies is now $15.7 million.
  • Colorado Springs is the third-best place to live according to U.S. News & World Report, while Boulder ranks 10th, Fort Collins 39th and Denver 40th. Huntsville, Ala., ranks as the seventh-best place to live, so there probably is a flaw in the methodology.
  • The NCAA has reached a $2.8 billion settlement that opens the doors for universities to directly pay its athletes. Part of that settlement will be used to pay former athletes who were denied payment in the past.

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

Who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment

Who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment

Who won the week?