Who Had the Worst Week?

• The PR firm Red Banyan, which is based in Florida but has a Denver office, is representing CBZ Management, the “out-of-state slumlords” (Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman‘s words) that own the apartment complex in Aurora that has become ground zero for allegations that Venezuelan gangs have taken over the city.
• Is the venerable Brown Palace hotel on the edge of collapse? Aging infrastructure, mismanagement by out-of-state owners and competition from the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton have put the 132-year-old hotel in a “free fall,” according to former employees.
• It has been a bad week for the family that owns the Colorado Rockies. The Monfort’s latest plan to redevelop the El Chapultepec building adjacent to Coors Field was rejected by the Lower Downtown Design Review Committee. This marks two straight redevelopment proposals that have been rejected.
• Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies will miss the playoffs for the 27th time in their 32-year history after they were eliminated from contention this week. If you are looking for a silver lining, they technically made it until September before being eliminated, I guess.
• Compared to last year, wine sales in Colorado have declined 16%, liquor sales have declined 4% and beer sales have declined 1%. That trend, combined with wine and beer sales at grocery stores, is killing independent liquor stores.
• The author Landon Jones, who coined the term “Baby Boomers,” passed away at the age of 80. And Jim Riswold, the creative force behind Nike‘s “Bo Knows” and “Air Jordan” advertising campaigns, passed away at the age of 66.
• The U.S. Navy sacked one of its commanders after a photo of him firing a rifle with a scope mounted backward went viral. Among those mocking him online – the U.S. Marine Corps. Ouch.
• A “self-styled serial entrepreneur” was ordered to pay a $75,000 fine after he created 15,000 new business filings in Colorado when the Secretary of State lowered the filing fee to $1. He then sold the unused corporations to buyers who wanted to assume the corporate identities to bypass some requirements of starting a new one, making it easier to get access to credit.
• U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Denver native Neil Gorsuch told an audience in Colorado Springs that attorneys who are concerned about the court’s declining case load should file more appeals. But the court receives an average of about 6,000 appeal requests each year and rules on fewer than 200 of them, so demand isn’t exactly the court’s issue.
• The Washington Commanders football team has fired one of its VPs who was secretly recorded saying that a majority of the team’s players are “homophobic,” that many players are “dumb as hell,” that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones “hates gay people (and) black people,” and that the league’s social justice initiatives are merely “performative.”
• Scientists think a decline in the bat population may be responsible for the deaths of as many as 1,000 infants.
• The Kansas City Chiefs look like they will be very good again this season, something no Denver Broncos fan wants to see.
• Two Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) workers were killed by a driver in Mesa County. Sadly, it looks like CDOT may eventually need to get a bigger memorial where it displays the names of those who have died.

Who won the week?

• Denver-based PR and marketing firm Campstories, led by former Turner PR VP Campbell Levy, added Hotel Christopher St. Barth as a client.
• Dovetail Solutions added Lauren Simpson as vice president. She will maintain her part-time position as mayor of Arvada.
• Former 9News anchor and reporter Bazi Kanani has joined Colorado Public Radio.
• The biggest star at the U.S. Open may be a $22 cocktail called the Honey Deuce. The tournament is on track to sell $10 million worth of the drink this year, a figure that is nearly three times the $3.6 million in prize money it awards.
• Denver Broncos CB Pat Surtain II signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension.
• The national soccer team of the tiny European country of San Marino ended its 20-year winless streak by defeating Liechtenstein 1-0.