Who Had the Worst Week?

• Boulder Weekly appears to be in a death spin after the owners fired the editor and the entire reporting staff. Curiously, the owners retained the special projects manager and bookkeeper.
• There are 75% fewer reporters working in the U.S. today compared to 2002. That stunning stat came from a Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News analysis that also found that one in three counties across the country do not have “the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist.”
• Former Denver Nuggets President Tim Leiweke helped make Ball Arena a reality and is known for making other high-profile sports venue projects happen. What’s his secret? I don’t know, but in other news Leiweke was indicted for conspiracy to rig the bidding process for a venue at University of Texas at Austin. If convicted, he is probably hoping for home confinement rather than prison because he bought a 10,000-square-foot, $7.2 million home in Cherry Creek a couple of months ago.
• The dust has settled on the historically bad Colorado Rockies‘ promotion of Walker Monfort, son of the team’s owner, to executive vice president, and the consensus is that more Monfort is not what the team needs. Troy Renck of The Denver Post said, “They need to repo the franchise, not a nepo hire” and the Denver Gazette‘s Mark Kiszla noted, “Born on third base, can Walker…find [his] way home, much less to first place in the National League West? Don’t bet on it.” 
• If you are looking for a stock to short, BarkBox is hiring a “Chairdog” to make company decisions via a telepathic communicator. The dog will report to the CEO and make product-related decisions.
• University of Denver faculty have issued a vote of “no confidence” in Chancellor Jeremy Haefner. “Financial management, shared governance and the future vision for the university” were cited as some of the reasons for the vote.
• Red Rocks concertgoers got more than they bargained for when a couple of bears roamed the venue at a Russ concert this week.
• The WNBA is facing an officiating crisis that is undermining the integrity of the league, and superstars such as Kelsey Plum and Angel Reese are among the players expressing frustration.
• Ted Cruz, the U.S. senator from Texas, has a knack for making bad decisions during natural disasters. You may recall in 2021 when he left the state for Cancun, Mexico, amid a devastating cold snap that left millions without heat. This week, he reportedly delayed returning to Texas from a vacation in Greece following the deadly floods so he could tour the Parthenon.
• The co-op board responsible for approving the sale of a New York City apartment once owned by Babe Ruth rejected social media influencer and collegiate gymnast Olivia Dunne‘s bid. Co-op boards are notoriously tough on celebrities who may draw paparazzi, and Dunne joins others such as Madonna, Mariah Carey and Calvin Klein whose bids to own apartments have been rejected.
• It is hard to imagine anyone willingly having their brand associated with the dumpster fire that is the Colorado Rockies, but Denver-based aerospace and defense technology company York Space Systems inked a six-year deal to have the company’s logo on the team’s uniforms.

Who won the week?

• American tennis player Amanda Anisimova walked away from the sport two years ago to focus on her mental health. This weekend, she will compete in the women’s final of Wimbledon.
• Fun Fact: Inter Miami soccer star Lionel Messi‘s salary is higher than that of the entire Colorado Rapids team. And he is still probably underpaid.