Who Had the Worst Week?

• Fame usually comes with the kind of financial resources that allow you to deal with some of its challenges – gated homes, private security, etc. That’s not true of most local television news personalities who are highly visible but don’t command the same salaries. Fox31 meteorologist Kylie Bearse shared harrowing details about a 69-year-old man who has been stalking her for more than two years, and her frustrations about not being able to get the Denver D.A.’s Office to file more serious charges.
• Denver hosted the 8th edition of the International Taco Bell 50k Ultramarathon that requires runners eat a menu item from nine of the 10 Taco Bells along the course – no Pepto, Alka Seltzer, Pepcid A/C, Mylanta, etc., allowed. If you throw up, you’re disqualified.
• Opposition to the proposed Nexstar acquisition of Tegna, which would wreak havoc on the Denver television news market, is coming from an unexpected place: the conservative news outlet Newsmax. “This isn’t just about politics,” Newsmax’s CEO said. “It’s about whether communities will still have independent voices covering school boards, local corruption, and small-town issues that the national networks ignore.”
• University athletic departments claim poverty when it comes to their ability to pay players, but you wouldn’t know from the amount they are spending on coaches … well, technically, ex-coaches. We are only half way through the 2025 college football season, and already we have seen a number of coaches fired – Stanford (Troy Taylor), UCLA (DeShaun Foster), Virginia Tech (Brent Pry), Oklahoma State (Mike Gundy), Arkansas (Sam Pittman), Oregon State (Trent Bray) and now Penn State (James Franklin). Some experts predict that this year’s firings alone could total more than $200 million in buyouts, money that schools are paying to coaches to not coach.
• Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is having a record year, but it told employees to expect layoffs in the coming weeks as it integrates AI to handle tasks currently managed by humans.
• Meanwhile, NBC News let 150 staffers go this week as its parent company plans to spin off MSNBC and CNBC.
• The triple threat of declining student enrollment, combined with budget cuts at both the state and federal levels, could create a financial “catastrophe” that forces Denver Public Schools to close more schools.
• U.S. Department of Defense War Secretary Pete Hegseth has united our fractious nation. Unfortunately for him, it is in opposition to his plan to allow Qatar to build a military facility in Idaho.
• Speaking of Secretary Hegseth, media outlets including The Washington Post, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, The New York Times, Newsmax, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Reuters, Bloomberg News and the Atlantic refused to sign on to new press regulations required by the Department of Defense. The briefing room won’t be completely empty: OANN agreed to abide by the restrictive policy.
• Indianapolis Colts back-up QB Anthony Richardson was ruled out of last week’s game less than an hour before kickoff after he suffered an orbital fracture in his eye while warming up with a stretching band.
• A Colorado man has been charged with bigamy. The twist? He is a Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agent. Or he was, until he quickly resigned to avoid being fired.
• Meanwhile, the head of Colorado’s COVID-19 response resigned two days after the state put him on leave while it investigated an apparent sexual harassment allegation.
• R&B singer/songwriter D’Angelo, who died this week at the age of 51, is being remembered by everyone from former President Barack Obama to Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea.
• President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “The Biden FBI placed 274 agents into the crowd on January 6. If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies.” He apparently forgot he was president on Jan.6, and that President Joe Biden would not be sworn in until Jan. 22.
• I mentioned last week that KOA NewsRadio morning host Marty Lenz had been let go during the most-recent round of iHeartRadio mass layoffs. This week, we learned that Jerry Schemmel, the longtime radio voice for the Colorado Rockies on KOA NewsRadio, was also axed.

Who won the week?

• Publicis Groupe reported a 3.6% increase in Q3 growth in North America.
• A new report finds that Denver diners tip the highest in the U.S., averaging 21.18%, followed by Austin and Seattle.
• A record number of former Denver Broncos are expected to be at this weekend’s game as the team inducts former Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas into the Ring of Fame. The beloved Thomas passed away four years ago at the age of 33 due to complications from a seizure disorder.
• Meanwhile, Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix and his wife Izzy are expecting their first child.
• Apple reached a five-year agreement to be the new home of Formula 1 racing starting next season.