Month: November 2025

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment
  • More than 125 people are dead and 200 are unaccounted for in Hong Kong after a group of high-rise apartment buildings caught fire. The buildings were undergoing renovations, and bamboo scaffolding that is common in China and mesh netting that protected passersby appear to have quickly spread the fire.
  • Martin Bally, a senior executive at Campbell’s Soup, is no longer with the company after a lawsuit accused him of calling the company’s soups “highly processed food” for “poor people,” complaining that “f–king Indian” colleagues are “idiots,” and that the company’s soups use “bioengineered meat.”
  • Colorado State Sen. Faith Winter was killed in a multi-car accident on I-25 the day before Thanksgiving. Winter made headlines over the past several years for sharing allegations of sexual harassment against a fellow legislator that resulted in his expulsion, suffering a head injury in a bicycle accident and taking a leave of absence last year to seek medical treatment for alcoholism. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.
  • Twitter/X introduced a new feature that identifies the country of origin for its accounts, and it quickly made clear that “many of the most influential personalities in the ‘Make America Great Again‘ (MAGA) movement on X are based outside of the U.S., including Russia, Nigeria and India.”
  • Some of the gray wolves released in western Colorado as part of the voter-approved reintroduction plan have now made their way to the metro Denver area, according to data released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. If you hear a cackling sound, that is just western-slope ranchers, and it is hard to blame them.
  • Xcel Energy has asked the Colorado PUC for permission to raise rates by $356 million – a 9% increase that would translate to a $10/month increase for the average consumer customer.
  • The fight to free former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters intensified this week, with the Trump administration demanding Colorado turn her over into federal custody and a bipartisan group of Colorado county election clerks demanding she remain in a state prison. Curiously, Gov. Jared Polis‘ decision to remain quiet on the subject created a vacuum that caused both sides to ratchet up the intensity.
  • A website glitch caused the European electronics retailer MediaWorld to accidentally sell $1,000 iPads for about $17. Customers who ordered them received them a week later, and then, about two weeks after that, the company contacted them saying the advertised price had been incorrect and that they could either return the iPads or pay the difference minus a $150 discount.
  • Secretary of Defense War Pete Hegseth has turned his sights on an unlikely target: the Boy Scouts. Part of Hegseth’s problem: the woke Boy Scouts changed their name to Scouting America and now allow girls to participate.
  • Colorado State University suspended two players – QB Darius Curry and offensive lineman Liam Wortmann – for the team’s final game this season after they were captured on video spitting on opposing players during last week’s game against Boise State.
  • President Donald Trump has used the power of his office to extract a personal favor from global media conglomerate Paramount: a “Rush Hour 4” movie. Paramount is fighting Netflix and Comcast for the right to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, which would require FCC approval.
  • How is 90-year-old ESPN “College Gameday” legend Lee Corso enjoying his retirement? “It sucks,” he says.

Who won the week?

  • Denver Post sports editor Matt Schubert left the paper for an as-yet undisclosed new opportunity.
  • Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton will return to the field this weekend, just weeks after surgery to remove a cancerous testicular tumor.
  • Colorado State University hired Jim Mora, Jr. as its new head football coach. Mora joins CSU from the University of Connecticut, and he previously served as head coach of UCLA and the NFL‘s Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks.
  • Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin – described by The Wall Street Journal as “college football’s most hated man” – has become the prize in a bidding war by three blue-blood programs: Ole Miss, the University of Florida and LSU. Sometime this weekend, he almost certainly will become the highest-paid head coach in college football history. The only question is by which university.
  • Robert Irwin, son of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, won this season’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment
  • Denver may be left of the political center, but its TV news stations soon may not reflect that. Sinclair‘s interest in acquiring Scripps – owner of Denver7 – means that three of our city’s four main TV news stations could be owned by the right-wing media companies Nexstar (Fox31, 9News) and Sinclair (Denver7).
  • CBS4 reporter Kelly Werthmann and photojournalist Kevin Hartfield were forced to take refuge in their news vehicle when “a clearly unstable man” interrupted their live shot at the state capitol. No one was injured.
  • A warm, dry fall has forced the ski resorts Purgatory and Powderhorn to delay their openings.
  • The U.S. Coast Guard has downgraded swastikas and nooses from prohibited “hate symbols” to items that are merely “potentially divisive.”
  • The former British Prince Andrew, now just Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after his brother stripped him of his royal title, just can’t catch a break. The Daily Mail reported this week that Osborne Partners, the PR firm that convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein hired in 2008 to help him rehabilitate his image, recommended to Epstein that he avoid associating with Andrew because Andrew’s reputation was too toxic.
  • The U.S. may be headed for a brutal flu season. Scientists have found that this year’s virus causes more severe symptoms than last year’s and seems to be spreading more rapidly and earlier than usual. Enjoy those Thanksgiving visitors!
  • Republicans in Texas have ousted Kate Rogers, a fellow Republican who was tasked with overseeing the renovation of the Alamo, because her 2023 Ph.D. dissertation included a “woke” statement – “Personally, I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon for historical reconciliation and a place that brings people together versus tearing them apart, but politically that may not be possible at this time.”
  • Colorado fined BetMGM $50,000 for illegally accepting “prop” bets on individual college athletes’ performances during games.
  • If you are addicted to buying lottery tickets but are broke, good news! The Colorado Lottery Commission will now allow you to use credit cards to buy tickets. What could go wrong?
  • A Missouri judge whose Elvis fixation caused him to wear an Elvis wig during proceedings and play his songs and recite his lyrics in court has agreed to resign.
  • A Russian K9 police dog selected to perform the ceremonial pre-game puck drop at a KHL league hockey game successfully dropped the puck from its mouth and then promptly bit two players.

Who won the week?

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment
  • The U.S. Mint pressed its last pennies this week as the Trump administration has ordered the end to the little-used and little-loved coin. That’s especially bad news for Denver and Philadelphia, the only two cities where pennies were minted.
  • A generation of kids who have never seen anything other than “A”s on their report cards are freaking out because Harvard has determined it is awarding too many of the superlative grades and is evaluating steps to raise the bar to earn one. One student told the student newspaper she cried “the whole entire day” when she learned the school may adjust its grading strategy.
  • Fox31 meteorologist Kylie Bearse‘s recent PR campaign to bring attention to an alleged stalker that the Denver District Attorney’s office was treating with kid gloves has worked. Just weeks after a high-profile Denver Post article, the D.A.’s office announced it would upgrade the charge against the 70-year-old man from a misdemeanor to a felony.
  • If you know a Comcast executive, give them a hug. Fifteen years ago, 90% of U.S. homes subscribed to cable TV. Today, it is 50%.
  • Denver Mayor Mike Johnston isn’t the most collaborative person, and members of the Denver City Council have recently taken some symbolic actions to express their frustration with his go-it-alone approach. This week, however, they started taking steps that are more than just symbolic, and one of the mayor’s signature projects that is being held hostage is the proposed professional women’s soccer stadium.
  • Some guests were given only 10-15 minutes to vacate hotel rooms when the Marriott-backed chain Sonder unexpectedly declared bankruptcy. Blame from guests fell largely on Marriott rather than Sonder, and Marriott has been scrambling to find alternative arrangements for the guests.
  • The Wall Street Journal reported that the Colorado Rockies‘ GM position is actually the most coveted in Major League Baseball because it “is viewed as the sport’s ultimate sadistic challenge.” Said the WSJ: “Their major-league roster is a disaster. The farm system is in shambles. They are notoriously slow to evolve and sit years behind their rivals. Oh, and they also happen to play their home games in an environment that is fundamentally incompatible with playing the sport of baseball.” Rockies fever – catch it!
  • Ball Corp. is paying the CEO it just fired $6.5 million to go away. That may seem like a lot, but the head football coaches at LSU and Penn State are walking away with a collective $103 million after being fired.
  • The Trump administration has finally recognized the causal relationship between tariffs and increased costs of living, and it is frantically trying to implement new trade agreements with countries to lower the costs of staples such as coffee, bananas and beef.
  • Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart is into her second month on a personal leave with no explanation why and no planned return date.
  • CBS4 reporter Shaun Boyd conducted a lengthy interview with the individual behind the controversial social media account DO BETTER DNVR this week, and Boyd allowed that individual to make a number of politically charged allegations while remaining anonymous for no journalistic reason. In Boyd’s 43-paragraph article, the phrase “she said” or “she says” is used in 25 of them. My anonymous sources say that Boyd has long been criticized by some for her approach to reporting that lacks what they consider journalistic integrity.
  • Japan is a country trying to overcome its reputation for karoshi – “death from overwork” – so many were stunned when new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi scheduled a 3 a.m. meeting with aides to prepare for an appearance before Parliament that morning.
  • The Denver Public School board censured member John Younguist after an investigation found he more likely than not mistreated some staff of color, although “not deliberately.” He said he plans to take legal action.
  • Here’s a marketing campaign custom built for passive-aggressive people with frenemies: Oral‘s TheraBreath brand has a contest that allows you to nominate someone who has bad breath and the five winners will receive “a personalized video featuring a pep talk” delivered by TikTok star Jake Shane and a promo code to claim a sample of TheraBreath Toothpaste.

Who won the week?

  • Denver was treated to a spectacular “Northern Lights” show this week. The aurora borealis made a surprise appearance when a a severe geomagnetic storm pushed the lights farther in our direction than expected on a clear evening.
  • I flew to San Francisco and back over the weekend during the government shutdown and FAA-mandated flight reductions, and both of my flights arrived early. A shout out to Stacey Stegman and all her colleagues at DIA for managing the behind-the-scenes chaos well.
  • If you think three chords is exactly the right number any song should have – good news! AC/DC announced it will play Mile High Stadium next summer.
  • University of Colorado Athletic Director Rick George announced he will retire next year, which begs the question: will head football coach Deion Sanders join him?

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ 1 Comment
  • More changes are coming to KOA NewsRadio. A few weeks ago, the station let “Colorado Morning News” co-anchor Marty Lenz go as part of a broader round of iHeartRadio layoffs, and now it is moving conservative talk-show host Ross Kaminsky to fill the 6-9 am weekday slot. “Colorado Morning News,” which previously aired from 5-9 am, will now air only from 5-6 am.
  • Fewer PR firms expect to see profits in 2025, an industry report published by Davis+Gilbert found. Only 44% of PR firms expect profit gains, and just half project revenue rising — both lows not seen since 2021.
  • At least 13 people died and more are still missing after a UPS cargo plane crashed on takeoff at the Louisville, Kentucky, airport. The crash forced UPS to close its Worldport hub facility that processes millions of packages for roughly 360 incoming and outbound aircraft each day.
  • The Trump administration is cutting 10% of flights at the 40 busiest airports starting today. The administration said the reductions were an attempt to “alleviate the pressure” on over-worked air-traffic controllers, but critics said the move would cause more problems than it would solve. As of this morning, surgical cuts by airlines have resulted in few disruptions.
  • History Colorado is being accused of censorship by a coalition of First Amendment-rights organizations for rejecting a painting that is critical of Gov. Jared Polis and Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. Sens. Bennet and Hickenlooper are currently candidates for governor and senate, respectively, and the museum’s chief creative officer says exhibiting the painting “could constitute a violation of the Fair Campaign Practices Act, which prohibits government institutions like History Colorado Center from making contributions to a candidate running for office.” The ACLU and others say it wouldn’t. Regardless, Gov. Polis and Sens. Bennet and Hickenlooper can’t be happy with the resulting Streisand Effect.
  • The Houston Independent School District has sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxson after his office ruled the school district must turn over emails to and from the district’s public relations firm to media outlets who have requested them because they do not qualify for attorney-client confidentiality.
  • The Pentagon‘s draconian press policy may have caused mainstream media outlets like Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC, ABC and CBS to walk away, but it has replaced them with new media outlets such as Mike Lindell‘s LindellTV and the influential pro-Trump activist Laura Loomer.
  • Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland died of an apparent suicide. He was 24.
  • The clear winners of election night in Colorado were progressives, tax increases and teachers union-endorsed candidates. The biggest loser? That would likely be Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, who spent the past year parroting President Donald Trump‘s exaggerated claims of “gang-takeovers” of her city. As Westword noted, “We named the controversial Aurora City Council rep a Person to Watch in 2025, and now you can watch her leave her seat.”
  • A Thai businessman who co-owns the Miss Universe Organization has apologized for publicly berating Miss Mexico, causing her to walk out and several other contestants to join her in solidarity.
  • Following a months-long search, former NFL star Antonio Brown was apprehended in Dubai by U.S. Marshals on an attempted murder charge. He will be extradited to Miami.
  • Yale researchers have done the math and calculated that Elon Musk’s “politically partisan and culturally warlike personae” have cost Tesla the sale of 1 million to 1.26 million cars from October 2022 to April 2025. Meanwhile, Tesla shareholders just approved an unprecedented $1 trillion pay package for Musk, so …
  • The owners of MSNBC will spend $20 million on marketing to promote its rebrand to MS NOW.
  • Hail, uninsured motorists and car thefts have driven Colorado car insurance costs to be the fifth-highest in the nation.
  • U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert “attended a Halloween event in a costume meant to depict a Mexican woman, wearing a sombrero and carrying a sign that read ‘Mexican Word of the Day: JUICY.’ The sign went on to mock Spanish accents with the line, ‘Tell Me If Juicy ICE coming.’ Her companion was dressed as an ICE agent.”
  • Ryan Seacrest and Anderson Cooper can breathe a sigh of relief. NBC has cancelled its upcoming “Snoop Dogg’s New Year’s Eve” special.
  • If you are looking for a winter home, a Palm Beach, Fla. house considered a tear-down is available for a mere $185 million.
  • Investigators determined that the password for the Louvre’s video surveillance system was “Louvre” when thieves stole jewels worth $100 million from the museum last month.

Who won the week?

  • Pax8 communications VP Barry Hawkins has retired. Fun fact: Barry’s daughter, Amanda Hawkins, regularly sings the National Anthem at Colorado Avalanche home games.
  • Denver-based creative agency Karsh Hagan has partnered with Arizona-based Madden Media to deliver expanded integrated services in the tourism, hospitality, outdoor recreation, healthcare, higher education and retail industries.
  • I’m not sure which list to put this on, but the Denver Broncos are the least confidence-inspiring 8-2 NFL team in decades.
  • The Colorado Rockies are poised to make what could be their first good decision in years as the team finalizes a contract for Paul DePodesta to run baseball operations. DePodesta was a key figure in the “Moneyball“-era Oakland A’s and later ran the Los Angeles Dodgers.
  • The man charged with throwing a sub sandwich at a federal agent in protest of Trump administration policies was acquitted of misdemeanor assault by a Washington, D.C., jury. The jury found that throwing the 12-inch deli sandwich from what prosecutors described as “point-blank range” was not an attempt to cause injury.