- It was a bad week for narco-hippos. Colombian officials green-lighted a plan to cull dozens of hippos that roam freely in the country. The hippos are descendants of those first brought to Colombia by notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.
- ABC‘s “Good Morning America” broadcast live from the top of Pikes Peak this morning, but many Denver viewers weren’t able to see it. ABC and Xfinity remain in a standoff that has removed ABC channels from the cable service.
- LIV Golf, the upstart, Saudi-backed golf league that sent shock waves through the American PGA tour by luring away many top stars, is suffering its own shock waves this week. Rumors are that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will withdraw funding from LIV Golf starting next year, a move that could cause the league to collapse entirely.
- President Donald Trump picked an unexpected fight with Pope Leo in a move that is dividing American Catholics. I feel like President Trump is just months away from going full “Church of England” and forming his own religion.
- Not wanting to only alienate Catholics, President Trump also posted an A.I.-generated photo that portrayed him as Jesus, causing a firestorm among evangelicals. He later took the post down, which is as close to an apology as he gets.
- A former Alabama football player is facing charges of wire fraud and identity theft after he allegedly used wigs and fake driver’s licenses to impersonate NFL players. Luther Davis managed to secure nearly $20 million in loans with his Tyler Perry-like scheme.
- A federal jury found that concert promoter Live Nation illegally monopolized the ticketing process for concerts in the U.S. The ruling is a win for a group of states including Colorado that alleged that Live Nation overcharged consumers and pressured music venues to use its proprietary ticketing service.
- Washington, D.C., politicians better get ready – celebrity gossip site TMZ announced it has opened a D.C. bureau.
- In this week’s edition of Unexpected Celebrity Feuds, we have U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and comedian Dave Chappelle, who criticized the lawmaker for using a selfie they took together to “weaponize” his transgender jokes for political gain.
- New York Times/The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini resigned amid a probe into her relationship with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. And the reverberations are continuing. USA Today fired sports columnist Crissy Froyd after she apparently engaged in a little too much schadenfreude related to Russini’s departure.
- Singer Sabrina Carpenter apologized for confusing a fan’s “zaghrouta” — a high-pitched call used in some Arab cultures to express joy — for a “yodel” and calling it “weird” during her performance at Coachella. She posted on social media, “My apologies. … Now I know what a zaghrouta is! I welcome all cheers and yodels from here on out.”
- Ford is recalling 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks due to a gearshift issue.
- Door Dash tried to get cute by participating in a marketing stunt with President Donald Trump, but it apparently hasn’t been paying attention to politics since 2016. If it had, it would have known that your chances of getting burned when collaborating with President Trump sit at about 90%. A Door Dash delivery driver delivered fast food to the Oval Office in a photo op to promote the president’s “No Tax on Tips” initiative, but the situation took a turn when President Trump starting asking her to weigh in on transgender athletes in sports.
- Is someone kidnapping or killing U.S. scientists who have access to top-secret aerospace, defense and UFO information? U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) thinks so.
Who won the week?
- Amy Daly has accepted the Director of Donor Engagement position at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver.
- The Society of Professional Journalists’ national organization has renamed its award for ethics in journalism after former Denver Post reporter Fred Brown. A fitting honor.
- There was a time when NBC‘s Brian Williams was among the most recognizable journalists in the country, and then a scandal where he exaggerated his experiences in a war zone sunk his career. Williams is attempting to return to public prominence with a new video podcast on Netflix.
- The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit dedicated to keeping newspapers alive, acquired the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette just a month before it was set to shut down. The Post-Gazette traces its history back to The Pittsburgh Gazette, which was founded in 1786.
- The University of Denver won its 11th national championship in hockey – and its third in the last five years – by defeating the University of Wisconsin 2-1.
- The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2026 inductees, and the honorees will be Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Iron Maiden, Oasis, Sade, Luther Vandross and Wu-Tang Clan.
- Put the NASA Public Affairs team on the short list for 2026 PR Team of the Year. Coverage of the Artemis II mission was immense and overwhelmingly positive, two things NASA needed as it has fallen off of the front pages over the past few years.
