• “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley used the staff meeting to introduce the show’s new executive producer Nick Bilton to accuse Bilton of having “slender qualifications” for the role. Pelley went on to say that Bilton’s boss, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, was “murdering ’60 Minutes.’ … She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.” It ended predictably – CBS News fired Pelley.
• Turkey‘s Zeynep Sönmez was injured and forced to retire from her French Open doubles match after she tripped on an advertising sign that was positioned on the back of the court.
• After C-list musical acts Milli Vanilli, Young MC and Bret Michaels withdrew from President Donald Trump‘s “Freedom 250” Concert in Washington, D.C. later this month, the president replaced them with his two favorite people: himself and country singer Lee Greenwood. Trump plans for the revised event to be a hybrid rally-concert, and he has also added a few other “musical acts,” such as Christopher Macchio performing “Wax On, Wax Off,” … oh wait, that’s Ralph Macchio … and a couple of U.S. military bands. It is astonishing even by President Trump standards that he has botched a celebration for what should be such a unifying event as the nation’s 250th anniversary.
• Country singer Morgan Wallen grew frustrated by technical difficulties at his concert in Denver and responded by flipping his piano over on-stage.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted election denier and felon Tina Peters‘ prison sentence, claiming that it would be a unifying gesture. So naturally Peters’ first move after being released was to conduct a podcast interview with Steve Bannon where she claimed that she is a victim of political persecution and that Democrats will “cheat” in the midterm elections in November.
• FIFA expects to make more than $15 billion from this summer’s World Cup, so naturally it just filed a cease-and-desist against the Vancouver-based nonprofit Spinal Cord Injury BC forcing it to cancel a World Cup ticket fundraising raffle.
• Meanwhile, some FIFA staff are expressing concern that a last-minute decision to ban fans from bringing reusable water bottles into stadiums is being driven by financial rather than safety considerations.
• For decades, Bill Gates has employed a team of strategists, communicators and stylists to cultivate an image of “someone calm and approachable, like Mister Rogers.” That level of attention to detail helped place Gates “at the top of a 2019 survey of public figures that people look up to – ahead of the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis.” But a series of indiscretions – a high-profile divorce that included allegations of more than 20 extramarital affairs, a lengthy relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice that included allegations that Gates contracted an STD and asked about antibiotics to surreptitiously give to his now-ex-wife – have shattered that image.
• The Colorado Rockies started off to an unusually strong start – they are 24-39 so far, pretty good by their standards – but Rockies things are starting to happen to the team. Rookie Ethan Holliday, the son of Rockies legend Matt Holliday who had been batting .262 with nine home runs in Single-A ball, suffered a stress fracture in his foot that has ended his season.
• Denver City Councilmember Sarah Parady announced she will resign Aug. 5 due to a debilitating medical issue that she described as a “medical mystery.” She described the illness as making “going up the stairs now … harder and more exhausting than it used to be to go up a fourteener.” Waiting until August will allow voters to select her replacement through the regular November election rather than requiring a costly one-off election prior to that.
• As if COVID, flu, hantavirus, norovirus and Ebola weren’t bad enough, a new “vomiting virus” is sweeping across the U.S.
• Victor Marx is leading the Republican primary field in Colorado for governor despite either being a “liar and a fraud” or living the most remarkable life since Audie Murphy. His political strategy of ducking debates and media was working. So why in the world would Marx put himself in the crosshairs of 9News‘ Kyle Clark not once but twice in the month leading up to the primary? Only Marx knows, but a disastrous interview followed by a disastrous performance in a full-field debate moderated by Clark almost certainly has evaporated Marx’s lead.
• Character actor James Handy, who had appeared in everything from “Top Gun: Maverick” to “West Wing,” was stabbed to death, allegedly by his girlfriend’s son. He was 81.
• The U.S. Postal Service says Los Angeles, Dallas and Denver lead the country in number of dogs biting postal carriers. I guess “going postal” works both ways now.
• U.K. Athletics, the national governing body of sports in the U.K., has been fined more than $470,000 for the corporate manslaughter of a Paralympian who was killed when a shot-put cage collapsed on him while practicing.
• Hall of Fame basketball coach Rick Adelman passed away at the age of 79. Adelman is the father of Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman.

Who won the week?

• Denver-based firm SE2 has joined IPREX, a global communications and marketing network. IPREX gives SE2 added geographic reach, as well as access to additional diversity of insight and experience.
• 9News profiled Kristina Thomas, Community Food Share‘s Director of Communications and Public Relations.
• Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reporter Dennis Webb retired this week. His peers called him a “dang good journalist,” and I would agree based on my work with him over the years on behalf of some clients.
• Longtime Denver Post sportswriter and Colorado Rockies beat reporter Patrick Saunders accepted a buyout to leave the Post. Patrick is the son of legendary Rocky Mountain News reporter and columnist Dusty Saunders.
• Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry signed a 10-year, $400 million endorsement deal with the Chinese sports apparel company Li-Ning. It’s not all good news for Curry, though. Human rights groups allege that Li-Ning uses forced labor to produce its goods, and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said he will ask the Department of Homeland Security to examine Li-Ning labor practices.