- A 14-year-old has been charged with armed robbery after allegedly pulling a gun on two siblings, ages 11 and 12, who were running a lemonade stand in Boston.
- It is common for business to donate to two competing candidates to ensure they have some influence with whoever wins. But, interestingly, Colorado gubernatorial candidates Michael Bennet and Phil Weiser claim endorsements from some of the same people, including Aurora Public Schools board member Anne Keke, Thornton Mayor pro Tem Karen Bigelow, Eagle County Commissioner Tom Boyd, Chaffee County Commissioner PT Wood, Boulder City Council member Tara Winer and community leader Dr. Syl Morgan-Smith.
- The FIFA World Cup has started, which always offers a number of questionable decisions. Among them:
- Australian referee Shaun Evans appeared to flash a “White Power” symbol on air while in studio used by video review referees.
- Tunisia was reportedly set to fire its head coach after the team lost 5-1 to Sweden in their first World Cup game. Somewhere, Al Davis is smiling and giving a thumbs up.
- FIFA forced the owners of Cosmic Charlie’s, a cannabis shop in Toronto, to destroy its World Cup trophy-shaped bong it was marketing in the lead up to the tournament.
- Spain is consistently one of the best soccer teams in the world, so betting $1 million on it to beat tiny Cape Verde (population: 530,000) to collect $86,000 might have been tempting. Unfortunately for the one person who made that bet, Cape Verde tied Spain 0-0.
- After an almost-three year standoff, the City and County of Denver reached a settlement with the owners of The Denver Post on back rent due at the newspaper’s namesake building. DP Media Network will pay the city $13.5 million and pay to remove the Denver Post signage from the building’s exterior.
- I noted last week that Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper was arrested for domestic violence. Well, he upped the ante this week by getting arrested for a second time after allegedly violating a restraining order. Police say he sent 20 individual text messages, called his now-ex-girlfriend twice, and then went to her apartment and was seen on video knocking on the door. One more arrest and he’ll become an honorary Kansas City Chief.
- Twelve people died in Missouri when the skydiving plane they were riding in crashed shortly after takeoff. While the passengers all had parachutes, the plane crashed so abruptly that the passengers were unable to exit the aircraft.
- As they say in my native Georgia, “Freedom ain’t free,” but it is getting much cheaper. Heidi Ganahl has slashed ticket prices to her Freedom Fest event in Castle Rock later this month.
- The ultra-classy UFC event that took place at the White House ended with one of the fighters insulting former First Lady Michelle Obama by calling her “a man.” While President Donald Trump remained silent about the insult, UFC boss Dana White, a President Trump supporter, condemned the comment, calling it “nonsense.”
- Meanwhile, President Trump’s renovations to Washington, D.C.‘s Reflecting Pool are becoming a metaphor for his presidency. He initially said the renovation was “done right” and would “last for 100 years,” but the $14 million, no-bid-contract job has been less than successful. Almost immediately, green algae overtook the reflecting pool, and now pieces of the blue paint that were intended to give it a clean appearance have peeled off and are floating in the water.
- Professional golfer Phil Mickelson, the winner of six major championships, had his membership revoked from his longtime home club after an independent investigation into alleged misconduct involving women.
- Hockey coach John Tortorella took over a listless Vegas Golden Knights team with eight games remaining in the regular season and steered them to the Stanley Cup finals, but he won’t return to the team next season, the team announced.
- A Brazilian woman fell to her death while rope jumping – which is similar to bungee jumping – when the instructors forgot to attach the rope to her.
Who won the week?
- Bruce Alexander has been appointed Chair of the Board of Advisors at Dovetail Solutions. He formerly was the President and CEO of Vectra Bank.
- Westminster-based Swisslog Healthcare named Christina Liebman as Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications.
- El Paso County named Josh Poland executive director of the county’s Communications department.
- Asian American News profiled BON Communications publicist Lauren Howard.
- Chef Penelope Wong, the Denver native who owns Yuan Wonton, was named a best chef winner by the James Beard Awards.
- The most respected research scientists studying hurricanes in the U.S. are located at … Colorado State University, located more than 1,000 miles from the nearest coastline. Take that, University of Miami.
- Serena Williams announced she will partner with her sister Venus to compete in the Women’s Doubles event at Wimbledon.
- SpaceX went public this week, and the company’s stock made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire and more than 4,400 employees millionaires.
