Day: July 24, 2026

Who Had the Worst Week?

~ Jeremy Story ~ Leave a comment
  • Is Taylor Farms the source of the Cyclospora parasite that has sickened more than 11,000 people in the U.S.? The FDA first said a positive test confirmed it was, then walked back that test as a “false positive” but said it remained confident that Taylor Farms was the source. Adding intrigue, Taylor Farms claimed the FDA apologized, but the FDA disputes that. Nothing like a “whodunnit” to keep this issue front and center in the headlines.
  • Controversial bro influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested in Miami after British authorities filed 38 charges against them that included rape and sex trafficking. The brothers also face human trafficking charges in Romania and the state of Florida has an active criminal investigation into their behavior.
  • Denver Water set a goal of users reducing their water usage by 20% following our record drought winter. How is it going? Users have cut their usage by 2%.
  • The Denver Downtown Development Authority (DDDA) has dangled $7 million in incentives to encourage Alterra Mountain Co. – the owner of the Aspen/Snowmass, Jackson Hole and Arapahoe Basin ski resorts, among others – to relocate from RiNo to Upper Downtown. Kyle Zeppelin, the nepo owner of Zeppelin Station that currently houses Alterra, is furious, calling the financial incentive to help move Alterra from one part of Downtown Denver to another the start of a “civil war of neighborhoods.”
  • Just because the FIFA World Cup is over doesn’t mean the crass commercialization has ended. New Jersey is feuding with FIFA over what it says are FIFA plans to sell small bits of the World Cup Final playing surface to fans. At stake are proceeds of more than $11 million, money that New Jersey officials believe should belong to taxpayers who paid for the field.
    • Speaking of soccer, an independent international advisory body has notified FIFA that some recent World Cup games may have been fixed. FIFA, not surprisingly, is dismissing all the claims, saying that its own analysis found “no suspicious betting activity or indications of match manipulation.”
  • The Henley Passport Index is a measure of which countries’ passports get the holder into the most other countries without prior visa authorization. It is considered by some to be a ranking of the soft power that countries hold globally. Two decades ago, the U.S. was tied for first, and this year we have fallen to 10th. The new leader is Singapore, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Japan and South Korea, which are all tied for second.
  • FIFA President Gianni Infantino has shown remarkable levels of sycophancy to President Donald Trump, including making up a FIFA Peace Prize to soothe President Trump’s hurt feelings after being passed over for a Nobel Peace Prize. Now, President Trump is lobbying for Infantino to be the next United Nations secretary-general, an endorsement that will certainly kill any remote possibility Infantino had of getting the job since the position is elected by secret ballot and the winner can be vetoed by Russia or China, among others.
  • We’ll file this one in the “It’s Never Too Late to Do the Right Thing” folder – Flock CEO Garrett Langley has apologized for calling privacy advocates who oppose Flock cameras “terrorists.” Langley told Forbes this week that, “My comments were a mistake and I apologize.” Did he have a change of heart? Unlikely. More likely is that he is responding to the traction protesters have made nationwide in ending Flock contracts, including with Denver.
  • Regal Colorado Cinema 9 has one of only two IMAX 70mm projectors in Colorado, but that doesn’t mean it is a good one. Moviegoers who purchased tickets to see Christopher Nolan‘s “The Odyssey” weeks ago have been frustrated that the projector continues to break down, forcing them to shift to standard IMAX screens or get refunds.
  • Friends and family of longtime Colorado reporter Bill Fryar are mourning his passing at age 80. Fryar spent nearly 40 years with Prairie Mountain Media, the publisher of the Boulder Daily Camera and the Longmont Times-Call.
  • Billionaire Bill Koch put his 52-acre Aspen estate on the market for $125 million in 2025, but failed to find any buyers. He pivoted to an auction last week, and the winning bid was $33.5 million – a 73% discount. Aspen … it’s for bargain hunters.
  • The food critic for The Washington Post tried the new “Spam Dog” hot dog available at some baseball stadiums, and suggested it is worth a bite. But just one. “My first bite of the basic Spam Dog was a pleasant surprise,” he said. “Four bites later, I retracted everything. The gurgling inside my stomach told me there was no way I would finish this dog, not even under duress.”
  • A maintenance worker in Illinois spent seven hours trapped inside a gas station sign 130 feet in the air after his lift malfunctioned. Firefighters who responded couldn’t initially rescue him because their tallest ladders can only reach 100 feet.
  • A 77-year-old Florida woman is fighting with Broward County over a license plate she was given – SQZ A55 – that she feels is a little suggestive.

Who won the week?