- E.W. Scripps Company, the owner of Denver7, announced it is laying off another 10% of its workforce – 431 positions – nationwide. This follows cuts of more than 430 positions earlier this year. Denverite reported that at least 28 people at Denver7 are being let go in this latest round. Scripps owns 61 stations across the country, which means the company is cutting an average of seven positions per station.
- Speaking of layoffs, Microsoft announced it is offering buyouts to 60,000 of its 223,000 employees. In a previous buyout offer in the spring, about 30% of eligible employees accepted it.
- First Lady Melania Trump announced she has successfully negotiated a narrow ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine that will allow residents of Oleshky, Ukraine, the opportunity to evacuate safely. If the Norwegian Nobel Committee has a sense of humor, it will award her a Nobel Peace Prize. That would make her husband’s head explode.
- In this week’s edition of unexpected celebrity feuds, we have the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders vs. the band My Chemical Romance. The cheerleaders asked for a court order stopping the band from using dancers in outfits that resemble the squad’s recognizable blue-and-white uniforms.
- Audi and its CEO Gernot Doellner are facing a backlash from its unions and the public for joining President Donald Trump at a rally to announce a new $4 billion plant in the battleground state of Georgia less than two weeks before the midterm elections. The head of Germany‘s IG Metall union accused Doellner of a “flagrant breach of his own company’s rules, which expressly require political neutrality in the run-up to elections.”
- FIFA may finally be feeling the impact from the ongoing corruption of President Gianni Infantino. After a series of scandals that included overturning a red card for a U.S. player in the World Cup at the request of President Donald Trump and attempting to quietly sell a stake of the World Cup to private equity, McDonald’s has apparently had enough. It has ended its 32-year run as a sponsor. The company says its decision is unrelated to the relentlessly negative headlines, but it did also note that the decision did not mean that it was backing away from other sports-related sponsorships.
- It turns out the surveillance company Flock is as terrible as you suspected, or at least that its CEO has developed a serious case of bunker mentality after negative media coverage. In leaked audio, the CEO claimed the backlash to Flock is just bots and paid protesters, that his wife has encouraged him to never apologize and that he may never do media interviews again.
- Somehow, the sixth game of the WNBA finals between the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries was played at 9:30 a.m. PT yesterday. That’s right, a finals game played at 9:30 in the morning on a Thursday. Atlanta won, forcing the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history that will be played Saturday … at 8 p.m. ET.
- The Denver Nuggets haven’t been playing their best lately, but Nikola Jokic isn’t tolerating any boos from local fans. The star center, who has earned more than $300 million to date and is poised to sign a new five-year contract worth another $360 million, announced that booing fans “are not welcome anymore” at Ball Arena.
- An “endless cruise” that promised a lifetime of sailing for less than what it cost to live on land came to an abrupt stop after two years when its operators ran out of money for fuel, leaving passengers stranded in Cambodia.
- Anthropic has filed the necessary paperwork to go public. So what’s the problem? One of its disclosures casually mentions that no single insurance company, and not even every insurance company in aggregate, could cover the costs associated with “the scale of harm that could result from a catastrophic AI event.”
Who won the week?
- Novitas Communications won PR News‘ Campaign of the Year in the Government/Political category and a Platinum Elite award. CEO Michelle Lyng and EVP Jaime Gardner were also honored in PR News’ People of the Year awards.
- The Denver PR firm Schroderhaus is celebrating its 11th anniversary.
- Retired CBS4 anchor Reynelda Muse will be inducted into the Colorado Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. Muse was both the first Black person and the first woman to anchor a television newscast in Colorado.
- Colorado has officially kicked off the 2026-2027 ski season. Arapahoe Basin opened Wednesday, but you may not want to bring your good skis yet. The runs that are open are covered in mostly man-made snow.
- The Denver Art Museum is in the midst of its successful “DIVA” exhibit, and the museum has now announced that it will be the sole U.S. museum to host “Picasso: Magician,” a comprehensive presentation of Pablo Picasso‘s work across media such as painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking and ceramics. The Picasso exhibit will open in October 2027.
- One of the most celebrated cake artists on social media works at an unexpected bakery: King Soopers.
