ICE: Shots fired after two people allegedly attempt to hit agent with car; suspects on the run

Celeste Springer

Editor’s note: KRDO13’s live stream of the scene has ended.

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — A spokesperson with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirms that an agent shot into a car as two people, who they say are living in the country illegally, allegedly attempted to ram the agent with their car.

According to ICE, the agent fired three shots into the car. ICE says the two people got away and later abandoned the car. The two people are still on the run, ICE says.

No injuries have been reported, according to ICE.

“ICE officers are facing an 830% increase in assaults. Lies and violent rhetoric incites hostility against the brave men and women of ICE who put their lives on the line every day to protect American communities, as we witnessed in Colorado today,” said a spokesperson with ICE.

Earlier on Thursday, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) issued a shelter-in-place order for the area of the 9900 block of Burgess Road. The order extended for a quarter-mile radius nearby.

The shelter-in-place was lifted Thursday evening.

The sheriff’s office says they are assisting Homeland Security and the FBI with an investigation.

A few minutes down the road, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office says there was another related scene near Vollmer and Poco Roads. The scene is in a new home construction area, a neighborhood called Timber Ridge.

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New round-trip shuttle service for Marines launched by Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians and Joshua Tree National Park

Tori King

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (KESQ)– The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians is partnering up with 29 Palms Marine Corps Community Services and Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center to launch free shuttle service for Marines today.

Today, the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians in partnership with 29 Palms Marine Corps Community Services and Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center will host the ribbon cutting ceremony for the inaugural launch of a free shuttle service for local Marines. 

The event will take place at 4:00 p.m. at the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center Freedom Plaza located at 6533 Freedom Way, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277.

The ribbon cutting will include representatives from Joshua Tree National Park and Chairman Darrell Mike from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

The shuttle is said to be available for mostly weekends and late-night service. The shuttle will have multiple stops on the marine base, a stop at Freedom Plaza which is where the Joshua Tree Visitor Center is located, at Tortoise Rock Casino, back to park, and then back to base.

More information about the services involved with this launch have not been released at this time. 

Information will soon become available at Shuttle29.com.

News Channel 3’s Tori King will be in Twentynine Palms to cover the event. Stay with News Channel 3 for her coverage at 4, 5, and 6.

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Disappearing sidewalk brings longtime frustration to neighborhood just northwest of downtown Colorado Springs

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Road Warrior has occasionally reported on complaints from viewers about cracked or damaged sidewalks taking a long time to be repaired.

However, on a high point overlooking the downtown skyline, it’s a vanishing sidewalk segment that has homeowners concerned.

The problem area is on a bend at the intersection of North Chestnut and North Tower streets, several blocks northwest of Interstate 25.

Neighbors say that for years, a downhill sidewalk segment has gradually eroded away to nothing more than a dirt trail.

Cones and a “sidewalk closed” sign have been placed at the top of the hill; trees along the missing sidewalk can make it hard for a pedestrian to see.

Erich Haubrich, a homeowner just up the block from the missing sidewalk segment, contacted The Road Warrior about the problem, citing safety concerns.

“I personally haven’t made a report to the city, but I know that reports have been made,” he said. “The city’s been out here for compliance for another neighbor. They walked over in March and were in this position, so they could very clearly see that there was damage. People who walk through here have to get into the street to avoid the damage. With the sharp bend in the street, traffic may not see them.”

The sidewalk isn’t the only issue.

Along the bend at the intersection, the street slopes downhill and has developed large cracks, erosion, and several large potholes.

Concrete gutters are crumbling along the street, as well.

As The Road Warrior reported last year, city public works crews faced a backlog of more than 6,000 requests for sidewalk repairs.

Haubrich said that he’s not interested in a city program that moves repair requests up on the priority list if homeowners pay half the cost.

“We can’t do new things, bring new things into the community, until we’re taking care of the roads and sidewalks that all of the citizens depend on,” he explained. “We pay a lot in property tax. We expect to get something back for that.”

Until more funding becomes available for repairs, citizens should make sure they are reporting damaged sidewalks, then be patient and hope repairs happen relatively soon.

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Fire breaks out in a La Quinta home Friday morning

Haley Meberg

LA QUINTA, Calif. (KESQ)- A fire broke out today at approximately 9:01 a.m. in a single-family dwelling in La Quinta Friday morning. 

CAL FIRE reports responding to a call for a residential structure fire at approximately 9:01 a.m. on the 50300 block of Spyglass Hill Road in La Quinta. 

La Quinta residents reported heavy smoke in the area following the incident. CAL FIRE says the fire has been contained at this time. 

SoCal Gas and Imperial Irrigation District have been requested on the scene. No further information has been released at this time. 

Stay with News Channel 3 for more updates.

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Moldy foods and lack of handwashing contribute to failed health inspection

Bart Bedsole

Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to food safety, as evidenced by health inspections on opposite ends of the spectrum for two popular Mexican food restaurants in El Paso County. 

LOW SCORES 

On July 24, a health inspector found 18 violations at the 3 Margaritas Family Mexican Restaurant in Widefield.

The violations include: 

No certified food protection manager on duty

There were several violations related to handwashing; one employee wiped their hands on an apron and put on new gloves without first washing their hands, a worker was also observed rinsing off their hands at a handwashing sink but not using soap, and one of the handwashing sinks was missing paper towels and was blocked by a kitchen rack 

The cheese grater, can opener, and ice machine had a buildup of food or soil 

Several items in the walk-in cooler were “covered in mold” according to the inspection report, including lemons, limes, oranges, and bell peppers

The manager, Jackie Gonzalez, was out when KRDO13 stopped by the restaurant. She later told us over the phone that none of the moldy foods would have actually been served.

In a statement later emailed to KRDO13, she added, “Recently, our focus has been stretched as we’ve been working tirelessly to open our new taqueria on Garden of the Gods—a project we have been paying rent on for quite some time but have not yet opened. While these efforts and management changes have taken much of our attention, this is no excuse. We take full responsibility and are actively working to correct every issue noted in the inspection. Steps are already underway, and we are scheduled for reinspection early next week. We remain committed to upholding the high standards that our guests have known and trusted for years.”

3 Margaritas also failed its re-inspection on August 6, but passed it’s third attempt on August 20.

OTHER FAILING SCORES: 

Waffle House – 755 W Fillmore St 

Itopit – 3151 N Chestnut St 

Jersey Mike’s Subs – 5855 Constitution Ave 

AI Sushi and Grill – 4655 Centennial Blvd 

HIGH SCORES

McDonald’s – 3021 W Colorado Ave  

McDonald’s – 510 N Murray 

Insomnia Cookies – 4239 N Nevada Ave  

Buffalo Wild Wings Go – 373 E Fillmore  

Smoothie Paradise – 750 Citadel Dr 

In-N-Out Burger – 1840 Democracy Pt (failed both July 22 and July 30)

The Famous Steak House – 31 N Tejon St 

Sabor A Mexico Restaurant and Bakery – 265 S Circle 

Although the location near Circle and Airport has been home to previous restaurants, Sabor A Mexico is relatively new, owned by Carlos Cabrera, who is very proud of his reviews so far. 

“We got 74 reviews, all five stars,” he points out. 

Cabrera believes what separates his restaurant from others is the authenticity and the care that goes into each dish. 

He showed KRDO13 the meat and birria that is cooked 14 hours in large pots before it’s served as quesabirria tacos. 

The tortillas are also made fresh, along with a large variety of pan dulce, pies, and other pastries sold individually from cases along one of the walls near the counter.

Cabrera says they are made the way his mother made them when he was a boy in Mexico. 

“This is real Mexican.  It’s not a fancy product.  It’s not even expensive.  It’s $1.75 apiece,” he explains. 

Carlos did add a brief warning for people coming down to check out the tacos, pupusas, or other entries… It’s not fast food… because quality dishes can take 20 minutes or more to properly prepare. 

Don’t forget to look for the KRDO13 Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen inside is clean. 

    Click here to see the full list of recent health inspections. 

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Road behind Falcon Walmart shopping area to close Monday for two-week paving project

Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Foxtail Meadow Road is only a quarter of a mile long, but it’s a popular shortcut for drivers to and from a Walmart and other businesses in a shopping center.

The road is in poor condition, so the county will close the road for at least two weeks, starting Monday, for a $700,000 resurfacing project between Woodmen Road and Rolling Thunder Way.

In several places, lines of potholes and large cracks cover the entire width of the road.

Officially, the county describes the upcoming work as a full-depth reclamation and paving.

“It’s when they grind up the existing asphalt into the existing base below the asphalt,” said Dan Gerhard, a county public works engineer. “And what that does is it provides us with a stronger base than what was there. Sometimes with some of our older roads, there was just a thick layer of asphalt on just dirt.”

He explained that while county officials aren’t certain of the road’s age, they believe it has never been resurfaced.

“If we had a good base section, we could perform a mill and overlay operation. But sometimes, we either don’t have enough asphalt or we don’t have any base. So, the straight mill option just doesn’t get us a product that we’ll be happy with, that will last as long as we’re looking for.”

On Friday, a surveying crew arrived to begin marking locations of utility lines in advance of the project.

Gerhard said that the reclamation will be less expensive than standard milling (removing old pavement) and repaving, because crews won’t have to transport the millings off-site.

“It’s one of our most commonly used rehabilitation techniques here in the county, and we’ve seen incredible results utilizing it,” he said.

Crews will also improve the south end of the road at the signalized, three-way Rolling Thunder intersection.

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife to host open input meeting in Pueblo about deer management plans

Celeste Springer

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — Are you a hunter or have an interest in wildlife herd management? Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) wants to hear from you.

CPW is holding a public meeting, seeking input on mule deer herd plans and population management.

The plans discussed apply to herds west of I-25. The area includes Chaffee, Park, Teller, Fremont, eastern Costilla, western Huerfano, Las Animas, Custer, Pueblo, and western El Paso Counties.

“The purpose of a herd management plan is to integrate the plans and intentions of Colorado Parks and Wildlife with the concerns and ideas of land management agencies and interested members of the public to determine how individual big game herds should be managed,” said Julie Stiver, SE Region Senior Wildlife Biologist, in a press release. “Public engagement, particularly from those with an interest in wildlife herd management and hunting, is critical to this process.”

Once in place, the management plan will be in place for the next decade.

The meeting is on Aug. 7, at 6 p.m. at Rawlings Library, 100 E. Abriendo Ave., Pueblo.

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