Celeste Springer
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office confirms they have received a call of shots fired at the Hampton Village Apartments.
Details are extremely limited at this time, but EPSO said they had a crew en route at the time of KRDO13’s call.
This is a breaking news situation, but this article will be updated if more information becomes available.
Celeste Springer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) has released the name of a pedestrian who was killed while walking along the MLK bypass at I-25.
CSPD says 31-year-old Anthony Dutchak was found on the northbound on-ramp to I-25, and police believe he was hit by at least one car.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but CSPD says they don’t believe the driver was impaired.
Heather Skold
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — It’s a familiar situation for all military families: a parent, deployed for months at a time; the other parent, raising the children solo.
For the Ross Family, this setup has played out several times while mom Ashley is deployed as a nurse in the Army, and husband Chad stays at home with their two daughters, Haley,5, and Callie, 3.
“There’s not really replacing anybody on a deployment,” said Cody Ross. “It [a deployment] puts a lot of stress on kids, and I don’t think a lot of people understand the family aspect of the military.”
Cody’s daughter inspired him to write his first just-published book, “I Miss Mommy.” It’s based on a comment their daughter Haley made while mom was in another country.
The Ross Family, with mom Ashley, who is in the Army.
“We’d drive under all the airplanes flying over, and then one April day, she just goes, ‘I’m tired of waiting for mama. I’m going to go pick her up now. I need to bring snacks, I need to bring my computer.”
That’s when Cody had to explain that the separation was going to last a very long time.
“I explained the whole year that mom was gone.”
More deployments are coming, too. The Ross Family just moved from Southern Colorado to Houston so that mom Ashley can get training to become a Nurse Practitioner. After this time, she will owe six more years to the Army.
Cody is no stranger to the military life, either, having served in the Virginia National Guard.
“I really just hope it helps families going through situations like that. I hope that people realize that military families have struggles, the kids are dealing with all that too, but we make it through and we all love each other.”
You can purchase “I Miss Mommy” here.
Celeste Springer
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — The United States Forest Service says that crews from the Pikes Peak Ranger District plan to conduct a prescribed burn in the Rainbow Gulch area next week.
The Forest Service says that they plan to treat about 460 acres starting on Sept. 22. According to officials, the area is directly west of Rampart Reservoir and directly west of Forest Service Road 300 in El Paso County.
Fire managers say their work will include efforts to either burn or cut down grassland.
“Prescribed fires are the managed application of fire to the landscape under specified weather and fuels conditions to improve forest conditions, provide diverse habitats for plants and animals and reduce the risk of destructive wildfire to municipal watersheds and communities in the area,” read a release from the Forest Service.
Residents living nearby can expect to see smoke in the area.
Celeste Springer
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office confirms there was a van fire around 8 a.m. on Friday morning.
The fire erupted near Widefield Community Park. The sheriff’s office says there is no criminal investigation at this time.
Source: Brenna Daughtery
KRDO13 has reached out to the fire department for more information. Details are limited, but this article may be updated.
Bradley Davis
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – Food and coffee trucks started setting up shop before dawn at both the Langoni Sports Complex for the Balloon launch and on Union Avenue ahead of the start of the Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival.
We just have fun times over here. Goofy stuff happens,” 15-year-old Nolan Traviza, who helps his family with the Hermanos tortillas and Lovely Treats food trucks.
The Chile Balloon Fest starts at 6:45 a.m. to kick off the weekend. The festival starts downtown on Friday at 3 p.m. Below are the hours for the three-day event on Union Avenue:
Friday: 3 p.m. – 12 a.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tickets are $8 per person, per day.
Stella Girkins
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Hundreds of families are in Colorado Springs this weekend for the annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial ceremony, honoring those who gave their lives in the line of duty.
Families from across the United States and Canada travel to the city each September for the solemn event, hosted by the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). The organization personally welcomes the families of each firefighter honored during the ceremony.
This year, 311 names will be added to the granite walls of the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Memorial Park, bringing the total number honored to more than 9,000 since the site was recommissioned and expanded in the late 1980s.
“One thing we want to make sure is that our families know that the sacrifice that’s made by our brothers and sisters is also endured by their families, and we want those families to know how special they are to the rest of us,” Edward Kelly, IAFF President, told KRDO13.
In addition to the families in attendance, thousands more are expected to gather in Colorado Springs to pay their respects.
One person in the crowd this weekend is making her 14th trip to Colorado Springs for the memorial. Kristen Pascall first came to Colorado Springs in 2011 when her husband, Richard Pascall, was added to the memorial.
Now she makes the trip back every year.
“This is where I feel the closest to my husband. So I get to come see him every year. I bring him a white rose and a sunflower. Those were our wedding flowers, and they’re over on the wall right now. And I kiss the wall, and my lips are on that wall for 365 days until they wipe it off before the next ceremony.”
The weekend of remembrance includes a bagpipe and drum band parade on Tejon Street in downtown Colorado Springs, beginning at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The main memorial ceremony will take place Saturday morning at 10 a.m. in Memorial Park. The event is open to the public.
Scott Harrison
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — Well before dawn on Friday, workers began closing off some downtown streets, intersections, and even alleys and parking lots, to establish a secure perimeter for the 31st annual Chile & Frijoles Festival.
However, fences, signs, and barricades aren’t enough to stop someone intent on causing harm by driving through an event perimeter and into crowds — something that has, tragically, resulted in injuries and deaths elsewhere.
Pueblo officials said that they have had no such threat of a so-called “vehicle ramming attack” at an outdoor event.
“But when you have 100,000 people at a festival like this, you have to be proactive with safety and security,” said Donielle Kitzman, vice president of the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce.
So, this year, for the first time, organizers will use a system of bollards at four key street locations to prevent someone from driving into a crowd.
In the bollard system, metal bars are placed inside metal supports in a concrete base in a street; the bars are locked into place to prevent an unauthorized person from tampering with them.
Chuck Roy, Pueblo’s public works director, said he recently saw the devices in action during a demonstration in Kansas City.
“Denver has them, too,” he explained. “Ultimately, from the time frame when we started looking for this year, early August, we only had time to install four locations. We do have plans and hope to do more of the parade routes and more of the Chile Festival area. But we started with the most important areas.”
Roy said that the city paid $700 for each set of 24 bollards that will be used for festivals and other outdoor events; workers will erect the posts ahead of the festival’s 3 p.m. start.
A similar system already exists around City Hall.
Kyle Groves, who grew up in Pueblo, later moved to Texas and has performed as a magician at the festival since 2010.
“I actually didn’t know they were doing it until I got here this morning and saw that it had been set up for it,” he said. “This is awesome. This is great.”
Festival organizers have also taken steps to address parking lost to street closures.
Attendees can park for free at the three downtown parking garages and board free shuttles to and from the festival; shuttles will also pick up and drop off passengers at the Midtown Center.
For more festival information, visit: https://pueblochilefestival.com/.
Abby Smith
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A group of arborists from multiple local tree care companies took their time to clean up dead trees and branches around Evergreen Cemetery for the annual Saluting Branches tree care event on Sept. 17.
Saluting Branches is a national nonprofit that recognizes and honors U.S. Veterans by taking the time to make their resting places a beautiful environment, according to the City of Colorado Springs.
The city says the cemetery was established in 1871 and was deeded to city founder General William Jackson Palmer in 1875.
“Our mission today, and every day, is to honor General Palmer’s legacy that he established 150 years ago, because if there’s anybody that probably loved trees more than me, it might have been him,” said Mathew Puckett with Saluting Branches.
Courtesy: City of Colorado Springs
The event brings together arborists as they volunteer to prune, plant, and remove trees in what the City of Colorado Springs says is the “largest volunteer event in the tree care industry.”
The cemetery is home to many veterans, including some dating back as far as the Civil War, according to a spokesperson with the city.
“We’re not just focused on removals and pruning, we’re actually planting 30 trees that have been donated,” said Puckett. “That’s gonna equate to about $100,000 worth of donated services in one day. Everyone’s mission here is just to honor the veterans through tree work.”
Celeste Springer
MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Officials with the City of Manitou Springs sent out a notification on Thursday that Phase 4 of the Creek Walk Trail Project is being extended. A city spokesperson says that all trails, sidewalks, and walking paths in the construction zone will remain closed until the end of October.
City officials say that the closure impacts paved and unpaved pedestrian routes along Fountain Creek between Mayfair Avenue and Old Mans Trail, including the dirt trail west of Memorial Park.
Pedestrians should continue to take the detour route around the south sidewalk of Manitou Avenue. Pedestrians should not use the north side, as it is an active construction zone. Violators can be cited, city officials say.
“To ease congestion during school drop-off and pickup hours, the city is requesting that drivers traveling to Manitou Springs Middle School and High School use Crystal Park Road or Oak Place to avoid backups near the construction zone,” read a release from the City of Manitou Springs.
Manitou Springs officials say that the construction will bring upgrades like widening the sidewalk, pedestrian crossing improvements, curb reconstruction, and new lighting and landscaping.
