Author: KRDO

Danny Mata

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Matthew Mott, 41, died by suicide after being struck by a plane on a runway at Denver International Airport. The Denver Medical Examiner identified Mott and ruled his death a suicide following the incident.

The dramatic nature of the event has brought national attention to the issue of mental health and suicide awareness, with experts urging more public conversation.

Police confirmed Mott had resided in Pueblo as recently as 2016.

Cass Walton, executive director of the Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership, highlighted the importance of human connection in addressing mental health.

“The biggest tool that we have to deal with mental health is each other,” Walton said. She explained that a lack of open dialogue often contributes to suicide. “Suicide is really happening because of the things we’re not talking about. The hope is really that we can talk about suicide before it happens, so that we can help people not get to that dangerous place.”

Walton reflected on incidents like Mott’s death as missed chances for intervention. She encouraged the public to notice and act on signs of distress in others.

“How many people interacted with this person? How many people noticed something? Those are all opportunities to intervene and provide care,” Walton said.

She emphasized the value of direct and caring communication. Walton advised, “Simply speaking back to them in a caring way what you notice. Hey, I notice you don’t seem yourself. I’m worried and I’m wondering what’s going on. Asking someone, directly, “Are you thinking about suicide?” let’s them know that they can talk to you about it. Help saves lives. Talking out loud about things saves lives.”

According to data from the CDC, Colo. has one of the highest suicide rates in the country.

For individuals experiencing mental health crises or contemplating suicide, the 988 Colorado mental health line provides resources. Support is available by calling or texting 988.

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Josh Helmuth

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Students from The Vanguard School are hitting all the right notes — and bringing home some major honors in the process.

Both the charter school’s High School Choir and Chamber Choir competed at the Best of the West Competition in Grand Junction last month, and both groups earned the competition’s top rating — a Superior ranking.

That means, out of five possible scores from the judges, they received the highest possible marks.

But the celebration didn’t stop there.

After performances wrapped up, judges announced that Vanguard had also earned the Overall Best Choir Award in the 3A category, beating out choirs from across the two-day competition.

One judge even told the group:

“We have seen many choirs the last two days, but you were the first to give me goosebumps.”

This also marks the third straight year Vanguard choirs have earned Superior rankings.

Nikki Smith, the choir teacher at The Vanguard School, says the students work incredibly hard, coming in at 7:30 a.m. and showing up day in and day out.

Smith says the students are amazing and that the program continues to grow every year.

“Choir may seem easy, but there are so many technical things needed to put everything together. The students at The Vanguard School truly do exemplify excellence!” she said.

And the success keeps coming.

Smith emailed over the weekend to share that Vanguard’s junior high students also received a gold ranking at the Elitch Gardens Music Festival on Friday. It was the first time the group had ever competed and they earned a top score in their debut.

Is there someone or something remarkable at your school? Email us at SchoolBuzz@KRDO.com.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – For the second consecutive year, the Special Forces Foundation will host its annual Memorial Day Ruck March from America the Beautiful Park in Colorado Springs.

The run/walk/ruck celebrates Memorial Day, but is hosted each year the weekend before Memorial Day. The event starts at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 16. The runs start at 9 a.m.

Each year, participants embark on a 5K, 10K, or 30K ruck march with packs weighed down with non-perishable food items. After the march, the Special Forces Foundation then helps distribute the goods to homeless veterans in partnership with Care and Share and Mt. Carmel.

The event has helped collect over 200,000 pounds of canned goods since 2015, according to the Special Forces Foundation.

Participants in the 30K ruck march can earn the Norwegian Ruck March badge if they meet the time requirement. Active duty military, veterans and civilians can all earn the badge as long as they follow the challenge’s specific requirements.

Celebrations at the start/finish line include food trucks, a beer tent, a jewelry station, a tattoo artist and more. It’s $70 for the 5K, $90 for the 10K and $100 for the 30K. All the money benefits the Special Forces Foundation, Veterans to Veterans and Mt. Carmel, according to the Special Forces Foundation.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Northbound traffic on part of Stone Avenue around a water main project is closed as Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) enters its fourth day of construction.

CSU is replacing an iron pipe with a PVC pipe along a mile of the avenue, from just north of Fillmore Street to Winters Drive, near the Birdsall power plant and the old race track.

“There are multiple, different factors that go into why they choose the type of pipe that they use — whether it’s soil conditions, the pressure,” said Cassie Melvin, of CSU Communications.

Work began on Thursday, and on Monday, crews removed and replaced the first segment of the old pipe.

Turns from Fillmore northbound on Stone are not allowed.

“One thing that we are also installing in addition to the water line is fire hydrants along Stone,” Melvin explained. “Obviously, that’s a benefit to the community, as well as to surrounding restaurants and businesses. We will also replace the existing hydrants there.”

She said that CSU is investing $1 million in the project, which is currently in its first of five phases.

Once the water main is installed, the city will perform $6 million in stormwater upgrades along Stone, from just north of the McDonald’s parking lot to Nichols Boulevard.

Melvin said that all of the projects won’t be finished until early next year.

“There will be occasional water outages that we’ll be keeping business owners aware of,” she said.

Of the dozen or so businesses along Stone, the one most affected is likely Planet Granite, a stone countertop manufacturer and distributor that owns nearly all of the buildings along the west side of the closure.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Do Portugal Circus hosts eight shows a week through May 24 in downtown Colorado Springs, just in time for school to let out for summer break.

“I’m not even watching, or I’m going to get nervous. I’m going to stop talking!” ringmaster Aldo Portugal said while watching the high-wire act.

The circus is family-friendly and doesn’t use any animals. It features multiple acrobatic and high-flying high-wire acts, along with the “globe of death” with BMX riders flying around in a small metal ball.

“I love to share my acts with audiences because it’s so special to me, so I get to share that with a lot of people,” Aerialist Eva Rodriguez said.

The pop-up circus off of Sierra Madre hosts shows on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. You can’t miss it from I-25. Tickets start at $30 for adults and $15 for children.

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Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Crews are nearly finished placing fresh asphalt on the western end of Hanover Road, the main artery through the Hanover community, where significant damage occurred in February 2025.

County officials said that the damage isn’t the reason for the repaving; rather, it was simply on the regular schedule this year.

The repaving covers slightly more than four miles between Meridian Road and Old Pueblo Road.

That segment sustained much of the damage covered extensively by KRDO13’s The Road Warrior.

Large areas of the aging pavement buckled and crumbled after a two-day period in which temperatures ranged from the low 70s during the day to below freezing with rain and snow.

The Road Warrior responded to numerous complaints from drivers about the road’s poor condition.

County crews repaired the damage, filling potholes and performing emergency paving to stabilize the road until it could be repaved.

The $1.3 million repaving project is scheduled for completion by the end of the month; drivers should be aware of traffic delays in the work zone.

Another road in the Hanover area that had similar damage will also be repaved this season: Four miles of Myers Road between Finch and Squirrel Creek roads, which are northeast of Hanover Road.

Last summer, crews performed a double chip-seal process on the heaviest-damaged segment of Myers, between Finch and Peyron Highway.

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Rob Namnoum

“Because like, since I was younger, I knew I wanted to be a professional soccer player. I knew I wanted to do this forever,” says Ally Brazier.

It started on fields like the Pride Complex in Falcon, Colorado, “This is where their grassroots is. It’s where they start,” says Colorado Pride founder, Candi Brooks.

Brazier adds, “Back then it was just seriously just bad. It was just two fields. I remember when the third one got built and we had like that really small turf one in the far right, but it just shows like how much that club alone has expanded.And that’s really nice to see considering like I’m like a homegrown Colorado Pride soccer, ”

And now, Ally Brazier is back home, playing on fields like this, “Thought that I’d be able to see her play in Colorado again. And that was I was kind of teary eyed when when I found out,” says Ally’s mother, Ann Watt.

The first player on the new Denver Summit FC NWSL team, “I want a local homegrown soccer Colorado girl to fill those shoes because, like, nothing beats representing your state”

Before she was Ally Brazier, she was Ally Watt, “That face sums it up right there,” says Ally’s brother, John Watt.

A kid energized by competition running track and field at Pine Creek High School and playing soccer at a high level all over the state, “It was we need to beat as many people as possible and get as many blue ribbons. And yeah, I translated into playing soccer, too. We were always competitive and always wanted to to one up each other or do better than each other at whatever we were working on,” says John Watt.

“Busy. But we made it, you know, we made it work. You had two kids. They were they both loved soccer,” says Ann Watt.

Moments in time that defined her rise to being a professional soccer player, “They’ve been there since the beginning with little ally  running around. So I think it’s just really nice to be like the people who have been there from the beginning. It’s like a full circle moment of like coming back home, like, here’s my I won’t say goodbye, but like, here’s like my last end of my career. Like I’m getting older,” says Brazier.

Candi Brooks was one of her club coaches, the pioneer of the Pride soccer club, now she has a front row seat to the full circle career. “It was just we were just in awe. It was like, oh my goodness, someone from Colorado Springs is getting to achieve this and would be a part of, you know, history,” says Brooks.

It’s emotional to think about Ally Brazier’s journey, “Playing for Denver was not in the cards because they didn’t have a team. But it’s a dream come true for her to.”

The 63,000 strong that showed up to the Summit’s first NWSL game was a testament to what the state is: a soccer state, “you think of all the youth soccer programs, Colorado is a soccer state”

Now living up north on the I-25 corridor, Brazier is winding down her career. With family and support now closer than ever, “I’m like, I’m at a different part of my career now. So I think it’s just like, this was the next step. I wanted to take. And like having the people from the beginning that were there when I was like, but five to see me now at 29 doing this, I’m like, you guys, the reason why I’m here,” says Brazier.

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Michael Logerwell

UPDATE 5/11: The City of Victor has continued making progress overnight on both repairing the water system and refilling our water storage tanks. Crews remain actively on site and additional support crews will be assisting today to help accelerate repairs and restoration efforts.

At this time, additional updates regarding usage restrictions, boil orders, and timelines for the full restoration of service will be shared later as we continue stabilizing the system and evaluating conditions.

We know this situation has been incredibly disruptive and appreciate the community’s continued patience as crews work around the clock.

VICTOR, Colo. (KRDO) – In the midst of a water outage that began on Thursday, the City is officially declaring an emergency.

The city says any water in your home shouldn’t be used for anything, including but not limited to:

Showering

Laundry

Dishwashing

Flushing toilets

Outdoor use

Any consumption

“Thursday, we hit a snag when some dirt was uncovered, and the infrastructure failed as the dirt was being removed. So, really just unexpected. That led to a whole cascade of failures in our system,” Bobby Tech, Victor’s Town Administrator, told KRDO13 that it started with that water outage on Thursday and has only gotten worse. Construction crews were working on replacing a 50 to 100-year-old water transmission main.

The city has created a formal emergency response team to coordinate operations, repairs, and community support. Tech says they’ve been working until the early hours of the morning to get the water back on.

“We are expecting to restore water in the next 24 to 48 hours. The longest duration we’re expecting is 72 at that point,” Tech said.

However, the issues won’t be fixed when the water starts flowing again. Tech says the city will still be under a boil notice that could last until May 21. It all depends on how quickly the water treatment plant can get the water drinkable again.

“I emphasize that this is a frustrating experience, and that’s not lost on anyone working for the city or working on this project,” Tech said.

Where to find water resources

While crews are still working on fixing the water issues, here is where Victor residents can find water-based resources.

Potable water is available at the Victor Fire House for residents to utilize instead of any water that may currently be present in homes or businesses. Non-potable water is available in Goldfield. The fire station will be staffed daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

The Aspen Mine Center will also provide meals for any community member who needs one.

Showers are also available to residents at:

Aspen Mine Center until 4:00 PM

Cripple Creek Parks & Recreation Building from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM

For more information, the City of Victor is posting real-time updates on Facebook.

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Rob Namnoum

The Denver Broncos wrapped up rookie mini-camp on Sunday. After practice a few of the rookies praised their mother’s on Mother’s Day.

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Rob Namnoum

The Colorado College women’s lacrosse team defeated Rhodes College 20-7 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Colorado College will face Williams College in the Round of 16 on Saturday, May 16.

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