Simla High School celebrates two state championships
Rob Namnoum
Simla High School held a pep rally on Wednesday to celebrate the school winning the Boys 2A state basketball championship and the Girls 2A state championship.
Employees with disabilities find purpose through their work
Bradley Davis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The RM Soap Market in Colorado Springs hires people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) to help customers in-store and package their product in their factory.
“This is something that I like to do, and someone with disabilities should get to do something that they like to do, and not something that they hate just because they can do it,” Kari said, an employee with IDD at the RM Soap Market.
Kari and her coworker, Joey, package the soap, give luxury hand treatments, greet customers and more at the shop and factory.
“Why do you like working?” KRDO13 reporter Bradley Davis asked Joey.
“Because it is my favorite thing, working here with my friends. I love working with Dad and everybody else.”
Joey’s dad, Rob Graham, also works at the RM Soap Market as its mySTORY program director. The program helps people in the IDD community set up their own website, gives them products to sell and allows them to make a commission without impacting their Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
Graham said Joey’s job has been a game-changer for his son.
“I saw that before he came here, there was a period there where we were waiting for support from the state, and he was just in his room, and he didn’t have any purpose, and it really affected him,” Graham said. “He’s excited to go and do something and interact with people, so he gets the purpose. He gets the community, and he’s back to being the Joey that we know!”
On March 21, for World Down Syndrome Awareness Day, the RM Soap Company is partnering with Nano 108 Brewery for a fundraiser event. Joey and other people with IDD worked together to brew their own beer. Their special brew will be on sale at the brewery on Saturday, and both Nano 108 and RM Soap will donate $1 a sale to causes helping people with disabilities.
Fatal pedestrian crash at North Academy & Vickers in Colorado Springs restricts traffic for three hours Wednesday morning
Alexander Brunet
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A man has died after being struck by a car just before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday on northbound Academy Boulevard, east of Vickers Drive.
According to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), the victim tried to cross the busy street away from the crosswalk at Vickers when he was hit.
“It was probably too dark at the time for the driver to see him,” an officer at the scene said. “The driver remained on-scene and is cooperating. He doesn’t appear to have been impaired or anything like that. He said that he looked behind him for a second, and when he looked forward is when the impact happened.”
Southbound traffic on Academy was reduced to one lane around the crash scene, and northbound Academy traffic was detoured at Vickers before authorities cleared the scene just before 9:30 a.m.
CSPD’s Major Crash Team is investigating the incident.
“Traffic crashes like this one should be a stark reminder to always keep your head on a swivel,” said CSPD spokesman Ira Cronin. “Keep your eyes on the road. Be mindful of where you’re crossing. If you’re a pedestrian, or even a motorcyclist or bicyclist, never assume that a vehicle sees you.”
Shortly after authorities cleared the scene, KRDO 13’s crew saw a man jaywalking on Academy, just a few feet from where the pedestrian died.
“Use the crosswalk, make sure you wait for the light and the sign to be in your favor,” Cronin advised. “The small things can add up a lot. But these things can happen. No one plans on them, and they’re always unfortunate.”
This is a developing story. We will continue to update this article as more information becomes available.
Overnight change Wednesday on 8th Street project in Colorado Springs as Fountain Creek bridge phase winds down
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Travelers along 8th Street will see one last major traffic shift on the Fountain Creek bridge starting with work overnight on Wednesday, March 18, as the west side of the 75-year-old structure will close so that crews can continue bridge repairs.
Traffic will remain open in both directions during this work. The bridge is scheduled to open in its new, final configuration next month.
Work will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and should be completed by 5 a.m. on Thursday.
Northbound traffic will have one open lane across the bridge, and southbound traffic will have two open lanes.
Officials expect this phase of construction to last four weeks and include rehabilitating the bridge deck and repairing the sidewalk on the west side of the bridge.
When this phase is complete, the bridge moves into its final configuration, with two through lanes in each direction and a third northbound lane that feeds into the eastbound frontage road to U.S. Highway 24.
The new multi-use sidewalk will open on the east side of the bridge.
Crews will return to the bridge in late spring for final asphalt paving and striping.
South of the bridge, crews have finished drilling to locate utilities under 8th Street and found many previously unmarked underground utilities between Motor City Drive and the Fountain Creek bridge.
Officials said the project team is now revising the design documents and construction phases to reduce additional impacts on motorists and businesses.
It’s unclear whether that means a possible delay in the overall project, but two previous projects — the new bridge on Voyager Parkway and the relocation of utility lines on Austin Bluffs Parkway — were delayed months after unmarked utility lines were found.
Remaining work on 8th Street includes replacing a water main, installing sidewalks and curbs south of the Fountain Creek bridge, and stormwater upgrades to eliminate flash flooding from two hilly streets above the corridor.
Officials had intended to start the water main replacement this winter.
Access to local businesses remains open and clearly marked.
Irish performers preparing for ‘bar crawl’ across Colorado Springs Irish pubs
Bradley Davis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Celtic Steps and the Pikes Peak Highlanders are preparing to take on the El Paso County bar scene one last time for St. Patrick’s Day to close out their busiest performing week of the year.
Both groups were active around town last weekend, and Tuesday will be more of the same. You can find their St. Patrick’s Day schedules below
Celtic Steps Schedule:
11:30 a.m. – Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub and Restaurant
4:30 p.m. – Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub and Restaurant
5:00 p.m. – Brit Pub
5:30 p.m. – Wyatt’s Pub and Grill
6:30 p.m. – Great Company bar
6:30 p.m. – Purple Toad Social Tap and Grill
Pikes Peak Highlanders Schedule
4 p.m. – Back East Bar and Grill (Monument)
4:30 p.m. Wyatt’s Pub and Grill
5 p.m. – Dublin House Sports Bar
5 p.m. – Sunset Grill
5:30 p.m. – Red’s American Grill
6 p.m. – Purple Toad Social Tap and Grill
6 p.m. – Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub and Restaurant
6 p.m. – Back East Bar and Grill (Colorado Springs)
7 p.m. – Rilea’s Pub
7 p.m. – Good Company bar
7:30 p.m. – O’Leary’s Pub
8 p.m. – Dublin House sports bar
8 p.m. – Abby’s Irish Pub
8:30 p.m. – Finish Line Lounge
All the local pubs are scheduling different combinations of live music, drink deals, food deals, DJs, dance performances, or all of the above. You can find a link to a few different pub happenings below.
Jack Quinn’s Irish Pub and Restaurant
Potholes in construction zones on local roads: Who’s responsible for repair, damages?
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — A recent rash of pothole damage along North Gate Boulevard in Colorado Springs raises an interesting question.
Who bears responsibility for repairing road damage and reimbursing drivers on a city street that is part of a county-led stormwater project that passes through a construction zone?
“Generally, within the limits of a construction site, it’s the responsibility of the contractor to maintain the road,” said Joshua Palmer, the county’s chief engineer. “It’s not just the road. It could be the drainage, it could be the signals, it could be striping or traffic control. But if it’s within the limits of the project itself, the contractors are typically responsible for those types of things.”
Earlier this month, a large pothole developed on westbound North Gate, a city street slightly west of Struthers Road, which is in the county’s jurisdiction.
The pothole wasn’t there when KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior was in the area a day earlier; drivers began experiencing flat tires and bent rims at around 5 a.m.
A construction worker filled the pothole just before 8 a.m., but the damage had been done by then.
North Gate and Struthers have been crumbling for years, but repaving has been delayed several times due to several utility projects in the area.
Last fall, the city filled many potholes on North Gate and Struthers, and repaved the eastbound right lane of North Gate in front of the Mining Museum.
However, some of the patches have since popped out, and the stormwater project seems to have accelerated the rate of deterioration on North Gate.
It may seem surprising that potholes can develop in the relatively dry and mild weather we’ve experienced since late last summer, and with less of the freeze/thaw cycle that can worsen pothole formation.
“But we’ve also had a lot of fluctuating temperatures,” Palmer explained. “Just over the weekend, we went from 70 degrees down to the teens. It’s also the fluctuation of the temperatures, because there’s always going to be moisture in the ground, and it never goes away.”
The stormwater project began last November and is scheduled for completion in May, with paving work to follow this summer.
Palmer said that it would be a waste of time and resources to perform temporary paving on roads that are already crumbling and will only continue to deteriorate during construction.
On county-maintained roads, Palmer said that crews generally respond to pothole reports within a day or two, but a large pothole in a construction zone means that someone may not repair it — or report it — for a longer period.
It’s unclear how many vehicles were damaged by the redent pothole on North Gate, but its size and scope led to a fairly quick response from the contractor.
Palmer added that generally, the county doesn’t reimburse drivers for road damage; however, people can file claims or report potholes on the county’s Citizen Connect webpage.
To view the page, click here: https://citizenconnect.elpasoco.com//
Colorado Springs officials respond to neighbors’ concerns in aftermath of drainage project near Rampart Park entrance
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Many neighbors and park visitors express support for recent drainage work that restricted traffic at the entrance to popular Rampart Park, but they’ve also voiced concerns and offered ideas about how to improve safety there.
Of the four citizen concerns shared with KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior, the city will take action on one: installing a fence at the park entrance.
That decision addresses concerns about kids and pets possibly getting into the lower half of the drainage channel along the park’s entrance during heavy stormwater flows.
The lower half remains open and wasn’t upgraded with an underground pipe, as the upper section recently was; the upgrade was to protect a new housing complex from the type of heavy flows that damaged a retaining wall below the complex last summer.
City officials responded to a related concern by saying that the remaining open channel doesn’t require a similar upgrade because it’s “in outstanding condition.”
Speeding traffic along Lexington Drive at the park entrance is another concern raised by citizens, but the city said that Lexington is a major transportation route and, as such, doesn’t qualify for speed humps, roundabouts, or other so-called “traffic calming” devices.
Finally, several citizens believe that the downhill road between the park entrance and a popular dog park is still too narrow and should be widened.
However, the city responded that it has yet to receive such a complaint, and that the road is standard and consistent with other park roads.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and remain open to any feedback we receive,” officials said in a statement.
KRDO13 digs into Colorado Springs’ Hollywood film history
Bradley Davis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – As Hollywood celebrates the best films of 2025 at the Oscars, KRDO13’s Bradley Davis met with experts around the city to learn more about Colorado Springs’ film history over the decades.
Two major blockbusters have traveled to Colorado Springs in the last 15 years. Furious 7 filmed parts of its mountain chase scene on the Pikes Peak highway. It was one of the most iconic scenes in the movie, which grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide. More recently, the late Robert Redford chose the residential district of Old Colorado City as the main site for his 2017 Netflix rom-com, “Our Souls at Night.” Redford was the producer and co-starred in the film with Jane Fonda.
Once upon a time, Colorado Springs boasted the largest commercial theatrical production company in the world. The Alexander Film Company employed over 600 people locally during its height, creating advertisements to draw audiences in before catching their movie on the big screen. The studio went out of business in the 1960s, but residents can still find its history at “The Public House at the Alexander,” a restaurant and distillery that now occupies the space.
Perhaps no space locally has gotten more love from film crews than the old El Paso County courtroom on the second floor of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum. Preserved, renovated and on display for anyone who frequents the free museum, both low and high-budget productions have used the space for its authentic courtroom feel. As museum director Matt Mayberry puts it, “this is what a courtroom is supposed to look like.” The 1990 film “The Incident” used the space liberally throughout the movie, as well as the Perry Mason episode, “The Case of the Sinister Space.”
The Colorado Springs Switchbacks played their home opener on Saturday
Rob Namnoum
The Colorado Springs Switchbacks played their home opener against the Las Vegas Lights on Saturday. The Switchbacks won the match 3-2.