Author: KRDO

Samantha Hildebrandt

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)– Just before midnight, officers were called to a home on North El Paso Street for a disturbance. When they arrived, they found three adults with stab wounds — one man and two women.

All three were rushed to the hospital, where the man later died. Police say the two women suffered serious, life-threatening injuries.

A second man at the scene was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries and later brought to the police operations center for questioning. A young child inside the home was not hurt.

We have learned that last evening, police said they arrested 33-year-old Matthew Regnier. He’s being accused of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, and child abuse.

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Mackenzie Stafford

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – Prince Andrew has been exiled by the British monarchy from the royal palace. This comes after years of mounting scrutiny regarding his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

That news provided some relief for a local family whose sister was one of the prominent accusers of Epstein and the former prince.

Virginia Giuffre’s memoir was published on October 21, after her death in April. Now her brother, an El Paso County resident, says the exile of now former-prince Andrew is the first step towards justice, but there’s more work to do. 

“Nobody’s Girl,” Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, details surviving sexual abuse. She claimed that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 years old. Giuffre died by suicide earlier this year. Her family is continuing her legacy, advocating for her. 

“I think it’s important for them to be listening, not to the perpetrators, but to the survivors themselves,” Sky Roberts told CNN News.

King Charles announced Andrew would move out of the royal lodge and lose his prince title. Despite Andrew maintaining his innocence. 

His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.

Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continuesto deny the allegations against him. 

Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.

Buckingham Palace

It’s the first move of its kind in nearly a century. 

“He’s just Andrew now, which is great, and my sister would be smiling, and she is from the heavens, I guarantee you. But there needs to be the next step. We need to take the next step here, and he needs to be fully investigated and brought to some sort of account,” said Giuffre’s brother, Sky Roberts.

Here in Southern Colorado, just over a month ago, Giuffre’s brother called for the Epstein files to be released and for accountability. 

“She would have been right here speaking with you guys on a local level because that was her dream. She wanted this to come forward. She wanted these monsters to be put where they belong, which is behind bars for the rest of their lives,” Roberts told KRDO13.

Now their family is calling on King Charles to connect with international leaders, such as President Trump, to release the files and hold others accountable. 

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A different brand of asphalt, along with additives of fiberglass and Kevlar, are being used or tested by the city’s public works in an effort to improve paving efficiency and effectiveness.

Currently, workers are in the final stages of repaving a stretch of busy Woodmen Road, between the Academy Boulevard interchange and Rockrimmon Boulevard, by using stone matrix asphalt (SMA).

Corey Farkas, public works manager of operations and maintenance, described SMA as a material that is specifically designed for highways and other high-traffic roadways.

“It’s thicker and harder to work with, and it’s more expensive,” he explained. “But we went to Denver to look at it, and it seems to hold up well. We decided to try it on Woodmen.”

Farkas said that if the city is satisfied with how SMA performs, the material may be used for certain projects, but could become more widespread if improved durability leads to reduced maintenance costs.

Meanwhile, the city has spent the past ten years studying test patches of asphalt containing fiberglass and Kevlar — the latter being the same material used in bulletproof vests.

Officials want to determine if Kevlar can bond with asphalt to help paving last longer; the test strip is located on Broadmoor Bluffs Drive.

“The Kevlar fibers are designed to really kind of interlock within the asphalt to try to limit the amount of reflective cracking we get,” Farkas said. “Seems to be working pretty well.”

He said that the fiberglass additive is designed to keep asphalt from developing cracks several inches wide — a persistent problem in some older subdivisions, such as Soaring Eagles near the airport.

The test patch for that material is near the intersection of Harrier Ridge Drive and Tail Spin Drive.

Farkas said that he wants to see how both test areas endure several years of weather extremes produced by summer heat and winter freeze-thaw cycles.

Crews recently resurfaced streets in Soaring Eagles to seal smaller cracks in the pavement.

Finally, the city is using recycled asphalt in street paving for the second year; it’s presently being applied on the south end of Oro Blanco Drive.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the final Cheyenne Mountain Zoo “Boo at the Zoo” will fall on a Friday for families to enjoy Halloween filled with animals and candy.

On Thursday, the zoo is hosting its first-ever Halloween-themed “Dog Days” event to get people ready for Boo at the Zoo. People who bring their pups to the zoo are encouraged to dress their dogs (those willing for some treats) in costumes, thanks to the cute photos of one zoo staffer’s four-legged friend.

“Nucky is my dog that inspired a Halloween edition dog day at the zoo,” said zoo communications and marketing director Rachel Wright. “I was at the store buying him food, and they had a dog banana costume right at the cash register, and it got me. Impulse buy! well placed.

Zoo staffer Rachel Wright’s dog, “Nucky”

“I came to work the next day and said, ‘What do you guys think about having our dog day on October 30th Halloween themed?'”

It’s the first time the zoo will host a Halloween event the day before the final Boo at the Zoo in its over 20-year history.

Boo at the Zoo is the zoo’s biggest fundraiser. It’s always the two weekends leading up to Halloween and Halloween night.

After Friday’s event, a zoo spokesperson said they expect over 20,000 people to have visited for Boo at the Zoo.

Patrons will still be able to feed the giraffes even with the construction of the new enclosure. The zoo said it is adding more candy stations and a costume contest where winners get free tickets to the Electric Safari in December. You can find the entire list of activities here.

Timed entry tickets are required for both Boo at the Zoo and Dog Days. The final remaining timed entry tickets are for the 7 to 7:30 p.m. time slot.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Officials this week revealed that a whopping 95% of streets to be repaved during the next ten years are in residential neighborhoods, but the remaining 5% will include a busy street through the heart of the city that regularly draws complaints from drivers.

The highlight of next year’s paving list is Circle Drive, which connects to Fillmore Street on the north end and to Interstate 25 on the south end.

The project, which is part of the annual 2C expanded paving program funded by a voter-approved sales tax increase, will place fresh asphalt on a pair of three-mile stretches of Circle — between Fillmore and Platte Avenue, and between Airport Road and I-25.

You may wonder why the mile of Circle between those areas isn’t part of the project; the reason is because that segment is in good condition.

Drivers have regularly complained about poor conditions on affected parts of Circle — especially between Platte and Palmer Park Boulevard, and from Airport to both sides of the bridge construction on the south end of Circle.

In fact, South Circle has deteriorated so badly that in the spring of 2024, crews performed emergency paving between Fountain Boulevard and Monterey Road.

The upcoming South Circle paving coincides with the scheduled completion of the bridge project by the end of this year.

“With the proper preventative maintenance and the proper intervals, this road, we won’t have to come back and repave this road, hopefully for 25-plus years,” said Corey Farkas, public works operations and maintenance manager. “We’re going to have to continue to maintain it. We’ll inspect it.”

Other major streets on next year’s paving list are: Palmer Park, between Circle and Academy Boulevard; and the east segment of Cheyenne Road, between Nevada and Lake avenues.

To see the city’s interactive map of paving plans through 2027, visit: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/db395f7befa741aeb58346bfc5f390e6.

Some of those plans are considered tentative and subject to change.

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Rob Namnoum

The Pine Creek boys soccer team advances in the Class 5A playoffs. The Eagles defeated Arvada West 4-1 on Wednesday night. They will play Grand Junction on Tuesday.

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Rob Namnoum

The Classical Academy boys soccer team is moving on in the Class 3A playoffs. The Titans defeated DSST College View 2-0 on Wednesday night. They will play The Academy next Tuesday.

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Celeste Springer

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) — A Fountain cat mom is issuing a big thank you to an arborist-turned-hero after her cat was stuck about 35 feet above the ground.

According to Tonya Towles, her cat Loki decided to climb a tree this week. Unfortunately for Loki and Tonya, the tree was not something one would describe as “small.”

(Courtesy: Mikaelle Towns)

Towles said she called the fire department and animal control with no luck. She posted on social media, and the next morning, many people tried (unsuccessfully for hours) to coax Loki down. There wasn’t a ladder long enough, or a “psp psp” enticing enough, to get the cat.

But then came Sean Stouffis with Arbor One Tree Services. Towles says Stouffis saw one of her posts on social media and knew he had the perfect equipment to rescue Loki.

“Within minutes of giving him my address, he was on his way,” said Towles. “He was kind, professional, prepared, and patient. He immediately geared up and got to climbing.”

Video shows Stouffis belaying down the tree with Loki in hand as the cat meows; KRDO13 could not confirm if Loki’s meows were ones of joy, or whether the headstrong kitty was dismayed that his act of rebellion was coming to a close.

Regardless, Towles says Stouffis comforted Loki all the way down. The cat is happily back home with family– just in time for National Cat Day on Oct. 29.

KRDO13 is always looking for heartfelt stories like this for our Absolutely Colorado segment. If you have a story idea, please click here to share it with us.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — City public works officials gathered Tuesday to reflect on the accomplishments of the 2C expanded street paving program.

Sub-freezing temperatures the past two nights arrive just as crews finish up the final projects on this year’s paving list; Tuesday’s gathering was along Flying W Ranch Road.

This marks the tenth year of the 2C program, funded by a sales tax increase approved by voters in 2015.

Former mayor John Suthers created the plan while campaigning for the first of his two consecutive terms.

While some voters thought that campaigning on a sales tax increase was political suicide, many others expressed a growing frustration with the countless potholes caused by streets crumbling from years of deferred maintenance.

In 2019, voters extended the tax for five years, and last fall, a ten-year extension passed by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

Officials stated that in the ten years of 2C, crews have repaved 2,000 miles of lanes — nearly a third of the city’s streets.

During the next ten years, the city plans to continue its recent trend of increasing its focus on side streets, with 95% of future paving work to be in neighborhoods.

Other benefits of 2C include upgrades to the concrete framework along repaved streets — sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and ramps — to increase safety for pedestrians.

Still, some voters express dissatisfaction with 2C, feeling that it’s taking too long for their streets to be repaved.

“We do have the potential to possibly add streets or move streets again, depending on coordination,” said Corey Farkas, the city’s public works operations and maintenance manager. “But, we do ask people to let us know. Call us. Let us know. We’ve got other alternatives. If we can’t get to your road with 2C, within this particular program, we can make sure that it gets on the next program.”

As for potholes, The Road Warrior recently reported on the city hiring a dozen new public works employees who are taking advantage of recent dry weather to reduce the backlog of repair requests.

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Bradley Davis

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – The Pueblo Heritage Museum is inviting a professional ghost hunter on Thursday to give tours of the museum to educate about Pueblo’s history with a supernatural twist.

Gail Conners said she works to preserve history through storytelling and paranormal investigation. She educates groups on the history of the building she searches while teaching patrons her techniques and equipment for discovering spectral phenomena.

Museum manager John Wendt said they invited Conners to host the tours after multiple staffers reported ghost sightings and supernatural encounters.

One particular spooky and recurring instance is the manual door to the archive room closing behind the staff, locking them in the room.

The museum hosted a tour earlier this month. Wendt said it was so popular, they decided to do it again this week.

Thursday’s tours run from 6:30 to 9 p.m. It’s $20 and currently on a waitlist, but Wendt said they can probably squeeze in a few more people. He said he plans to schedule another tour in November to accommodate the demand.

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