Author: KRDO

Rob Namnoum

Day 1 state track and field at Jefferson County Stadium.

Awesome atmosphere as we go over to the 4a girls triple jump finals, Lily Nibert of Pueblo County with a personal best of 37 feet and 2 ¾ inches, she placed fourth but it’s the sophomore Skylar Angelidis from Palmer High School getting a personal best 38 feet, 6 ¼ inch to win the state title. “I’m literally shaking right now. This is so cool. I love track so much, and this is such a fun environment, so I’m just grateful to be here and to win. This is awesome.” says Angelidis.

Over to the Boys 4a shotput, the reigning champion Owen Twesme of Palmer Ridge looking to go back to back. A winning throw for him and a state meet record of 60 feet 11 inches as he wins it again, “Got every ounce of momentum I had to throw right through into the shot. And I knew the second, at least I was like, that’s that’s a state record.,” says Twesme.

Then all eyes at 4a boys high jump, Nathan Moller Palmer Ridge duking it out with his friend Josiah Garcia of Mesa Ridge at 6’7. Moller with a chance to win a state title and he does!

But he’s not done, he’s going for a personal best of 6’10 and on his third attempt he got it!, “And so I put it up there and then I had a couple not so good jumps. And then that last jump started that club, and, I’m just really happy how it went. Honestly,” says Moller.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Volunteers with the Friends of Cheyenne Cañon are preparing for the 33rd annual Hummingbird festival Saturday as accessibility improvements wrap up at the Starsmore Visitor and Nature Center.

The festival starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. The schedule is packed with different bird talks, nature walks, and live raptor demonstrations and education with the Pueblo Raptor Center. The nature center will also host local vendors, arts and crafts, and, of course, lots and lots of hummingbird feeders.

Friends of Cheyenne Cañon said it pushed the festival back a week and expects the main plaza at the Starsmore Nature Center to be open on Saturday. If it’s not open, they will move just down the path to the South Cañon picnic space. People can park on the street or in the lot right off of Evans Avenue and S Cheyenne Canyon Road.

The nature center has been under construction since early March. The city is adding a new outdoor plaza and classroom space, renovated restrooms, parking improvements, and accessibility improvements to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.

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Scott Harrison

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Crews with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) have so far removed dozens of concrete pavement panels that were cracked and broken along the five miles of Highway 115 in Pensose.   

And this week, workers were still using saws to cut out the remaining affected panels on the north end of the project area.

CDOT has closed the northbound lanes in that stretch, and one lane in each direction shares the southbound lanes; there is a constant noise from southbound traffic passing over the rumble strips on the right shoulder.

There are several intersections where drivers can turn onto or off the highway.    

Although the panels come in a variety of sizes, many are surprisingly long, wide, and deep; some empty slots have been removed and filled with new concrete.

Wayne Pittman, a resident engineer with CDOT, cited three factors contributing to the problem: The age of the concrete (it was installed in 1992), wear and tear from constant heavy truck traffic, and groundwater or clay soil that undermined the panels.

“The panels are roughly 12 feet by 15 feet,” he explained. “There are around 125 full-panel repairs. For the partial panel repairs, there are over 300. We’ve added 90 to the full-panel repairs because once we got into it, we found that we needed to do more.”

The solution, Pittman said, is to improve drainage by removing groundwater or clay, adding larger rocks and soil to the existing base, and finally pouring fresh concrete over it.

“It’s just a surface repair to preserve the pavement and give us another 20 years before we’ll need to replace all of the concrete,” he stated.

Crews will eventually inspect southbound panels to determine what repairs are needed there.

The $3.6 million project started in March and continues through September.

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Scott Harrison

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — Much of downtown was in darkness overnight because of a power outage that cut electricity to street lights, traffic signals, and businesses.

KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior noticed the situation as he arrived to report on a paving project just before 5 a.m. Wednesday.

The downtown McDonald’s also lost power, affecting normal operations there and delaying the unloading of a supply truck, before power returned just before 5:30 a.m.

One woman told The Road Warrior that power also appeared to be out in the neighborhood around Parkview Medical Center, just north of downtown.

As of 6:30 a.m., power had been restored on the west side of downtown but remained out on the east side.

Authorities advise drivers to treat intersections without working traffic signals as four-way stops.

The reason for the outage is unclear; KRDO 13 will provide an update as more information becomes available.

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Scott Harrison

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — A street repaving that didn’t happen as scheduled last year will be the first this year in the Steel City and Home of Heroes.

Crews have begun removing old pavement from a mile of 6th Street, through the middle of downtown, from Interstate 25 to the Midtown Shopping Center.

On Tuesday, a fleet of dump trucks parked in a vacant area of the shopping center parking lot; one by one, they collected the old asphalt that a milling machine had chopped up.

The work has started at the west end of the project area and is advancing east, even though much of 6th Street is one-way in the opposite direction.

City officials said that parts of the four-lane street were last repaved in 2002 and 2008.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said 15 motorcyclists across the state died between January and March, the highest number since 2017.

CDOT said it’s an alarming number this early in the year, before what it calls the “100 deadliest days of summer.” CDOT said historically, nearly 60% of motorcycle deaths happen between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Without drawing a direct correlation, CDOT did point to our unusually warm Winter in its press release about the elevated Winter motorcycle deaths.

Last July, KRDO13 reported that motorcycle deaths in El Paso County were double what they were the year before. However, statewide motorcycle deaths decreased from 2024 to 2025.

CDOT released crash data dating back to 2011. 2024 was by far the highest on the list with 165 deaths. The number fell to 148 in 2025, which is still nearly double the number of deaths reported in 2011 (78).

The population in the state of Colorado has grown by about 15% since 2011, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), while motorcycle deaths hovers around a 100% increase in that time.

Colorado legalized lane filtering for motorcycles in the summer of 2024. Colorado State Patrol said the law is intended to lower the number of rear-end collisions with motorcycles.

In 2025, the State Patrol told KRDO13 it had observed motorcyclists driving more recklessly because of confusion over the new law. However, it clarified there was no data indicating the new law was leading to a higher number of traffic accidents and deaths.

Instead, CDOT said speed, alcohol and helmet use all contribute to the upward trend. It said riders weren’t wearing a helmet in nearly half of all motorcycle fatalities.

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Rob Namnoum

The Palmer Ridge girls soccer team lost to Windsor in the Class 4A playoffs on Tuesday night 3-0.

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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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