Author: KRDO

Julia Donovan

MOSCA, Colo. (KRDO) — A memorial is being held this weekend after the death of a famous Hollywood celebrity, who spent his retirement here in Colorado. Morris “The Movie Star” Alligator is being remembered for his cheeky personality and impressive acting career, which includes his role in Happy Gilmore.

He spent his final years at an alligator farm in Mosca, a small town north of Alamosa.

For the last month at the Colorado Gators Reptile Park, things have been a little somber. The owner of Colorado Gators, Jay Young, says things just haven’t been the same since Morris’s passing.

@krdo__13 The Colorado Gator Farm is heart broken after one of their gators, Morris “The Movie Star,” passed away. They say Morris starred in TV shows and movies before retiring at their farm. It’s unclear how old he was, but some estimates say 80 to 90+ years old. #colorado #coloradogatorfarm #gators ♬ Very Sad – Enchan

He says they took Morris in back in 2006 so he could relax in the mountains for what they thought might be a year or two, considering his old age. But Morris was a fighter… We’re told he tried to kill a lot of people (thankfully none successfully).

He lived for another 19 years with the Colorado Gators Reptile Park, where Young says over half a million people came to visit the movie star.

Young says he didn’t even know how famous Morris was when he decided to add him to the crew here. 

“We went and picked him up and then so like, ‘So what was he in?’ (They said) Alligator I, Alligator II, Interview With the Vampire, Dr. Doolittle II, Eraser, Blues Brothers 2000, Night Court, Coach,” said Young, listing off some of the movies.

“Oh yeah, and he ate Chub’s hand in Happy Gilmore.”

The gator farm believes Morris was at least 80 years old. Colorado Gators Reptile Park is allowing people to come visit Morris’s body all weekend. Then they’ll send him off to be taxidermied, before being put back on display here.

For information on Colorado Gators Reptile Park, click here. For the latest on when you can visit, head here.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A familiar sight across Fountain Creek at the north end of 8th Street has passed into history, at least for the present.

Early Friday morning, crews removed the Midland Trail pedestrian bridge on the east side of the street, near the US 24 Frontage Road.

Workers used power saws to dismantle the bridge, piece by piece, and the job was done well before the project’s scheduled completion time of 5 a.m.

The removal officially began at 8 p.m. Thursday as crews prepared the site for removal.

It’s the latest step in the first phase of a yearlong $12 million improvement project on 8th Street between the Frontage Road and Motor City Drive.

The project began on Monday, with crews closing the right northbound turn lane to the Frontage Road.

Drivers can still turn right there, past a pedestrian median to the left lane of the road.

Next is maintenance work on and widening of the 74-year-old bridge to extend its use by another 30 years; the construction of a multi-use path (wider sidewalk) to serve as a new connection to the trail; and creating a second northbound traffic lane to ease congestion at the Frontage Road intersection.

Bridge work will continue into early next year; the project’s second phase of replacing a water main starts this winter; and the final phase of repaving will occur late next spring or early next summer.

Other improvements include drainage upgrades that will reduce flash flooding; building sidewalks and curbs in areas that currently don’t have them; and installing new traffic signals.

Nearby business owners are watching the traffic impacts closely; a manager at the Arby’s restaurant near the bridge told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior on Thursday that business has declined since the project began.

Gene Burrows, who describes himself as homeless, said that he likes the upcoming improvements even though many people are avoiding the detour by traveling through the construction zone.

“There are hundreds of people who go through here who are disabled and go back and forth to the city, off the trails — and we need to be more assertive about them not using this entryway right now,” he explained. “It causes a big question mark.”

City officials said that the Midland bridge opened in 2005 and will be reassembled as part of a future parks project.

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Mackenzie Stafford

SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO (KRDO) – Drug overdose deaths have steadily increased in Pueblo County over the past few years, and while this data only goes up to 2022, KRDO13 spoke with southeastern Colorado officials who say they’re now seeing more polydrug use than ever, which is when people are taking multiple drugs.

But they say they’re also preventing more deaths with educational and prevention programs.

In a press conference on Thursday, officials from numerous southeastern Colorado communities gathered to speak about how these programs have changed lives.

They point to rehabilitation centers and proactive education that they say are helping southeastern counties in a time when it’s needed most.  

“Las Animas County holds the highest overdose death rates in the state, with 61.7 per 100,000 residents, and Huerfano County is not far behind. These figures are not just state statistics. They represent real people,” said Kim Gonzales, Executive Director of Las Animas County and Huerfano County Health.

They say people are benefiting from the $4 million sent to the region in the past three years, and the additional million now coming from the state opioid abatement council. 

“We are also excited to announce that the statewide Colorado Opioid Abatement Council has awarded [the Southeast Colorado Opioid Region 19] SECOR $500,000 for the Fort Lion Infrastructure and Resiliency Project and 495,000 for the Lamar Facility Extension. This was a competitive grant process, and we are honored to have received the funding on behalf of our partners in the region,” shared Rob Oquist, Otero County Commissioner.

Some of the programs that have been implemented that the group says have been successful are stigma reduction, distributing naloxone (better known as Narcan) to help reverse overdoses, and disbursing testing kits. 

Another program targeting youth education is the Southern Colorado Youth Go (SoCoYoGo) App for teens in Pueblo. SoCoYoGo aims to encourage healthy behaviors and reward teens for avoiding the use of drugs by participating in other social activities.

To learn more about SECOR or to find resources if you’re struggling with substance use disorder, click here.

The Colorado Behavioral Health Administration did not have more recent overdose data readily available; however, they provided resources to the number of people who received substance use disorder care under a BHA-funded or overseen program.

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Karla Sosa

FORT CARSON, Colo. (KRDO) — Federal agents came to El Paso County to help local law enforcement train for the worst-case scenario. It’s all part of the Raven’s Challenge, a large-scale explosives training exercise that lasts for an entire week and allows law enforcement to confront real scenarios. 

The Raven’s Challenge was created with the goal of military and law enforcement agencies working together in case of an emergency that could involve severe threats to the public. 

Army veteran Brad Simmons is the project lead and said that currently, there are 11 states that are training in Fort Carson. The exercise is funded by the Army and led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

“For example, ten years ago, we looked at an unmanned aircraft coming in and being used in as a drop munition threat. So we researched that and we developed the emerging threat scenario for our unmanned aircraft,” said Simmons. “So we we really trying to engage in and provide this exercise to as many departments and agencies, and military departments as possible.” 

Simmons said all of the scenarios they’re training for are from incidents they’ve come across. 

“And we look at that to see what potentially could be a threat that is developing in the United States that these bomb technicians may, may encounter in the future. Just to make them a little bit sharper, a little bit more prepared for that threat,” said Simmons.

The last Raven’s Challenge of the year will be at Camp Dawson in West Virgina.

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Celeste Springer

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – The Pueblo Police Department identifies two female victims who have died after being hit by a man who police say was driving under the influence.

According to PPD, the victims are 55-year-old Carolyn Marie and 36-year-old Kayla Marie Medina, both from Pueblo.

According to the department, they were called out to the northbound ramp on 13th Street where they say the two victims were hit by a car. Police say one of the victims died at the scene, and the other was taken to the hospital but ultimately died.

Police say the car involved was left at the scene, stopped on railroad tracks.

The Pueblo Police Department says they identified who the registered owner of the car was, and arrived at his home.

When they arrived, the owner and now-suspect, 41-year-old Carlos Miranda, reportedly told police that he believed he had hit a dog.

The department says Miranda has been charged with a DUI and vehicular homicide.

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Bart Bedsole

LOW SCORES

Even though it only racked up 9 violations, Hacienda Colorado inside the University Village shopping center on North Nevada was ‘no bueno’ on its health inspection last week. 

Some of the problems include:

Cooked ground beef, cooked corn, and diced tomatoes held at the wrong temperature 

Numerous pans were not properly dried before being stacked 

The staff was using an improper method of thawing frozen fish 

The restaurant was packaging and selling certain foods without the required permit

KRDO13 stopped by Hacienda on Monday to ask about the violations.

The manager politely thanked KRDO13 for coming, but said he had no comment on the violations specifically, nor how the staff was addressing them.

It was re-inspected on June 11, and once again, the pans were stacked before they were dry, but none of the other violations were found.

Also failing last week was the Mariscos Altamar on South Academy near the Hancock Expressway. 

The 16 violations found during its health inspection include: 

A kitchen worker not washing their hands before changing tasks 

The ice machine, utensils, and several containers were dirty 

The inspector also found foggers, a roach killer spray, and other pesticides not allowed in restaurants 

A mixture containing Windex (a toxic chemical) was being used for cleaning parts of the kitchen 

When KRDO13 went inside to ask about the failed health inspection, a member of the staff at the counter said the owner was out of town on vacation and unavailable to respond to the violations.

Other restaurants earning a failing score last week:

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen – 3450 Austin Bluffs Pkwy 

Viet’s Restaurant – 7640 N Academy (click here for previous coverage of Viet’s Restaurant)

Lady Luck – 23355 Hwy 94 

Broken Bones BBQ – 481 E Hwy 105 

HIGH SCORES

Flying W Ranch – 3330 Chuckwagon Rd 

Paris Crepe – 1019 S Tejon St 

Krispy Kreme – 5790 S Carefree 

Qdoba – 1916 Southgate Rd 

Pei Wei Asian Diner – 7148 N Academy 

Jasmine Cafe – 6064 Stetson Hills 

Chicken Salad Chick – 9291 Highland Ridge Heights 

Sliced Bagels & More – 115 S. Main St 

Sliced, earning a Perfect Score on May 30, just celebrated its one-year anniversary in May.

Yes, the Fountain spot for breakfast and lunch sells uncut bagels by the bag, but it’s really more of a sandwich shop that happens to use bagels instead of bread.

Owner and New York native Shannon Badgeley takes her bagels seriously, and has them imported several times a week from the East Coast.

“A New York bagel has to be cooked in New York water. It’s boiled in their water. There’s just something in the water, who knows what it is?” she said, smiling.

The sandwiches on the menu, from the Florida Meemaw to the Jalapeno Copper to the Love You Lox, were all named by her family members.

“This is a family business, so we wanted to bring the family into the shop,” she explains.

Badgeley says the Plain Blaine is the most popular sandwich.

Named by her father-in-law, includes bacon, egg, and cheese on a buttered toasted bagel with salt and pepper.

Another feature that makes Sliced unique compared to most other bagel shops is the fact that most sandwiches are steamed in a special machine after they’re prepared.

It’s a way of making sure a bagel sandwich appeals to as many people as possible.

“I know that a lot of people don’t like a bagel sandwich because the bagel is big,” Badgeley explains, “and this helps make it soft and nice and hot, and gooey, and brings all of the flavors together.”

The menu also includes a section called “Home Away From Home”.

Each month, Sliced offered the signature sandwiches from two other states as a way of giving members of Fountain’s military community a taste of home from time to time.

The current states offered are Missouri and Kansas.

Don’t forget to look for the KRDO13 Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen is clean. 

Click here for a full list of the most recent health inspections in El Paso County. 

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Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A crash is causing a major backup on I-25 southbound, according to Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) maps.

CDOT says the crash is near Garden of the Gods, and one lane is currently blocked.

Drivers should expect delays if headed in that direction.

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Bradley Davis

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – It’s a safe space for dads across Southern Colorado to nerd out over some of the most impressive locomotives from America’s past, capped by a short train ride Saturday starting just outside the Pueblo Union Depot.

The museum said it is 100% volunteer-based. They do everything from pulling weeds to building new tracks for their working train cars. Almost all their volunteers are between 50 and 85 years old, and you’ll see them out almost every Saturday manually nailing down rail spikes for their projects.

The museum holds a handful of organized events and train rides every year, like their Father’s Day celebration. It costs $15 to ride in the locomotive car and $10 for the caboose. The money helps fund the museum’s maintenance and restoration projects.

The Father’s Day event is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drive just past the Pueblo Union Depot, and you will see the Pueblo Railway Museum sign leading you into a gravel parking lot.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Some areas of the city have needed repaving or other infrastructure repairs more than others.

This season, it’s the southwest side’s turn.

So many projects are in such proximity to each other that the detour around one may bring drivers within just a few blocks of another.

Generally, traffic congestion and detours have greater impacts during the day, particularly at the morning and evening rush hours.

One street that has been transformed by construction is Arcturus Drive, a two-block street with moderate daytime traffic between 8th Street and the Lower Skyway neighborhood.

Concrete work there has, at times, closed one of the four lanes of traffic, and occasionally backs up traffic on the entire length of the street.

That project, however, is winding down a month after it began; adding to the project’s length was the pouring of concrete for new driveway entrances at a shopping center, two housing units, and a convenience store.

Some drivers cut through the parking lot, seeking a shortcut around the congestion.

Several blocks to the south, another project is wrapping up: Maintenance work on the Cheyenne Road bridge over Cheyenne Creek; Cheyenne Road and adjacent Cheyenne Boulevard will be repaved this summer after the completion of concrete work and a natural gas line replacement last year.

One of the more impressive projects, in terms of scope, is the current concrete work on East Cheyenne Road, between Southgate Road and Lake Avenue; it has required lane shifts and closed several neighborhood intersections.

“We still have more to do,” one worker told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior. “When we finish here, we’ll be doing a lot of Circle Drive, from Fillmore Street to Fountain Boulevard.”

Also on the southwest side are several projects that The Road Warrior has already covered, being performed by the city or the Colorado Department of Transportation: Street paving in the Broadmoor Bluffs neighborhood, concrete work and repaving on South Nevada Avenue between Motor Way and Fort Carson’s main gate, and concrete work at the intersection of Cheyenne Boulevard and Lorraine Street.

Some of the construction also makes travel more challenging for pedestrians and cyclists, as sidewalks and bike lanes are often closed.

Amid public frustration with cone zones, drivers should remember that construction crews have a job to do, and the result will be smoother and safer driving.

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Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Preparations are underway for Pikes Peak Pride. The festival celebrating the LGBTQ community kicks off this Saturday for a weekend full of performances, a parade, but also added security.

Organizers of Pikes Peak Pride say that since there have been so many protests and some heightened energy levels downtown, they want to make sure all Pride participants are safe. While they say they can’t watch over each and every person, they make sure to prepare security levels to match the crowds they anticipate will attend.

“Safety is always our number one concern. We work for a year planning this event every year. We start again in August. And, so, you know, we’re always thinking about how do we keep our guests safe. How do we make sure that we have the best experience?” explained Justin Burns, vice president of Pikes Peak Pride.

They say this weekend they’ll have more security than they have had in years past. 

“Our sponsorship dollars are actually up this year. And we think that’s attributable to our community here, the resilience and that the community here actually needs this,” said Justin Burns, vice president of Pikes Peak Pride.

As a rainbow parade makes its way from America the Beautiful Park to Alamo Square Park, participants will stand out and say they want to be seen and heard.

A map of the parade route from Pikes Peak Pride.

However, this year there will be no rainbow crosswalk; the city points to ADA regulations as the reason.

“Due to accessibility and safety concerns, the City is not allowing crosswalks to be modified for any events. The City is providing outdoor space at the Pioneers Museum, where Pride is being held, for decoration by event organizers.”

-A spokesperson for the City of Colorado Springs

The Mayor released the following statement on the Pride event.

“This will be the third time Mayor Yemi has spoken and participated at Pikes Peak Pride, and it was the first major event he participated in after being sworn in during 2023. Mayor Yemi believes it is critical for him to be a mayor for all residents, and in creating a safe and welcoming city for everyone. This festival is a celebration of community and acceptance for many Colorado Springs residents, and it is a testament to the strength of our city.”

-Mayor Yemi Mobolade

City Council President Lynette Crow Iverson chose not to issue a Pride Week proclamation, saying their role is not to engage in identity-based political gestures.

“City Council Leadership has chosen not to issue a formal proclamation for Pride Month this year. As a non-partisan legislative body, we believe our role is not to engage in identity-based or political gestures, but to focus on governance that benefits all residents.

We want to be clear: we welcome everyone to Colorado Springs. We support the rights of every individual to live safely, freely, and with dignity. We extend our best wishes for a safe, respectful, and successful event, and we remain committed to ensuring our city is a place where all people feel valued and secure.

Our decision is rooted in a desire to avoid divisive or performative politics. Instead, we aim to serve every citizen equally, without favor or pandering, and focus on the issues that unite us—such as public safety, infrastructure, economic vitality, and quality of life.”

-Council President Lynette Crow-Iverson

“We do feel the love from the city,” said Burns. “But it is disheartening that the new leadership is not willing to proclaim Pike’s Peak Pride Week.”

Organizers encourage everyone to come out and celebrate this weekend.

“It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be amazing. The parade is huge. We’ve got more floats. We’ve got like two semis and everyone is super excited. The new route is going to be great and we’ve got more vendors than we’ve had any time. So we’ve got 25 food vendors, 180 I think local vendors and two days full of entertainment on the mainstage. So come out, celebrate. It’s going to be a blast and we’re so excited to see you,” invited Burns.

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