Author: KRDO

Marina Garcia

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – As Jewish communities around the world mark the first day of Hanukkah, a celebration of faith and dedication, one local rabbi is leaning into joy, even in the wake of tragedy. 

On Sunday, Rabbi Jay Sherwood led a community candle lighting ceremony to welcome the festival of Hanukkah.

He says he refuses to let the meaning of the holiday be minimized, but instead is harnessing its power to get through the mass shooting that occurred on Sydney’s Bondi Beach in Australia.

“The miracle of Hanukkah really is the miracle of light that we live in dark times. And when we live in dark times, we have the opportunity to bring light into the world,” says Rabbi Sherwood.

The community gathered to eat traditional foods like jelly donuts and fill the room with music.

“That’s what the Hanukkah miracle is, that the Jewish people have survived over centuries and over millennia, to be able to take the light of the torah and bring it into the world,” says Rabbi Sherwood.

However, this year’s holiday celebration was a little different than those in years past.

“We had a horrible terrorist attack in Australia on a celebration of the light of Hanukkah. Last I heard, there were 15 or 16 who had died. There are several more who are still in critical condition. We don’t know what’s going to happen with them over the next few days. We pray for their recovery,” says Rabbi Sherwood.

The Rabbi says, nevertheless, joy will not be taken away from the holiday.

“In fact, we are going to try to bring more joy into the holiday so that we can bring more light,” says Rabbi Sherwood.

For the next eight nights, a candle will be lit, which the Rabbi tells us is symbolic of more miracles.

Click here to follow the original article.

Michael Logerwell

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – A tradition to honor our fallen soldiers is underway across the nation.

This weekend, volunteers for Wreaths Across America spent the morning laying down wreaths at the headstones of our nation’s veterans at Pikes Peak National Cemetery.

The act is about much more than holiday decorations. It’s an opportunity to recognize each headstone as a person, a soldier, and a hero to our nation.

“When you have a wreath, you walk up to the headstone, and you say the person’s name because that’s one of the things about when someone passes, or someone dies, right? Their names are never spoken again, and so that’s one way to honor who that person is, whether you know that person or not,” said a volunteer

Wreaths Across America started in 1992. The organization depends on volunteers and donations to make sure every headstone gets a wreath.

On Saturday, organizers say around 2,000 people came out in support of our fallen heroes.

Click here to follow the original article.

Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – No child left the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Holiday on the Hill event on Sunday empty-handed.

KRDO13 saw a whole lot of kids and families waiting in line to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, but the event was more than a chance to meet the big man in the red hat.

The police department says they could also enjoy snacks, like hot chocolate and s’mores, and meet their local CSPD officers. Plus, every single child who attended left with a toy.

The Colorado Springs Police Department puts on the annual event with help from Toys for Tots.

Click here to follow the original article.

Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – For the second day in a row, Colorado Springs residents looked to the sky and saw black smoke. Thankfully, this fire was smaller and quickly put out by firefighters.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department says they sped out to reports of a tow truck that was engulfed in flames and threatening nearby homes. The tow truck was near Platte Place and Pitkin Street, which is two miles from the Citadel Mall.

Picture shared by CSFD.

This picture to the left shows the aftermath. Firefighters were able to quickly before the fire spread to any other structures. From the picture, it appears none of the nearby cars were affected by the blaze either.

No one was injured in the fire.

Click here to follow the original article.

Samantha Hildebrandt

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Two people are recovering in the hospital as Colorado Springs Police Officers CSPD investigate a shooting connected to a late-night car meet in eastern Colorado Springs.

Police say officers were called to a local hospital around 2:30 Sunday morning after two people were dropped off with gunshot wounds.

Investigators say one victim is a juvenile male and the other an adult male. Both were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Police believe the shooting is tied to a shots-fired call that came in just after 2 a.m. near Integration Loop and Peak Innovation Parkway, where a car meet was taking place at the time.

No arrests have been announced, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Click here to follow the original article.

Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A bank robber is on the loose in Colorado Springs.

Just after 10:00 A.M., the Colorado Springs Police Department from a bank in the 1800 address block of South Nevada Avenue. Detectives with the department’s robbery unit arrived on the scene and learned that a man had entered the bank and demanded money from a teller.

The online police blotter report was not clear whether the suspect had a weapon or not, or how much money was taken from the bank.

Police say the suspect fled in an unknown direction. No one has been arrested.

KRDO13 went out to the area of the bank robbery and found a Wells Fargo bank as the only financial institution on that block of S Nevada Ave. There is a Chase bank down the road, but it is on the 1800 block of Southgate Road.

The investigation is active.

Click here to follow the original article.

Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Springs Fire Department is asking people to avoid an area near Nevada and Fillmore St as firefighters battle a 2-alarm structure fire.

The fire department says the blaze is located at 3117 Century Street, at Beacon Building Products.

CSFD says the fire sparked on a pile of styrofoam and construction materials, creating a huge cloud of black smoke in the lot of a warehouse, which became visible across the city. 

“We were hanging out at our buddy’s house, probably 2 or 3 blocks that way, and his kid was just sitting in the window, and he looks out, and he’s like, there’s a huge cloud of black smoke in the sky,” says local, Syreena Hamby. “Making our way in, there was a lot of traffic going on. People running across the road. We were like, what is happening? The smoke was really intense. You couldn’t see like behind you at all. Walking through it was kind of crazy.

As an extra safety measure, CSFD says hazmat crews were on scene monitoring the air quality.

“Just to make sure that none of those chemicals from the styrofoam got into those buildings,” says the spokesperson for the fire department, Ashley Franco.

While firefighters were able to stop the flames from spreading to the building itself, they remained on scene for hours to snuff out stubborn hotspots under all the material.

Century Road has since been reopened to drivers.

The fire was successfully contained, and there are no reported injuries; however, the cause of the fire is still under investigation. 

Click here to follow the original article.

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — People who live and drive along the two-mile stretch of Oro Blanco Drive on the city’s northeast side have mixed feelings about the condition of that street.

They’re happy that it received a much-needed repaving that finished last month; it was the last street on this year’s paving list, and mild, dry fall weather allowed crews to continue paving later than usual.

However, it’s the last step in the paving process — re-striping, or applying new lane markings — that many people have complained to KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior about.

Among the concerns: That it took too long between the end of the paving and the re-striping, and without those markings, it was difficult for drivers to know where traffic lanes, bike lanes, and turn lanes are located.

“I’ve seen several near-crashes because of it,” said neighbor Gilbert Ekholm.

Another concern that has neighbors and drivers most upset is the city’s decision to remove the center turn lane on the busiest segment of Oro Blanco between Barnes Road and South Carefree Circle.

The city plans to replace that lane with a pair of narrower yellow lines, and that has residents worried about the safety of making left-hand turns on the street.

“There are 19 turn-offs into the neighborhood between Barnes and North Carefree,” Ekholm explained. We have a lot of turn-offs, so we’d have a lot of traffic being stopped up. There are another 13 between North Carefree and South Carefree. Plus two churches. Drivers have come close to being rear-ended while waiting to turn left. Yet the city left the center turn lane on the north end of Oro Blanco (between Barnes and Austin Bluffs Parkway) even though it has far fewer turn-offs.”

A city spokesman mentioned two reasons for the change: Reducing speeding along the street and meeting the city standard of a consistent 11-foot-wide traffic lane.

The striping is scheduled for completion next week.

In a city Facebook post on Wednesday, in which officials announced that repaving work on Woodmen Road would end this weekend, five people complained about the loss of the center turn lane on Oro Blanco.

By Friday afternoon, someone had posted a sign along the street with the phone number for Todd Frisbie, the city traffic engineer, asking people opposed to the stiping change to call him.

Click here to follow the original article.

Bradley Davis

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Six non-profits in the Manitou Springs region are talking big game before hitting the arcade games on Friday at the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade.

“The trash-talking online has been a little much. We might have to have security here,” new Penny Arcade Owner John Weiss said in jest.

Group members will compete in skeeball, horse derby racing, air hockey and pop-a-shot. The winners will get arcade prizes, gift cards from local stores and, most importantly, bragging rights.

“I’m just going to lie and say I’m here for a good time. For a fun time. I’m here for the fundraiser, but I do have a little bit of that competitiveness inside!” said Pikes Peak Library District Foundation giving coordinator Marcie McNulty.

The arcade said all money paid by spectators and participants will benefit the non-profit organizations. People can choose which one they want to contribute to, or have their admission split up equally between the organizations.

“You put community together with fun, and I’m all about it,” said Rocky Mountain Women’s Film development officer, Kathy Stults.

The competition is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. It costs $30 to specate, which includes all the quarters you need to play as many games as you wish at the arcade.

The participating groups are Rocky Mountain Women’s Film, Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, Wild Connections, Manitou Art Center and the Pikes Peak Library District Foundation.

Weiss said he plans to host a fundraising event at the arcade once a month. He said the next one will benefit the Manitou Springs Carnivale Parade.

Click here to follow the original article.

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The two-year, $15 million Dublin Improvements Project continues to move eastward, with the latest phase starting this month.

This phase affects Dublin Boulevard several blocks east of Marksheffel Road, including the intersections of Issaquah Drive and Van Winkle Drive.

Along the affected blocks of Dublin, crews removed the center median and have shifted all traffic to the north side of Dublin.

Removing the median created space to make a temporary left-turn lane into businesses on the south side of Dublin.

Coming soon are traffic signals at the Dublin/Issaquah intersection. That installation is in progress.

Eventually, that segment of Dublin will expand from two to four lanes and include new, wider sidewalks.

The left-turn lane is also necessary because a block of Issaquah, south of Dublin, is closed until the end of next month for a full reconstruction.

That block closes one of the strip mall’s entrances, and one of three entrances to the subdivision south of Dublin.

Van Winkle Drive is closed, as well, but residents can still access the neighborhood a block farther west at Mustang Rim Drive.

All of this means increased traffic congestion and long waits to make left turns along that part of Dublin.

Drivers should be alert to construction activity and allow themselves extra time.

The overall project covers Dublin from Marksheffel to slightly west of Peterson Road.

Other project aspects include drainage upgrades and trail connections along Sand Creek.

Click here to follow the original article.