Author: KRDO

Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Crews are making gradual progress on concrete construction in some areas of Security-Widefield in advance of repaving later this summer.

It’s a big change for residents along Bison and Chimayo drives, widely considered to be in the worst condition; old sidewalks, curbs, and gutters have been torn out.

Construction signs and markers indicate where workers will pour new concrete, and platforms have been placed at entrances to homes so that residents can walk over unfinished sidewalks.

Security-Widefield received a considerable amount of street work last summer, but it was via slurry-sealing, a less expensive resurfacing process designed to extend the life of streets already in good condition.

Bison and Chimayo — along with Alturas, Birch, and Holly drives — are in worse condition and require asphalt repaving, which, in turn, requires a new concrete framework.

“It’s an older neighborhood,” said Dan Gerhard, a public works engineer for El Paso County. “So, we have a lot to address in there to properly bring it up to current standards and improve the roads. We’ll probably have something planned in the neighborhood almost every year.”

Affected streets are open only to local traffic during the concrete work and paving.

Those roads are really rough,” said neighbor Janice Schoenfelt. “It got so we wouldn’t drive up them because they are rough. So, I’m glad to see that they’re getting it done.”

Another neighbor, Jennifer Cronin, said that the old humpy sidewalks are unsafe and contribute to poor drainage.

“It can be a problem getting our trucks in and out of our driveway,” she said. “The camper, too. The sidewalk scrapes the bottom of everything.”

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Rob Namnoum

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Pioneer Baseball League’s Board of Directors accepted the resignation of the Northern Colorado Owlz baseball club as a team in the league. Instead, a new team has entered: the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.

The Sky Sox will complete the Owlz’ 2025 season.

Field Manager Dimitri Young, Pitching Coach Ray King, and their coaching staff will assumecommand of the Sky Sox, who open their first series in Grand Junction on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.

“I am so grateful and proud of the Owlz players and coaches who have performed this season withthe highest degree of professionalism,” said PBL President Mike Shapiro. “Under the leadership ofmanager Dimitri Young and pitching coach Ray King they’ve conducted themselves with utmostcharacter and have honored the Pioneer League and the game of Baseball.”

The Sky Sox will play their 2025 home games at blocktickets Park in Colorado Springs, home to theRocky Mountain Vibes.

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Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – On Monday, June 30, hundreds filled the stands at Weidner Field to celebrate and honor the life of 17-year-old Daniel Giffin. Giffin is a Colorado Springs native who was battling a rare form of brain cancer for six and a half years. 

Giffin is known for his unicycle ride up Pikes Peak. At 11 years old, he accomplished the 14er feat on one wheel. Aside from his skills on wheels, his radiating joy and gratitude have left a lasting impact on so many lives. 

Our team joined Griffin’s celebration of life, noting that there was not a dry eye in the stadium. Daniel’s mom tells KRDO13 they were talking about having his celebration of life at their church, but they couldn’t fit everyone, so they held the ceremony at Weidner Field. Giffin, a switchbacks superfan, signed the final beam as the stadium was being finished.

Only a few years later, the stands were packed and overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude that each person there got to feel Daniel’s love during his life. 

“I feel like I got a gift in having him, and it’s not that I lost something, but I really gained something. I got to have this beautiful boy in my life,” shared Daniel Giffin’s mother, Torie Giffin. “It was just like a love bomb, and he would hug me and tell me how much he appreciated me and thank me for the smallest things. He was grateful for the little things, but he always told me, I love you. And so I just want all the boys out there to know you guys still hug your mommas. You guys still tell them you love them. You’ve got to hug your sisters, and you know, because life is precious and you don’t know how much time. Fortunately, we knew and we had lots of time to enjoy every minute to its fullest. But you don’t always know, and it’s important.”

Now Torie Giffin is being held by the hundreds who loved Daniel.

“He had such big faith, and he never complained about a thing. You know, everything that happened, he just really took it in stride and chose happiness over sadness and to focus on what we had versus what we didn’t. And so I really just grew in my faith and my strength because of my son being just so courageous in his battle. And I got to see it firsthand. He is a pretty amazing kid,” shared Giffin.

She finds peace in knowing he’s graduated to a better place. 

“The hardest thing was really just watching him struggle and suffer and, you know, be in pain for so long, and he just put up such a valiant fight. I mean, six and a half years and, you know, seven brain surgeries, 58 days of radiation, all the treatments, all the MRIs, all the clinical trials, you know, 50 pills a day just to try and not have seizures. It was really tough,” explained Giffin.

Daniel’s mom said he really took it in stride and chose happiness over sadness. He was selfless and lived his 17 years to the fullest, becoming an example for others, family said.

“There’s so much goodness in Colorado Springs, and there are so many great people. And if Daniel’s story could bring more of us together, and we could worry about the really important things in life and people you know, and not what separates us or our differences, but focus on the good. We have a lot of good here in Colorado Springs,” shared Daniel’s mother.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -In response to the shooting in Idaho that targeted firefighters who were responding to a brush fire, KRDO13 contacted fire departments in Southern Colorado to gather their reactions and to learn if any of their policies were changing in light of the incident.

Multiple Southern Colorado Fire Departments told KRDO13 that there is no adequate way to prepare for the ambush the firefighters faced in Coeur d’Alene.

According to Cimarron Hills Fire Chief Andrew York, all firefighters are issued body armor that can protect them from gunfire, but a grass fire call does not qualify as a body armor situation.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) confirmed this, saying its firefighters have also been issued body armor, which is usually used when responding to active shooter situations. CSFD agreed that the original call that the Coeur d’Alene Firefighters responded to on Canfield Mountain would not have qualified as a body armor situation for their department either.

“What it does is it creates an additional awareness that we have to slow down, look at the situation from a bigger picture than just what we see with our eyes,” says Deputy Chief Steve Wilch.

The deputy told KRDO that no policy at the fire department has changed thus far, but the shocking event will lead to an increased focus and awareness for their firefighters.

“This situation in Idaho has brought to light that first responders…are at risk every day. We don’t take that lightly,” Deputy Chief Wilch said.

The International Association of Firefighters says those two firefighters’ names will be added to the Fallen Firefighters Memorial this September.

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KRDO News

ALAMOSA COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office says Barry Morphew, a Colorado man accused of killing his wife, has been extradited back to Colorado from Maricopa County, Arizona.

Prosecutors say he is in custody at the Alamosa County Jail. His first appearance in court is scheduled for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

Earlier this month, prosecutors filed first-degree murder charges against Morphew. Morphew faced charges years ago, but they were ultimately dropped in 2022. The case faced a tumultuous journey, with accounts from those involved saying it was “botched” due to the actions of Linda Stanley, the prosecutor on the case, who was later disbarred. Morphew’s defense said that Stanley’s team hid evidence from the defense.

On May 10, 2020, Suzanne Morphew supposedly went on a bike ride in Chaffee County and never returned. A neighbor reported her missing, and her bike and helmet were eventually found along the side of the road the day she disappeared. Suzanne’s remains were later found in 2023.

When her husband’s charges were originally dismissed, it was known that the case could head back to court again if there was new evidence.

In Morphew’s recent indictment, prosecutors say his wife, Suzanne Morphew, died by “homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine (BAM) intoxication,” – three drugs commonly used as animal sedatives. Prosecutors say law enforcement located a locked gun safe in the Morphew residence, which held a tranquilizer rifle. Investigators also discovered packages of darts in the safe, and found a needle cap for one of those darts in the Morphews’ dryer.

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Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) has released new information on a fatal bike crash, saying the victim was only 16 years old.

According to the department, they got a call about the crash just before 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 15. Police say three people were riding mini-bikes on Union Boulevard. They say when the bikers got to the intersection with Dublin Avenue, one of the mini-bikes ran a red light into the intersection, colliding with a car.

CSPD says the rider was taken to the hospital. Five days later, the department says he died at the hospital.

CSPD says the coroner’s office has conducted an autopsy and identified the bike rider as a 16-year-old boy. They are not publicly releasing his name at this time, likely because he was a juvenile.

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Scott Harrison

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The history of Manitou Springs dates back to the 1870s, and much of its infrastructure is nearly as old.

Some of the town’s water and sewer network has shown its age recently, with four emergency repair or regular maintenance projects since early spring.

The latest repair work happened late Saturday morning when a water main ruptured at the intersection of Ruxton and Osage avenues.

Ruxton is the only direct route to and from the Cog Railway and the Maitou Incline, two of the area’s most popular attractions — especially during the summer tourist season.

Crews temporarily closed the intersection to traffic and scrambled to perform a temporary fix, and the intersection reopened by mid-afternoon.

However, town officials will have to decide on a permanent repair strategy at a later date.

Meanwhile, crews had their first weekend off in three weeks at the intersection of Manitou Avenue and Crystal Park Road, since a sanitary sewer line collapsed underneath the street on June 12.

Due to complications with the project, officials rescheduled the completion date to Monday, June 30, but announced that the repairs were completed on the prior Friday.

Officials said that crews will spend the next week repaving and conducting other surface repairs; the traffic impacts that were in place during the sewer repair will continue.

The completion of that project will allow crews to resume work on replacing a water and sewer line along Midland Avenue and Arizona Road; that project was scheduled to start in January but didn’t begin until April because of weather delays and is now expected to be finished in late July.

Officials said that such maintenance work reduces the possibility of breaks such as those mentioned above that will require more expensive emergency repairs.

Finally, crews will eventually need to return to Manitou Avenue between Pawnee and Canon avenues to finish temporary repairs to a water main break in February.

Crews temporarily paved over the excavated areas last month to prepare the street for busy summer traffic.

The rash of construction projects has been challenging for nearby business owners.

“People didn’t know if we were open because all of the construction was going on in front of our building,” said Vanessa Bobian, manager of a Subway restaurant. “So, it affected us a lot. How much? Like, I would say almost 90% of our business.”

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Two people are dead after a motorcycle crash at Barnes and Austin Bluffs Sunday afternoon.

The driver and passenger on the motorcycle were killed after a crash with a car.

The Colorado Springs police department’s major crash team responded to the scene. Police say the initial investigation leads them to believe the motorcycle was eastbound on Austin Bluffs and the car was attempting to turn left from a parking lot into the westbound lanes when the crash happened.

No charges have been filed at this time.

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Karla Sosa

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO)- In the first summer of the new Waterworks Park in Pueblo, first responders have already had to rescue people who weren’t wearing life jackets. Now the city is looking to stop that from happening again.

The Pueblo City Council is preparing to update the municipal code to include Waterworks Park as one of the areas along the Arkansas River where life jackets are required.

“We have people in general in that area, and the water’s moving like it is. And if you don’t have a life jacket and you go over in the tube or whatever. You’ve got problems. So I think we’re trying to be very vigilant about protecting people’s lives,” said Joe Latino, Council Member for District 2.

Felicia Bertaud was at the Waterworks Park with her family and said she agrees with the new rule the city is working on.

“So it’s definitely a great idea to implement any kind of rules or laws to make sure everybody always has a life jacket,” said Bertaud. “We always spend a lot of time in the water, and so when my kids were little, they always, always had a life jacket on because, you know, how dangerous the water could be.”

Currently, Colorado state law requires personal flotation devices for children under 13.

Full statement from the City of Pueblo:

“The City of Pueblo recently updated signage near WaterWorks Park. While Pueblo Parks and Recreation and the Pueblo Conservancy District continue to work on the City Park and Arkansas River Trail Master Plan, it was obvious in the meantime that new signage was necessary right now in the summer months. In July, the Law Department is preparing to update the Municipal Code with approval from City Council to include WaterWorks Park as one of the areas along the Arkansas River where life jackets are required per municipal code. 

Currently Colorado state law required personal flotation devices for children under 13. With increased activity and safety concerns, the City of Pueblo wanted to ensure individuals utilizing WaterWorks Park also wore personal flotation devices, regardless of age. Many surfers, rafters and other recreators are in the area and we want to encourage a high level of safety of all those enjoying the area.”

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Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – On Saturday afternoon, just before 2 p.m., Colorado Springs police were called to an injury crash in the 5400 block of Constitution Ave.

Police say that during the investigation, officers learned that the driver of the car that caused the crash had been involved in a shooting call for service from earlier this week.

The investigation led to an incident on Tuesday, June 24, at about 1:00 a.m. in the 5600 block of Palmer Park Blvd., where a vehicle was shot, according to CSPD.

The officers say they were able to develop probable cause and arrest the driver, later identified as Clea Jamerson, of Saturday’s crash for the shooting from earlier in the week.

Police say a separate vehicle, which was believed to be involved in the shooting incident, was searched, and additional evidence was located tying it to the shooting. CSPD reports that several handguns were recovered from a vehicle. The crash vehicles were not involved in the shooting incident, according to police.

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