Families line up around the block for Holiday on the Hill at Colorado Springs Police Department

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.

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Tow truck ignites near the Citadel Mall

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.

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Colorado Springs Police investigating shooting linked to late-night car meet

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.

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Colorado Springs Police searching for bank robber

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.

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Fire Department fighting 2-alarm fire near Fillmore St, smoke seen across Colorado Springs

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. 

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Re-striping of Oro Blanco Drive in Colorado Springs draws criticism from some neighbors

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.

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Historic Penny Arcade hosts ‘Give!’ tournament benefiting non-profits

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.

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Next phase of upgrades near Dublin/Marksheffel intersection in NE Colorado Springs underway

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.

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Fatal crash involving pedestrian closes two miles of southbound I-25 in northern Pueblo

Sadie Buggle

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – An over two-mile stretch of southbound I-25 in northern Pueblo has reopened after a deadly crash on Wednesday involving a pedestrian, Pueblo police say.

The incident shut down a section of the highway for many hours, but it was reopened around 9:40 a.m.

A spokesperson with the Pueblo Police Department (PPD) confirmed that the overnight crash involved a pedestrian and that the pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene; however, officials have not yet shared specific details on the crash.

Pueblo police say they were at the scene investigating since around 2 a.m.

As of 8 a.m., the closure impacted the section of I-25 between Exit 102-Eagleridge Boulevard and Exit 99A-CO 96/6th Street. CDOT traffic camera footage showed drivers are being diverted off the interstate and around the closure.

#I25 southbound: Road closed due to a crash between Exit 102 – Eagleridge Boulevard and Exit 100B – 29th Street. https://t.co/iyK0wUZnZF

— Coorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) (@ColoradoDOT) December 10, 2025

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The School Buzz: Atlas Schools celebrates record-breaking holiday student adoption program 

Josh Helmuth

Editor’s note: a previous version of this article listed the date of the holiday dinner for the chosen students. The school has requested that the date not be made public to protect student-family privacy.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A charter school in Colorado Springs is overjoyed that a record-breaking number of its students are being “adopted” for the holiday season this year. 

Atlas Schools, a K-12 charter school in Colorado Springs, announced 120 students are being helped as part of its Adopt-a-Student holiday program this year, far surpassing last year’s number of 79 students.  

The program is meant to help students whose families may be struggling financially during the holiday season. Students are nominated by school staff and, once selected, are given a “meaningful holiday gift,” along with a night that includes a warm dinner, games and holiday celebration later this month.

The experience comes through the generosity of Atlas Schools’ current and former staff, board members, neighbors, and community partners.  

“This program exists to remind our students and their families that they are seen, valued, and deeply supported by their community,” said Atlas Schools CEO Brittney Stroh. “For many families, providing holiday gifts can be difficult during times of hardship. Adopt a Student helps bridge that gap with dignity,joy, and care,” she said. 

The Adopt a Student event at Atlas Schools is now in its 14th year. What started as a small act has grown into a cherished school tradition. 

“At Atlas, we are committed to providing not only a high-quality education, but a true sense of community. We believe a happy child is a better student, and that education thrives when students feel safe, supported, and celebrated,” said David Turner, Director of Family Experience. 

For more information on how to support the Adopt a Student program next year, please contact: David Turner, Director of Family Experience at david.turner@atlasschools.org or 719.358.7196 Ext:114. 

Do you know someone or something remarkable at your school? Email us! SchoolBuzz@KRDO.com

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