Category: krdo-local-news

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — On Wednesday morning, for the first time, traffic began moving across the new Airport Road bridge over Powers Boulevard.

Officials with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said on Monday that they weren’t sure if they’d open the overpass during the overnight hours or “first thing” Wednesday morning.

However, as of 4:30 a.m., new traffic alignments were in place, and one traffic lane in each direction was open on the bridge.

Work on the structure isn’t finished; crews are gradually building up to having two lanes open in each direction, and they’re continuing construction of two on/off ramps on the south side of the interchange.

Drivers should also expect to see some temporary traffic signals in operation until all installed signals are working, and the east side of the overpass will be somewhat darker at night until more street lights are on.

The bridge also features sidewalks and bike lanes for pedestrian and cycling safety.

The old Airport segment west of Powers to Troy Hill Road is now permanently closed; the segment north that curves into the east end of the interchange remains open because it provides access to several industrial businesses and a local Department of Motor Vehicles office.

Randy Johnson, a project engineer for CDOT, explains the remaining work that lies ahead.

“There are some water quality ponds,” he said. “There’s a lot more lighting, a lot of utilities, water lines, and electrical lines. And then, permanent stabilization. We’ve got final signing, final striping.”

The final step, he added, is to repair concrete pavement on Powers that was damaged by construction activity.

CDOT expects to finish the $46 million project by the end of summer.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A large group, all wearing blue shirts, filled most of the chairs in the Colorado Springs City Council Chambers on Tuesday. Their big ask was a majority ‘no’ vote on a project that the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority says would improve their neighborhood.

“Our job is to cure blight and to bring in projects all over the city,” Jeriah Walker, executive director of the URA, told KRDO13 after the council voted to approve and create the Moreno and Cascade Urban Renewal District.

Phase 1 of the project will build a 7-story hold called Catbird off Moreno Street, where an abandoned property sites now, but it’s phase two that has Walker really excited. That phase aims to build between 75 and 115 attainable housing units.

“We’re hoping it builds in more affordability in the Mill Street [Neighborhood] and actually acts to not displace people,” he said.

So then why is the neighborhood group against it?

“We thought that they should have to provide some benefits to the neighborhood, especially because a luxury hotel on the board of a working-class neighborhood pushes up prices and has the potential to force people out of the neighborhood,” said Max Kronstadt, a resident of the neighborhood who showed up wearing a blue ‘Mill Street’ shirt.

Even when talking about the attainable housing units, the neighbors aren’t sold.

“We don’t feel there’s any guarantees of [the units being affordable]. They’ve been using the word attainable. It feels pretty unclear what they mean when they say attainable versus affordable,” Kronstadt said. “Jariah seemed to suggest that attainable means above 80% of AMI, above 80% of AMI is not something that’s affordable to people in our neighborhood.” 

“[URA is] hoping that this is a good thing, you know, for the community. But I sympathize with them. I think, you know, it is scary times where you have rising rents, etc., that’s exactly why the URA approved this project was to build in more affordability into that neighborhood,” Walker said.

KRDO13 reached out to Norwood Development, the group that will be building the hotel and housing, about the city council’s vote today. Also, to address some of the Mill Street Neighbors’ concerns. They responded with the following statement:

“Norwood appreciates City Council’s approval of the Moreno and Cascade Urban Renewal Plan and supports the neighborhood’s right to passionately participate in today’s meeting.

The Catbird Hotel will be an excellent addition to downtown and a good neighbor to the residents of Mill Street. Phase II of the plan includes approximately 75–110 new attainable housing units. As Phase II advances, we will refine key project components such as the household incomes served, exact unit count and mix, and available funding mechanisms to support long-term affordability.

Todays meeting proves that public dialogue, discourse and disagreement can be both difficult and productive. We look forward to meeting with the residents of Mill Street as Phase II planning advances.”

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Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — A mystery has developed regarding the mile-long east end of Space Village Avenue between Highway 94 and Marksheffel Road.

“It’s been closed for several years,” said Brenda Perkins, a Yoder resident who contacted KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior about the situation.

Perkins said that she and her husband, Jerry, use the segment of the avenue as a shortcut to restaurants and other businesses at the west end of the avenue, along US 24 and near the north gate of Peterson Space Force Base.

“To get to it now, with this road closed, we have to go clear up to Marksheffel, and try to make a left turn,” she explained. “But there’s too much traffic, and there’s too many accidents.”

Perkins also said that many people from Yoder, Rush, Ellicott, and other rural communities east of Peterson often make the same trip.

The pavement has also been removed from the avenue, and several piles of small boulders have been placed along the roadside, apparently to control drainage.

Perkins said that she’s heard new homes will eventually be built along the avenue.

Some earth-moving equipment is operating south of the avenue, and two signs are posted regarding future homes or property available for sale.

Pikes Peak Regional Building said that platting activity — mapping for future home construction — is happening at the site, but no building plans or permits have been submitted yet.

In housing projects, developers often close an existing road to improve it, but the time limit for the process is unclear.

El Paso County officials are looking into the matter.

Ironically, the west end of the avenue is where two roundabouts will be built, which has led to temporary closures and the permanent closure of the northbound exit road from Peterson to the avenue.

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Bradley Davis

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – The Pueblo Punishers start its ignagural season in the National Arena League with a preseason game this Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

“We wanted to change the look for people in Colorado towards Pueblo,” team owner Lisa Rohrich said.

The Punishers are part of the National Arena League (NAL), a professional indoor football league. Indoor football teams have a long reputation of being short-lived. Rohrich said she’s moved to Pueblo full-time, and she is all-in on the Punishers.

“I’m building this, so I know there’s been a lot of stigma around arena teams, that they’re not gonna stay here. That’s what’s different,” Rohrich said.

Two coaches on staff are Hall of Famers from the Indoor Football League. On the field, the team has collected talent from all over the country, with former D-1 and NFL ball players on the roster.

The team will host its home games at the Colorado State Fairgrounds inside the Southwest Motors Event Center. Its first preseason game is Saturday against the Northern Colorado Nightmares at 6:30 p.m., followed by its regular season home opener against the Colorado Spartans, an NAL team based out of Denver. Tickets start at $30.

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Michael Logerwell

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – KRDO13 first reported this story in the summer of 2025. Since then, this specific ordinance has faced stiff opposition. It was voted down twice by the previous city council, but tonight that changed.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Bring more big-box businesses to Pueblo? City leadership divided

Even tonight, when the ordinance passed 5-2, many still came out to speak in opposition:

“This is probably the biggest ordinance this year on the agenda. And yes, of course, we have [public] comments and everything. But this is rushed, and this is only the third time… the past council members are not on there.”

“I’m not in favor of it at all.”

“We’re going to really destroy relationships if we go down this road.”

What does this ordinance do?

The background paper produced by city staff writes that this ordinance, “expands the definition of ‘primary job’ and ‘capital improvement project’ and ‘project’ to include projects of economic significancewhich act as economic catalysts.”

For decades, the money collected by the city from the half-cent sales tax could only be used for primary jobs, like manufacturing. That money only had a narrow scope of use; it would lead to cash incentives being offered for businesses to build in Pueblo.

But now that scope has been expanded.

“The city of Pueblo turned over a new era tonight,” said Mayor Heather Graham, who has been a big supporter of this ordinance.

“This gives more tools in the toolbox to change the way the city has been doing economic development. You heard Councilor Hernandez say that the population of the public community has only risen by 8,000 over the last 20 years. That’s not a lot, ” said Mayor Graham. “So what we’ve been doing in the past has clearly not been working for us here in Pueblo.”

Some of those new tools are that the city can now use up to 15% of the total uncommitted budget from those half-cent tax funds to build up infrastructure in the form of a capital improvement project, help a small business start up to prevent people from spending money outside the city(economic leakage), or placemaking.

“Placemaking could be anything from the riverwalk to bringing in healthcare, veterinary services, something that’s going to attract other people to move to our community and spend their tax dollars here,” said Mayor Graham.

Read the full language of the ordinance here.

One of the bigger concerns mentioned was that this could violate TABOR, or the refunding of unspent tax money. It’s something that the city’s legal council disagreed with, saying that the council has made changes to the half-cent sales tax in the past and that power is written in the ballot language.

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Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO – The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico are warning U.S. citizens in specific locations to shelter in place until further notice.

According to the U.S. Embassy, the warning locations are Jalisco State, including Puerto Vallarta, Chapala and Guadalajara; Tamaulipas State, including Reynosa and other municipalities, areas of Michoacan State, Guerrero State and Nuevo Leon State.

It comes as Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, the powerful and long-pursued head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and one of the world’s most-wanted traffickers, died following a Mexican military operation on Sunday, according to CNN.

Officials say due to ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity, U.S. citizens in the named locations should shelter in place until further notice.

Senator Michael Bennet also issued a warning to travelers, saying he’s closely monitoring the situation in Jalisco and other parts of Mexico. He says that any Coloradans currently in Mexico or planning to travel to Mexico should sign up for the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program here.

If you are in one of those locations, officials urge you to:

Avoid areas around law enforcement activity

Be aware of your surroundings

Seek shelter and minimize unnecessary movements

Monitor local media for updates

Follow the directions of local authorities and in case of emergency, call 911

Avoid crowds

Keep family and friends advised of your location and well-being via phone, text, and social media

Michael Thomas from Highlands Ranch is in Jalisco State on vacation.

“We were just here for my wife’s 60th birthday, and we’ve been here since last Tuesday,” explained Michael Thomas.

The couple is on the trip with another pair for the birthday celebration. He says they left on Sunday for what started as a normal day. Thomas says they had some trouble getting to the beach with roads blocked off, but were able to find another route. He tells KRDO13 their tour guide friend took them out on the boat for a whale watching tour, and that’s when they started to notice a lack of activity.

“We went out on a boat, and nobody was out. No, people were out. No cars were driving. It was really strange,” recounted Thomas.

Thomas said the tour guide needed gas for his boat, and when they approached a beach club to get some ahead of the trip, they found a large plume of smoke near Mismaloya Beach, about 15 minutes south of Puerto Vallarta.

“He’s like, yeah, somebody blew up the gas station there. This one’s on fire. So he was trying hard to get gasoline for his engine, and he said, we’re going to another beach,” explained Thomas.

The group got hold of some gas and made it out on their journey. Thomas says the group was searching for whales in the water when they realized the action was on the shore.

“By the time we were out in the middle of the water and looking at whales, there were about 8 to 10 fires going that we could see,” Thomas continued, “Smoke was everywhere. It looked like a downtown, like Beirut or, you know, the middle of a battle in Baghdad. It was just really strange.”

He says they decided to go back to shore to get back to the resort when they ran into some roadblocks.

“But we couldn’t take the car to drive back to the hotel because the roads were locked down. So we took the boat, my buddy’s boat, to the Hilton nearby on the beach. We beached there and walked back to the hotel,” explained Thomas.

Thomas tells KRDO13 he’s been at the resort ever since. They are safe, sheltering in place there before they are expected to fly back on Friday. However, he says the flight is in limbo as they aren’t sure if the airport will be back open by Friday. Thomas says his friends who came on the trip had their flights cancelled and had to tentatively reschedule for Friday.

According to the Security Alert – Update 4 from the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico, flights continue to be disrupted due to the availability of flight crews in Puerto Vallarta. The Embassy says it is in close contact with airlines to monitor their plans. 

The U.S. Embassy says all other airports in Mexico are open, and most airports are operating normally. If you are traveling via any airport other than Guadalajara or Puerto Vallarta, we have received no indication of any security-related flight disruptions, writes the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico. They recommend checking with your airline to confirm your flight status and schedule. The Embassy added that some, but not all, scheduled flights are departing from Guadalajara; if your flight to the United States is cancelled, you may be able to book a connecting flight through another Mexican city.

KRDO13 also spoke with a local travel agent who said that if you have a trip planned to Puerto Vallarta in the next week or so, they would recommend getting a travel agent to look at options to reschedule. They say holding off would be a good idea, as you will likely have to reschedule any planned excursions and be unable to get rides outside of a resort. She says this is another reminder of how important travel insurance is for cases like this.

The local travel agent also tells KRDO13 that their fellow travel agent in Cabo says the situation is fine there.

The U.S. Embassy also shared that while incidents were reported on Sunday, they say the situation has returned to normal in the following areas: Quintana Roo State (including Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum), Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas. 

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Josh Helmuth

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — It’s not every day your child’s teacher gets a shoutout from the state’s department of education. But that’s what’s happening in Pueblo.

Janelle Augerot teaches at Fountain International Magnet School. The Colorado Department of Education highlighted her on social media recently for her work. And it’s a well-deserved recognition.

Augerot has been teaching for 14 years. She says the best part of her job is truly celebrating her students’ milestones, not hers. She says, “These are moments that will make you cry. We’re by their side through the struggles and triumphs.” She says she is “forever their cheerleader!”

Lisa Horton is her principal. She echoed that sentiment, saying that Janelle is dedicated, hardworking, and “pours her heart into every student.” 

“She takes the time to understand each child’s unique strengths and challenges, adapting her teaching to help them grow with confidence,” said Horton.

“Through her compassion and determination, she creates a safe, encouraging space where every student feels valued and capable,” she said.

She loves her students, no question.

Is there someone remarkable at your school? Hit Josh up! SchooBuzz@KRDO.com.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — It’s something that drivers have waited more than two years for, and now it’s only a few days from happening.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) says that it will open the new overpass on Airport Boulevard across Powers Boulevard on Wednesday.

It’s a development that local leaders have anticipated for nearly a decade.

A new traffic pattern begins on Wednesday at the four-way stop intersection of Airport and Troy Hill Road, on the west side of the new interchange.

Eastbound Airport traffic at Troy Hill Road will move slightly north and line up with the ramp leading to the new overpass; the structure also provides a more direct route to the main gate of Peterson Space Force Base.

However, only two of the ramps at the interchange — to northbound Powers and from southbound Powers — have been built, and some departing Peterson traffic is already using the northbound ramp.

Until the remaining ramps are built, drivers will have to cross the overpass and use the old segment of Airport east of Powers to reach southbound Powers from eastbound Airport, and northbound Powers from westbound Airport.

That old segment of Airport also provides access to several industrial businesses and to a branch of the El Paso County Department of Motor Vehicles.

CDOT said that the left turn lane onto that segment, from southbound Powers, will remain open for the near future.

Another major change is that the old segment of Airport west of Powers will close permanently, and turns will no longer be allowed there.

The new interchange has already attracted new businesses, such as a convenience store and a restaurant, with more likely to come.

CDOT expects to finish the $46 million project by the end of the year.

On Monday afternoon, CDOT will conduct a media tour of the diverging diamond traffic configuration on the new overpass — similar to designs in place at the recently-built overpass on Research Parkway, under Powers, and on the Fillmore Street overpass at Interstate 25.

CDOT is currently planning the next Powers overpass, at Stetson Hills Boulevard, and is considering a similar structure near the main entrance to the Colorado Springs Airport, at the Milton E. Proby Parkway intersection.

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Marina Garcia

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A family’s backyard located on South Murray Boulevard and Airport Road, a major traffic corridor, is in ruins after a car smashed through their gate.

KRDO13 spoke to the homeowner, Meleena Pope, who expressed serious concern for her four-year-old and two dogs’ safety.

Pope recalls unwinding for the night when she received a call from her neighbor.

“She said, I don’t want to alarm you. There is a vehicle that drove through your fence and is now in your backyard, and I was confused. And I was like, what?” Says Pope.

That confusion quickly turned to panic as her neighbor’s words registered; Pope remembered that her dogs were playing outside.

“I was hollering for my dogs, trying to put my shoes on,” says Pope. Luckily, her husband had let the dogs in just moments before the crash. “So I closed the back door, and I turned around, and both of my dogs are standing there, and they’re like, staring at me. I almost had an emotional breakdown.”

While the dogs are safe this time, her concern isn’t going anywhere; in fact, it’s only growing.

“With us welcoming a new baby into our family and then also having a young four-year-old, it fills me with even more anxiety. As a parent, my number one job is to protect my kids,” says Pope.

There is a guardrail along Airport Road, but part of it has been damaged, and it doesn’t continue around the other side of Pope’s home. The concerned mother says she’s been in contact with the city, hoping to get that changed.

We reached out Colorado Springs Police Department about the crash to confirm if anyone was hurt and to learn the status of the driver, but as of 10:00 p.m. on Sunday night have not heard back.

This article may be updated.

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Rob Namnoum

The Colorado College hockey team played their final home of the season on Saturday night at Robson Arena against Western Michigan. The Tigers would lose 2-0 to the Broncos.

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