Category: krdo-local-news

Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Senate has passed HB25-1312, Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals. If signed into law, the bill would establish new protections for transgender Coloradoans.

The House bill is also known as the “Kelly Loving Act,” named after a Transgender woman who was killed in the 2022 Club Q shooting. Kelly Loving was at the nightclub celebrating her birthday, which had happened just a few days prior.

READ MORE: Colorado bill honoring Club Q shooting victim seeks to expand protections for transgender people

HB25-1312 now sits on Governor Polis’s desk. If he signs the bill, multiple sections would go into effect immediately.

Protections that would immediately go into effect include expanding the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act to include “misgendering” and “deadnaming” as acts of discrimination.

It would also immediately grant transgender Coloradoans the ability to change their name on marriage licenses, allowing the state to issue a new license while essentially wiping the old one from the system.

However, sections regarding the change of an individual’s sex designation on their license, learner’s permit, or identification documents wouldn’t go into effect on Oct. 1, 2026. Those changes would allow a person to change their sex designation up to three times before having to get a court order indicating that a sex designation change is required. Current law allows only one change before requiring a court order.

One of the biggest points of contention for the bill has been how it will impact Colorado school districts, as it would require each district to adopt a “safe school plan.”

That would require districts to update their codes of conduct to include fair equal treatment of all students, adopt a dress code that lets students choose any approved clothing option regardless of gender, and require a student’s chosen name to be used.

Jason Jorgenson, a local parent and Colorado Springs School District 11 board member, says the bill is an example of governmental overreach and could “pit schools against parents.”

“My concern is that we’re going to have staff, support staff, counselors that are going to be having to walk this fine line of what can I do here?” Jorgenson said.

He’s calling on Gov. Polis to reconsider the text and possibly split the sections into separate bills. As for the Kelly Loving Act, he’s asking the governor to veto the bill.

“Ultimately, when parents see that their children are not going to be as safe or are going to be having the ability to do things that they may or may not know about, that right there should cause us to pause and to say, okay, what is this Bill really trying to do? Is it about protecting, or is it really just moving more power into the state’s hands and away from parents? And I think that’s my main concern,” Jorgenson said.

Supporters of the bill, like advocate Edward Sanders, say they are thrilled to see it making its way through the state legislature.

“It’s very important, especially for the trans children, because, unfortunately, parents are not supportive most of the time. And, I consider that abusive; it’s not right. Someone has to step in for these kids,” Sanders said. “Otherwise, as you talk to trans people all the time who are older and they describe the abuse, the nonsupport that they got, and the trauma that left them in their adult life. We want to prevent that for these kids and for us parents actually to support their children and give them the support that they need.”

Sanders has been an advocate for the bill and greater trans rights since the tragedy at Club Q, where he met the bill’s namesake, Kelly Loving.

“She was standing next to me at the bar that night, and we all got shot together and fell together, and she wasn’t breathing very well, and we tried to help her,” recounted Sanders.

Sanders says he survived by centimeters, a bullet just grazing his ribs. He says if that didn’t happen, he “would be in Heaven” with Kelly right now.

“She was just a light to the community. Everybody went to her with their problems and concerns. And same as Daniel [Aston], the bartender that night. He was the same way. Everybody went to him with their questions and concerns, and he was just open to talk and everything. Same with Kelly,” remembered Sanders.

Now, Sanders has taken up Loving’s mission as a trans advocate and is speaking up for others in the community in her honor.

“If we can do anything, especially in Colorado now, to educate and enlighten these people, maybe they will change. That’s my hope. And I hope that other states will pick this up and do the same. Kelly is a shining example of a wonderful trans person who was taken too soon,” Sanders said.

It’s now in Gov. Polis’ hands to determine whether the Kelly Loving Act will be signed into state law.

“Governor Polis appreciates the work of the bill sponsors and all the advocates involved in the bill’s progression, especially in removing the controversial changes to family law from the bill, and will review the final version when it reaches his desk,” a spokesperson for the Governor’s Office said.

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Celeste Springer

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – An effort to recall Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham has failed after petitioners did not gather enough signatures, according to the City of Pueblo.

One of the major reasons for the recall effort stemmed from a proposal for a grocery tax.

Mayor Heather Graham told KRDO13 at the beginning of the year that the City of Pueblo is facing an $8.5 million deficit in the 2025 budget. Officials considered the tax, also called the Food Consumption Tax, which could add anywhere from $1 to $7.40 to an average $200 grocery bill.

“It came to a head with the grocery tax or the proposed grocery tax, because people are upset that it was even being entertained, especially in the socioeconomic climate that we have right now,” Jason Ford, who spearheaded the recall effort, told KRDO13 in an interview in March.

A statement from Mayor Graham can be read below:

“From the very beginning of this recall election petition effort, I have repeatedly told the public that I believe this effort is laughable. The 11 accusations outlined on the petition do not even include issues that are directly linked to the responsibility of the Mayor. Then as the 60 days to gather signatures has continued, we have seen the petitioners falsely coerce people to sign to stop the “Graham Grocery Tax,” which isn’t even a real ballot initiative or tax in effect.

What these petitioners fail to realize is how municipal government even operates in the first place—let alone my role as Mayor. Criticism is welcome and I fully understand that I will not make all citizens happy, however I have continued to make good on my campaign promises which include addressing crime and making this community safer, beautifying Pueblo and increasing economic development.

At 15 months into my term, I can confidently say I am still fully committed to these three principles. I believe our community will thrive as a result of the hard work of our employees, commitment to our citizens and our improvement that will be seen for years to come. I remain committed as the Mayor of Pueblo no matter the circumstances, a recall attempt will not affect my focus on the citizens and the future of Pueblo.”

-Mayor Heather Graham

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Scott Harrison

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) — Roads remained wet in Teller County but not icy and slick as they were Tuesday; light snowflakes fell during the early morning hours Wednesday and intensified at midday.

There’s still a lot of plowing activity on sidewalks, neighborhood streets and parking lots, even though much of the accumulated snow continues to melt.

Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) plows continued to patrol US 24 and other state highways in the area; there’s very little snow to remove except for along the edges of roads.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, authorities had reported no issues such as downed tree limbs from the weight of the heavy, wet snow.

However, several vehicles remained along US 24 after sliding off in the slick driving conditions Tuesday.

Perhaps the weight of the snow is why few people were seen shoveling Wednesday; homeowner Lynn Miller made the job easier with her snow blower.

“You have to do it just a little bit at a time, or you’ll clog the blower up,” she explained. “But I wasn’t going to come out here and shovel this, or you’d be talking to the ambulance drivers.”

Shirley Logan lives 18 miles away in Florissant, and felt better about driving to Woodland Park Wednesday.

“From Divide all the way into Woodland, it was terrifying yesterday,.” she recalled. “I was thinking that I wouldn’t make this trip today. But you all reported that the roads are clear, so I’m going to Aurora.”

Gary Sluder has lived in the area for 35 years, and said that he stayed home during the storm.

“It was the kind of day that’s good for doing woodworking in my garage,” he said. “I don’t think this is the end of the snow yet. We usually get our last storm around the second week of June. But we needed this. We need the moisture.”

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Bradley Davis

PUEBLO WEST, Colo. (KRDO) – 46-year-old Frank Sagona has a strong case for best pull up master in the world. He’s done millions of them over the last 16 years. He’s done most of those at his home in Pueblo and gym in Pueblo West.

Sagona has two standing Guinness World Records: 1010 chin ups in one hour, and 5049 pull ups in eight hours.

He has the plaques for three others he used to hold. He’s waiting on verification for two more and is training for his first attempt at the “most pull ups in one hour” record of 1131.

Since Sagona started 16 years ago, he estimates he’s done over 2 million pull ups and chin ups and almost 3.5 million push ups.

Tune into Good Morning Colorado to see KRDO13’s Bradley Davis get up on the pull up bar with Frank to take us inside his workout routine and find out the “why” behind his world record.

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Rob Namnoum

The Pueblo West boys lacrosse team went up against Lutheran in the Class 4A playoffs on Tuesday night. The Cyclones lost 11-6.

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Rob Namnoum

The Cheyenne Mountain girls lacrosse team won their first round Class 4A playoff game against Summit 17-7 on Tuesday afternoon. They will play Golden on Thursday.

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Bart Bedsole

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – The first batch of election results show voters overwhelming don’t support ending Pueblo’s agreement with Black Hills Energy and forming a separate utility.

Ballot Question 2A asked residents, “Should the City of Pueblo cancel its franchise agreement with Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC and acquire the generation, transmission and distribution assets of Black Hills Colorado Elections, LLC, if determined feasible?”

With roughly 17,500 ballots counted, just over 79% have voted “no”.

It’s unclear how many total ballots were submitted.

In recent weeks, both the City of Pueblo and Black Hills Energy have released separate studies suggesting how much the acquisition by the city would cost, and whether it was financially feasible.

In a statement following the release of the first batch of results, Black Hills Energy said they were “delighted” that Pueblo voters were not in support of ending the agreement.

“Voters know the city’s own study showed that a billion-dollar takeover in Pueblo simply isn’t feasible, and there’s no practical path for an estimated $4 billion region-wide takeover effort, which would be highly complex and unlikely to succeed,” the statement read in part.

Stay with KRDO13 for continuing coverage of Tuesday’s election.

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Michael Logerwell

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – In the wake of President Donald Trump’s comments claiming former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters is a “Political Prisoner” and calling for her immediate release, KRDO13 pressed local leaders about their reaction to the president’s comments.

Related: Trump’s DOJ to review Tina Peters’ conviction in Colorado election tampering case

In October 2024, Mesa County Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced Peters to serve nine years behind bars after a jury found her guilty in a data-breach scheme aimed at proving widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

She is currently incarcerated at the La Vista Correctional Facility.

KRDO13 reached out to many elected officials and political leaders in Southern Colorado and on the Western Slope for their reaction to President Trump’s comments.

“It’s a joke,” El Paso County Democrat Chair John Jarrell said. “I do feel bad for Tina that she bought into Trump’s lies and got so involved that she committed all these crimes. But, no, she was, she had a jury of her peers.”

The local GOP Chair took a different stance.

“[We’re] excited. We’ve been waiting for some action because we recognize it was going to probably take some federal action in order to see her freed,” Ken Davis, El Paso GOP Chair, said.

Davis stopped short of saying Peters was a “hostage,” as the president framed the situation, but he did take issue with the sentence handed down by Judge Barrett.

“By the letter of [the] law, she broke the law. And they found her guilty of breaking the law, so I wouldn’t necessarily blame those in Mesa County,” Davis said. “But I do think the judge then overreached with his sentencing.”

In a statement, Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein (R) said Peters’ conviction was not politically motivated.

“Nothing about the prosecution of Ms. Peters was politically motivated. In one of the most conservative jurisdictions in Colorado, the same voters who elected Ms. Peters, also elected the Republican District Attorney who handled the prosecution, and the all-Republican Board of County Commissioners who unanimously requested the prosecution of Ms. Peters on behalf of the Mesa County citizens which she victimized. Ms. Peters was indicted by a grand jury of her peers, and convicted at trial by the jury of her peers that she selected.”

At the state level, Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) and Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) pushed back on the President’s claims that Peters was a political prisoner.

“Tina Peters is a criminal who compromised her own voting equipment to try to prove Trump’s Big Lie,” Griswold said in a statement. “Trump is weaponizing the Department of Justice. We cannot allow him to rewrite history or use his lies to create two tiers of justice for the American people.”

“Tina Peters is in prison because of her own actions. A grand jury indicted her and a trial jury found her guilty of breaking Colorado’s criminal laws,” Weiser said. “No one is above the law. The Colorado Attorney General’s Office will continue to defend this criminal conviction in post-conviction proceedings and on appeal. We are firm in pursuing justice for the people of the state of Colorado, protecting free and fair elections, and standing up for the rule of law.”

Tina Peters’ photo from the Department of Corrections.

As she was convicted of state crimes, President Trump cannot pardon Peters; only Colorado Gov. Jared Polis would have the power to issue a pardon.

According to the Department of Corrections, Peters’ next parole hearing date is December 2028. If Peters were to serve out her entire term, she would be released on May 11, 2033.

KRDO13 Investigates reached out to Peters’ most recent attorney, Michael Edminster, via email. He did not return our request by our deadline.

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Scott Harrison

TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — What started as rain and wet roads on US 24 through Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs in El Paso County, turned to blizzard-like conditions southwest of Woodland Park in Teller County.

Roads quickly became slushy, then icy as wind-blown snow moved through the area late Tuesday morning and continued through the afternoon.

The dividing line between steady rain and steady snow was at an elevation of around 9,000 feet.

Brad Shaw, operations supervisor for Teller County Public Works, said that he was expecting up to a foot of snow by Wednesday morning, although there was considerable melting of snow that had already fallen.

“We’ll have 18 plows on duty through the day and four overnight, he explained.

Shaw said that he was worried about plows damaging some of the county’s 480 miles of gravel roads.

“It’s a little different when the gravel roads have thawed out in spring,” he said. “Not so big of a deal in the winter. This heavy, wet snow will make them soft and muddy. We can do more damage by pushing gravel into the ditches, versus snow.”

Shaw said that his crews would closely monitor roads between Divide and Cripple Creek, which is at a slightly higher elevation of nearly 9,500 feet.

Interestingly, he mentioned that the county doesn’t pre-treat its roads with salt brine before a snowfall, as El Paso County and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) do.

“We only use a sand/salt mixture,” he said. “We don’t feel like we need to use salt brine. We tried it before and had mixed results with it. From what we’ve seen, it brought in more moisture in the mornings and made the roads slick.”

Shaw said that his department doesn’t let spring snowstorms catch it by surprise.

“We’ve seen them before and we’re always ready for them,” he said.

Finally, Shaw revealed that his county has had similar issues as other local municipalities in retaining workers.

“At one point this winter, we were down 16 drivers,” he said. “Now, we’re only down six.”

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Celeste Springer

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – A crash is blocking one lane of I-25 southbound near County Line, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).

The crash is between Exit 167: Greenland and Exit 163: County Line Road (1 mile north of the Woodmoor exit) at Mile Point 164.05, according to CDOT.

Drivers should expect slick conditions if heading out for their commute. Rain and snow have created unsavory driving conditions across Southern Colorado.

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