Category: krdo-local-news

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A big crowd arrived early on Monday morning for the final day of the annual Labor Day Lift-Off balloon festival, but many left disappointed when the balloons didn’t launch as scheduled.

KRDO13 is reviewing highlights of the event over the holiday weekend.

On Sunday evening, side streets were so filled with parked vehicles that it was difficult for anyone to drive through; many drivers had to back up so that other traffic could pass.

Many spectators had to walk half a mile or more to reach the park.

The manager of a nearby fast-food restaurant complained about spectators parking in the lot, taking away spaces reserved for customers.

Reviewing the festival over the weekend, all of the estimated 70 balloons lifted on Saturday, but windy conditions on Sunday limited the number of launches to ten.

At 7 a.m. Monday — the scheduled launch time — organizers announced that lift-offs were on hold because of gusty winds aloft, and at 7:30 a.m., the balloons were grounded.

Organizers told pilots that they could inflate their balloons for the public to see, until around 8:30 a.m.

Gerry Graff, a pilot from Albuquerque, registered in Colorado Springs for the 26th time, and compared the Lift-Off to The International Balloon Fiesta in his city, which has more than 500 balloons annually.

“Albuquerque, from my point of view, is too big,” he observed. “70 balloons here is good. We’ll be in Pueblo in two weeks. And that’s about 22 balloons. So, smaller events are good. They have a little more to offer; a little more camaraderie.”

Colorado Springs has had some type of balloon event every Labor Day weekend since the first launch in Black Forest in 1976.

The start of the 2000 COVID pandemic led organizers to spread balloon launchers to various locations across town instead of a single mass event.

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Michael Logerwell

UPDATE: The Pueblo County Coroner has identified the deceased as 27-year-old Elijah Fowlkes.

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – The Pueblo Police Department says that just before 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night, some of its officers were flagged down to report a domestic violence incident involving weapons. It ended with one man shot dead, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting are under investigation.

PPD says its officers were told that the male suspect was armed with a handgun, was threatening to use it against the woman inside the house, and was making additional threats to shoot anyone who came too close.

When more officers arrived on scene, they set up a perimeter around the block. Officers say they then learned about an active restraining order in place protecting the woman and their infant child from the male suspect.

After the perimeter was set up, PPD says they saw the man leave the home and try to run away from officers while carrying the child.

Police say he made it to W. 10th Street and Grand Avenue when he stopped in a parking lot and started digging around in a backpack he brought.

PPD says its officers gave him multiple commands to stop reaching into the backpack and put the infant down. PPD says the man did follow one of the commands; he put the infant in a nearby stroller, but then kept digging around in the backpack.

That’s when the department says an officer fired their gun at the man, hitting him.

PPD says officers then went to check on the infant and rendered medical aid to the man who was shot. The man was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. The Pueblo County Coroner has identified the man as 27-year-old Elijah Fowlkes.

Neither the woman in the home nor the infant was physically injured.

The 10th Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team is investigating the officer-involved shooting. All officers involved in the shooting are placed on leave while the investigation plays out.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Saturday morning, Colorado Springs firefighters responded to a car crash that didn’t happen on the road.

Just after 11:30 a.m. this morning, the Colorado Springs Fire Department announced that their firefighters were at the scene of a car crashing into a building in the 5600 block of N Academy Blvd. There are at least two strip malls in that block of N Academy Blvd.

Thankfully, the fire department says the business was closed when the car came flying inside. No injuries were reported.

First responders have not released a cause for the crash. It’s not clear if the driver was arrested or cited.

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Michael Logerwell

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – Saturday afternoon, a large plume of black smoke could be seen all around Pueblo. The fuel for the large blaze? A pile of railroad ties, according to the fire department.

A quarter after 1:00 p.m., the Pueblo Fire Department announced on social media that aid from other fire departments in the county had been sent to the fire. The fire is located in the midtown area of Pueblo.

PFD says there are no evacuation orders, or pre-evacuation orders, and no structures are actively threatened by the fire. However, they are recommending that people with respiratory issues take steps to avoid the plume of smoke, such as:

Turn off all outside air handling units Close windows and doors Leave the area if the smoke settles in your area

KRDO13 is sending a crew to the scene of the fire to learn more.

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Bradley Davis

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Memorial Park seems to be the place to be this Labor Day weekend.

While Labor Day liftoff takes off from Memorial Park in Colorado Springs, dozens of artists from a wide variety of disciplines will fill Memorial Park in Manitou Springs for the Commonwheel Art Festival.

It’s the 52nd annual festival featuring artists from the Commonwheel Co-Op. Painting, jewelry, hammocks, woodworking, pottery, textiles and more.

Pike Ride is offering a discount code for a free 30-minute ride valid Saturday through Monday to relieve parking congestion. Use the code COMMONARTS for the free ride.

The festival is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Monday with artists and live music. It is free to attend.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Most of the city’s streets are paved by private contractors in the 2C expanded paving program, funded by a voter-approved sales tax increase in 2015.

But a limited number of streets are paved by the city’s in-house paving team.

Every year, the team selects several smaller projects for maintenance paving; in most cases, the process doesn’t remove the old asphalt but instead paves over it to stabilize the street until it’s scheduled for a full repaving under 2C.

The in-house team recently finished paving segments along a half-mile of Bradley Road, east of Powers Boulevard and south of the Colorado Springs Airport.

The road was in rough condition, and the city had previously shared maintenance duties there with El Paso County.

However, as KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior reported in April, the city agreed to assume full maintenance responsibility due to past and future annexations and a desire to keep the paving style consistent.

Many new homes are being built in the area.

The city plans to eventually repave two miles of Bradley, between Powers Boulevard and Marksheffel Road.

Segments of Voyager Parkway also received maintenance paving this summer.

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Dylan Foreman

MONUMENT, Colo. (KRDO)–Penalties plagued both teams early but eventually the seas parted and Pueblo East never looked back improving to 2-1 on the season.

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Dylan Foreman

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)–Pueblo Central captures their first win of the season while Discovery Canyon falls to 0-3.

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Rob Namnoum

The Rampart football team defeated Widefield on Thursday night 48-0.

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Julia Donovan

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – A dart bar on the southeast side of Colorado Springs failed its recent routine health inspection with some concerning violations. Meanwhile, a familiar sub shop got another high score!

Low scores:

Murray Street Darts, located on North Murray Boulevard, failed its recent routine health inspection with 13 violations.

According to the El Paso County Health Department’s inspection report, some food items were being held at unsafe temperatures. The inspector also found no soap available in the public restroom.

More concerning, some food items were significantly past their usable date. The inspection found moldy sausage and rotten milk at the establishment.

Murray Street Darts later passed its re-inspection. However, during that follow-up inspection, officials found pre-portioned cups of green chili and gravy that were past the seven-day limit.

Workers were required to throw the food away immediately.

We stopped by and asked the employee working what they’re doing to mitigate the reoccurring expired food problem. The employee referred questions to the owner, who did not answer the phone.

This week’s restaurant high scores

While Murray Street Darts landed on the low end of this week’s restaurant roundup, three establishments received high scores:

Mona Lisa Fondue Restaurant in Manitou SpringsTaco Bell at North Union Boulevard and East Platte AvenueThe Taste of Philly at South Academy Boulevard and Hancock

Keep an eye out for KRDO13’s Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurant — and remember, a high score means the kitchen has passed its routine health inspection.

All high and low scores in this roundup are based on routine health inspections conducted by the El Paso County Health Department.

Click here for a look at all the most recent health inspection scores.

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.

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