Rob Namnoum
Vista Ridge High School won the Qdoba Friday Night Blitz Spirit Award during week eight of the high school football season. Recently, we presented the Qdoba Friday Night Blitz Spirit Award plaque to the Wolves cheer squad and football team.
Celeste Springer
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Inmate records confirm Robert Dear, the self-admitted Planned Parenthood shooter, has died in federal custody at the age of 67.
According to records, he died on Saturday. Cause of death will need to be released by the medical examiner, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. KRDO13 has reached out to the medical examiner’s office in Missouri, where he was being held, and the office said they are working to get us information.
Thursday will mark 10 years since the shooting.
Dear, the self-proclaimed shooter, was accused of going to the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs in 2015 with six rifles, five handguns, a shotgun, propane tanks, and more than 500 rounds of ammo on the day of the attack. He killed three people and injured nine others.
KRDO had a chance to catch up with the district attorney who first tried to prosecute Dear, Dan May, who told us he was shocked by Dear’s death and feels for the victims.
“I thought it was tragic for the victims; they deserve to have that closure of him standing up in court and pleading guilty and being sentenced, or – if he had changed his mind and had a jury find him guilty, they deserve their day in court to express to the court about themselves or their loved ones,” said May.
“As we reflect on the 10 years since the Colorado Springs tragedy, we honor and remember those whose lives were lost, as well as the strength and resilience of our staff — current and former —our patients, volunteers, and the Colorado Springs community. At Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing accessible, nonjudgmental, high-quality healthcare to all who walk through our doors. On this week of remembrance, we are prioritizing our staff’s well-being while continuing to meet the needs of our patients and community.”
-Spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains
Dear was diagnosed with a delusional disorder in 2016, and ever since has repeatedly been deemed incompetent to stand trial.
We have no word on the status or next steps in the federal process, but the 4th judicial district attorney’s office here in Colorado Springs says they will now begin the process of dismissing the case in state court.
Sadie Buggle
FRANKTOWN, Colo. (KRDO) – A violent head-on crash on Highway 83 on Monday afternoon left five people dead and two children critically injured, authorities said. We now know four of the people who died in the collision, including three children under the age of 13, were from Colorado Springs.
KRDO13 has also learned that the vehicle that allegedly caused the crash was reported stolen just an hour before the deadly collision.
According to Colorado State Patrol (CSP), the crash happened just after 4:30 p.m. on Highway 83, just south of Franktown near Russellville Road. Troopers said a Toyota stolen out of Aurora crashed into a Ford; the Ford had an adult driver and five juveniles from Colorado Springs.
Troopers said the stolen car was driving southbound when it lost control and went off the right shoulder. The car returned to the roadway and rolled into the northbound lane, where it hit the Ford with the children inside head-on, CSP said.
Courtesy: CSP
According to the families of the deceased, the victim’s car included:
A 35-year-old father, Alvin Corado (pronounced deceased)
An 8-year-old boy, Toretto Corado (pronounced deceased)
A 11-year-old girl, Makenlee Corado (pronounced deceased)
A 13-year-old girl, Mia Corado (airlifted to a hospital in critical condition)
A 12-year-old boy, Jase Green (pronounced deceased)
A 14-year-old boy, Jordan Green (airlifted to a hospital in critical condition)
A GoFundMe for the Corado family has been started, and can be accessed by clicking here. A GoFundMe for the Watkins-Green family can be found by clicking here.
A photo of Makenlee Corado (left), Toretto Corado (middle) and Mia Corado (right), courtesy of GoFundMe.
A photo of both families together, including Jase and Jordan Green, courtesy of GoFundMe.
Family related to Jase and Jordan Green tells KRDO13 they were on the way to the hospital to visit their mother, who just had surgery.
The driver of the reported stolen car was ejected on impact and was also pronounced dead at the scene. He has been identified as a 31-year-old man from Denver, and CSP says he was not using a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The coroner’s office will be tasked with publicly releasing his identity.
Investigators are now working to determine why the driver lost control.
The stolen car came from a carjacking in Aurora, according to police. The Aurora Police Department (APD) responded to a reported carjacking that occurred around 3:45 p.m. on November 24 at the Nine Mile Station parking structure, according to APD. The Nine Mile Station parking structure is an RTD parking garage.
APD tells KRDO13 the victim told officers she was getting into her vehicle on the first level when an unknown man approached, held the door open and asked her for a ride. Police say when she refused, the suspect pulled her from the driver’s seat and drove off in her vehicle.
The vehicle was then put into all motor vehicle theft systems, according to APD.
Highway 83 was closed between Russellville Road and Lake Gulch Road for hours as troopers investigated. The roadway was reopened at 11:50 p.m.
Neighbors in the area tell KRDO13 the crash was so loud they thought a tire had popped until they saw a large plume of smoke in the area. They say they immediately called 911. Some we spoke with rushed to the scene to help cut people’s seatbelts off and bring towels to assist.
The crash is now being investigated by the Colorado State Patrol Vehicular Crimes Unit. The agency asks those who observed the crash and have not yet spoken to investigators to contact Colorado State Patrol Dispatch at (303) 239-4501 and reference Case Number VC250439.
The Franktown Fire Protection District also responded to the crash. They tell us they could not talk about what the response was like; however, they are grateful to the community, which has been thanking first responders on Tuesday.
Josh Helmuth
CASCADE, Colo. (KRDO) – The Ute Pass Elementary School principal made a promise to her students, and she kept it — even if that meant being taped to the gym wall!
Principal Jackie Powell challenged her students to raise 600 boxes of food for the school’s food drive — part of their Thanksgiving Literacy Luncheon last week — and they delivered, destroying last year’s record and Powell’s challenge, raising 1,200 boxes of food.
Their reward? Taping Powell to the wall.
It was a hilarious, engaging, exciting celebration last week that Powell says makes her as proud as ever.
“Our whole goal is to connect kids to something larger than themselves to get them thinking about. Things other than just me, and so they’ve learned how to provide for others,” she said.
Is there something remarkable at your school? Email us! SchoolBuzz@KRDO.com.
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The county is now a week into a major drainage project that will eventually allow crumbling pavement at a busy intersection to be repaved.
Numerous viewers have complained to KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior for the past year about the poor condition of North Gate Boulevard at Struthers Road; the former is in Colorado Springs, and the latter is in the county.
Some repaving of the eastbound lanes of North Gate in front of the Western Museum of Mining and Industry was done earlier this fall, but officials said that the westbound lanes and the northbound lanes of Struthers can’t be repaved until completion of the drainage project.
That project finally started last week, with the county building a stormwater retention pond, south of North Gate and in the Interstate 25 corridor.
Within the next few weeks, crews will begin installing 3,000 feet of stormwater pipes along North Gate and Struthers.
The county expects to finish the project next spring, after which the city will repave the rest of the intersection.
“The biggest challenge will be at the end — asphalt repaving, and how we can line that up with the weather,” said John Lantz, a county senior engineer. “The spring time frame is what we’re quoting folks. Things will line up, hopefully, in the April time frame.”
He explained that the project took a long time to start because it required approvals for being on Air Force Academy property and for environmental assessments.
“We started on (November) 19th and got final approval only a day or two before that,” he explained. “The project crosses city and county jurisdiction, and the Air Force Academy and CDOT (Colorado Department of Transportation) jurisdiction.”
The retention pond has a capacity large enough to capture stormwater runoff from a 1 in 100-year flood; when filled, the water will flow through an existing CDOT drainage pipe into Smith Creek, which flows under I-25 and connects to Monument Creek.
Just before the eastbound North Gate repaving, city crews filled dozens of potholes at the intersection.
Drivers should expect traffic impacts in the area from mid-December until the project’s completion.
Still, some viewers remain frustrated that the intersection will endure another winter of deterioration.
“And then in the wintertime, we get the snowplows that make it even worse,” said Dave Hardin. “So, that hasn’t helped the situation.”
But Douglas Jenkins agrees with the need for the drainage project.
“Water pours downhill, pools in the intersection, and creates more potholes,” he said. “It definitely needs underwater storm drainage.”
Michael Logerwell
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – Editor’s Note: We originally reported that the Pueblo City Council voted to pass this agenda item at Tuesday night’s vote. That was incorrect. Instead, they passed a motion against this ordinance, striking it down.
Pueblo City Council made a final vote on whether restaurants in Pueblo will need to make milk and water the standard drink for kids’ meals on Monday. The council voted to strike down the ordinance.
1f068806-0fb4-40a4-b96d-db90588d3243Download
The ordinance, which passed on its first reading back in May, would have made it so that soda pop isn’t the default drink in a kids’ meal.
“That would just mean that the kids’ meal would include water, unsweetened milk, or a milk alternative in the bundled meal,” said Gabby Singleton, Health Promotion Specialist with Pueblo County Public Health, in a May interview.
Several groups in Pueblo have come out in support of the ordinance. That list includes UC Health, CommonSpirit, Children First Pueblo, Colorado Blue Sky, and the Pueblo Food Project.
Megan Cover with the Pueblo Food Project wrote in a letter to the city council, “The average American child consumes 30 gallons of sugar per year, according to the American Heart Association. We believe that every child has the right to a healthy lifestyle.”
How would the ordinance have worked if it had passed?
According to the ordinance, the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment would enforce the rule. Singleton said that enforcement would work on a by-complaint basis. If someone reported that a restaurant didn’t have its menu updated to reflect the new changes, then the health department would have come out and inspect.
“I think it’ll have a great impact,” said Bruce Devereaux, the owner of B & C Tacos in Downtown Pueblo, prior to the council’s decision.
Devereaux said he’s had milk, water, and orange juice as the main options on the kids’ meals since he opened B & C Tacos years ago. He said parents are big fans, and about 75% of the time, the kids’ meal sticks with milk, juice, or water for the drink.
This ordinance wasn’t universally loved by restaurateurs. Singleton said that many had concerns about the cost of changing their menu or making milk, which isn’t shelf-stable, available. She said that having milk on the menu isn’t a requirement, making water the default meets the ordinance’s guidelines.
As for the cost of changing menus, Singleton said PDPHE would’ve had grant money available to help restaurants change their menus.
Mackenzie Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – According to arrest documents, just after 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Colorado State Patrol (CSP) was notified of a potentially impaired driver going 6 mph on I-25 near Monument.
CSP followed the driver with lights and sirens on, trying to pull them over. The agency details a 30-mile-per-hour pursuit of the red Dodge pickup truck. Troopers say the driver refused, so CSP pinned the front of the truck.
In arrest documents, Troopers say that the suspected drunk driver hit the gas and reversed across all southbound lanes until they crashed into the concrete barrier.
Once the driver’s truck was pinned in place near the Rockrimmon exit, CSP says the agency started to command the driver to exit the vehicle. CSP says the driver, later identified as Dean Moore, barricaded himself inside and would not comply.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO), Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) and the Palmer Lake Police Department (PLPD) all came to assist, according to CSP.
CSP says that in an attempt to get Moore out of the vehicle, they broke his truck windows. When he still would not comply, CSP says they sent in an EPSO K9.
After about 45 minutes, Dean Moore, age 60, of Colorado Springs, was taken into custody by law enforcement. CSP says the agency found several open alcoholic beverage containers in Moore’s truck.
INITIAL REPORTING: State Patrol says suspected drunk driver led police chase that caused I-25 closure
But arrest records reveal Moore has pleaded guilty in four prior driving under the influence cases. Before that, Moore pleaded guilty in two separate driving while ability impaired cases.
Vanessa Simmetcole got caught in the backup with her family while they were on their way to see Christmas lights. She recounted seeing many law enforcement vehicles blocking the highway.
“Traffic has been getting worse and worse, I feel like, throughout the years, but that was, like, the most intense thing I’ve ever seen,” explained Vanessa Simmetcole.
She said they were stuck for about an hour, but that it’s worth it if lives were saved from an alleged drunk driver.
“My daughter was in a car accident last year with a drunk driver. She’s 16, but she has scars and trauma from that, so, like, I don’t want someone out there driving who’s had a history of doing that,” shared Simmetcole.
Simmetcole tells KRDO13 that it’s not ok for Moore to be out driving, especially since he’s had multiple prior driving under the influence charges.
Moore is being held in the El Paso County Jail, facing driving under the influence, vehicular eluding, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and open alcoholic beverage container charges.
CSP tells KRDO13 the reporting driver in this case, called *CSP, or *277. They say it streamlines the process to have troopers respond as fast as possible.
“Calling 911 still can be effective. However, that will go to the 911 emergency dispatch. Whereas if you’re dialing *CSP that *277 number, it does go directly to us. So that way it does take out that middleman of 911. Then transferring that call over to us and transferring it to that specific area,” explained CSP Trooper Gabriel Moltrer.
Scott Harrison
CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) — Drivers, businesses, and neighbors along the east end of Main Street will get a pleasant holiday present: the completion of a natural gas line relocation that closed several blocks of the street for months at a time.
The project, which started early last year, has affected several blocks at the east end of Main Street between Raynolds Avenue and the highway.
Currently closed is the area between Rhodes Avenue and the highway, as well as a block of Rhodes north of Main.
Miller Pipeline has tried unsuccessfully on three attempts to move the gas line — owned by Atmos Energy — under the Union Pacific Railroad Tracks.
On one try, the metal pipe broke underground, and on another attempt, the pipe damaged a city water main.
“We’ve not been able to get the water main to work quite right until the error,” Leo Evans, the city’s public works director, explained. “So, Miller Pipeline, when they’re done with the gas main work, is going to be working on some repairs to that water main to try to get that back in service and working the way it should be.”
Crews paused work in June because they wanted to wait until an irrigation canal through the area — that occasionally caused flooding — was shut off for the year.
Evans said that crews returned earlier this month and finally moved the gas line to a new location.
“Previously, they had been trying to go underneath, and go deep, and go below where our future work was going to take place,” he said. “And this time, they decided to go over the top of it. So, their gas main is buried shallower over the top rather than trying to go underneath. It just made the work a lot easier this time.”
Evans said that all work in the area should be finished by Christmas.
The project has also delayed a $6 million city stormwater project that is halfway finished; Evans said that the city will wait a year before finishing that work to give drivers, neighbors, and businesses a break from street closures.
Bradley Davis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The American Automobile Association (AAA) said it expects drivers to hit the roads in record numbers this week for Thanksgiving travel.
It estimates at least 73 million people will drive 50 or more miles while traveling during the holiday week. That would be a new record and accounts for around 90% of the projected travelers.
AAA said the final count could outstrip their projections because of the flight disruptions stemming from the government shutdown. Put simply, families working on travel plans the last couple of months may have decided to fill the gas tank in favor of purchasing the plane ticket because of airline uncertainties.
Despite those disruptions, the Denver International Airport (DIA) said it expects 10% more people to fly out of its terminals this Thanksgiving week compared to last year.
Fortunately, for in-state travelers, the average price at the pump across Colorado was significantly below the national average, according to GasBuddy. As of November 24, the site has the state of Colorado at $2.58 a gallon and Colorado Springs just below $2.50 a gallon. It has the U.S. average at just above $3.02 a gallon.
Michael Logerwell
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Only 10 weeks old, this lil pup is in vital need of life-saving help.
Meet Lil Pint. She’s a foster puppy with El Paso County Canine Rescue.
Pictures shared by El Paso County Canine Rescue
The first weeks of her life have not been easy. The foster-based rescue organization says Lil Pint was born with a congenital heart defect called Patent Ductus Arteriosus. The defect happens when a blood vessel in the heart remains open. El Paso County Canine Rescue says it causes blood to flow the wrong way and puts dangerous pressure on her tiny heart.
“She continues to fight. She tries to dog every day she dogs. She goes in and out of the dog door, she plays fetch, you know, she eats and drinks like a normal dog,” said Jenna, Lil Pint’s foster mom. She said her kids can’t play with Lil Pint too long or else her heart will beat too fast and cause big problems.
El Paso County Canine Rescue has launched a fundraising campaign to raise $10,000 to cover her life-saving heart surgery. $4,000 has already been raised.
“She can do a lot of good in this world; she just needs a fighting chance, and the fighting chance is all of us coming together as a community,” Jenna said.
For more information on how to help, click here.
