Category: krdo-local-news

Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Soon, players of the Colorado Lottery won’t need to carry cash to have their chance of winning big. This week, the Colorado Lottery Commission announced it will allow players to purchase lotto tickets with credit cards and on their phones.

“Our whole mission is based around consumers and consumer choice. Consumers these days, as you know, carry less cash. Many of them prefer transactions with credit cards or debit cards,” the Director of the Colorado Lottery, Tom Seaver, told KRDO13.

Seaver said this week’s rule change is all about the consumer. Almost everyone has had the experience of wanting to buy a lottery ticket but then realizing they don’t have any cash. Seaver and the lottery are looking to stop that near-universal experience and make it easier to access the lottery.

The two new rules will now allow lottery tickets to be purchased with credit cards and enable the lottery to sell directly to consumers through the Colorado Lottery app.

However, one local gambling addiction counselor says that access is a double-edged sword.

“I just know that accessibility is one of the biggest triggers for people having access to funds, having access to the gambling itself. And when it’s on your phone, it’s like like we’ve seen with the sports betting, you can do it from anywhere,” Kristen Haflett has been counseling people with gambling addictions in Colorado since 2011. In that time, she’s seen a rise in clients as easier betting avenues have opened up.

KRDO13 asked Seaver and the Lottery about the safety measures that will be in place when the new rules are implemented.

“We’re encouraged by the fact that other lotteries have already crossed this bridge, and that’s really important because we can talk to them about what kind of safety measures and what kind of, you know, controls can be put on this to help make sure that we protect player health,” Seaver said. He didn’t have the specifics on what guardrails would be put in place because they just started working on implementing the new rules.

Haflett said that she’d like to see the ability for consumers to put deposit and screen time limits on the app when ticket purchases are available. Seaver did say those features would be looked at.

“The accessibility is really concerning, and just the disconnect it creates for people with money, that when you use a credit card, you’re not thinking about the connection with your finances like it’s delayed. You don’t have that automatic pain of spending that money on something,” Haflett said.

While the rule change was passed this week, consumers won’t see the change for some time. Seaver said that it will take some months for both changes to go into effect, but couldn’t provide a specific timeline.

If you or someone you know is addicted to gambling, KRDO13 has listed out several local and state resources below:

Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado

Bet Smart Colorado

Gambler’s Anonymous

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Heather Skold

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — For the more than 44,000 civilian government employees across Colorado, as well as service members early in their careers, the government shutdown felt especially hard.

The prior, not paid on time for work done over a month’s time; the latter, with already tight budgets seeking food pantries with added demand amid frozen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. 

A total of 620,000 people in Colorado rely on SNAP benefits. 

It’s obvious: a big chunk of those populations live in Southern Colorado. 

Thankfully, the Care and Share Food Bank has “Feeding America,” a three-year-long hunger grant, specifically meant to meet needs in the military. 

“We’re recipients of that now, as we have consistent money for military and veteran hunger — active duty and veteran hunger for the next three years,” said Nate Springer, CEO and President of Care and Share Food Bank. 

Springer is uniquely qualified for the job, having served 23 years in the Army.  

“I feel like it’s my obligation, as someone who had a wonderful experience in the military for a few decades, to be able to help our young men and women that are giving their all for our nation.”

Care and Share has expanded its reach within the military community at food giveaways and pantries on various installations, to include a mobile market. 

“It’s a rolling grocery store.  We took beverage trucks and converted them into rolling grocery stores. We can drive that into a community or onto an installation, open up all the sides, pull out the shelving, and then people can just come in and shop for free at that mobile grocery store.” 

600 families were served on Patriot Day at Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, and 1,000 veterans and their families served during the Heroes Helping Heroes event in Pueblo. 

Care and Share serves a 29-county, 47,000-square-mile region — a little under half of the state — that stretches from Monument to the New Mexico border, and from Utah to Kansas.  It provides food to 278 other nonprofits. 

Looking for food assistance?  Click here. 

Ready to give? Click here.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) clarified a KRDO 13 report on Friday regarding scheduled overnight median work on a mile-long stretch of Powers Boulevard on the east side of the city.

An alert posted on a map on CoTrip.org’s website stated that two left lanes northbound and southbound overnight Friday between the Platte Avenue overpass and Aeroplaza Drive would be closed.

CoTrip.org

The alert announced the closure times as starting at 7 p.m. Friday and ending at 4 a.m. Saturday, near the ongoing project to build a new overpass at the Powers/Airport Road intersection.

However, a CDOT representative said that the closures happened earlier this week and will not be happening this weekend.

Possibly a confusing point is that the CoTrip map shows a “21” symbol, shaped like a tear-off calendar, over the project area — which could mean the project’s supposed start date of November 21, or Powers’ official designation as Colorado Highway 21.

“We don’t know why it’s showing that,” the representative told KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior.

Meanwhile, another project in that general area — also posted on CoTrip, apparently, will happen this weekend.

Utility repair work will close the westbound shoulder of US 24, east of the Platte Avenue overpass, between Highway 94 and Valley Street, between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday — a distance of 1.3 miles.

CoTrip.org

As of late Friday afternoon, CoTrip had removed the “21” from its Powers map location and replaced it with a “22,” referring to the US 24 utility work, even though that work is not on Powers.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – 850 military personnel and their families will eat well this Thanksgiving, and they’ll do so for free thanks to Mt. Carmel and their partners.

Mt. Carmel said the North Colorado Springs Rotary club donated $10,000 for turkeys and $5000 for gift cards, while the Colorado Springs branch of Veterans United provided bags of side dishes, as well as $6500 for turkeys.

“It’s a difficult time this year with the shutdowns and everything,” said Veterans United Branch Manager Alice Schnieder. “We really felt like we had to give our support.”

New this year, Mt. Carmel was able to distribute care package bags full of sides and stuffing in addition to the Turkeys. The new initiative will help military members feed their whole families without having to spend a dime at the store, as a Chaplain on Fort Carson said wallets continue to tighten.

“I think because of the little bit of the higher cost that we’re seeing at the grocery stores right now, this is definitely a big help,” Fort Carson Chaplain Jason Heneise said.

Mt. Carmel is facilitating the meal distribution to active duty military and their families on Fort Carson, Peterson and Schriever Space Force bases, and the Air Force Academy.

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Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — While many people awoke disappointed at the lack of snow in the Pikes Peak region on Friday morning, others were relieved that they had no slick roads to deal with during rush hour.

Drivers found either damp or dry pavement along Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Monument, with wetter conditions on Highway 105 through Monument and Palmer Lake, and on County Line Road east of Monument Hill.

Roads are still too warm on most local streets and roads to allow for ice formation or snow accumulation.

Fog, however, was fairly heavy along County Line Road, east of I-25 and north of that road, into Douglas County.

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Julia Donovan

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A local tea shop failed its routine health inspection, according to inspection records. We also have an update on a previous low-scoring restaurant that was temporarily closed. Meanwhile, a pasta shop has noodled its way to a top-scoring spot in this week’s Restaurant Roundup!

Kung Fu Tea on N Academy Boulevard recently failed its routine health inspection with 12 violations.

An employee reportedly told the health inspector they don’t sanitize their food equipment.

The inspector also noted that milk and yogurt were too warm, one employee had their hair down in the kitchen, and walls were caked in food debris!

When we stopped by, the man working the counter said the walls were cleaned after the inspection, but he wouldn’t let us in the kitchen to see without permission from the manager who had just left.

We left a message with contact information, asking the manager to get in touch. We’re still waiting to hear back.

In other news, you might remember The Hot Spot at the Citadel Mall was temporarily closed with 27 violations a few weeks back.

It’s open again, but back in the hot seat after failing another health inspection with 12 violations.

Now to this week’s high scores: Taco Express on S Circle Drive, Dad’s Donuts on Interquest Parkway, and Happy Eats Pasta on S Nevada with a perfect score.

“My philosophy is I’m not going to serve any food to anybody here that I wouldn’t serve to my mom,” the owner, Darby, told KRDO13.

Darby is very easygoing, except when it comes to cleanliness! 

He says he pretty much lets customers do whatever they want with an extremely customizable menu. You can choose your noodle type, combine sauces; they even have celiac-friendly options.

Restaurant Roundup high and low scores are based on recent routine health inspections conducted by the El Paso County Department of Public Health.

Keep an eye out for the Restaurant Roundup awards at your favorite restaurant to know the kitchen inside is clean.

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Josh Helmuth

Ute Pass Elementary School is celebrating Thanksgiving early for the third consecutive year, and they’re doing it with a fun lesson as well.

The Cascade school refers to it as the “Literary Luncheon.” Students plan their own Thanksgiving meals for lunch today (the Thursday before Thanksgiving), based on a book, and they make enough food to feed over 200 people.

All the students choose the book and create a recipe inspired by what they read. This year’s book is called “Stone Soup.” The 3rd-grade class also performs a play of the book.

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

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Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Five years ago, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, county officials began courting high school graduates to offset worker shortages that limited how much snowplowing and other public works tasks could be done.

That effort appears to be a growing success.

The county’s CONNECT program periodically invites students to its transportation facility, near the intersection of Marksheffel Road and North Carefree Circle, to learn how to operate plows and other equipment.

The program also travels to schools, as it did yesterday to Calhan High School.

Scott Hall, the county’s training division manager, said that students received hands-on training in simulated and actual equipment.

He said that the true purpose of CONNECT is to provide a career option to high school graduates who don’t plan to attend college, join the military, or remain undecided about their future after graduation.

“I’ve been to 16 of the programs, just with current construction,” he explained. “And all told, right now, I’ve been through 22 kids, and I have ten full-timers working right now. My first three kids are still there.”

A partner in the effort is Careers in Construction Colorado, an organization created by the construction industry in 2015 to provide similar assistance to students.

“We started in one high school with 23 kids,” said coordinator Sydney White. “We’ve since grown to 91 high schools with over 4,700 kids. We’ve partnered with six different trade associations. We’re still sponsored by the industry, just to show students their options.”

During the pandemic, the county eased some job requirements to further encourage interest in a public works career: It waived the requirement for a high school diploma and provided free training for the required commercial driver’s license.

However, the county will help non-diploma students to earn their equivalency degrees if they are interested.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A non-profit is spearheading the fundraiser of over 5,000 wreaths for the tombstones of military members at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery (PPNC).

The Auxiliary members of American Legion Post 2008 (ACA) are acting as the local partner for Wreaths Across America. The group still needs about 200 wreaths to meet its goal of 5,025 headstones. If ACA exceeds its goal, ACA said the extras will go to the Fort Lyon National Cemetery.

“The community shows up and takes care of the veterans around here,” said ACA member Jennifer Kendig, who is spearheading the local Wreaths Across America initiative.

Jennifer said she’s had help from dozens of others, including veterans like her husband.

“We have people from out of state that contact us and say, ‘Can you make sure I get a wreath on my son’s, on my husband’s grave?’ and we’ll take a picture of that and send it to them, Jennifer’s husband, James “Farmer” Kendig said.

James is a Vietnam Veteran and a full member of the American Legion Post 2008.

“The heartfelt messages that come back are just overwhelming. At some point, I’ll be laid to rest here also, and then they’ll be doing it for me. That’s something I’m hopeful for in the days to come,” James said.

Jennifer orders the evergreen pine wreaths from Maine. The donation cutoff is Thanksgiving.

The wreath ceremony is 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 13th. Before placing the wreaths, volunteers will listen to a Taps performance, the National Anthem and a rifle volley. Last year, ACA said over 2000 volunteers came to help.

After Christmas, ACA said it will need volunteers for its wreath cleanup on January 24.

You can sponsor a wreath and find more information on how to volunteer here.

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Scott Harrison

PUEBLO WEST, Colo. (KRDO) — The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) is searching for the suspect in an apparent stabbing late Tuesday night that is now a homicide investigation.

Authorities said that they know who the suspect is, but they haven’t released the name of the suspect.

On Wednesday afternoon, the coroner’s office identified the victim as Scott Valencia.

Deputies responded to a reported stabbing just before 10 p.m. Tuesday at a home on the corner of Stewart Drive and Stanley Drive, just south of Joe Martinez Boulevard.

However, when deputies arrived, they learned that someone in a private vehicle had taken the victim to a hospital; the victim died there shortly afterward.

The PCSO has yet to reveal the motive for the homicide.

A neighbor said that she came home from work on Tuesday night and found the intersection “crawling” with deputies who remained on scene for much of the overnight period.

Other neighbors said privately that the house where the incident occurred often had suspicious activity, with many people coming and going often.

A man at the home declined to be interviewed about the matter, saying only that “things happen.”

The Pueblo County Coroner’s Office says the victim’s official cause and manner of death will be released following an autopsy.

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