Category: krdo-local-news

Michael Logerwell

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – What were you doing on your 7th birthday? Eating sheet cake at the bowling alley? Yeah, me too.

Joey Danger Evermore can’t relate because he turned 7 years old while summiting El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

“So amazing,” Joey said, describing reaching the summit. “We got to the top [and] we ate military food.”

With that ascent, Joey became the youngest ever to summit El Capitan, beating out his two older brothers, Sam and Sylvan, who both did it at 8 years old.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Colorado Champions: Brother looks to match El Capitan summit record

“In a way he’s the least afraid that we’ve ever seen,” Joe Evermore, the father, said. “Joey’s just trusting the lines, and it’s amazing to see that he’s really just having fun up there when we’re climbing.”

Like any major climb, this one had some ups and downs, even at what was supposed to be the pinnacle

“This one kind of sucked,” said Sylvan, chiming in.

“So there’s a big rescue. we got within one pitch of the summit, and like, the sun was setting, and YOSAR had this giant rescue. It was 2000ft below us, but they shut down the entire route,” Joe explained.

YOSAR is Yosemite Search and Rescue.

However, even without the rescue hold-up, the summit still probably would’ve been overshadowed by even bigger news

During the climb, along with Joey’s birthday, the family had a gender reveal, and Joey, Sylvan, and Sam all learned they were going to have a new baby sister.

“When it said girl, I thought the portal edge was going to tip over and dump us all because the boys went so wild on the ledge and jumping up and down,” Joe recalled, smiling.

Joe said he hopes this story inspires other fathers to take their kids into the great outdoors, but maybe start a little easier than El Capitan.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Drivers on the city’s southwest side have been without a popular shortcut under I-25 between the Broadmoor World Arena and the south end of Janitell Road since February 2024.

Officials closed the one-way, single-lane Willwood Tunnel for safety reasons — explaining that there was too much traffic congestion from drivers using the tunnel to detour around the recent replacement of four bridges on South Circle Drive.

However, much to the pleasant surprise of many drivers, the tunnel reopened on Thursday.

“I wasn’t sure,” said Reilly Schiefelbein. “I feel like they had signage up for a while, and I just realized there was no signage. So, I said, Let me go see if they opened that back up. Because it was such a great way to take, you know?”

Traffic flows eastbound only through the tunnel because Willwood Road near the arena has more traffic than Janitell, which dead-ends a short distance to the south.

“You have I-25,” said Gregory Maasen, a cyclist. “How do you otherwise get to the other side? The only recommendation I would have is, for cyclists, that you make it a two-way (tunnel).”

City officials issued a press release on Thursday morning to announce that the tunnel would officially reopen on Friday, but a spokesman said that crews had finished removing concrete barriers and cleaning up accumulated trash and debris sooner than expected.

KRDO13’s The Road Warrior often heard from viewers who asked when the tunnel would reopen and when the area would be cleaned up; the city promised that the tunnel would reopen when the bridge project neared full completion.

Earl Harris disagreed with the city’s decision to close the tunnel for two years.

“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but I think that made it more congested by having to go around, everybody going around, than having a little shortcut,” he explained.

According to records, the tunnel was built in 1963 — three years after I-25 through town opened — as part of the original project to build the South Circle bridges.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The “World Olympic Collectors’ Fair” opens Friday morning at The Antlers Hotel. It’s only the fourth time a U.S. city has hosted the event, and the first time in Colorado Springs.

The fair is sanctioned and supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee as they work to promote the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. Prague was the host city last year.

Collectors from 11 countries and all across the United States will have booths at the fair. It’s free to come see their collections. Guests are welcome to buy, sell and trade.

The fair is in the Heritage room on the ground floor of The Antlers hotel. It’s from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — As organizers prepare for the annual Territory Days festival on Memorial Day weekend, city officials are planning to make safety upgrades that could improve the atmosphere for that event, and for other future gatherings along bustling West Colorado Avenue.

On Wednesday, officials gathered to announce the plan for safety improvements stemming from a city corridor study conducted five years ago.

The temporary changes will cover a mile of the avenue, from Limit Street (a block west of 8th Street) to 31st Street, with a focus on the heart of Old Colorado City between 24th and 27th streets.

For years, city officials have tried to balance the shopping, dining, tourism, and festive atmosphere of the entertainment district with their concerns about speeding drivers, limited parking, pedestrian safety, and loud traffic noises that disturb people who are dining or sightseeing along the avenue.

So, beginning June 1, officials will gradually institute a series of changes — lasting a year — to address those concerns.

“The voters voted on this a few years ago and authorized the city to proceed with this project,” said Ryan Phipps, the city’s capital improvements manager. “We’re really excited that we’ll be proceeding with the project. The intent of the project is overall traffic safety improvements and to make all of Colorado City a more welcoming environment for everybody.”

The most visible change will be a reduction in traffic from two lanes to one, in each direction.

Officials will collect traffic and safety data from the changes to determine which works best and should become permanent.

A possible result of the changes is the widening of sidewalks, similar to the recently completed revitalization project on two blocks of Tejon Street downtown.

“A recent study showed that a third of visitors to our region have some sort of mobility issue,” said Adam Stapan, president of the Old Colorado City and Downtown Development Authority. “I think it’s imperative that we don’t lose out on 33% of this business due to the beautiful history of Old Colorado City, but also create some physical barriers for people.”

The city also asks residents to respond to an online survey regarding safety along the avenue; to see the survey, visit: http://ColoradoSprings.gov/ColoradoAve

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Scott Harrison

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Many drivers are pleasantly surprised to see paving activity along ten miles of U.S. 50 from Purcell Boulevard in Pueblo West to the Fremont County line.

The $15 million project by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) started a month ago and should be finished in late summer or early fall.

Crews will apply new asphalt to the shoulders and traffic lanes in both directions.

CDOT said that it’s the first repaving of that highway segment in 24 years.

Crews will repave the more heavily traveled stretch between Purcell and McCulloch boulevards at night, when there’s less traffic.

“We haven’t started any of those operations yet because we have to have a certain temperature for us to be able to put our pavement down,” said Patrick Vigil, a resident engineer for CDOT. “We’ll be doing that at a later date.”

The project includes other tasks, such as repairing two bridges, replacing damaged guardrails, and updating lane markings and signs.

Drivers should be aware of single-lane traffic around the paving activity, and CDOT advises slowing down and keeping the safety of workers in mind.

CDOT is currently designing a future project that will repave US 50 an additional ten miles west, from the Fremont County line to Cañon City.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) is helping creatives (and the generally curious) bring their ideas to life without spending thousands of dollars on the equipment needed to make it happen.

The program is called “Makerspace.” PPLD has three Makerspace rooms in Colorado Springs stocked with 3-D printers, laser engravers, a CNC machine (computerized wood carver), sewing machines, fully-stocked work benches and more.

Reservations are free at each Makerspace in 21C, East Library and Sand Creek. PPLD requires participants to take a no-cost training class to use the 3-D Printers, the Laser engraver and the CNC machine.

You can complete the training both online and in-person. You can find the in-person class schedule here.

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Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — After spending $375,000 to repair a crumbling concrete channel in Cimarron Hills earlier this spring, the county will spend $200,000 more to replace two drainage pipes connected to the channel.

The channel work limited traffic on Ford Street at the Seneca Road intersection to one lane in each direction, but the latest construction has closed Ford Street entirely south of Seneca, creating more significant impacts on traffic and nearby businesses.

Thomas Donahue, a senior engineer for the county, said that the drainage pipe repair began several weeks ago and should be finished by the end of this week; however, rainy weather this week may delay the project’s completion.

Donahue said that a crew is replacing two corrugated metal pipes that have deteriorated because of rust or age.

“We upgraded the pipe underneath the south side of Seneca Road to reinforced concrete pipe,” he explained. “And because of the unusual pipe size underneath the existing Ford Street was a 43-by-68-inch arched metal corrugated pipe, we’ve replaced that with a polyurethane-lined, corrugated metal pipe.”

Gutters and drains in the area have also been replaced, Donahue added, to increase the channel’s overall drainage capacity.

Donahue revealed that a shorter connected channel west of Valley Street will not be repaired.

“That is not on our priority list right now,” he said. “That channel is still in relatively decent condition.”

The Cimarron Hills project is similar to a larger project the county finished last spring in Security-Widefield, where crews repaired a half-mile drainage channel that had deteriorated for decades.

That channel didn’t have traffic impacts, but had become clogged with debris and contributed to occasional flooding on surrounding streets and even into the yards of nearby homes.

However, the project didn’t resolve all of the issues there.

After years of uncertainty regarding who was responsible for repairs, the county agreed to pay the $2.5 million repair cost, but the county won’t maintain the channel because it’s not owned by the county, and actual ownership remains in question.

County officials also said that the channel was originally built in the early 1960s as an irrigation channel and not a drainage channel with modern standards.

It’s a major reason why, around the time of that project, the county began a process to evaluate the condition of all of its drainage infrastructure — an ambitious effort, given the county’s large size.

“There are a lot of areas in the county that need very similar repairs,” Donahue said. “One of the biggest issues we’re finding in our stormwater drainage assets is that we have used a lot of corrugated metal pipe, and we have a lot of pipe throughout the county that’s experiencing rust conditions in the inverts, and some moderate failure.”

Once completed, the challenge will be funding future repair projects; the Security-Widefield channel may not have been fixed if not for the availability of federal pandemic recovery money.

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Bradley Davis

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – A new annual gravel event called the “Farmstand 50” debuts this Sunday in Pueblo County as community members continue to grow the sport in the Steel City.

Grassroots Gravel is hosting the first-ever event. Founder and Director Adam Davidson said they wanted to create a ride that takes bikers to the remote dirt roads rarely traveled or experienced by Pueblans.

It’s a much smaller ride than the annual Grassroots Gravel ride coming up on Oct. 10. Davidson said the Farmstand 50 is intended to be hyper-local and focused on experiencing the Pueblo agricultural community.

“Biking is freedom because it’s accessible. You get to choose your own path, literally,” Davidson said. “You really get to experience the world on a bike.”

Grassroots Gravel hosts programs year-round to spark interest in biking among Pueblans. It hosts a free group gravel ride every Tuesday, free bike repair workshops, training programs for the Boys and Girls Club of Pueblo and more. Riders are required to sign a waiver for the weekly group rides.

If you are signed up for the Farmstand 50, you can find raceday information here.

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Bradley Davis

HANOVER, Colo. (KRDO) – Anymore, a 40-minute drive along the I-25 corridor is nothing more than a morning commute.

If you make the same drive out to Hanover and the Muddy Little Cowboy Ranch, it will instead take you to a whole different world.

30 or so miles out East, with little cell phone coverage and no food delivery service, Linda Childers lives off the land. She grows her own produce. Need beef? Instead of heading to Walmart, she heads down S Peyton Highway to buy from the local ranchers.

It’s a lifestyle Childers decided she wanted to share with the city folk.

Six years ago, she opened the “Muddy Little Cowoboy Ranch” on her property. She welcomes schools, church groups, nursing homes and families into her everyday life.

Visitors learn about farming and self-sustainability as Childers educates at each stop. She has chickens, goats, coy fish, a vegetable garden, children’s (and adult) play areas, and more. The tour is hands-on, with visitors getting up close and personal with the farm work.

The ranch is hosting a free “Come in and Play Day” this Memorial Day, May 25, with an encouraged donation for the animal feed. All other days, Childers books appointments through her Facebook page or over the phone at 1-719-683-5233.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The latest phase in the $11 million Park Vista drainage improvements project will allow traffic to resume on a street that’s been closed since last October.

The closure of a block of Hopeful Drive was to replace a bridge over Templeton Gap Creek, and dry weather helped crews finish the project two months early.

Crews began moving the six concrete barriers for the street closure just after 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

One neighbor turned the event into a part, attaching celebratory balloons to the bridge and handing out cupcakes.

A city release issued on Friday afternoon announced the street’s reopening but did not indicate a specific time.

The new bridge is part of the larger drainage project designed to eliminate flash flooding and erosion west, to the Academy Boulevard/Austin Bluffs Parkway intersection.

Another intersection nearby, at Siferd Boulevard and Date Street, was part of a low-water crossing that flooded during heavy rain events and occasionally required firefighters to rescue drivers and passengers trapped in the high water.

For a short time before the Park Vista project began, the city installed gates at the intersection that would be temporarily closed by firefighters during flash flood warnings.

At times, flash flooding also over-topped the new Hopeful Drive bridge — flooding the street and some adjacent homeowners’ property.

The city said that new sidewalks on the bridge will remain closed until crews can install railings, but a temporary pedestrian bridge slightly north of the new bridge remains open.

The closure meant a longer detour for drivers because it cut off the direct route to Doherty High School and numerous businesses along Austin Bluffs.

As KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior first reported in late 2024, part of the Park Vista west of Hopeful was an enclave — a section of El Paso County surrounded by city jurisdiction.

After years of uncertainty about which entity was responsible for addressing flooding and drainage, the city and county agreed to split the $11 million project cost, and the city annexed the area from the county.

In the floodway south of the new bridge, crews are widening the channel to increase its capacity and adding drop structures and erosion control materials.

The goal is to slow the velocity of water during storm events that could threaten safety and property damage.

The Siferd/Date intersection is now closed and has been replaced by three cul-de-sacs, allowing the creek to flow safely between them.

Other improvements include a new stormwater channel and several speed bumps south of the Hopeful bridge.

Repaving crumbling streets around the project will be the final step before the project ends later this year.

Next year, affected neighbors expect to learn whether the improved floodplain will reduce their costs for flood insurance.

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