Slap Me Some Skin
Rob Namnoum
Top prep playoff performances for the week of March 4th.
Bullet shot through home narrowly misses 13-year-old
Marina Garcia
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A family has their guard up after a bullet went through their kitchen window, right past a thirteen-year-old’s head. The family is thankful she is alive, but worried about how it could have happened in the first place, in a neighborhood they thought was safe.
It happened on March 2 in the Lorson Ranch neighborhood just southeast of the Colorado Springs airport.
Zania Mewborn was home alone doing chores in the kitchen when a bullet whizzed by, narrowly missing her.
“I had my headphones in, and I was home alone. I didn’t realize that there were gunshots at first. Once I heard the glass break, I saw the bullet hole, and then I heard the gunshots. And so I called my mom,” says Zania Mewborn.
But her mom was at basketball practice with her little brother and didn’t see her calls, so Zania hid.
“I went upstairs to her closet, and gunshots were still going off,” says Zania.
Once mom learned what was going on, she rushed back to her daughter. She was thankful to see her safe, but still on alert.
“I open the garage door, and we all kind of ran on the stairs since there’s like a thick wall right there. And we were just sitting there,” says the teen. And the family stayed there until the police showed up.
There’s a lot of open space behind their home, and Zania’s mother says there is a gun range close by and people often have shooting practice, but these shots were too close for comfort.
We reached out to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, which says it’s an open investigation; no arrests have been made.
Do you know how to sleep? How to ease your aches and pains
Bradley Davis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – It’s the most tired workday of the year, the Monday after the daylight savings “leap forward.” While you try to catch up on the zzz’s, you could be doing it in a way that sets your body back.
Physical therapists say some of our favorite sleeping postures can hurt our joints when we get out of bed.
“So the problem with laying on your stomach is it’s actually good for your lower back because it decompresses the discs. However, when you’re on your face and you’re turned so much, these little joints in here they’re called cervical facet joints, they get compressed,” Fyzical Therapist Rocrimmon doctor Scott Moser said.
Moser and his co-workers recommend lying on your back or your side. Keep your pillow at a comfortable height, not too high or too low, so your neck is supported. If on your back, they say to put a pillow underneath your legs to take pressure off your lower back and keep your spine straight. On your side, they say to move the pillow between your legs to have the same effect.
Physical therapist Karly Lindroth said she uses a practical approach when coaching adults on how to improve their sleep.
“I think you just have to look at their function. If they’re saying, ‘hey, I’m not getting any sleep because I’m in so much back pain,’ that’s the best way to approach it. You’re like, ‘well, let’s try the sleeping position. Let’s try the stretches, let’s try the exercises to take pressure off the spine,’ And see how that goes,” Lindroth said.
Construction at Schriever SFB to cause significant traffic impacts through spring, summer
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — A project at the north gate of Schriever Space Force Base begins on Monday and will result in what the installation describes as longer commute times and heavier traffic congestion.
KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior began looking into the matter after hearing from several viewers who asked about the changes.
According to base leadership, construction at the north gate along Enoch Road, south of Highway 94, and near the Visitors Center, will require shifting most inbound traffic to the west gate, east of the Curtis Road/Irwin Drive intersection.
Between peak arrival hours of 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., all three lanes to and from the west gate will be inbound only; after that time, the traffic configuration will return to two inbound lanes and one outbound lane.
A temporary traffic signal is operating at the Curtis/Irwin intersection to help guide traffic.
Schriever officials hope this change will help ease traffic congestion caused by restrictions at the north gate.
During construction, the north gate access will be one lane inbound and one lane outbound, weekdays from 4:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the gate will be closed at all other times as crews build a temporary road around the work zone.
Base leadership said that part of the construction involves building a turnaround lane, allowing personnel who forget their IDs to easily turn around and retrieve them.
Generally, though, officials explained that the construction will increase base security.
Traffic into the west gate appeared to be its heaviest around 6:30 a.m.
The Road Warrior had hoped to interview Schriever officials on Friday, but the interview was canceled because of snowy conditions that led to an early release at the base; officials said that they’d be busy on Monday for the first day of the traffic changes.
Dan Mohrmann of Colorado Preps breaks down the rest of the high school basketball tournament
Michael Logerwell
Dan Mohrmann from Colorado Preps joins Rob Namnoum on Sports Extra to break down the high school basketball tournament, as it enters its final weekend. Dan talks about Lewis Palmer playing in the 5A Final Four, St. Mary’s, CSCS, and Banning Lewis playing in the Class 3A Great Eight. He also breaks down the CSCS girls’ team playing in the Class 3A Great Eight.
Pueblo widow calls for safety changes on North Vassar after husband killed in car crash
Mina Ramirez
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — After 75 years of marriage, Priscilla Portillos is now navigating life without the man she spent nearly her entire life beside.
Courtesy of: Michelle Law
Ted Portillos was struck and killed near Northern Avenue and Vassar Avenue last year. Now, his family says the crash may have been preventable and is urging city and state leaders to make improvements along the road.
Video obtained by KRDO13 shows the moments leading up to the crash.
Portillos’ family said he was on his way to his beloved Eagles Club that day when the collision happened.
His wife, Priscilla Portillos, said the driver approached quickly and struck Ted’s vehicle.
“That man that ran into him was coming to him fast,” she said. “When he struck his car, he didn’t stop.”
Shortly after the crash, the family received a phone call no one ever wants to get.
“We got the phone call that he was in the hospital,” said Ted’s daughter, Cheryl Portillos. “They told us we needed to come quickly… that he was passing.”
Ted and Priscilla Portillos first met when she was 17, and he was 20. Their love story would span 75 years of marriage.
Family members describe Ted as someone who was always smiling and quick to joke with people he met.
“He was always smiling. He was always joking with people,” Cheryl said. “When people would pass by, he’d ask them, ‘Are you married?’”
They say he was also the type of person who would always lend a helping hand and never met a stranger.
Now, even in his death, his family says they are continuing the push for road safety improvements Ted had long advocated for.
The family says the stretch of Northern Avenue where the crash happened connects directly to a state highway while also running through residential neighborhoods, creating a complex jurisdiction between the city and state.
Because of that, they believe both agencies need to work together to improve safety along the road.
Through an online petition, the family is calling for the speed limit to be lowered by 20 miles per hour or for additional safety measures, such as better street lighting.
“It could have been avoided if they would have listened to us,” Priscilla said. “It feels like there’s a big empty space in my life.”
The petition asks city and state leaders to work together to make the area safer for drivers and residents.
Courtesy of: Michelle Law
Learn more about Ted Portillos’s petition here.
Overtime thrillers and playoff basketball highlights from across Southern Colorado
Bradley Davis
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – Watch playoff high school basketball highlights from Friday and Saturday. There are two videos attached to this article. Saturday’s highlights are in the first video, while Friday’s are in the second.
Saturday’s games
Boys: Banning Lewis Academy guard Matthew Lebron sinks a three with one second left in overtime to lift the Stallions over SkyView Academy, 81-78.
Girls: Evangel Christian Academy falls to Flagler despite a late push, falling 50-38
Friday’s games
Boys: St. Mary’s explodes in overtime to beat Bayfield 81-67 and advance to Saturday’s game against Peyton.
Girls: Colorado Springs Christian School cruises to a 50-16 win over Gunnison.
Warm and dry conditions return to So. Colorado
Steve Roldan
Tonight: Expect mostly clear sies, with winds out of the North at 5 to 10 mph. It will be a cool night with overnight lows dipping down into the mid to upper 20s for most areas. Some of the back roads may see some slippery conditions with the possibility of black ice from all the melting that took place on Saturday.
Sunday: We will see lots of sunshine with mostly clear skies. We will also see much warmer temperatures with high climbing into the low to mid 60s for most areas along the I-25 corridor. Expect cooler readings up in the high country.
Extended: Temperatures will continue to warm up right through Tuesday. Expect highs in the upper 60s, near 70 degrees for most areas in Southern Colorado. We will see a slight cool down for the middle part of next week with highs in the mid to upper 50s. We will be keeping an eye on the possibility for an increased fire danger towards the end of next week.
Two men sentenced in the killing of Pueblo 19-year-old
Mackenzie Stafford
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) – On Feb.14, 2024, Antonio Vasquez shot and killed 19-year-old Dacien Salazar during a drive-by shooting outside Denver’s Downtown Aquarium, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
On Friday, Antonio Vasquez was sentenced to 40 years in prison, while Vasquez’s brother, Jason Trujillo, Jr., was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Vasquez and Trujillo both previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Dacien Salazar, according to the DA’s Office. Officials say Trujillo drove the car that was used in the shooting.
KRDO13 spoke with Dacien’s mother, Roxanne Coca, on Friday. She says she’s been fighting for justice for her son for the past two years.
Dacien Salazar, right, provided by Roxanne Coca.
“Dacien was loved, Dace had a lot of passion,” Roxanne Coca, Dacien’s mother, previously told our Denver news partners, “They took him from me, and I just won’t be the same.”
She said that her family was hoping her son’s killers would receive a lifetime sentence. Eventually, officials told her family they would have to accept a deal. The family told KRDO13 on Friday that between seven and 20 years were on the table for Trujillo’s sentence. Roxanne Coca said her family wanted 20 years in prison, which is what Trujillo was sentenced to.
“Dacien Salazar’s murder was not just a tragedy for his friends and family, it was a crime that shocked countless Denver residents – a shooting in broad daylight in a busy public place. Today’s sentences ensure that Antonio Vasquez and Jason Trujillo will pay a heavy price for their cold-blooded actions,” said DA John Walsh.
The School Buzz: USA Basketball coaches score big with students at Widefield D-3
Josh Helmuth
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Some students in Widefield D-3 got a basketball lesson this week from the organization behind Team USA.
Students at Webster Elementary got a visit from USA Basketball coaches for an in-school clinic: warmups, drills, dribbling, passing, shooting, footwork — the whole bit. The clinic was meant to help keep kids moving, have fun and maybe fall in love with the sport.
“We go to schools, rec centers, community centers, and just try to bring the sport of basketball to some new audiences and really prioritize fun,” said Andrea Travelstead with USA Basketball.
Before the day was over, every student walked away with a USA Basketball shirt as well.
Is there someone or something remarkable at your school? Email us! SchoolBuzz@KRDO.com.