Category: krdo-local-news

Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Preparations are underway for Pikes Peak Pride. The festival celebrating the LGBTQ community kicks off this Saturday for a weekend full of performances, a parade, but also added security.

Organizers of Pikes Peak Pride say that since there have been so many protests and some heightened energy levels downtown, they want to make sure all Pride participants are safe. While they say they can’t watch over each and every person, they make sure to prepare security levels to match the crowds they anticipate will attend.

“Safety is always our number one concern. We work for a year planning this event every year. We start again in August. And, so, you know, we’re always thinking about how do we keep our guests safe. How do we make sure that we have the best experience?” explained Justin Burns, vice president of Pikes Peak Pride.

They say this weekend they’ll have more security than they have had in years past. 

“Our sponsorship dollars are actually up this year. And we think that’s attributable to our community here, the resilience and that the community here actually needs this,” said Justin Burns, vice president of Pikes Peak Pride.

As a rainbow parade makes its way from America the Beautiful Park to Alamo Square Park, participants will stand out and say they want to be seen and heard.

A map of the parade route from Pikes Peak Pride.

However, this year there will be no rainbow crosswalk; the city points to ADA regulations as the reason.

“Due to accessibility and safety concerns, the City is not allowing crosswalks to be modified for any events. The City is providing outdoor space at the Pioneers Museum, where Pride is being held, for decoration by event organizers.”

-A spokesperson for the City of Colorado Springs

The Mayor released the following statement on the Pride event.

“This will be the third time Mayor Yemi has spoken and participated at Pikes Peak Pride, and it was the first major event he participated in after being sworn in during 2023. Mayor Yemi believes it is critical for him to be a mayor for all residents, and in creating a safe and welcoming city for everyone. This festival is a celebration of community and acceptance for many Colorado Springs residents, and it is a testament to the strength of our city.”

-Mayor Yemi Mobolade

City Council President Lynette Crow Iverson chose not to issue a Pride Week proclamation, saying their role is not to engage in identity-based political gestures.

“City Council Leadership has chosen not to issue a formal proclamation for Pride Month this year. As a non-partisan legislative body, we believe our role is not to engage in identity-based or political gestures, but to focus on governance that benefits all residents.

We want to be clear: we welcome everyone to Colorado Springs. We support the rights of every individual to live safely, freely, and with dignity. We extend our best wishes for a safe, respectful, and successful event, and we remain committed to ensuring our city is a place where all people feel valued and secure.

Our decision is rooted in a desire to avoid divisive or performative politics. Instead, we aim to serve every citizen equally, without favor or pandering, and focus on the issues that unite us—such as public safety, infrastructure, economic vitality, and quality of life.”

-Council President Lynette Crow-Iverson

“We do feel the love from the city,” said Burns. “But it is disheartening that the new leadership is not willing to proclaim Pike’s Peak Pride Week.”

Organizers encourage everyone to come out and celebrate this weekend.

“It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be amazing. The parade is huge. We’ve got more floats. We’ve got like two semis and everyone is super excited. The new route is going to be great and we’ve got more vendors than we’ve had any time. So we’ve got 25 food vendors, 180 I think local vendors and two days full of entertainment on the mainstage. So come out, celebrate. It’s going to be a blast and we’re so excited to see you,” invited Burns.

Click here to follow the original article.

Bradley Davis

CASCADE, Colo. (KRDO) – An International Hill Climb racer took KRDO13’s Bradley Davis on a test run ahead of the second-oldest auto race in North America on June 22.

Fred Veitch is a Colorado Springs native competing in his final Hill Climb race this year. He said it’s an experience he never gets tired of and hopes people in Southern Colorado will share his enthusiasm.

“Ironically, the closest we get to Colorado Springs, it seems like people aren’t as aware of this race.”

The Hill Climb attracts a global audience. Racers from overseas send their cars and parts on boats months in advance to compete.

Veitch took Davis up in his Porsche GT3rs for a test run while he prepares for the race. The two drove the middle and a small part of the upper sections, climbing over 1,000 feet to just over 12,500 feet.

Click here to follow the original article.

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — With all of the road-related construction in Colorado Springs, we often see erosion control bags used by crews to prevent sediment from washing away and clogging storm drains and ditches.

However, those same bags may have increased street flooding during our recent rainy weather.

KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior spoke with several residents on East Cheyenne Road, several blocks north of Lake Avenue, on the city’s south side, about the problem.

One neighbor, Trish Sanders, said that the bags were placed around storm drains at several intersections along Cheyenne by a crew performing concrete work in preparation for future street repaving — but after the crews finished and moved farther north along Cheyenne, the bags were left behind.

The bags, combined with the flatness of the area, likely blocked stormwater drainage — causing it to back up in the street, on sidewalks, and even into the yards of nearby homes.

“I’ve tried to contact several different people, and I’ve gotten no response from anybody until I found you,” Sanders said. “Something just has to be done because this whole street shouldn’t have to be flooding. It causes issues in the traffic and accidents also.”

The Road Warrior found the bags around drains at several intersections between Florence Avenue and Lake Avenue.

While interviewing Sanders on Tuesday, a man identifying himself as an inspector for the contractor of the concrete work approached to explain the situation.

“The contractor isn’t quite finished here,” he said. “He’s still working on some punchlist items. He knows (the bags) are still here. They’ll be removed soon.”

Neighbors hope that “soon” means before the next rainstorm produces more flooding and creates another mess for them to clean up.

“It would make me feel better if I knew that was really going to happen,” Sanders replied. “Nobody contacted me or gave me information until they saw you here.”

Other neighbors, though, said that drainage has long been an issue in the neighborhood.

“I’d like to see more drains, better drainage,” said Nora Ricks, a lifelong resident in the neighborhood. “I don’t know how they can mitigate the problem with the sand that’s around here. But it’s not any better, even after previous improvements.”

As concrete work continues on Cheyenne, The Road Warrior hasn’t heard of similar issues.

Click here to follow the original article.

Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The second day of trial wrapped just before 4 p.m. Tuesday for the man accused of randomly stabbing two different people in downtown Colorado Springs.

Tommy Lavery faces three counts of attempted murder for the stabbings, which were at the center of a May KRDO13 special report, Stabbed at Random.

Today, his alleged victims took the stand.

The first stabbing took place exactly a year ago yesterday, June 9, 2024, right outside of Gasoline Alley, a popular bar in downtown Colorado Springs.

Today, Stephen Waun, the victim in that stabbing, told the court he was in the bar drinking and had stepped outside with a friend when a man ran up and stabbed him in his side. His friend who was outside with him, testified that he heard the suspect say something along the lines of, “f*** you b***,” when he ran up and stabbed his friend. Waun explained to the court that immediately after being stabbed, he felt his side burning. The pain grew exponentially after that, Waun told the court.

Waun says he’d never met the man before and that the stabbing came completely out of the blue.

It’s the same thing that David Brookins said happened to him, only 11 days later, while he was downtown with a group of friends, waiting for a light to change at Cimarron and Tejon.  

Brookins told the court that that night, he and three friends went for pizza downtown and made their way over to the Shrunken Head Tiki Bar and Rabbit Hole, two downtown bars.

One of the friends who was with him that night was Charles Stocker, who shared his testimony to the court on Tuesday.

Stocker explained that after the group had their food and drinks, they were walking back to their car toward the south end of Tejon Street when he heard someone behind them ask if they had a cigarette.

But when he turned around to respond, Stocker said he saw someone making a thrusting motion toward him. Startled, he said he then stumbled backward into the intersection, yelling, “He’s got a knife!”

The alleged stabbing attempt is part of why Lavery is facing three counts of attempted murder.

Brookins told the court he did not hear any question, nor did he turn around. Instead, he said he felt like he’d been shoved, and he took a few steps forward.

Brookins told the court it felt like he’d been hit on his lower back, so he reached back to touch the area, and it was wet. When he brought his hand forward, he told the court it was covered in blood.

Brookins’ roommate testified that he helped Brookins across the street and had him lie down so he could apply pressure to the wound.

Security camera footage gathered by a Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) detective, shown in court, shows the group of four walking southbound on Tejon. In the video, a person can be seen leisurely strolling a few paces behind the group.

In the courtroom, jurors were shown scars and pictures of two different stab wounds. Waun stood up and lifted his shirt during the trial to show the jury the scar left behind from his stab wound, along with the scarring on his stomach from surgery following the attack.

Both Waun’s and Brookins’ shirts, worn the nights of their respective incidents, were also shown to the jury as evidence, with both displaying a hole where they reported being stabbed.

David Brookins lost his kidney in the attack and nearly died. His doctor, who performed emergency surgery, testified in the trial that a large portion of Brookins’ kidney was lacerated and explained that he was bleeding internally and needed two units of blood.

KRDO13 spoke with his mother about what it was like enduring the trial on Tuesday and seeing security camera footage from the incident.

“The moment before something happened, you know, they’re whole – not missing a kidney, you know, they’re fine. And then, it’s like in two seconds, he’ll be changed forever. [It was] very hard to watch,” explained Tina Brookins.

Brookins said it was difficult to watch her son take the stand, as they’ve been coping with the trauma of the incident for the past year.

“You just want to protect your kids, you know? Especially when you have a suspect that your child had an encounter with, you become very protective,” Brookins said. “You wish your kid wouldn’t have to do it, but if it’s necessary. We want to make this a safer place, but it’s heartbreaking. I wish you wouldn’t have to. It’s like it brings everything up now. You’re trying every day to kind of push it away a little bit and continue living, but this has to be done.”

She tells KRDO13 she hopes justice is served.

KRDO13 was not allowed to record in the courtroom, but Lavery had clean-cut hair and a shorter beard and seemed stiff and tense during the trial. He seemed remorseful when Brookins explained his injuries. During other testimonies, Lavery kept a straight face.

We asked the defense for an interview, and they declined to comment. 

Lavery will be back in court on Wednesday. 

Click here to follow the original article.

Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) says that they used chemical irritants on a woman after she allegedly tried to evade police, and later refused to follow officer demands.

According to police, they received a call from someone around 10:12 a.m. on Tuesday. The caller said there was a woman in the area of the 2500 block of Airport Road who was screaming and acting erratically.

Police say they found the woman in her car two separate times, but she continued to drive away from officers.

Officers say they later located her in the parking lot of Prospect Lake. However, at that point, police say the woman refused to get out of her car. After more than an hour, police say they put chemical irritants in her car. The suspect, 54-year-old Kimberly Nicholson, finally got out of the car.

Police say Nicholson was taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Her charges include felony vehicular eluding, reckless driving, obstruction, and resisting arrest.

Click here to follow the original article.

Celeste Springer

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The Manitou Springs Fire Department says that residents can expect to see smoke on Tuesday, June 10.

According to the department, they’ll be conducting wildland training exercises in Deer Valley Park from 6 to 9 p.m.

The fire department says the exercise is part of their wildfire response readiness program.

Officials say for non-emergency questions, contact the Manitou Springs Fire Department at 719-685-1444 or El Paso County Dispatch at 719-390-5555. In the event of an emergency,call 911.

Click here to follow the original article.

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — While the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is responsible for repaving the six-mile stretch of South Nevada Avenue between Brookside Street and Fort Carson’s main gate, the city is responsible for the block north of Nevada to Motor Way.

The city will repave that block to coincide with CDOT’s project; the city’s work began overnight on Monday and will continue overnight on Tuesday.

It appears that the first night’s work milled, or scraped off, several inches of old pavement with actual repaving to occur Tuesday night.

Crews also temporarily restriped lane markings on the milled pavement to guide drivers in the narrow, six-lane corridor.

Several blocks north of the Motor Way, to Interstate 25, is concrete pavement with several potholes and cracks; KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior is checking on who has responsibility for patching there.

The city is also finishing up a yearlong corridor safety project on Nevada and Tejon streets between I-25 and Brookside.

As CDOT’s paving continues, it is also performing concrete work to repair or rebuild ramps, sidewalks, curbs, medians, and guardrails; a particularly large sidewalk project is at the northbound Nevada off-ramp to Southgate Road.

Some of the agency’s paving will continue inside Fort Carson’s main gate.

“We are doing the intersection at Gate One,” said Patti Henschen, a CDOT engineer. “We’re going about 300 feet into the intersection. We’re not going onto Fort Carson. Fort Carson has their own paving operation going on. We are doing the off- and on-ramps of Nelson Boulevard. That’s Gate One.”

CDOT plans to finish the $10.4 million project this fall.

Click here to follow the original article.

Bradley Davis

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) – Outdoor Adventures and 30 vendors will host the first free public Woodland Park Outdoor Fest this Friday, starting at 4 p.m.

There will be live music, country line dancing, interactive exhibits with Polaris and Jeeps, campfire cooking and more.

Tune in to Good Morning Colorado to see KRDO13’s Bradley Davis cook some tasty camping fixings with some of the participants around the campfire.

Click here to follow the original article.

Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Most people would welcome faster internet… but at what cost?

Fiber-optic internet installations are underway in several northern Colorado Springs neighborhoods, and residents tell KRDO13 they have mixed feelings about it.

Fiber Project Map, Courtesy: Colorado Springs Utilities

Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) says they’ll spend the next few months working in the areas shown on the map above before moving on to the next areas, which include the area south of Fillmore Street, west of I-25, north of Bear Creek Park, and west extending to the city limits.

The utility says the speed, reliability, and security of this new fiber network will help them more efficiently manage and deliver utility services. CSU will also be leasing the fiber infrastructure to Ting Internet for internet services.

After receiving multiple calls and emails about this ongoing work, KRDO13 went out to neighbors in those areas to see what they think about the construction.

Some of the complaints neighbors shared included blocked-off sidewalks, loud noises that make their dogs bark, and large equipment parked right in front of their homes.

But it’s not all bad news — some see the utilities update as a positive.

“I think that having a long-term view is very important, especially at a local level,” neighbor Rebackah Zdor said. “I think if people can see the bigger picture of how this is going to benefit our community, it’s really important — even if that means some short-term pain.”

Zdor said the construction happening feet from her house hasn’t been a huge inconvenience for her family.

“I will say my two-year-old son loves seeing all the big trucks around, so that’s been a small positive when we go for walks,” she shared.

If you have complaints about the ongoing construction impacting your neighborhood, you can report them by calling CSU’s customer service line at (719) 448-4800. You can report landscape damage caused by the construction here.

Click here to follow the original article.

Celeste Springer

UPDATE: The Cimarron Hills Fire Department said the scene is clear; the fire was a false alarm.

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The Cimarron Hills Fire Department (CHFD) says they are responding to calls about a possible structure fire in the 7100 block of White Mountain Drive.

Officials ask that residents nearby use caution and keep an eye out for emergency responders.

Details are limited at this time, but this article may be updated.

Click here to follow the original article.