Category: krdo-local-news

Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Honor Flights of Colorado Springs will send 58 more war veterans to Washington, D.C. for free on Thursday.

The three-day trip will take 51 Vietnam Veterans, six Korean Veterans, and one WWII Veteran to different monuments and memorials honoring their service across the area.

The Vietnam Memorial carries a distinctive weight for the war veterans, bearing the names of almost 60,000 servicemen and women who died in the war. Vietnam War Veteran Harry King saw the monument for the second time during his honor flight to D.C. a few years ago.

“We had driven by the wall several times after it was built in our travels,” King said while recalling his first time seeing the wall. “I wasn’t ready to start searching the names. And then in 2017, I did a name search. I did the rubbings just like a lot of people do. A lot of the friends that I made on the trip, on the flight, they had a hard time.”

King said it was too hard for him to choose his favorite part of the trip. One memory he said stood out was the on-flight “mail call.” King said he and the other soldiers always looked forward to getting mail while away, but it was something he rarely received because of his position and remote location. He had better luck on his honor flight.

“The mail, we look forward to it, if it could ever catch up to us,” King said. “They had mail call on the plane, and I did not realize that they had solicited friends and relatives and other people that we didn’t even know for cards. When we got the cards, I couldn’t make it all the way through them because I kind of broke down, and I wasn’t the only one.”

King had a send-off just like the one the 58 war veterans will get today before their flight to the nation’s capital. It starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Colorado Springs Christian School. The public is encouraged to come out and cheer on the veterans.

Honor Flights will also host a return home ceremony at 4:30 p.m. at the school, also open to the public.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Wednesday was the first opportunity to see one of the city’s dozen new public works employees recently hired to help in the never-ending battle against pesky potholes.

KRDO 13 went to the intersection of Woodmen Road and Union Boulevard on the city’s northeast side to meet Steve, one of the new arrivals.

He was already busy working with a crew, receiving on-the-job training in pothole repair. KRDO 13 wasn’t allowed to interview him, but an official spoke on his behalf and that of other pothole workers.

“They’re on main roads in high traffic volumes,” said Clint Brown, street operations manager. This is dangerous work. “It’s not for the faint of heart. These guys are doing a great job, and I just don’t think people realize it’s more than just throwing asphalt in a hole.”

He said that in good weather, crews use hot-mix asphalt — a more extensive but longer-lasting process that includes cutting out the area around a pothole, blowing out loose debris, sealing it with a tar-like material, placing fresh asphalt into it, and rolling it flat.

That process differs from cold-mix asphalt, in which the material is placed into a pothole as a short-term fix in colder or wetter weather.

“We hope to get a few years out of it,” Brown explained, before a street or road can receive other surface treatments such as crack-sealing, chip-sealing, or repaving.

The pothole Steve worked on was beside a stretch of cracking asphalt that would eventually become a pothole from the wear and tear of traffic and freeze-thaw cycles from ice and snow.

“That’s why we’re trying to fill as many potholes now, while the weather is good,” Brown said. “When the weather is not so good, we can switch to snow removal, drainage work, or other tasks.”

What may disappoint drivers is that the new hires won’t mean faster pothole-filling.

“Really, our goal is five business days,” said Richard Mulledy, the city’s public works director. “We almost always meet that goal. The number of these folks isn’t necessarily going to make it any quicker. We’re already doing our rapid basis, but it gives us the ability to do more as people identify more. And we’re asking people to identify more.”

When Mayor Yemi Mobolade announced the new employees at his “State of the City” address a week ago, he also revealed that the city has updated its GoCOS smartphone app to make it easier for citizens to report pothole locations, fallen trees, and other issues.

The app can alert crews to issues they may be unaware of.

Some citizens were hoping that a pothole near the entrance to Fire Station 18 qualified as one such issue; they said that the pothole existed all summer and wasn’t repaired.

“I think the fire guys just put an orange cone in the middle of it, so that they could avoid it,” a viewer texted to The Road Warrior.

A contractor at the scene on Thursday explained that the pothole is on a private road and was caused by a leaking water main.

“We made (temporary) repairs and will pave over the excavated area with asphalt, later today,” he said. “We’ll finish the job after we determine who’s responsible for paying for it.”

Mulledy also addressed the question of how the city can hire new employees while it prepares to make significant budget cuts for next year.

“We looked at other functions within public works and decided to slow down some other operation,” he said. “Maybe we’re not going to do as many large capital projects next year, and we’re going to shift those resources over to the other side of the house and the maintenance to really focus on that.”

Ten of the 12 new hires are currently receiving training, Mulledy said.

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Sadie Buggle

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Colorado Springs fire crews have confirmed no one was injured after a small plane made an emergency landing on the southbound side of Powers Boulevard early Wednesday morning.

The crash landing was reported at around 4:15 a.m. on Oct. 1 on Powers Boulevard, just north of Barnes Road. According to the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD), three individuals were on board the aircraft – remarkably, none were injured in the crash.

The photo below, provided by CSFD, shows a small, damaged plane lying on the west side of Powers.

Courtesy: CSFD

The department reported that fuel was leaking from the plane, but the leak was stopped and cleaned up.

Colorado Springs police closed the right lane of southbound Powers, approaching Barnes, for several hours as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigated the crash.

Courtesy: Colorado Springs Police Department

Police confirmed that the plane took off from the Colorado Springs Airport before the crash.

In audio from LiveATC of air traffic audio, the pilot can be heard repeating, “Mayday, mayday, mayday.”

Shortly after, air traffic control is heard saying, “Yeah, I was on the phone with the police. Yeah, I had an aircraft go down.”

This audio is provided above.

The events that led to the emergency landing are currently unclear.

KRDO13 spoke with the owner of the company that owns the plane, who said he rents planes out of the airport and told us the pilot reported trouble five minutes after take-off.

“Well, it’s not every day that you see a plane crash on Powers. I’m just really glad that they were able to crash safely with nobody getting injured,” said Stephanie Winther, who stopped to look at the aftermath of the crash.

A tow truck arrived shortly after 1 p.m. to begin removing the wreckage.

The FAA says it is still investigating what went wrong to cause the plane to crash-land on such a busy road in Colorado Springs. However, the FAA notes that pilots have wide discretion during an emergency and are trained to find the safest possible landing spot.

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Celeste Springer

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) is on scene in the 1000 block of Alexander Circle.

A KRDO13 photojournalist at the scene says SWAT vehicles have been dispatched. Our photojournalist also reported seeing dogs being taken out of the home; however, he did not report seeing anyone else taken out of the home.

We have reached out to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office for more information and are waiting to hear back. Details are limited at this time, but this article may be updated.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Woodland Park-based nonprofit Voices of Grief will host a concert Saturday with vocal activist Melanie DeMore to help people with their grief journey and raise money for their support groups.

The concert starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Centennial Theater at Pikes Peak State College. Tickets are $20 a person.

Voices of Grief serves the entire Pikes Peak region. The organization hosts six and eight-week support groups to help people confront their grief through education and shared community. It costs $10 a session, but the organization said it offers scholarships for people who can’t afford it.

Voices of Grief asks people who are interested in the groups to call or email for more information. People must sign up for the groups to attend. The one-time events, like the Melanie DeMore concert, are open to all.

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Celeste Springer

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — The City of Pueblo is ending its contract with PEDCO, according to a press release sent by a city spokesperson.

PEDCO, formally known as the Pueblo Economic Development Corp, has worked to bring businesses to Pueblo through incentives and by having project-ready land available for sale. The organization is funded by taxpayer dollars as well as private membership dues, according to their website.

The city’s decision to terminate its contract comes after officials asked PEDCO to respond to their Request for Qualifications (RFQ), according to a city spokesperson.

“The termination is consistent with City Council’s recent request to send out a Request for Qualifications seeking new economic development partners.  PEDCO was founded over 40 years ago, and it’s time for the City to seek other committed partners dedicated to growing our City and helping us become the economic center of Southern Colorado,” said Mayor Heather Graham.

City Council voted 5-2 to issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to all organizations for economic development services. According to a press release, Councilors Dennis Flores and Joe Latino voted against the resolution, noting that the people of Pueblo value PEDCO.

“Obviously a surprise,” says Jeff Shaw, the President of PEDCO..

The private nonprofit has partnered with the city of Pueblo since 1985 to create new job opportunities. City officials say that the contract with PEDCO will officially end on December 31, 2025.

“See what happens after December, whether we have to look for other dollars to help market Pueblo. That’s a different conversation, you know, after December to see what happens. But it doesn’t change our operations at all. No.”

Shaw wasn’t the only one surprised by Tuesday’s PEDCO announcement.

“I was surprised…the wording of the press release kind of reflected that this was a decision made based on council’s actions, and council has had no part in that decision,” says Regina Maestri, Pueblo City Council.

In making the decision to end the PEDCO contract, Mayor Heather Graham cited this city council meeting on September 8th, where members voted to open a request for qualifications (RFQ).  

In other words, start collecting input from other groups interested in being the city’s economic development partner.

In fact, it was Councilor Regina Maestri who first proposed the idea, but she says it was not a means of expressing displeasure with PEDCO.

“Because there’s never been a comparison after 40 years. And so the, citizenry, is always concerned about are we getting what’s best for the money that we’re putting out?” says Maestri.

Councilor Maestri says the RFQ will be released in mid-October, once the language is finalized.

PEDCO says they will probably still throw their name in the hat, submitting their own RFQ.

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Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Pikes Peak State College (PPSC) says that it has allocated money to help fill the gap for military students who would lose educational funding if there were a government shutdown.

“We’re prepared to step in and provide financial support to our military students. We’ll award scholarships to service members who have their approved Tuition Assistance Requests cancelled due to a government shutdown,” said Director of Military and Veterans (MVP) Programs Paul DeCecco in a release.

If a government shutdown were to occur, officials with PPSC say that students would lose their Department of Defense Tuition Assistance funding, which the college says equates to about $20,000 of their tuition.

PPSC says they are reaching out to students ahead of time to let them know that resources will be available. They also say they have come up with different classroom locations in case locations on base become unavailable.

College officials say those who rely on Department of Defense Tuition Assistance funding would be impacted by a shutdown, but note that those on VA Education benefits should not be.

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Scott Harrison

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — In the past few weeks, KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior has heard from several viewers unhappy about what they describe as “terrible” roads long overdue for repairs.

The complaints seem to focus on the stretch of Purcell Boulevard, south of US 50, and on connecting neighborhood streets.

Neighbors said that there are too many potholes to count — or even avoid.

They also noted that it takes a long time for crews to fill the potholes, and the patches often don’t last very long.

One resident reported that he has had potholes on his street, Maher Drive, for the past year.

“I think the metro did a pretty good job,” said resident Tom Pineda. “I thought they were on it. Once they went over to the county, it seemed like it took forever to get things done.”

But some pothole issues also are prevalent on Purcell, north of US 50, on Sequoya Drive, where, instead of individual potholes, large sections of the pothole-infested road have been repaved.

Several residents said that they have complained to the Pueblo West Metro District, without realizing that, as of January 2024, Pueblo County has assumed responsibility for road maintenance in that community.

“It angers me, because no matter where you go in Pueblo West — and I go quite a few places out there — you deal with potholes,” said resident Mayme Thayer. “Some of them are just huge, some of them are smaller, but you can’t get around them because there’s another pothole in your path.”

There are mixed feelings from residents about whether road maintenance is any better or worse since the switchover.

The Road Warrior has received no response to requests for information about road conditions in Pueblo West.

A certain irony to the situation exists in that the south end of Purcell passes the west end of the new Medal of Honor Boulevard, between Pueblo Boulevard and Joe Martinez Boulevard.

The new road represents the first direct connection between Pueblo and Pueblo West, but many Pueblo West residents likely wish that some of the new asphalt could be used to fill potholes or repave roads.

As KRDO 13 reported in 2022, there have been past discussions in Pueblo West about the possibility of raising taxes or creating fees to fund road and drainage repairs, but it’s unclear whether such a tax or fee has widespread support.

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Bradley Davis

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – It’s more of a museum than a man cave, but with all the perks of the latter.

“It’s getting pretty filled up,” Broncos superfan Kevin Nunn said.

A big screen TV, a working locker room and a tricked-out Broncos golf cart that can hit 50 miles per hour. It’s the place to watch the Denver Broncos, and to admire the thousands of signed and one-of-a-kind Broncos memorabilia.

“Everyone says, ‘Are you done?’ You’re never done,” Kevin said.

Signed footballs, jerseys and playing cards. Game-worn gear, vintage orange crush player cans, and props from the stadium. Kevin and Sue Nunn work hard to fill their Broncos Firehouse with the unique.

“We don’t want stuff you can go to the store and buy. We want stuff that is authentic,” Kevin said.

“The older stuff’s fun,” Sue added.

The building used to be Pueblo Firehouse Engine 9 before the Nunn’s, both truckers, bought it from the city about 15 years ago for their semi trucks. They moved on from that idea after the purchase and set their sights on something a little more orange.

“What do we do with this building? What should we do with it? And then we decided, well, let’s just put all the Bronco stuff in there, take it out of the house, and bring it over here,” Kevin said.

If it were Disney telling Kevin and Sue’s story, they probably would have met at a Broncos game. Instead, the Broncos Firehouse didn’t get its start at Mile High, but on the side of the highway.

“Well, we actually met while I was a truck driver, and she was doing some deliveries, and I was walking home, and she picked me up,” Kevin said.

“Was your shared fandom something that you two bonded about when you first met, when she picked you up at the truck stop?” I asked the two.

“No, it was more about the trucks!” both said at the same time.

Their shared love for trucks quickly evolved into a family obsession with everything Broncos. They took KRDO13 around to do what they love most: share their collection with other fans.

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Celeste Springer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A second American Furniture Warehouse is coming to Colorado Springs, according to the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD).

The department says that permits have been issued for a location off Powers and Dublin Boulevards. PPRBD says the 345,000 square foot project will cost roughly $45 million, making the furniture superstore larger than the other existing location near I-25 and Filmore Street.

“Crews have been moving dirt and prepping the site for several weeks. Now with the permit in place they can start to build,” said a spokesperson with the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department.

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