Category: krdo-local-news

Celeste Springer

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KRDO) — Trump officially signed the bill to release Epstein files on Nov.19. This comes after both the House and the Senate voted yes on the bill ordering the release of the Justice Department’s files on sex offender Epstein on Tuesday, Nov. 18, according to ABC News.

Epstein reportedly had ties across the political spectrum to both Democrats and Republicans, fueling calls across the nation for the release of the files.

The House vote passed with an overwhelming majority, 427-1, according to ABC News. Louisiana GOP Representative Clay Higgins was the only House lawmaker to vote against the measure.

Just hours later, it similarly passed in the Senate, with no one objecting.

Colorado Representative Jeff Crank released the following statement to KRDO13:

“I have consistently supported transparency and accountability regarding the business dealings, investigation, and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein,” said Rep. Crank. “The American people deserve transparency into Epstein’s crimes, and I support the release of all documents that shed light on what occurred while protecting the identity of the victims. I am also continuing to support the House Oversight Committee’s thorough investigation into this matter which has so far released over 60,000 pages of additional documents.”

The bill then headed to President Donald Trump for his signature.

However, reporting from ABC News indicates that Trump did not need to wait for Congress to act. He could order the release immediately.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Crews are three months into a $12.7 million project to eventually close a railroad crossing at the intersection of Las Vegas and Royer streets and replace it with an access road and a new crossing.

KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior first reported on the plan in late August.

Crews are building a new road — to be called Twin Bridges Road — under the MLK Bypass that will connect Las Vegas to the existing traffic signals on Hancock Expressway at their nearest point, believed to be less than 1,000 feet.

The new train crossing will be installed on that road and will accommodate vehicles and pedestrians.

Signals at the Hancock intersection, which is near the Leon Young Service Center for Colorado Springs Utilities, will be upgraded to fit the new traffic configuration.

The Las Vegas/Royer crossing will close after construction of the new road and crossing is finished, and Royer above the crossing will become a cul-de-sac.

Officials are closing the crossing for safety reasons; it’s on a hill that occasionally causes trucks, trailers, and other vehicles to become “low-centered” and stuck.

There have been 25 non-fatal train/vehicle crashes at the crossing since 1975, officials said.

Eric Wyatt owns several businesses along Las Vegas near the existing crossing.

“Yeah, I like it,” he said. “I mean, it’s needed. They were gonna have to do two different types of ways if they wanted to keep going through here. Raise the whole road — which then would mess up everybody else around on that side.”

Wyatt said that the city considered acquiring his property when he first learned of the plan ten years ago.

“They were moving that direction because they didn’t want to spend the money it was going to cost to go down the road and do what they’re doing now,” he explained. But for me, being here so long and owning this around here, that’s the right move.”

Drivers will likely consider the new crossing a long detour from the existing crossing, but the new Hancock intersection will provide close access to major streets such as Union Boulevard and Circle Drive.

The project is scheduled for completion next fall and is funded by sales tax revenue from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority.

According to officials, the tracks in that area are owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, but are operated by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

El Paso County, the Colorado Department of Transportation, and the Fountain Valley Mutual Irrigation Company are stakeholders in the project.

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Rob Namnoum

Top prep playoff performances for the week of November 14th.

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Bradley Davis

MONUMENT, Colo. (KRDO) – Ready to get inspired before decking out your home with holiday decor?

Organizers are gearing up for the fifth-annual Holiday Home Tour for the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club. The organization said the ticket revenue goes to its grant fund, and the grants support various organizations in the Tri-Lakes region. Last year, the club said it raised over $24,000 through the home tour fundraiser.

Event goers will be able to tour five festive homes, specially decorated from top to bottom in different holiday season styles.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to have lots and lots of people come in Friday and Saturday, see the beautiful decor, but also give money to a great, great cause,” said participating homeowner and local interior designer, Bethany Palmer.

Palmer said she and her employees have spent hundreds of hours decorating one of the homes.

“I totally have callouses on the side of my fingers,” Palmer said.

The home tour is this Friday, Nov. 21, and Saturday, Nov. 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are five homes in the Tri-Lakes area professionally decorated with Christmas decor. Tickets are $30. The tour starts at the Woodmoor Barn Community Center. Participants can buy tickets online ahead of time or at the barn.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Many viewers have asked why work hasn’t continued this year on the project to improve two miles of South Academy Boulevard between Fountain Boulevard and Jet Wing Drive.

Preliminary construction began early last year and was initially delayed until this fall, but officials last week announced that work will continue on an unspecified date early next year.

The city also revealed that the project will not be completed until summer 2028 — two years later than originally scheduled.

Officials stated that they planned to hold an open house in September to inform and educate the community — comprising residents, merchants, and drivers — about the project’s impact.

The goal, they explained, is to avoid the significant impacts that accompanied the 2023-2024 northern phase of the Academy upgrades between Bijou Street and Airport Road.

Drivers often complained about traffic being frequently reduced to one lane in each direction, about temporary closures of Airport Road at the Academy intersection, and about construction discouraging customers from stopping at local businesses.

When the city’s longer Academy project resumes, officials said that they will try to minimize impacts by doing the work gradually — in four segments over the next two years — instead of in larger segments, as they did at the project’s northern end.

“It’s going to be a $44 million investment that’s going to be providing smoother roads, enhancing safety, providing better drainage, improving pedestrian access, and upgrading utilities through a partnership with Colorado Springs Utilities,” said Gayle Sturdivant, the city’s deputy public works director.

KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior previously reported that groundwater issues plagued both ends of the project, but particularly the south end; the infrastructure dates back to the 1950s and 1960s.

Business owners along the south end of the project said they’re aware of how impactful the project was on the north end, and are uneasy about what may happen this time — even with the city’s commitment to lessen the construction effects.

“I think it’s going to be a little bit worse because it’ll be winter soon,” said Sol Lopez, co-owner and manager of the 2 Luchos restaurant. “So, people take more precautions on where to drive and how to drive now. So, like a lot of traffic, the snow’s coming. It’s going to affect us in both directions.”

For more information about the project, visit: https://coloradosprings.gov/AcademyBlvdImprovements.

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Marina Garcia

Colorado Springs, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Springs Fire Department was dispatched Sunday morning to the eastern part of Colorado Springs for a two-alarm fire.

At 1:34 in the morning, about 50 people evacuated from their apartment at Montecito Apartments on North Murray Boulevard after a fire broke out on the second floor.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department says two people were sent to the hospital in critical condition.

I spoke to a resident in the building who lives on the first floor and is now taking shelter at Zeal Church, set up by the Red Cross.

“I just heard glass start breaking. So I thought maybe there was some kind of domestic situation or something. So I looked down the hall, and that’s when I saw people yelling to get out of the building because the building was on fire. So then I was trying to get my cat, and yeah, everything happened very quickly,” says Gerald Milbrodt, an evacuee from the apartment complex.

If you are in need of food or a place to sleep, the Red Cross says the size of the incident will require their services for a few days.

“When we have a report that there could be at least 50 people involved in the evacuation, then we estimate that we’re going to need multiple people for multiple days,” says Richard Garcia, American Red Cross shelter manager. “Right now, we’re planning to be in our shelter…until maybe Wednesday morning.”

First responders say there doesn’t appear to be any foul play. However, it’s very early on, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The temperatures outside might not remind you of Christmas, but the lights already put up in the downtown area will. But the lights up in trees around the Pioneers Museum serve as more than a means to dazzle those driving by on Tejon Street.

This weekend, families who have lost loved ones gathered for the Trees of Life ceremony outside the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.

It’s a tradition that’s been lighting up the city with memories of those gone, but not forgotten, for 41 years.

“Holidays can be really tough for people, especially when they’re grieving the loss of someone in their life, and so realizing that they’re not alone, bringing them out together so people don’t feel isolated, I think it’s really important for people to know that they’re not alone,” said Dawn Darvalics with Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care.

At the event on Saturday, the names of loved ones lost were read aloud before the lighting of the trees. Pikes Peak Hospice, the host of the event, says the lights represent the memory of those who have touched our lives and are no longer with us.

People can participate by purchasing a light or ornament in the name of a loved one. There are also special red, white, and blue trees to pay tribute to our military and first responders who’ve passed away.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – If your morning work commute takes you down North Nevada Avenue, then you might want to start your drive a little earlier.

Map from CSU.

Sunday afternoon, Colorado Springs Utilities announced that the southbound lane of this stretch of road will be closed until the mid-morning hours of Monday.

The closure starts on Dublin Blvd and continues as the roadway turns into N Nevada Ave.

The road is closed so crews can work on repairing a damaged wastewater line.

Safety personnel and cones will be out around the utilities crews slowing traffic and making sure drivers are aware of the ongoing construction.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Students at Monument Academy High School set sail this weekend for a high-seas adventure in physics.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE – Sink or swim: high school physics class racing in cardboard boats to test their knowledge

Okay, maybe it wasn’t the actual seas, rather a swimming pool, but the closest ocean is a little more than 1,200 miles away.

The goal was to see if students’ cardboard creations could withstand the waves.

Physics teacher Esme Wilhelm designed this competition for students to test their understanding of buoyancy, displacement, and the center of mass.

Students tell KRDO13 they had to do a lot of math to make sure they didn’t win the dreaded Titanic Award, which goes out to the group that sinks the most dramatically.

Taking home the Titanic Award are Josh Deniston and Kainoa Smith. Their boat was in lane one. It was not a leisurely voyage for Deniston and Smith, who almost immediately met the bottom of the pool. Despite that, they didn’t give up easily, willing the boat down the pool.

The first-place prize went to the team of Annalise Verones and Grace Dunston. They were the team in orange. Their classmates got a real good look at the back of their boat as Verones and Dunston waxed the competition.

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Marina Garcia

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) –  It looks like Santa will still be coming this year after Toys for Tots, a non-profit run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, was able to set up shop in a warehouse big enough for their distribution. 

This comes after the organization almost had to cancel their giveaway this year due to not having a warehouse to work out of.

Now they have one just in time for the holidays, and Donna Smith, the Toys for Tots Assistant Coordinator, says the nine-thousand-square-foot warehouse is a shared space with U-Haul after they got permission from the landlord to sublease the back room.

Donna says it’s perfect for them to do their work, considering the last one had them feeling extremely crammed, but more importantly, it’s a space for them to continue providing new toys for kids in need.

“As a parent, it breaks the parent’s heart that they can’t give their children what they need for Christmas. So we’re not benefiting, just putting smiles on the kids’ faces Christmas morning. We’re making parents feel…like they’re not failing at being a parent. Hard times is not a failure, it’s a fact of life and it happens. And nobody should feel like a failure when they’re going through hard times,” says Smith.

But unfortunately, this warehouse is only a temporary fix.

“The end of January, we’re packing everything up and putting it in storage again, because we don’t have a facility lined up for next year,” says Smith.

Donna says they are looking for something long-term, now that Toys for Tots is a year-round program.

If you or someone you know is interested in providing a space for Toys for Tots to work out of, you can call 719-235-6815.

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