Category: krdo-local-news

Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center is inviting the public to its free “Día de Muertos Celebration,” celebrating deceased relatives with a community Offrenda, live music, sugar skull-making classes and more.

The community event is on November 1 and 2 (Sunday and Monday), the same days the holiday is observed in Mexico.

On Monday morning on Good Morning Colorado, Bemis School of Art assistant Director Jeremiah Houck is showing KRDO13’s Bradley Davis how to make and decorate sugar skulls. It’s one of the most popular Day of the Dead traditions.

The Bemis Art School is part of the Fine Arts Center. The school and its volunteers are making a thousand sugar skulls and 150 pounds of frosting to give away November 1 and 2.

Local artist Cal Duran is creating the massive community Ofrenda. Participants will be able to add their offerings to the piece.

The Bemis Art School is also hosting two Día de Muertos classes this weekend. In Saturday’s class, participants will learn to create their own Marigold Garlands. Saturday’s class is $30, while Sunday’s is $7. You can find more details here.

While the Día de Muertos Celebration is free, the Fine Arts Center asks guests to submit an RSVP so it can get a head count.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Driving in part of the Pleasant Valley neighborhood will be a little less pleasant until mid-spring because of a major intersection closure.

The city is replacing the 71-year-old bridge at the intersection of 31st and Water Streets, over Camp Creek and just south of Garden of the Gods.

Officials closed the intersection late Monday morning, upsetting some neighbors and drivers who wondered why they couldn’t get through when no work appeared to be happening.

Drivers can expect construction to be active during weekdays and occasionally on Saturdays, and there will be temporary pedestrian crossings established around the intersection.

Officials say that the bridge has become structurally deficient and has passed its expected service life; the new bridge is designed to improve the capacity and efficiency of drainage in the creek.

The project includes upgrades to both streets, drainage, utility lines, sidewalks, curbs, ramps, and crosswalks.

Construction will change the routine at Howbert Elementary School, a half-block south of the intersection.

“They’re going to be using our parking lot as the thoroughfare, for especially school drop-off and pickup,” says teacher Becki Dickey. “We’re going to make it work, but it doesn’t feel like it’ll be the safest for kids. It’s not comfortable. And this whole neighborhood is going to be really impacted by a road closure like that for who knows how long.”

The school is on fall break this week.

Two other projects along 31st Street are part of a larger plan to improve drainage there.

This summer, crews built a new pedestrian bridge in front of the school; irt replaces an older bridge that was removed after being damaged by a vehicle crash in 2024.

Next spring, crews will begin building a roundabout at the busy intersection of 31st and Fontanero Streets; the project is scheduled for completion that fall.

While many neighbors support the roundabout, they worry about pedestrian safety there with kids walking to and from the school nearby.

“Our concerns at this point may have to do with continuity of government and how they are proceeding with previously completed plans,” says Chuck Whalen, a member of the Pleasant Valley Neighborhood Association. “Have new plans been redone, not using all plans? It seems like a big waste of taxpayer funds here if designs have been duplicated.”

Whalen says that the association plans to meet with city planners next month to further discuss the best roundabout design; the assiciation previously created a design that would widen the creek channel to make room for bike lanes.

The city formulated the Camp Creek Drainage Improvement Program in 2013, a year after damage from the Walso Canyon Fire caused more frequent, heavier creek flows.

Work on the program started in 2016 with the creation of two stormwater retention and sedimentation ponds to reduce downstream flooding and erosion, and with stabilizing the channel.

For more information, visit: ColoradoSprings.gov/31stProjects.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Investigators with the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) are still searching for the cause of a two-alarm fire that damaged two buildings on Platte Avenue near the Black Sheep.

“Once we were here, we saw a very heavy fire coming from the roof of one of the buildings behind me and smoke coming from the front of it. We were able to get into the building, but we quickly saw that the roof was collapsing on the initial building that was on fire, so we moved all of our firefighters outside of the building,” Ashley Franco, spokesperson for CSFD, said.

Franco says the two buildings that were impacted were abandoned and had no one inside at the time of the fire.

The two buildings were in the same block of Platte Avenue and the Black Sheep music venue. The Black Sheep building was not impacted by the fire; however, the incident caused the venue to cancel the performance scheduled for Sunday night.

The Black Sheep posted this statement after the fire:

“Due to a fire on our block today and ongoing road closures, we are forced to postpone Mia Asano’s show tonight. We are so thankful that no one was injured and the Sheep is intact and should be up and running normally in time for our next show. We are working on a reschedule date with Mia and all ticket purchasers will be notified of the new show date ASAP.”

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – A crowd gathered for a ‘No Kings’ event in Downtown Colorado Springs on Saturday. This time, the tenor was different from past ‘No Kings’ gatherings.

Organizers with No Kings Colorado Springs told KRDO13 that Saturday was a get-out-the-vote event. In addition to public speakers, volunteers were out gathering signatures for petitions. One petition in particular was in support of a data center moratorium.

KRDO13 caught up with one woman who was gathering signatures who spoke about why events like this are so important.

“The importance of being able to use our voice and that it can be heard, but we just need to know in what ways we can use it. So whether that’s voting or signing petitions, you know, just like knowing. About what’s going on in our community, it’s really important,” Angela Alvarado said.

While speakers took center stage in front of City Hall, performers took the stage playing music in neighboring Acacia Park.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — From dismay to delight.

That’s the range of emotions recently experienced by Rich Jenkins, the Las Vegas Street homeowner featured in reports by KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior regarding a buildup of sewer gas in his home.

Jenkins said that the gas hasn’t returned since the city and Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) took measures to determine where the gas was coming from and how to stop the buildup.

The final preventive steps, he explained, were to replace his garbage disposal and for the city to install a filter as an extra seal against sewer gas.

Jenkins said that, after sending more than 20 letters to city and utility officials expressing frustration with the initial response, he wrote to them again to thank them for their “support, perseverance and tenacity.”

“I think (what made the difference) was 100% getting you involved,” he told The Road Warrior. “But I think it was the second email that I sent out, basically as a full-on demand, that I needed this to be taken care of. I understand that issues involving underground infrastructure and wastewater systems can be complicated, and I greatly appreciate the effort that went into identifying and addressing the problem.”

Jenkins was especially concerned about two elderly relatives who live with him, being exposed to the sewer gas.

“It was coming from every drain in the house,” he recalled. “We had fans in every window trying to blow it outside. We had to wash our clothes to get rid of the smell. It was terrible.”

So why didn’t Jenkins and his family simply move to a hotel or other temporary housing during the ordeal?

“I didn’t know how long I’d be out, or if I could afford it,” he replied. “I didn’t think of checking to see if insurance would cover something like that. And I didn’t think it was my responsibility to leave home.”

As reported previously, CSU determined that the increase in sewer gas coincided with increasing pressure to a bypass line as part of upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant just a few blocks east of Jenkins’ house.

He also paid to have a new vent installed on his roof.

Jenkins is the only homeowner in his neighborhood who has reported having a sewer gas problerm.

“But it happened last weekend at one of the businesses where I work in Motor City,” he revealed. “I don’t know the details of it.”

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — The latest in a series of weekend intersection closures in the ongoing South Academy Boulevard improvements project started on Thursday.

Jet Wing Drive is closed at the Academy intersection until 5 p.m. Saturday; the closure was originally scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., but didn’t begin until 11 a.m.

The closure allows city and Colorado Springs Utilities crews to inspect a sewer pipe installed in the 1970s.

Occasional intersection closures are part of the project strategy; city planners want to avoid the negative impacts of earlier similar improvements on the north segment of South Academy by advancing in smaller phases.

Since gearing up at the beginning of the year, crews have made gradual progress northward, past the major intersections of Hancock Expressway and Astrozon Boulevard, and are now on the Sand Creek bridge, just south of the Chelton Road intersection.

Eventually, construction will stretch to the Fountain Boulevard intersection.

The city is upgrading infrastructure along South Academy for the first time since it was built in 1969 by improving safety, traffic flow, drainage, and pedestrian access.

Officials expect to complete work on the three-mile project by the end of 2028.

Detours during the Jet Wing Drive closure:

North detour: From South Academy Boulevard, turn east on Hancock Expressway, then south on Jet Wing Drive. South detour: Take Boychuk Avenue north to Hancock Expressway, then go east to Jet Wing Drive. Drivers on South Academy Boulevard can also turn east on Hancock Expressway, then south on Jet Wing Drive. Click here to follow the original article.

Bradley Davis

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – It’s not a haunted house, but employees at the Pueblo Heritage Museum certainly think the building is haunted.

Gail Conners with “In the Shadows Paranormal” agrees. She uses everyday tools like electromagnetic field meters (EMF) to find objects with unexplained energy.

The Pueblo Heritage Museum has thousands of old historical artifacts that are very educational and can be very spooky after dark.

Just a few months ago, Conners and Executive Director John Wendt started investigating an old hearse in their back storage closet. After researching the nameplate and running down leads, the museum discovered that the hearse is from the late 19th Century and was created by master craftsman Ignaz Nisslmüller in Austria. It is now a part of the Haunted Heritage tour, and Conners says it gives off lots of supernatural energy.

The last Haunted Heritage tour is on Saturday at 6 p.m. The museum fundraiser in partnership with Conners is $35 per person. You can find more details here.

Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival (RMWFF) starts Friday, October 16, at Colorado College.

It’s year 39 for the RMWFF, bringing the top talent from women across the country to Colorado Springs this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Executive Director Nicole Nicoletta said it had over 400 submissions this year. The board whittled it down to their 42 top choices, which will be on display this weekend.

The opening night film are “Are We Still Married?”, a short vampire film, and “Reggae Girlz”, a documentary about the World Cup qualifying Jamacian women’s national team.

Tickets range from $25 to $200 depending on what day, time and how many films. Nicoletta said around 15 of the entered film directors will be at the festival. You can find a full schedule here.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A 46-year-old bridge near a popular recreational trail is about to receive maintenance work that is scheduled to continue through mid-December.

Officially, the project on Union Boulevard over Cottonwood Creek — between Woodland Hills Drive and Deliverance Drive — was to begin on Wednesday, but rain could delay the start until later in the week or early next week.

Bridge repair work is rarely convenient for drivers, but the bridge carries six lanes of traffic, and crews need to perform routine bridge maintenance and repair and improve nearby fencing.

Drivers can expect temporary lane closures as crews will close one outside lane at a time while doing the work.

Officials ask drivers to slow down, watch for crews and equipment, and allow extra travel time; construction schedules depend on weather and may change.

The bridge is also near the Cottonwood Creek Trail, and officials said there may be brief closures or delays there during the project.

Flaggers will help guide trail users through the area when needed.

A common concern expressed to KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior while visiting the area on Tuesday was that Union cuts through the trail — leaving users to cross the Woodland Hills intersection, or jaywalk over the center median, to reach the opposite side.

“I wish they would build a tunnel or an underpass for the trail,” said cyclist Lisa Craig. “It’s not safe as it is.”

Trail users explained that the Woodland Hills intersection on the north end of the bridge has constant daytime traffic to and from nearby apartment complexes, as well as the normally heavy through traffic on Union.

“It’s kinda problematic trying to get across on your bike,” said cyclist John Graaff. “Drivers are speeding or running red lights. The bridge is at the bottom of two hills.”

The bridge maintenance will cost nearly $280,000.

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Rob Namnoum

Florence High School was our week two winner of the Friday Night Blitz Spirit Award. This week the Huskies cheer squad received the South Colorado Motors Friday Night Blitz Spirit Award plaque.

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