Category: krdo-local-news

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Officials are temporarily closing two street segments on Monday because of projects to either rebuild or demolish existing bridges.

One closure will happen on Costilla Street, just east of Wahsatch Avenue, on the edge of downtown; that’s where crews will begin tearing down a 70-year-old railroad bridge.

The second closure will occur on Las Vegas Street, south of the Janitell Road intersection, under an ongoing bridge replacement project on Circle Drive.

Officials said that the Costilla closure will last through the end of January, while the Las Vegas closure will continue through next week with the possibility of weekend work.

Ryan Phipps, the city’s capital improvements manager, said that the train bridge has been inactive for several decades and is one of a handful of city bridges listed in poor condition.

“The city’s streetcar system, when Prospect Lake became a popular recreational location, there was actually a streetcar that ran along Costilla and underneath this bridge in the early 1900s,” he explained. “It was ultimately removed about the time that this bridge was constructed in the mid-1950s.”

Courtesy: Pikes Peak Library District, 1967.

Phipps said that trains, and then automobiles, traveled across the bridge, and that it was part of an extensive railroad network along the east side of downtown.

“The Catalyst Campus building (at the junction of Colorado and Pikes Peak Avenues) was a train station for it,” he said.

At the turn of this century, however, the rail lines closed, and the bridge became a location for homeless camps, illegal campfires, trash dumping, and vandalism.

“We’re demolishing the bridge for safety reasons,” Phipps said. “You have to pull it apart. This isn’t a wrecking ball-type of situation. It does require a little bit of a more strategic approach to be able to remove that fill, and then start pulling apart the pieces, basically in the opposite manner of how you would have put it together in the first place.”

He added that much of the original rail lines south of the bridge remain in place, surrounded by a security fence that trespassers have cut into several times.

“South of the bridge remains railroad property,” Phipps explained. “It’s a very slow transition. It’s a process that’s decades in the making.”

Costilla Street, east of the bridge, was the site of the annual Pikes Peak Soap Box Derby until it moved to a new location in Monument this summer.

Courtesy: Pikes Peak Library District, 1961.

Officials ask drivers to use Pikes Peak Avenue to the north and Fountain Boulevard to the south as detours around the closure.

Several businesses along Costilla east of the closure, and access to the Shooks Run Trail, remain open.

Meanwhile, officials are closing the Las Vegas Street segment so that crews can build a concrete barrier for a new bridge pier.

That segment has closed several times because of the construction of four new bridges on Circle, to replace older bridges rated in poor condition.

The city plans to hold an event later this week to announce that traffic will open on both bridges, ending a project that took two years and cost around $45 million.

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Marina Garcia

COLORADO SPRINGS, (Colo.) KRDO – The government shutdown is grounding flights in major airports just before the holidays, following mandates from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Flight Aware’s misery map shows red across the nation, including at the Denver International Airport, where over 80 flights were canceled and over 450 were delayed.

And the misery is spreading to some travelers through the Colorado Springs airport who still depend on larger airports like Denver to get around.

This is usually a time when people plan to visit family for the holiday, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says, as we get closer to Thanksgiving, there will be even less air travel.

This comes as a result of the Trump Administration helping to ease the workload of air traffic controllers brought on by staffing shortages.

We spoke to a woman who’s a frequent flier due to her job, and all the uncertainty got her thinking about other options to make sure she made it home.

“I thought about, well, man, if I can’t make it home, it was like a 22-hour drive, I believe, from Oregon back to Colorado. So I thought about driving that,” says Bernadette Florez-Madrid, a traveler.

Bernadette says she did make it to Denver from Oregon; however, United Airlines sent a text saying her flight was canceled to Colorado Springs, forcing her to take a costly taxi back home.

“Having to taxi between Denver to Colorado Springs just to get back to my vehicle. That was like, that was a pretty hefty charge. So that wasn’t the greatest,” says Bernadette Florez-Madrid, a traveler.

Air traffic controllers are also feeling the pinch and will miss their second full paycheck next week.

Now, with the potential reopening of the government, this may impact the trajectory of flight cancellations.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity went above and beyond to give back to one local veteran and his family on the weekend before Veterans’ Day.

“I mean, it’s just amazing. I walked through that house, and I was like, ‘Oh my god,’ this is home. I’m home. I finally made it. I am so blessed,” Barbara Hamilton could barely contain her excitement.

This weekend, Barbara Hamilton and Willie Bell became the sixth military family Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity has dedicated a home to.

Each Habitat homeowner purchases their house and pays an affordable mortgage.

Each house built by Habitat for Humanity takes about 3,000 hours of volunteer work to build. While this was built for a veteran, it was most likely partially built by veterans, too. The organization tells KRDO13 that they often work with veterans or soldiers getting ready to transition out to civilian life. The goal is to give them opportunities to learn trades like carpentry or electrical, skills they could use to find a job or take care of their own homes.

Habitat for Humanity says the area where Willie and Barbara currently live is unsafe—they hear gunshots, cars have been stolen from the parking lot, and Barbara says she’s afraid to even walk to her car at night. Their building also doesn’t have air conditioning, making it a health hazard because Barbara suffers from neuropathy, vertigo, and seizures that can be triggered by heat.

Willie is a veteran of the Army and first came to the Pikes Peak Region in 1988 when he was stationed at Ft Carson. Barbara didn’t serve in the military herself, but her father fought in the Vietnam War, and her brother spent nearly three decades in the armed forces.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story said the home was given away. The article has been updated to say that Saturday’s event was a home dedication and that Willie and Barbara purchased the house, paying an affordable mortgage.

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Michael Logerwell

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – Five minutes after 1:00 A.M. on November 9, the Pueblo Police Department Dispatch received a call reporting a dead body along Lakeshore Drive.

Lakeshore Drive is the road that circles Lake Minnequa in the southern part of Pueblo.

The police department says officers arrived in the area to meet with the persons who made the call reporting the dead body. They led police to the body. Detectives with the Pueblo Police Crimes Against Persons are investigating the incident.

The department says they are investigating the death as a homicide. No suspect(s) have been identified, and police are calling the homicide an isolated incident.

This marks the City’s 13th homicide of 2025. There were 17 homicides year-to-date in 2024.

The victim hasn’t been identified in public. The Pueblo County Coroner is working to determine the cause of death and notify the next of kin.

If anyone has information regarding this incident, they are encouraged to contact Detective Hector Herrera at (719) 601-7023. If you would like to remain anonymous, contact Pueblo Crime Stoppers at (719) 542-STOP (719-542-7867) or www.pueblocrimestoppers.com.

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Michael Logerwell

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) – On Saturday Morning, a little more than 30,000 Coloradans checked their Electronic Benefit Transfer account, or EBT, and were surprised to find their full November SNAP benefits deposited.

But even more Coloradans, specifically 560,000, found their SNAP accounts still empty. Colorado Governor Jared Polis says that shouldn’t be the case.

RELATED: About 5% of SNAP recipients get their full benefits in Colorado

“Nothing is preventing the Trump administration from fully funding SNAP benefits. They are simply choosing not to,” the governor said in a statement sent to KRDO13 on Sunday.

This past week has been a whirlwind for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP. At the beginning of November, no SNAP funds were sent out to the millions of Americans who rely on the program to feed themselves and their households.

Then, two federal judges ruled that SNAP benefits needed to be paid out for November, despite the ongoing government shutdown. Shortly after that, the United States Supreme Court put a complete pause on the benefit reimbursement for November.

RELATED: USDA orders states to stop issuing full SNAP benefits and to ‘undo’ benefits sent for November

Most recently, national media outlets have reported that the USDA has gone as far as to ask states to undo the benefits that were sent out.

KRDO13 asked Governor Jared Polis about the most recent news and was provided with the following statement (article continues after):

“Nothing is preventing the Trump administration from fully funding SNAP benefits. They are simply choosing not to. Following court orders last week, the state worked diligently to provide full SNAP benefits. As a result, nearly 32,000 Coloradans received full support to put food on the table before the Administration asked the Supreme Court to halt all efforts to keep children and families fed. The state has not reversed those payments as they were allowed at the time. The state is moving to provide remaining eligible Coloradans SNAP payments in alignment with the updated guidance received today from USDA, which allows benefits of up to 65%. Those Coloradans who will get the reduced benefits should begin to see those payments over the next few days. The fastest way to clean up this mess would be for the federal government to drop its court appeals.”

-Governor Jared Polis (D)

The Colorado Department of Human Services further clarified what Colorado SNAP recipients can expect in the coming days.

“Based on this new, complex guidance, partial benefits will ‘reflect the 35 percent reduction of maximum allotments’ based on household size,” a CDHS spokesperson said. If you still have specific questions, CDHS provided a link to a calculator that can help individuals figure out exactly how much they are slated to receive under these new guidelines.

With the new guidelines from the federal government, CDHS says nearly 50,000 Colorado households will receive $16 or less.

“While this situation continues to evolve, the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) and its technical partners have resumed processing under this new directive and are taking steps to issue payments onto SNAP recipients’ Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards as rapidly as possible. If current guidance stays in place, these much needed partial SNAP funds will be available to more than 500,000 Coloradans this coming week.”

“CDHS continues to monitor both the shutdown and guidance from the federal government and will issue additional information as available to ensure Coloradans are up to date on any ongoing impacts to their benefits.”

-Colorado Department of Human Services Spokesperson

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – One of the biggest military communities in the country took to the streets of Colorado Springs to honor those who served our country with the In Their Honor Veterans’ Day Parade.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Organizers hope November’s Veterans’ Day Parade will be bigger and better than ever before

In the lead-up to this weekend’s festivities, you might’ve noticed a large swath of flags planted around the downtown area. If you took the time to count, you’d find specifically 1,111 flags planted. Not only is that a reference to Veterans’ Day itself, but it was a way for individuals to sponsor the parade.

     “The day they come home is one of the best days of our lives. We don’t want them to deploy, but it’s the experience of having a loved one come home that makes the sacrifice worth it. It makes the hard times worth it,” said Andrea Roberts, a military spouse who attended the parade.

The flags will continue to wave downtown through Veterans Day on Tuesday.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – This weekend is the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps’ formation in Philadelphia, PA, and here in Colorado Springs, current and former Marines are celebrating at the Marine Corps’ Ball at Polaris Hotel.

At the celebration, KRDO13 was presented with a prestigious award, the first-ever Harry Hoth community award.

The award is meant to highlight commitment to the Southern Colorado Military Community. Specifically, the award recognizes KRDO13’s Military Family reporting, the annual Toys for Tots toy drive (which is coming up soon!), and how every Friday, KRDO13 anchors wear red to recognize those who are actively deployed.

Accepting the award on behalf of KRDO13 was Chief Meteorologist Merry Matthews.

“KRDO has long been committed to honoring and supporting a military community. Living and working in southern Colorado means we are not just reporting on military life, we’re living alongside it. From Fort Carson to Peterson and Schriever. The stories of servicemembers and their families are woven into our fabric,” Matthews said during the acceptance speech.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – This weekend, Colorado College cemented its new leadership.

After a ceremony at Richard F. Celeste Theatre, Dr. Manya Whitaker is now officially Colorado College’s 15th President.

The ceremony comes months after the board of trustees unanimously elected Dr. Whitaker in June. Most recently, Dr. Whitaker served as CC’s interim president, but that was not her first time on campus.

Dr. Whitaker has spent 14 years working on the campus, located right outside downtown Colorado Springs. She worked as a professor, the chair of the Education Department, executive vice president of the college, and more.

Dr. Whitaker holds a doctorate in developmental psychology from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree in educational psychology from Dartmouth College.

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Marina Garcia

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – Some Coloradans woke up Saturday morning to a full deposit of their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, but quickly realized they were one of the “lucky ones,” as many of their friends received nothing, as uncertainty over the program grows amid the continuing government shutdown.

The main reason for confusion is a new ruling from the Supreme Court, which allows the Trump administration to pause SNAP benefits to states, overruling an earlier, lower court order to fund it.

Only about 32,000 recipients of the program received full benefits, leaving 568,000 Coloradans without payments after the Trump Administration asked for a temporary pause.

“I know we were told to expect some kind of partial and then to be told nothing…it really kind of is gashing all your hope,” says Amber Liles, SNAP recipient.

We spoke to a mother with six mouths to feed, and she tells us she was surprised to have received the deposit on her EBT card.

“Yesterday was the day I was supposed to get it. I woke up, it wasn’t there…and then this morning, something told me to look again, and I had my full amount,” says Cayla Asuega.

Cayla, among many others we spoke to, says they quickly went to the store to buy necessities out of fear that the funds may be withdrawn.

According to Governor Polis, the state still hasn’t received guidance about what to do next.

We will continue following this developing situation.

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Josh Helmuth

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A teacher at Atlas High School made sure that a remarkable number of seniors are registered to vote for the second straight year. 

The charter school is receiving the Eliza Pickrell Routt Award yet again. It’s an award given to schools that register at least 85 percent or more eligible senior students. At Atlas, 88 out of 89 eligible students were registered before Election Day this past Tuesday.

The teacher responsible? Jenna Wright. 

“When I was their age, no one checked to see if I was registered or helped me understand what was on the ballot,” she said. 

“That experience drive me to do better for my students.”

Routt was the first woman registered to vote in Colorado in 1893 and dedicated her life to equal rights and women’s suffrage. 

Is there something or someone remarkable at your school? Email Josh! SchoolBuzz@KRDO.com.

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