Category: krdo-local-news

Josh Helmuth

MONUMENT, Colo.(KRDO13) — Students at Lewis-Palmer Elementary School are getting some new outdoor spaces — and they have a group of local Scouts and their community to thank.

What started as a Scout project quickly grew into a school community effort, resulting in three new outdoor classrooms for students.

Early last month, Scouts gathered to build the spaces at the school. Three additional troops joined the effort, bringing the total number of volunteers to about 75 people.

With help from a $3,000 grant from the Tri-Lakes Women’s Club, the volunteers were able to build three outdoor classrooms, which students named the “Basecamp Classroom,” “Summit Classroom,” and “Outpost Classroom.”

The project came together over one weekend in early September, with community members also donating supplies to help make it happen.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last week to officially celebrate the new spaces.

The outdoor classrooms will give Lewis-Palmer Elementary students new places to learn, work and enjoy the outdoors.

And after all that hard work, the students have some pretty impressive new spaces to call their own.

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

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Scott Harrison

TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The recent trend of roundabouts on or near highways in Colorado could eventually come to the small but growing mountain town of Divide.

KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior has learned that a roundabout could be built at the three-way junction of US 24, Highway 67, and County Road 5.

The possibility has sparked controversy over whether the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) approved a roundabout before seeking feedback from county officials.

“Initially, my office was contacted and told that it was non-negotiable,” said Sheriff Jason Mikesell. “But I think it was probably done at a lower-management level. I think there’s a lot of good things happening now, a lot of discussions.”

Jason Nelson, a CDOT program engineer, clarified that a roundabout is just one of several options to improve traffic flow and increase safety at the junction.

“We do have some funding to address some intersection capacity concerns,” he said. “But there are a lot of constraints to kind of work around. All the four corners have, you know, a development plan or already have established businesses. And we have some local access points, driveways. And we also have to kind of look at the corridor.”

The next step is for CDOT to schedule and announce a series of public meetings where citizens can learn more about possible future upgrades at the junction.

Nelson said that CDOT is waiting to get on the agenda of the county’s Board of Commissioners to present a meeting schedule.

Mikesell expressed several concerns about the roundabout possibility — that signals at the junction no longer function as a rural crossing because of increased traffic, and that safety improvements should extend east on US 24, between Divide and Woodland Park.

“In the past, we’ve contacted them over the deaths in those areas, and the traffic accidents, and the serious concerns we had,” he explained. “And they really fell on deaf ears because they said, well, there hadn’t been enough deaths yet. Well, that’s, to me, hard to understand. And in speaking with them — the CDOT crew that’s managing this part — both are two people on that team that I talked to the other day, have experienced losses of family members or relatives along the highway.”

CDOT also sees future growth in the small mountain town at an elevation of 9,000 feet as a catalyst to improve traffic flow and safety at the three-way junction.

The Road Warrior spoke with a landowner who said that 300 apartments and homes are under construction at the southwest corner of the junction, and just to the southeast, behind a new county services building, 100 homes will be built.

Roundabouts — particularly on or near highways — have become increasingly popular among highway departments for slowing traffic while keeping it moving, and reducing the severity of crashes.

Existing roundabouts on or near highways in the Pikes Peak Region are:

*At the interchange of US 50 and Highway 115, near Penrose in Fremont County

*West of the interchange of Interstate 25 and Santa Fe Avenue, in Fountain

*West of the interchange of I-25 and Baptist Road, near Monument

New roundabouts already planned are:

*At the intersection of US 24 & Judge Orr Road, in Falcon (construction to start next fall)

*At the intersection of Highway 83 & Stagecoach Road (no construction date yet)

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Bradley Davis

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. (KRDO) – Like your KRDO13 crews, the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine is a 24-hour operation.

Wednesday morning, their work crossed paths hours before the sun, live from Colorado’s last large-scale gold mining operation.

“I think we all have the yellow Tonka trucks, the little loaders in your sandbox, so this is kind of like big boys and big toys,” mine general manager Lowe Billingsley said.

The mine is far from exclusive, but tour season is almost over. For the next three weeks leading up to Halloween, people can book tours at the only site that’s stood the test of time since the Colorado Gold Rush. You can find a tour link here.

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Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A handful of residents in the University Park neighborhood behind the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs gathered before sunrise at one of two roundabouts that have become a safety concern.

The group met with KRDO13’s The Road Warrior on Collegiate Drive, a block west of Union Boulevard, where drivers regularly exceed the posted 25 mph speed limit.

Collegiate, along with nearby Rockhurst Boulevard, has roundabouts at the bottom of two steep hills.

Residents said that there have been several close calls with vehicles nearly hitting people or pets.

“The roundabouts aren’t wide enough,” said Randy Schulz, who moved to the neighborhood last fall. “People can almost drive straight through them. Drivers don’t even slow down when people are at crosswalks, walking their dogs. We’re going to have a tragedy here if this keeps up.”

Some residents confirmed that a pedestrian was recently struck by a vehicle on Rockhurst, but they don’t know the extent of her injury.

Much of the speeding concern comes from senior citizens and retirees in the neighborhood.

But the problem isn’t unique to University Park.

The Colorado Springs department said that it is gradually investigating more than 1,200 neighborhood speeding complaints throughout the city.

“We have limited manpower and resources to cover them all,” said spokesman Ira Cronin. “We prioritize them based on where they happen, how frequently they happen, and whether an injury or fatality occurred.

Police conducted a traffic evaluation in the spring and determined that Collegiate has “visibility issues” that affect drivers’ ability to see pedestrians crossing the street.

While neighbors believe that most of the speeding traffic is from drivers cutting through the neighborhood to avoid congestion on nearby Academy and Union Boulevards, Cronin said that some speeding drivers live in the neighborhoods they’re cited in.

“We’re glad you’re doing this story and calling attention to the matter,” he said. “The best and easiest thing is for everyone to just slow down.”

Both streets have speed feedback signs (speed limit signs that activate flashing lights when passing drivers exceed the speed limit), but on Collegiate, the sign isn’t close to the roundabout.

“We could put safety trailers (speed feedback signs attached to trailers) or a speed safety vehicle (equipped with a camera to cite speeders) there,” Cronin explained. “But the trailers would block the bike lanes, and the speed safety vehicles are dedicated to school zones during the day.”

The city’s traffic engineering office is aware of the speeding concern in University Park, and plans to install more feedback signs this month.

“If they do not sufficiently reduce speeds, (we) plan to work with residents to evaluate additional traffic-calming measures, which could include speed humps,” the city said in a statement released Monday.

That possibility pleases Schulz.

“We wanted humps before, but we were told that the fire department didn’t like them because they could affect emergency response times,” he said.

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 largest fundraiser of the year for the Western Museum of Mining & Industry (WMMI) returns this month, proving that miners can grow more than just crystals.

The museum hosts its Miners’ Pumpkin Patch every Saturday in October. Guests can buy pumpkins or choose to smash them with baseball bats. Guides will also help guests pan for gold inside the museum and operate their historic apple cider press.

Guests can also expect hayrides, a hay maze, animal encounters, food trucks, a magician and more. As always, the museum and all its early 20th-century machinery will be operational and open to the public.

“Colorado Springs was such a huge contributor to the mining industry,” Grounds & Maintenance Supervisor Colton Manchester said. “The Colorado gold rush contributed so much to the nation’s wealth and also just the industry that has made our nation what it is today, and so to preserve that both local culture and national culture is something that the museum’s honored to do.”

The patch has timed-entry tickets online for about $14 per ticket. The WMMI museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.

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Bradley Davis

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – The Center Toward Self-Reliance (CTSR) wanted to redecorate. Instead of heading to Hobby Lobby, the center decided to trust its consumers, who proved they could overcome their conditions to create a 50-foot piece of art.

CTSR helps people with a wide range of conditions feel empowered to live more independently. The mural became a project specifically for its consumers with traumatic brain injuries.

Maria Martinez volunteers with the center and is a trained artist. She also has a traumatic brain injury. She led the project, helping the crew gain confidence and create something they previously never thought possible.

“We want to reintegrate back into the community. We want people to know that because if we have a stroke or a brain injury, you know, it doesn’t mean that we’re mentally ill or we’re not capable. Allow us to show you what we can do. Allow us to be part of that community. And we can contribute back to society,” Martinez said.

The mural depicts memorable moments from CTSR events. The mural is on display inside the center’s main hall.

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Scott Harrison

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The six-mile stretch of I-70 east of Idaho Springs is usually congested with commuter and tourist traffic, and fall brings even more congestion with people traveling to see the changing leaf colors and the popular ski slopes.

Since 2023, however, there has been another variable — the $900 million safety improvement project in that corridor.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is making various upgrades in the Floyd Hill area, and KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior is investigating whether construction will significantly affect the drive time to and from those leisure activities — particularly for southern Colorado residents.

“It is definitely noticeable,” said Alec Sills-Trausch, a local travel photographer who drives through the area often. But it also, like, isn’t terrible. It probably only adds maybe 8 to 10 minutes to your drive time.”

Stacia Sellers, a CDOT spokesperson for the Floyd Hill project, said that the agency has taken steps to minimize traffic impacts in the corridor.

“We are also committed to not having any lane closures as part of this project during peak travel times or over the weekends,” she explained. “If we do need to do any lane closures, traffic shifts, any of that, that takes place overnight on weekdays.”

But Sills-Trausch and Sellers added that southern Colorado drivers should experience fewer impacts because they won’t need to travel between Floyd Hill and Denver, where traffic is heaviest.

“I think if you’re coming from the Colorado Springs area, it would make more sense to go towards US 285 onto Highway 9 to get onto I-70 that way,” she advised. “Especially (since) a lot of folks who are heading up to go look at the fall colors are usually heading up into the Breckenridge area or further west.”

Sills-Trausch agreed.

“My family and I were in Breckenridge last weekend, and we noticed that the traffic was pretty cruddy, like, on I-70,” he recalled. “So, we decided to go south out of Breckenridge, and then over Kenosha Pass and through Bailey, and kind of through Morrison to get home. It was a little bit slower, but we had no traffic. It was more scenic.”

Floyd Hill was named after pioneer Merril Floyd, who operated a wagon road company in Clear Creek during the 1860s, and built a wagon road from Idaho Springs to Bergen.

The Floyd Hill project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2029; it’s believed to be CDOT’s largest construction effort since the 2001-2006 “T-Rex” project south of I-70 in Denver.

For more information about the Floyd Hill project, visit: https://www.codot.gov/projects/i70floydhill.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Honor Flight of Southern Colorado sent its biggest crew yet to D.C. this morning, thanks to the over $86,000 KRDO13 viewers donated last April.

KRDO13 hosted a telethon last Spring for Honor Flight. The community showed out in such a major way that the local chapter could afford to save the trip to Denver for its veterans. Instead, they flew charter out of Colorado Springs for the first time.

153 total individuals are making the trip, including an Honor Flight of Southern Colorado record of 86 veterans.

The chapter invited KRDO13 morning anchor Josh Helmuth and chief photographer Chappin Everett to travel with the crew and document their trip.

Honor Flight is a nationwide organization helping veterans fly to D.C. for free to visit memorials to their service. Part of their mission is to help the veterans experience the hero’s welcome they may not have received when returning from their military service.

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Scott Harrison

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — In the past week, Pueblo Water Works (PWW) and Pueblo Public Works (PPW) teamed up to repair numerous large, deep potholes in and around the northwest side intersection of 29th Street and Denver Boulevard.

The potholes were worsened by a two-week flow of water last month from two water mains that PWW was draining so its crews could install liners.

Crews paved asphalt over the potholes instead of filling them individually.

Officials said that PWW patched potholes directly affected by the flowing water, while PPW fixed potholes around the area.

“I went to City Council,” said neighbor Elvis Martinez. “I spoke about it last month when they were gonna pave it, and it was paved within two weeks after that last meeting. I would say I’d give it a B-plus.”

29th Street is among the few in the Steel City that crosses nearly the entire West Side, so many drivers splashed through the water and hit potholes before crews began their repair work.

James Odette, a neighbor, said that some vehicles were damaged after hitting the potholes.

“The city did try to divert people away from the potholes, but it just created more,” he explained. “They kept stretching it out until it was so bad that people were starting to not use that section of road. They were diverting around it. Do I like it now that it’s done? Yeah! I just hope it lasts.”  

More cleanup will be needed in the neighborhood, as the flowing water deposited mounds of sediment on some streets as it drained for seven blocks before entering a drainage channel.

Most streets in the neighborhood are crumbling, full of potholes, and lacking in storm drains that would provide better drainage.

Residents hope that city officials will devise a plan to improve conditions there, with winter weather likely to affect streets even more.

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Bradley Davis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The 17th annual “Cool Science Festival” kicks off Saturday at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS) with Carnival Day, featuring over 100 hands-on activities and experiments.

“There’s a lot to learn very, very quickly, and you start to get lost in all the information. Going and showing people cool science brings back the wonder,” said UCCS student and presenter Josh Pappas.

The carnival starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. Both parking and admission are free. Professional cool scientists will lead demonstrations and host science magic shows. The Space Foundation Discovery Center will bring their robots in addition to rockets, telescopes, slime, live animals and more.

After the carnival, Cool Science will host dozens of events across the Pikes Peak Region and Pueblo. Most are free, while a select few have a small fee to cover overhead costs. You can find a full calendar of events here. You can pre-register by clicking on the event you are interested in.

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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