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Colorado Springs mayor expects more raids, arrests after nightclub bust
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Colorado Springs mayor expects more raids, arrests after nightclub bust

By Breeanna Jent  | The Gazette After law enforcement officers raided an "underground" nightclub early Sunday morning, Mayor Yemi Mobolade said he expects additional arrests in Colorado Springs' future. "I anticipate that there will be more arrests. I hope to see more raids happen in my city. This is not the first one," Mobolade told national media outlet NewsNation Now. More than 300 law enforcement officers from at least 10 agencies raided the property at 296 S. Academy Blvd., at the northwest corner of Academy Boulevard and Airport Road, on Sunday. They detained 114 people, including active-duty military members and individuals alleged to be in the U.S. illegally, officials said. On Monday, a social media post from the Drug Enforcement Administration showed a busload of 60 peop...
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‘A revolving door’: Does cite-and-release system in Colorado Springs trap homeless in an endless court cycle?
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‘A revolving door’: Does cite-and-release system in Colorado Springs trap homeless in an endless court cycle?

By DEBBIE KELLEY | The Gazette The defendant who tops the “failure to appear” list for mandatory Colorado Springs Municipal Court hearings has 25 open cases and 300 instances of not showing up, a situation that makes the presiding administrator, Judge HayDen W. Kane II, shake his head and heave a deep sigh. Another 20 defendants each have racked up more than 100 failures to appear in court, he said. And the blatantly delinquent behavior is increasing. “It’s a revolving door that is nothing but work for anybody, including the defendant,” Kane said. “We don’t get anything accomplished.” Many offenders are ticketed for activities related to living in a state of ongoing homelessness. READ FULL ARTICLE ON THE GAZETTE
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Air Force Academy graduate pilots SpaceX mission to International Space Station, known as ‘focused’
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Air Force Academy graduate pilots SpaceX mission to International Space Station, known as ‘focused’

By O'Dell Isaac | Colorado Springs Gazette A Woodland Park High School and Air Force Academy alum is currently representing the Pikes Peak region in space. Air Force Maj. Nichole “Vapor” Ayers, a 2011 academy graduate, served as the pilot on a SpaceX capsule that launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, bound for the International Space Station. The capsule, which carried Ayers and three other astronauts, successfully docked into the ISS on Sunday. The mission was part of a NASA crew swap that allowed astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who had been on the orbiting space lab for nine months, to return home. Williams and Wilmore, both retired Navy test pilots, were scheduled to depart the ISS on Wednesday along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russi...
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Spate of shootings in Colorado Springs results in 6 injuries — but no deaths
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Spate of shootings in Colorado Springs results in 6 injuries — but no deaths

By Natasha Lynn | Colorado Springs Gazette Eight shootings in the past seven days have been reported by Colorado Springs police. Six people were injured but no one died, according to information from police through Monday. No arrests were announced in any of the incidents. Here’s a recap of the shootings. Monday One man was hospitalized after a morning shooting in southwest Colorado Springs, police said. Police found the man shortly after 5:30 a.m. with a gunshot wound. A K-9 officer found a handgun police believe is associated with the shooting in the 900 block of Green Star Drive, near Eighth Street and Arcturus Drive. READ FULL ARTICLE AT THEGAZETTE.COM
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Sengenberger: An ‘erosion of trust’ in Jeffco schools leadership
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Sengenberger: An ‘erosion of trust’ in Jeffco schools leadership

By Jimmy Sengenberger | Colorado Springs Gazette When Jefferson County Schools fired Chief of Schools David Weiss in December after learning he was being investigated for child pornography, the district spiraled into crisis mode. The situation deteriorated after Weiss died by suicide over New Year’s, with families learning about the allegations through media reports. Recently obtained text messages now reveal a district in disarray — defensive, self-focused, and scrambling behind the scenes while keeping parents in the dark. Dozens of pages of text exchanges, uncovered by the parent group Jeffco Kids First through open records requests, expose frantic damage control after Weiss’s termination — skirting open meetings laws by often grouping two board members with district leaders. T...
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Child trafficking educational summit in Colorado Springs to present solutions
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Child trafficking educational summit in Colorado Springs to present solutions

By Debbie Kelley | Colorado Springs Gazette Each year thousands of children in the United States are preyed upon, exploited, held captive, forced into labor and sold into sex and human trafficking markets. And with some half a million unaccompanied minor immigrants crossing the southern border and being released to adult sponsors under what critics call a fairly lax system, more are ending up in the same situation. “There’s a serious problem,” said Tara Lee Rodas, who recently became a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services whistleblower, when she reported that children were being handed over to gang members and people with criminal convictions. “I don’t believe people know there’s a problem, and the reason I can say that with confidence is that I had no idea what was going ...
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Wall St up as rate-cut hopes hold firm after inflation data
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Wall St up as rate-cut hopes hold firm after inflation data

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal | Colorado Springs Gazette Wall Street's main indexes rose on Friday and were set for monthly gains after a key inflation report reiterated moderating price pressures, cementing bets for an interest-rate cut at the U.S. Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting in September. The Personal Consumption Expenditure index, the central bank's preferred inflation gauge, rose 2.5% in July on an annual basis compared to an estimate of 2.6%, according to economists polled by Reuters. On a monthly basis, it rose 0.2% as expected. Among rate-sensitive megacaps, Amazon.com and Microsoft gained 1.3% and 0.7%, respectively. Chip stocks rose; Broadcom added 3.4% and Advanced Micro Devices climbed 1.4%, aiding the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index's 2.2% rise. ...
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As sentencing approaches on four misdemeanors, ‘J6 Praying Grandma’ prepared for prison
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As sentencing approaches on four misdemeanors, ‘J6 Praying Grandma’ prepared for prison

By Debbie Kelley | Colorado Springs Gazette Rebecca Lavrenz doesn’t want to go to prison, but for the past four months the 72-year-old great-grandmother, retired registered nurse and small-business owner in El Paso County has been steeling herself for that possibility. “I don’t think it’s right. I’m not happy about it. But I’d rather be in prison obeying God than be out doing what I want to do,” she said last week at her home in Falcon, east of Colorado Springs. After nearly 26 hours of deliberation over four days — considered lengthy and unusual for Jan. 6 defendants — a jury found Lavrenz guilty on April 4 of four misdemeanors she was charged with for entering the U.S. Capitol at the “Steal the Vote” rally on Jan. 6, 2021. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE...
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Gas leak in Fountain prompts road closure, shelter in place
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Gas leak in Fountain prompts road closure, shelter in place

By Abbey Soukup | Colorado Springs Gazette A road closure has been issued as the Fountain Fire Department responds to a gas leak early Tuesday afternoon, according to a social media announcement. According to an FFD Facebook post, a gas leak at a business along the 400 block of Santa Fe Avenue has prompted a closure of north and southbound Santa Fe Avenue.  Officials said a detour has been placed at Alabama Avenue and Mountain View Lane. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE
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El Paso County schools receive BEST grant funding for renovations
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El Paso County schools receive BEST grant funding for renovations

By Eric Young | The Gazette Three school districts across El Paso County are among this year’s recipients of the Colorado Department of Education’s annual Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) Grant funding. Widefield School District 3, Hanover School District 28 and Peyton School District 23-JT are among this year’s 19 recipients of approximately $183 million to replace aging infrastructure and, in some cases, entire schools. Since 2008, BEST has awarded about $3.7 billion in grants for the construction of schools as well as general construction and renovation of existing school facility systems and structures. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE
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