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Nursing homes go dark as more utilities cut power to prevent wildfires
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, Local

Nursing homes go dark as more utilities cut power to prevent wildfires

By KATE RUDER | Colorado Springs Gazette via KFF Health When powerful wind gusts created threatening wildfire conditions one day near Boulder, Colorado’s largest utility cut power to 52,000 homes and businesses — including Frasier, an assisted living and skilled nursing facility. It was the first time Xcel Energy preemptively switched off electricity in Colorado as a wildfire prevention tool, according to a company official. The practice, also known as public safety power shut-offs, has taken root in California and is spreading elsewhere as a way to keep downed and damaged power lines from sparking blazes and fueling the West’s more frequent and intense wildfires. In Boulder, Frasier staff and residents heard about the planned outage from news reports. A Frasier official called th...
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Monument places town manager on leave in ‘best interests of community’
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, Local

Monument places town manager on leave in ‘best interests of community’

By Savannah Eller  | Colorado Springs Gazette Monument town manager Mike Foreman is on paid administrative leave after a special Town Council meeting Wednesday.  The Town Council told Foreman, who has been with the town since 2019, that the days until a review meeting on June 25 would allow time for him to address concerns from councilmembers about his performance. The nature of the review was not made public.  "This would allow you to review and respond to the points discussed," said Mayor Mitch LaKind at the meeting.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE
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Wolves in Colorado can be hunted under specific conditions, says wildlife commission
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, State

Wolves in Colorado can be hunted under specific conditions, says wildlife commission

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Springs Gazette A divided Colorado Parks and Wildlife commission on Thursday voted to allow for the lethal management of wolves under certain situations, a move that ranchers in Grand and Jackson counties have sought for months. The commission approved, 6-4, a staff recommendation allowing several permits, including the lethal taking of chronically depredating wolves — those that have demonstrated repeated killing and harassment of livestock or working dogs. The vote was greeted with applause from dozens of ranchers, many of whom testified to the harms caused by two wolves, in particular, in Grand County. These two wolves are believed to be responsible for killing or injuring at least seven cattle, mostly calves, during calving season in April. R...
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Campaign complaint dismissed against El Paso County commissioner running for state office
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, Local

Campaign complaint dismissed against El Paso County commissioner running for state office

By Savannah Eller | Colorado Springs Gazette Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold's office has officially dismissed a complaint against current El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf for comments made about his state Senate run in a May 9 Board of County Commissioners meeting.  The state Elections Division motion to dismiss was granted on June 7. Integrity matters, the resident watchdog group behind the complaint, said in the filing that VanderWerf violated fair campaign practices when he mentioned what he planned to do if elected to Colorado Senate District 12 this November during a meeting on a housing development approval application.  The development, which would bring 20 single-family homes to dead-end Hay Creek Road, faced opposition from the public during the...
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Colorado Republicans call Biden’s asylum order ‘too little, too late,’ Dems say it’s ‘people over politics’
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, State

Colorado Republicans call Biden’s asylum order ‘too little, too late,’ Dems say it’s ‘people over politics’

By By Nicole C. Brambila | Colorado Springs Gazette President Joe Biden’s sweeping executive action Tuesday to ban asylum seekers when illegal border crossings reach a certain threshold expectedly divided Colorado leaders along partisan lines, with Republicans calling the action “too little, too late” and Democrats describing the move as putting “people over politics.” Meanwhile, in Denver, a spokesperson for the city’s human services agency, which is in charge of the response to the crisis, said officials will closely monitor any impacts the executive order might have. “In the meantime, we will stay focused on what we are able to control, including our recent pivot away from emergency operations to a more sustainable programmatic approach,” Jon Ewing, a Denver Human Services spok...
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Candidate conflict unfolds at Congressional District 5 debate hosted by The Gazette, KOAA
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, State

Candidate conflict unfolds at Congressional District 5 debate hosted by The Gazette, KOAA

By Savannah Eller | Colorado Springs Gazette Debate rules momentarily broke down at a Congressional District 5 debate Monday evening hosted by The Gazette, KOAA and the El Pomar Foundation, as the intraparty conflict between Republicans Jeff Crank and Dave Williams came to a boil onstage.  Held at the Centennial Hall and moderated by KOAA's Alasyn Zimmerman, the debate covered a range of topics impacting the district that roughly encompasses El Paso County, including affordable housing, military assets in Colorado Springs and national immigration policy. At the debate were Democratic candidates River Gassen and Joe Reagan, along with Williams and Crank.  While Gassen, a scientist and educator, and Reagan, a veteran, businessman and nonprofit leader, made the case for their expe...
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El Paso County commissioner candidate accused of violating fair campaign practices
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, Southern Colorado

El Paso County commissioner candidate accused of violating fair campaign practices

By Breeanna Jent | Colorado Springs Gazette El Paso County commissioner candidate David Leinweber faces accusations he has violated Colorado fair campaign practices in his bid for county office. Colorado Springs-based resident group Integrity Matters filed two complaints in under two weeks with Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office, alleging Leinweber has used his current position as an at-large Colorado Springs councilman to campaign for his election as the county’s District 3 commissioner. The group filed the complaints on May 21 and on Wednesday. In its complaint filed Wednesday, Integrity Matters stated there have been numerous times when Leinweber has promoted city events on the Facebook page dedicated to his county commissioner campaign while serving in his capacity as a...
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El Paso, Teller counties to get $66 million in grants to address opioid epidemic
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, Local

El Paso, Teller counties to get $66 million in grants to address opioid epidemic

By Mary Shinn | Colorado Springs Gazette El Paso and Teller counties are expected to receive $66 million through 2038 to address the opioid epidemic, a scourge that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives nationally.  A regional council awarded the first round of that funding, about $3.8 million, in April. The council left about $1.1 million in reserve to fund additional youth prevention programs, said Amanda Grant, an El Paso County finance employee who works with the council. She said the region is currently expected to receive $66 million, although the number will fluctuate depending on settlement outcomes.  The board is composed of 15 officials from El Paso and Teller counties, including county commissioners, city and town council members and law enforcement repre...
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Fentanyl coming to U.S. becoming more deadly, DEA says
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, National

Fentanyl coming to U.S. becoming more deadly, DEA says

By Brett Rowland | Colorado Springs Gazette The illicit fentanyl coming from Mexican cartels is becoming more dangerous, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The purity level of illicit fentanyl in the U.S. drug market has increased and the amount of fentanyl found in counterfeit prescription pills has increased, making the nation's top drug threat even more dangerous, according to the DEA's most recent National Drug Threat Assessment. A lethal dose of the potent opioid is about 2 milligrams, depending on the opioid tolerance of the user. In 2022, the average fentanyl pill contained 2.4 milligrams of fentanyl, according to analysis by DEA forensic chemists who test random samples of the fentanyl seized in the U.S. Overall, the tested samples ranged from a low of .0...
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PHOTOS: Aurora borealis lights up the sky around Colorado
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Approved, Colorado Springs Gazette, Local

PHOTOS: Aurora borealis lights up the sky around Colorado

BY COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE On Friday, May 10, a historic showing of the Aurora Borealis gave many Coloradans a glimpse to scenes unlike which they can traditionally view in the nighttime sky. Some of those Coloradans shared what they saw with media, such as the Colorado Springs Gazette. There are slight and diminishing chances to still see the "Northern Lights" today and Monday, but forecasts of cloud and rain will likely prevent it. SEE THE SLIDESHOW AT THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE
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