Colorado Springs Independent

Police chief: Looking at helicopters and drones

Pam Zubeck — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:51:00 -0600

Last week, Police Chief Pete Carey said he was looking at reactivating the Police Department's helicopter unit, as well as unmanned aircraft — drones, in other words.

His comments came during Mayor Steve Bach's town hall meeting at Broadmoor Elementary, after a citizen asked what can be done to get aviation assets to respond to wildland fires quicker and whether drones are viable for early detection of fires.…

Local chef expands into crazy pop-up dinners

Bryce Crawford — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:46:00 -0600

Now that chef Brother Luck is back in town, having run the kitchen at the Craftwood Inn for the last seven months, or so, he's breaking out into one-off dinners through a new company called crEATe719 Kitchen.

"We will be hosting a series of *underground pop up dinners*," Luck writes in an e-mail to the Indy.…

Album release show marathon begins tonight

Bill Forman — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:44:25 -0600

The weekend is upon us, and with it three worthy CD release shows from local artists.

Tonight, local hip-hop collective Bullhead*ded is celebrating the release of its long-awaited debut album, 4Play, at the Black Sheep.…

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Homeless population growing, survey shows

J. Adrian Stanley — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:28:00 -0600

There are at least 1,171 homeless people in El Paso County, a one-day headcount revealed, up from 1,127 in 2012.

Performed as a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the headcount shows how many people were accessing services for the homeless on Jan. 29, 2013.…
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NRA is gunning for Morse

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:52:47 -0600

This just in from Christy Le Lait, who's working to keep Sen. John Morse from being recalled:

A mass mailing funded by the NRA and coordinated with Basic Freedom Defense Fund has gone out to voters throughout Senate District 11 supporting the recall effort of Senate President John Morse and urging voters to join up with BFDF to remove Sen. Morse from office.

“Basic Freedom Defense Fund has released numerous statements to the media and on their website claiming to be a grassroots organization,” stated Christy Le Lait, representative for A Whole Lot of People for John Morse, the issue committee fighting the recall attempt.…
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Bill Elder wastes no time announcing run for sheriff

J. Adrian Stanley — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:46:00 -0600

Remember when there were breaks between election seasons? Take a moment to reminisce, because that's certainly not the case anymore.…
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Bach plays paperboy for Gazette

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:14:22 -0600

Mayor Steve Bach sure has an interesting relationship with the daily newspaper.

Take, for example, what happened when Gazette reporters wrote a perfectly serviceable story about the city's Waldo Canyon Fire After Action Report, released April 3.…
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Federal government fails third-grade punctuation

Bryce Crawford — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:21:00 -0600

I kid you not: The lack of apostrophes in the names of landmarks — Zebulon Pike's peak, for instance — is on purpose. This heinous bit of punctuation slaughter is actually condoned and encouraged by the federal government, comes the word from today's Wall Street Journal.…
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Joey Diamond lives the dream

Bill Forman — Thu, 16 May 2013 18:05:46 -0600

Good news: Joey Diamond is coming to Colorado Springs!

Now if that sentence didn't trigger an endorphin rush, it may well be that you don’t belong to a certain demographic, the same one that’s hormonally predisposed to worship Justin Bieber.…
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Coming soon to Ivywild: ModboCo School of Art

Edie Adelstein — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:50:00 -0600

Today, Brett and Lauren Andrus announced they are starting an art school in the Ivywild School.

The co-owners of the Modbo and S.P.Q.R. galleries will offer classes for adults (which Brett already teaches in S.P.Q.R., one of which I attended), as well as teens and elementary-age children.…
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Guthrie, Helm and Croce set for local summer shows

Bill Forman — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:57:18 -0600

Granted, Colorado Springs doesn’t always get the best-known musicians coming through, but we’ll soon be getting a lot of their offspring. In a genuinely odd coincidence, at least three of them have been booked so far to perform here this summer.…
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Pot-shop limit is an option in Manitou Springs

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:58:00 -0600

Yesterday, Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach called recreational marijuana a "public safety issue," and indicated that he's likely to advocate for a ban on pot shops in his city. Bach added that he'd had discussions with Manitou Springs Mayor Marc Snyder regarding a possible ban in the more liberal tourist town.…
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Funding ban renewed for Pinon Canyon

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:48:00 -0600

For the sixth year running, a ban on funding to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site is making its way into law.

In a news release, Not 1 More Acre!, an advocacy group fighting to keep the Army from claiming more land in southeast Colorado for maneuvers, announced the military construction budget that was marked up in the Military Construction Subcommittee of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee today will continue the funding ban on "any action that relates to or promotes the expansion of the boundaries or size of the U.S. Army's Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site."

Here's the entire news release from Jean Aguerre, president of Not 1 More Acre!

Keeping the funding ban in the law has been a top priority for N1MA!…
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Downtown's Curbside Cuisine now rolling

Matthew Schniper — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:56:00 -0600

As properly prognosticated in my Side Dish column in late April, Curbside Cuisine arrived on the scene today. My colleague posted this pic of curry chicken lunch from the High Grade Catering and Food Truck.…
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Hick signs 'Breakfast After the Bell'

J. Adrian Stanley — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:36:00 -0600

Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed the bill known as "Breakfast After the Bell" into law.

The law means that schools with higher levels of impoverished children will be required — with some exceptions — to serve a free breakfast to all students after the start of the school day.…
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UPDATE: School Districts 2 and 11 want to feed the kids this summer

J. Adrian Stanley — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:21:53 -0600

Colorado Springs School District 11's extensive summer feeding program will continue this year.

Anyone ages 1 to 18 is invited to eat free at one of many locations — both in neighborhoods and schools.…
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Want to support John Morse?

Kirk Woundy — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:51:00 -0600

As the effort to recall John Morse continues — and attracts big money on both sides — the El Paso County Democratic Party is holding an event where supporters of the Senate president can thank him and fellow local Democratic lawmakers for their "hard work and bravery."

Here are the details:

Morse, of course, has been a target since shepherding through a spate of gun-control measures during the 2013 legislative session. Signature-gatherers have until June 3 to collect 7,000-plus signatures in their effort to get a recall election OK'd.…
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Electric-vehicle charging arrives downtown

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:06:44 -0600

A parking lot at the southwest corner of North Nevada Avenue and East Cache la Poudre Street is a little more energetic with Colorado College's recent installation of a publicly accessible electric-vehicle charging station. The new hardware comes courtesy of CC graduate Jim Burness, says a press release, who is the CEO of National Car Charging, and arranged for a separate company to donate the station.…
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Mayor Bach: Recreational marijuana is 'public-safety issue'

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:00:00 -0600

While Mayor Steve Bach didn't exactly come right out, at his monthly press conference, and say he plans to push for a ban on recreational marijuana, he did make it clear that he not only considers the plant a safety risk to the citizens of Colorado Springs, but also a risk to the city's job-sector and economy as whole.

"I’ll be going to City Council on Tuesday, the 28th of May, and during 'mayor’s comments' I’m going to express to City Council my recommendation to them on this matter," said Bach in response to a question from TV newsman Eric Singer.…
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So sue me, Bach says

Pam Zubeck — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:32:00 -0600

Once again, the issue of whether Colorado Springs City Council is getting the sound and unbiased legal advice it needs has arisen.

This is not a new issue, as the daily newspaper would have its readers believe.…
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Crimestoppers: We need you.

Matthew Schniper — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:11:00 -0600

Yes, by assigning this blog post to the "Breaking News" category I am quite literally and intentionally punning.

You see, our office building, located at 235 S. Nevada Ave. across from the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, has been broken into and burglarized three times over the past two weeks.…
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Rockey paintings leave Adam's

Edie Adelstein — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:59:00 -0600

Over the years, the food at Adam's Mountain Café hasn't been the only artful element of the restaurant. Over 50 original pieces of art by renowned Manitou Springs artist Charles H. Rockey also adorned the walls.…
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Have a say in oil and gas leasing of Pike forest

Pam Zubeck — Mon, 13 May 2013 13:18:00 -0600

Quick: Name the largest city abutting the Pike and San Isabel national forests and Cimarron and Comanche national grasslands (PSICC).

That's easy, right?…
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About that in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants ...

Miguel Bustamante — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:57:00 -0600

If you haven’t heard by now, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper recently signed into law Senate Bill 033, allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain in-state tuition status in Colorado.

Now, if you're an out-of-state-but-a-citizen-of-these-United States-yet-can't-obtain-residency-status-until-two-years-so-paying-high-tuition student like myself, then you no doubt shook your head in frustration as you made your student loan payment this month.…
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Anti-fracking group sues city

Kirk Woundy — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:51:00 -0600

Yesterday, Colorado Springs Citizens for Community Rights filed suit against the city in its ongoing effort to put a ban on fracking before local voters.

As explained in this week’s paper, the Initiative Title Setting Review Board last week rejected CSCCR’s proposed amendment to the city charter that would prevent “the extraction of natural gas or oil, including but not limited to, the processes commonly known as hydraulic fracturing and/or directional natural gas and oil well drilling, within the City of Colorado Springs.” The board contended the amendment violated the city’s rule against having multiple subjects addressed in a single ballot measure; CSCCR disagrees with that assessment, and even argues that the single-subject rule itself may not be legally valid.…
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