Author: Bill Vogrin
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Side Streets: Goodbye Colorado Springs, it’s been fun
Dear Colorado Springs, Oh how I’ve dreaded having this conversation. I don’t know how to say it. Or where to start. So I’ll just blurt it out. It’s over. That sounds so harsh, and I don’t mean it to be. I intend it in the nicest way possible. But the fact is, this 13-year love…
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Side Streets: Snit over Colorado Springs pond evokes memories of sprawling ranch that became Briargate
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When Ron Sherman saw a recent Side Streets column about a landscaping pond on the Briargate Business Campus, he flashed back to his youth when he used to fish that pond on the Reverse J Diamond Ranch. In fact, he spent much of his boyhood on that ranch because his grandfather, E.O. Sherman, was foreman…
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Side Streets: Waldo Canyon fire anniversary doubly sad as vandals destroy memorial children’s bench
Three years ago today, the Waldo Canyon fire exploded down the Front Range into Mountain Shadows, killing two, destroying 346 homes and causing $453.7 million in losses. But instead of simply observing the sad anniversary, some are mourning the recent vandalism of a memorial bench placed in Mountain Shadows Park in November to honor the…
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Side Streets: Add peacock to the list of critters roaming neighborhoods of Colorado Springs
Gary and Julie Scheer received a shock as they opened the door to their Pulpit Rock neighborhood home on a recent Sunday morning. “I went out to get my paper and found a peacock sitting in a flower bed by the front door,” Julie said. That’s right. An ornamental bird, native to Asia, had taken…
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Side Streets: Colorado Springs residents shocked to learn ‘neighborhood’ park and pond was private property
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For 21 years, Joanne and John K’Miller have enjoyed walking their dog to their neighborhood park in Briargate and strolling around its pretty pond. “Some neighbors go every day,” Joanne said. “People take wedding pictures there, and high school graduation pictures. It’s a scenic area.” The park along Chapel Hills Drive near Criterion Drive isn’t…
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Side Streets: Sundance film about lives of Native Americans on Pine Ridge to be screened in heart of Ute Indian territory
It’s red carpet time in Colorado Springs. On Saturday night, One Nation Walking Together – a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of impoverished Native Americans on reservations – will sponsor the showing of a film that premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May. “Songs…
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Side Streets: Explosion of weed complaints catches Colorado Springs code enforcers short-handed
Let me guess: Your neighbors’ weeds are waist-high and attracting bugs and critters and collecting trash. You are not alone. Complaints have been clogging the “Side Streets” hotline, and it’s even worse at Colorado Springs Code Enforcement. Calls to the city’s common-sense enforcers – I mean code enforcers – are pouring in like the rain…
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Side Streets: Security lights become insanity lights for neighbors and trigger dispute over light intrusion
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There was obvious desperation in Sheila Colonese’s plea. “I am having a major disagreement with my neighbor behind me,” Colonese wrote in an email. “I have no recourse or action that can help me. My neighbors have installed floodlights on their house. As the night darkens, their lights turn into a nightmare for my household.…
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Side Streets: Wagon Man’s latest convictions reflect on society, not him, expert says
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Early Thursday, Phillip “Wagon Man” Cargile left the van where he sleeps and trudged down to the Colorado Springs Municipal Courthouse to again face a judge for illegally pulling his wagons in the street. Again…
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Side Streets: Wagon Man’s latest convictions reflect on society, not him, expert says
Early Thursday, Phillip “Wagon Man” Cargile left the van where he sleeps and trudged down to the Colorado Springs Municipal Courthouse to again face a judge for illegally pulling his wagons in the street. Again he was convicted, for the third and fourth times, on tickets written by Colorado Springs police officer Michael Zamonas. Again,…