Author: BY RYAN MAYE HANDY ryanmaye.handy@gazettedev.gazette.com
-
Police seek help in search for missing man
Colorado Springs police are looking for a man who walked away from 3565 Ironwood Place on Friday. Todd Casteel, 22, has several mental disabilities for which he takes medication and does not have the medication with him, police said. Casteel has walked away in the past and has been known to associate with groups of…
-
El Paso County’s approach to fire codes held up as bad example at conference
SNOWMASS – After two destructive wildfires, El Paso County has a reputation of being the county that didn’t enact changes to land use or fire codes, two things fire experts say are key to preventing massive fires. The county’s lack of changes following the 2013 Black Forest fire was routinely held up as an example…
-
Hearing for fired El Paso County employee pushed back
The hearing for Imad Karaki, El Paso County’s former executive director of support services who was fired in August, has been moved to early October, his attorney said. After Karaki appealed his Aug. 6 firing, the county placed him on paid administrative leave, which will continue pending the outcome of the hearing. As of June…
-
Low-interest loans available for landslide victims in El Paso County
El Paso County will be one of eight Colorado counties to receive federal aid to clean up from landslides, the Small Business Administration announced last week. The county was awarded a disaster declaration for landslides on Thursday, an action that triggers several loans ranging from several thousands to millions of dollars for El Paso County…
-
Volunteer program helps to quench eastern-county firefighters’ thirsts
It was a hot Sunday afternoon and the flames that chewed their way up the house had long been extinguished. But the firefighters who responded to the blaze just southwest of Falcon would be working for a few more hours, tromping around the burned home and sweating in their bunker gear. Once the flames are…
-
El Paso County Commissioners take to the road for look at damaged areas
The El Paso County Commissioners spent Wednesday on the road touring road projects on the county’s eastern plains. The commissioners’ work session on wheels took them to several areas that had been washed out or heavily damaged during record-breaking spring rains. One road, Pinto Pony Road, which once connected to Chief Road off the Falcon…
-
More than a year before election El Paso County Commissioner race field filling up
On her voicemail answering machine, El Paso County Commissioner-hopeful Joan Lucia-Treese makes a statement: She is the first declared candidate for District 4. Since she declared her intention to run for the District 4 seat last September, Treese’s early candidacy is nothing new. But her need to mark her declaration as the first is worth…
-
Fire danger in El Paso County continues through mid-week
The flip side of one of the wettest springs on record has finally hit El Paso County in the form of fire danger. On Sunday the National Weather Service in Pueblo issued a fire weather watch for Tuesday, although the potential for fire danger will likely still be present on Monday and Wednesday, said Kathy…
-
Oil and gas exploration near South Park concerns some in Colorado Springs area
ABOVE SOUTH PARK – In a small plane soaring thousands of feet above the expanse of South Park, Jara Johnson surveyed one of the richest landscapes in the state, an area home to endangered wildlife, water, natural gas and uranium. Although South Park has long been prized as the home of South Platte River and…
-
Officials: Incorrect data lead to iron being drained from Cripple Creek, Victor mines
Editor’s note: This story has been changed to clarify the various factors that led to the Cripple Creek mine’s violations of permits. High amounts of iron were detected in water drained this spring from the Cripple Creek and Victor mine because of an error in data reporting, the mine confirmed last week. The high iron…