Author: Pam Zubeck

Colorado Springs isn’t alone in wanting more fire inspectors.Albuquerque has 16, two more than Colorado Springs, but hopes to add two soon.Oakland, Calif., relies on 17, six of whom deal with vegetation management in wildland prone to fire.Omaha has eight, and Wichita, Kan., just three.Most say they’re understaffed.”For the size of city, we could use…

Colorado Springs’ mayor is front and center, mobbed by cameras, when big economic development news happens.A top commander, or the police chief himself, takes the podium to announce a key arrest.But some workers, turning a wrench in the snow at 3 a.m., make the city run day to day.They ensure snowplows make it down Academy…

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Low temperatures have Colorado Springs Utilities crews scurrying to fix leaky water pipes this winter, a problem officials blame partly on the weather and partly on aging iron and steel pipes.   Only a third of the city’s water pipes are plastic, which is less likely to burst under frigid conditions. The other 1,253 miles…

Photo by The Gazette, Bryan Oller

  Rep. Doug Lamborn paid $40,000 in taxpayer money for constituent services to a consultant who’s donated $2,000 to his election campaigns.       Curt Cerveny, an owner of Denver-based Politically Direct, which “is in the business of winning elections,” its Web site says, gave Lamborn $1,000 during the 2006 election cycle and $1,000 on Nov. 11…

Falcon?s Mike Smargie caught a pop-up in foul territory for an out against Fountain-Fort Carson on Thursday at Falcon. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE