Author: DEBBIE KELLEY
-
‘Conversations on a Bench’ focuses on 24 hours of talk about homelessness in Colorado Springs
From 1 p.m. Thursday to 1 p.m. Friday, a park bench in downtown Colorado Springs is taking on the persona of a talk show stage, with the topic of the 24-hour day being homelessness. “I see a community that wants to be part of the solution and not just complain from the balcony,” Travis Williams,…
-
New report: Colorado remains in mental health crisis
For two years in a row, Colorado has had nearly the worst rate in the nation of mental illness among children and adults, when compared with other states and the District of Columbia, according to a large-scale industry study. Colorado ranks 50th — or second to last — for the prevalence of any mental health…
-
High-profile Colorado Springs police sergeant transitioning into retirement
A childhood dream that refused to dim in adulthood seemed like it might not be realized for Colorado Springs police Sgt. Olav Chaney. After jumping out of aircraft while serving four years in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, it took him multiple tries to pass the battery of assessments required to become a police officer.…
-
Tri-Lakes Cares gets OK to proceed with land purchase to build new center
MONUMENT • Monument’s Planning Commission and Town Council both have unanimously approved a reconfiguration of property that Lewis-Palmer School District 38 wants to sell, which gives the go-ahead for a local social services organization to proceed with a bid to acquire 2.8 acres of vacant land to build a new headquarters. “We are currently in…
-
New course in Colorado Springs D-11 focuses on ethics in journalism paired with hands-on media training
With longstanding principles of objectivity, truth and fairness in news reporting up for debate in recent years, a homegrown Career and Technical Education course launching in Colorado Springs School District 11 for the fall semester will explore such topics under an overarching theme of “ethics in journalism.” So while juniors and seniors receive real-world training…
-
Section 8 woes: Colorado Springs residents frustrated with Housing Authority over eviction, voucher delays
Some Colorado Springs residents claim the government system that provides federally subsidized housing vouchers to help people pay their rent and prevent homelessness instead is causing them to become homeless. And early sunsetting of COVID-era emergency housing vouchers due to the $5 billion pot running out of money is resulting in additional grievances from some low-income…
-
Two immigrants paths merge in a volatile relationship ending in murder
In the dark, early-morning hours of May 16, 2024, Esmeralda Contreras Mata endured a horrific death at the hands of the father of her three youngest children. Thabiso Makhafola, 31, raped and beat Mata, 25, before bludgeoning her with a hatchet and leaving her to die in the house they shared in Security-Widefield, according to…
-
Focus on the Family responds after SPLC adds it to hate group list
Initial reaction after finding out that Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family made the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of “hate and anti-government extremist” groups for the first time was a tongue-in-cheek, “What took them so long?” “Since Focus’ inception 48 years ago in 1977, we’ve had the same six guiding principles that adhere to…
-
Center for Employment Opportunities: Overcoming stigma of criminal records
Getting a job if you have a criminal record — for people who have been incarcerated, are on parole or probation, or recently released from judicial oversight — can be like trying to remount a skittish, bucking horse. Sometimes you make it through the application process with an offer for a position, say clients at the…
-
Drought threatens Colorado River hydropower, major source of renewable energy
PAGE, ARIZ. • Soulful notes from a Native American flute float over the vast valley on the backside of the Glen Canyon Dam, which interrupts the once mighty Colorado River. At the tourist overlook, a teen — his phone in hand, playing the music — hops from one phyllo-layered sandstone outcropping to another, where river, rock…