Author: Savannah Eller
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Manitou Springs looks to halve marijuana sales tax
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The city of Manitou Springs is taking steps to lower its retail marijuana sales tax from 10% to 5% in a bid to retain competitiveness with newly allowed recreational sales in Colorado Springs. The change would bring Manitou Springs’ retail marijuana sales tax in line with Colorado Springs. Manitou Springs Mayor John Graham said a…
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Monument considers cost-saving measures for projected recession
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Based on current budget projections, the town of Monument may need to tighten the belt to compensate for a recession. That was the conclusion of the town’s most recent 2025 budget adjustment, which predicts flat sales tax revenue into 2026, compared to a 2% increase in 2024. “If we had a good economy, and things…
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‘Encouraging developments’ in Manitou Springs water emergency
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Manitou Springs schools reopened Wednesday after closing because of the city’s emergency water shortage. The district was closed Tuesday as the city attempted to conserve limited potable water. In a statement on the district’s website, district Superintendent Sean Dorsey said that he was “pleased to report encouraging developments” in the city’s efforts to treat the…
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‘When the dust settles:’ Colorado stakeholders watch for major changes in national forests
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“This is a typical bug-kill, blow-down mess that should have been harvested 20 years ago,” says Mark Morgan as he surveys a tract of lodgepole pine on a slope of national forest land west of Fort Collins. Once his criteria is pointed out, it’s not hard to see why the forest is drawing the veteran…
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Metro district pulls out of major water access project in El Paso County
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The Loop project, a multimillion-dollar plan to bring water access to El Paso County communities, has lost one of its four authority members due to unforeseen costs related to removing “forever” chemicals. Cherokee Metropolitan District withdrew from the intergovernmental agreement in December, leaving the town of Monument and two other water districts — Woodmoor Water…
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Planned community on the plains? Developers move ahead on ‘Mayberry’
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The rural plains of eastern El Paso County might be the farthest possible experience from walkable, small town living. That’s just what a developer has been pitching for years, however, on a 630-acre parcel just west of Ellicott and about 10 miles east of Colorado Springs city limits. “This is a major undertaking creating a…
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Colorado Springs firefighters use drones to find missing hikers, fight wildfires
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Move over, Lassie: The nonhuman rescuer of the future may be a drone operated by a Colorado Springs firefighter. The CSFD is in the process of refining its drone program, which started in 2023 and is one of the few in the nation to staff an operator on call 24/7. Its primary mission is to…
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Turnout tepid on election day for Colorado Springs City Council spots
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Lines were short or nonexistent for drop-off ballot boxes Tuesday evening as Colorado Springs closed out a municipal election deciding the makeup of City Council. Numbers showed just over 69,000 ballots cast for a 21% turnout for the election — lower than in 2021, when the finalized turnout was 27% for the last council election.…
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Sen. Bennet sees a more subdued crowd in Colorado Springs after tense town hall in Golden
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Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet greeted a far friendlier crowd at a Thursday town hall in Colorado Springs after weathering intense criticism at his previous showing in Golden this week. The town hall was the third and last in a series of live events with the senator around Colorado. Heads were nodding along to Bennet as…
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Watchers predicting a ‘normal’ 2025 fire season for Colorado, but drought may increase risk
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Meteorologists and fire officials are predicting an average fire season for the Pikes Peak region and most of Colorado, though worsening drought conditions in the southwest portion of the state could signal danger ahead. “For the most part we are probably looking at weather conditions being supportive of more normal fire activity,” said Nickolai Reimer,…