Savannah Eller

Gliding off thousands of acres of baked, blackened earth, water from a Tuesday afternoon thunderstorm has caused widespread flash flooding in the Aspen Acres burn scar. “The force of the water is just unreal,” said Sayra Bassett, who was out Wednesday cleaning up around her parents’ property near Northcreek Road in Beulah. The 101,921-acre fire […]

Heavy smoke prevented a helicopter from picking up five wildland firefighters before their position was overtaken in the Knowles fire on June 27, according to a preliminary investigation report. Three of the five-member helitack crew died in the burnover incident, while another succumbed to injuries later. The crew was deployed for initial attack on fires […]

The outlook may be worsening for the Loop, a project with hopes to provide a sustainable water supply to communities in El Paso County. On Monday evening, the Monument town council voted unanimously to begin the process of exiting the multidistrict authority. The Loop is left with just two water district members of the original […]

The Manitou Springs City Council voted Tuesday night to accept the terms of a settlement with the company that owns the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. The mood was celebratory, with council members lauding the terms of the preliminary deal. “I think this might be the single most important thing that I do for the city […]

After a brief pre-dawn gathering, over 40 volunteers and Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff split into teams Wednesday morning and headed off into the high alpine. They were on an annual mission to count and catalog the bighorn sheep population of Pikes Peak, an effort that’s been ongoing since 1988. The volunteers gathered before sunrise […]

The town of Monument has added its two cents in a debate heading to the El Paso County Board of Commissioners over Buc-ee’s. The Texas-based company known for extra-large travel centers is hoping to build its second Colorado location on unincorporated county land north of Monument. As an initial step, developers have asked the county […]

Monday night, the Calhan board of trustees narrowly approved a new ordinance limiting development in the town to a restrictive water supply standard. The 4-3 decision directly impacts the prospects of a project called North Tree, which would bring about 475 single-family homes to undeveloped land in the town’s northwest corner. Calhan has a population […]

The El Paso County Board of Commissioners will decide an important zoning issue for Buc-ee’s on Aug.27. Buc-ee’s is a chain of travel centers based in Texas. The first Colorado location opened in 2024 in Johnstown, and the company is hoping to build a second at the County Line Road exit of Interstate 25. After […]

The financial entwinement of Fort Carson and the city of Fountain is intensifying. On Tuesday night, the Fountain City Council voted to add six new employees to a new department to handle its intergovernmental support agreements with the U.S. Army, a program that has ballooned from a little over $100,000 in contracts in 2021 to […]

Geosmin. It’s that earthy smell just after a rainstorm, the dirt flavor in beet peels and, recently, the odor and taste in Cañon City’s municipal water. “The water’s changed recently,” resident Heather Wilkerson told the City Council this week. Residents packed council chambers seeking answers about what several described as a swampy turn in the […]