Author: Bob Stephens

On the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, 17-year-old Arriane Anderson stood proudly before the congregation at Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church. The James Irwin Charter High School senior, who plans to be a dentist, spoke on Tuesday to the crowd that came to celebrate history on Jubilee Day ‘13 and to witness…

Vivian Rayne Travis entered the world Tuesday, just minutes into the 2013, with eyes wide open. Born at 12:13 a.m. at Memorial Hospital North, Travis was on display less than 14 hours later at a news conference celebrating her as the first baby born in El Paso County in the new year. “She’s been kind…

Construction work has begun on a one-year project to eliminate congestion at the tangled intersection of Fillmore and Chestnut streets. The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority hopes the project will bring logic to an intersection where Interstate 25 off-ramp traffic meets neighborhoods roads with a maze of one-way signs and lights. “We’re working to eliminate…

Tony Alexander remembers the moment he felt trusted by a sworn deputy from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. He didn’t realize acceptance would come so quickly, in his second week as a Citizen Patrol volunteer.“I responded to a call asking if a (Citizen Patrol volunteer) was available because the deputy had a priority call,…

A construction contract has been approved for the widening of Interstate 25 from Woodmen Road to Monument and work is expected to begin around the first of March. Kiewit Western Co. got the contract for $51.7 million, largely because it said it could finish the job before the end of 2013. “We were pretty impressed…

Army Sgt. Alberto Silva-Sadder was found guilty of multiple charges by a Fort Carson court-martial Friday and sentenced to 35 years in military prison.According to Maj. Earl Brown, spokesman for Fort Carson’s 4th Infantry Division, Silva-Sadder will get a dishonorable discharge when he’s served his time.Silva-Sadder, who was assigned to the post’s 10th Combat Support…

Asleep in his bed just before midnight Friday in central Colorado Springs, with his eight-year-old brother Oscar beside him, Ivan Rincon was awakened by a strange warmness in his foot. “I didn’t know what it was,” said the 13-year-old Rincon. “I’d heard a loud sound but didn’t know what that was.” Neither did his mother,…

Shoppers packed malls Saturday and thronged small retailers in a race for last-minute gifts. Parking lots were packed at retailers across town, but most people braving the lines seemed to stay in a holiday mood. Sisters Kristen and Lauren Olson have different attitudes about shopping but both were at downtown boutique Terra Verde Saturday, one…

People who rely on specialized transportation services — primarily the elderly and disabled — don’t have to worry about changes to the system in 2013, Colorado Springs officials promised Thursday. Contracts to keep the wheels running were extended for the year. Four nonprofits provide specialized transportation in the area: Silver Key Senior Services, the El…