THE WIRE

Bryan Oller Bryan Oller

Kimball Bayles, owner of the beloved Kimball’s Peak Three Theater on East Pikes Peak Avenue, died on Jan. 11, after battling cancer for more than two years. Bayles is survived by his wife Sabrina and daughter Marina.

Kimball’s, which has been in business since 1994, is the Springs’ only independent movie theater. A post to the theater’s Facebook page on Jan. 13 said it would be “closed until further notice,” and the theater refunded tickets for weekend shows.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bayles family in this difficult time,” the post said. The long-term future of the theater is unclear. In 2020, Bayles told the Colorado Springs Independent that it barely survived the pandemic shutdown. — GAJ

PREVENTING GUN VIOLENCE

The state Office of Gun Violence Prevention is accepting applications for grants to fund projects to prevent gun violence in Colorado. The office, which is a part of the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, plans to award about 20 grants of up to $10,000 per organization. The grant program is designed to support projects that conduct evidence-informed, community-based gun violence prevention initiatives that have demonstrated promise in reducing gun violence. The money can be used for education, training and community programs on topics including responsible gun ownership practices, safe storage, existing laws, mental health and substance use resources. Nonprofit organizations, local governments, local health and human services departments federally recognized Tribal governments, universities and other educational institutions, for-profit corporations, faithbased groups, grassroots organizations and individuals are eligible to apply. The deadline for applying for priority consideration is 6 p.m. Feb. 9. The selection panel will give priority to projects that are fully formed and ready to implement. The grants will be awarded later this spring.

For more information about the grant program, visit cdphe.colorado.gov/about-cdphe/office-of-gun-violence-prevention. — JD

TOPS HEADS TO BALLOT

Colorado Springs City Council voted Jan. 10 to refer a ballot measure to voters at the April 4 city election to extend the Trails, Open Space and Parks 0.1 percent tax until 2045. It expires in 2025.

The tax, originally adopted by voters in 1997, funds open space acquisition, trails and parks. An extension measure which would have doubled the tax — from 1 cent on a $10 purchase to 2 cents — failed last fall.

The April ballot measure modifies the permitted use of the money to include maintenance of all city trails and open spaces, with a minimum of 75 percent of open space’s 60 percent share of the tax’s proceeds to go toward acquiring open space.

The measure also includes the word “stewardship” as an allowed use for open space, along with acquisition, without defining what stewardship means.

Cory Sutela, executive director of Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, says via email that his organization “worked to bring together the opposing voices from the outdoor community” to create language that would safeguard use of the open space money. — PZ

CO DMV VANITY PLATE REJECTS

This week, the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles unveiled a list of 140 personalized vanity license plates that they rejected in 2022. The process filtered out submissions that they deemed “lewd, crude and/or rude.” The publicly available list includes the blatantly offensive that aren’t fit for print, but it also includes some interesting truncations such as FKSAKE, FASTMFR, SHTBOX and EFFGAS. AZZHOLE and INVALID were seemingly obvious no-gos and BACKTFU was instructional, but inappropriate.

Denver’s KDVR FOX31 news station went a step further, filing a Colorado Open Records Act request with the DMV to see the full list of rejected plates. In return, they received 525 pages comprising 24,000 vanity license plate rejections. The station combed through the vast expanse to find the less offensive rejections, revealing some relatively mundane picks.

Colorado rejected geographically relevant plates such as COLO, DIASCAM and 3O3, which joined foodrelated EGGS, CORN, BREW, BRBN and GOTBEER. Popular slang was out as well, including FOMO, GANGSTA, HYPE, NSFW, BLOKCHN and YOLO. If you wanted to signal to other drivers your current status, you were apparently out of luck as the DMV also rejected GOT2PEE, GOT2POO, IFARTED, PASSGAS and GRRR. — NR

Matter of Record

Former El Paso County Commissioner Dennis Hisey has been named district director for Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs). Hisey served as a state senator but lost the November election to Democrat Tony Exum in a redrawn district.

Deadline is Feb. 3 for an off-cycle round of funding by Colorado Springs’ Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax. More than $1.3 million is available, although not all will be allocated. For an application, go to coloradosprings.gov/lart or by email Michelle.Briggs@ColoradoSprings.gov.

Colorado Department of Transportation’s Winter Blitz DUI enforcement will continue until Jan. 25. The campaign, which began Jan. 12, is the first of 16 enforcement periods and aims to decrease DUI deaths in Colorado. In 2022, of the 271 DUI deaths, El Paso County was second with 27, behind only Adams County, which had 35 deaths. During the New Year’s Eve enforcement period, out of 143 arrests, Colorado Springs Police Department were second with 32.

Manitou Springs is gearing up for two favorite annual events: the Fruitcake Toss and Carnivale weekend. Cheer on others flinging fruitcakes as far as they can 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, in Memorial Park, 500 block of Manitou Avenue, or — even better — join in the fun for all ages. Carnivale weekend (Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18) includes the Carniball Masquerade Ball, a downtown parade and the Mumbo Jumbo Gumbo Cook-off. Keep an eye on the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce website, manitousprings.org, for updates about these events that help keep Manitou weird.