Indy - Aug. 30, 2023 Vol 31. No. 34

A lawsuit’s afoot as Flying W Ranch tries to wrangle the city into fixing a drainage pond

SUSHI, WHISKEY, BITES

Food writer Matthew Schniper’s Sushi Row obsession continues... and tasters of other industry news

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Fran Zankowski

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CULTURE REPORTER Nick Raven

INTERN Marynn Krull

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Schniper, Tom Tomorrow, Andrew “Shaggy”

Warren

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Matthew Schniper

Pam Zubeck

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THE WIRE

INDY CO-FOUNDER JOHN WEISS RECEIVES HONORARY CC DEGREE

A social change entrepreneur, John Weiss was honored Aug. 28 by his alma mater Colorado College with a doctoral degree in humane letters.

As a student, Weiss received the Student Government Award for his advocacy against the Vietnam War, organizing against CC’s investments in apartheid South Africa, and working to elect Gary Hart to the U.S. Senate.

After graduation, he founded Project DE-TEST, which helped pass “Truth-in-Testing” legislation in New York and California that forced test publishers to disclose statistical data. This in turn enabled independent researchers to document that the SAT and other admission tests consistently underpredicted the performance of girls, rural students, students of color and very high performing applicants.

CSFD STILL RELIES ON OVERTIME

Colorado Springs Fire Department continues to rely on overtime to fill the ranks due to a shortage of firefighters to fill certain positions, the city’s Auditor’s Office reported in a July audit report.

The audit, which reviewed overtime from 2012 through 2022, found that “headcounts were consistently less than the approved budgeted positions” and that “required specialized positions were significantly understaffed.”

But the audit also concluded that higher overtime costs were “somewhat” offset by salary savings of open positions.

As of last year, CSFD staffed 23 fire stations, with 23 engine companies, six truck companies, one heavy rescue unit and one hazardous materials team.

Under minimum staffing, each engine company required one officer, one driver engineer, a paramedic and a firefighter.

If scheduled staff weren’t available to meet this minimum, qualified staff were required to work overtime, the audit said.

“We noted that CSFD sworn overtime consistently exceeded budgeted overtime,” the audit said. “However, this budget variance was offset by salary savings from vacant sworn positions, civilian salary savings, and underspending in other categories. As a result, CSFD was generally within overall total approved budget.

“CSFD was generally below approved budgeted headcount,” the audit said.

In 2022, for example, regular salaries were under budget by $1,980,000, but overtime was over budget by $2,659,000, resulting in a net variance overbudget $679,000.

“Overall, total CSFD headcount was less than the approved budgeted headcount from 2012 to 2022,” auditors reported. “Actual numbers of Paramedics were consistently below authorized levels since 2012. Employees in the driver engineer rank were less than authorized levels over the last five years. When absences were considered, available staffing was not sufficient to meet minimum staffing requirements for all ranks other than firefighter.”

CSFD has adopted several policies that should increase available staff, the audit said, among them requiring firefighters to choose a track for advancement, such as driver engineer or paramedic. The department also adopted a program to allow qualified staff to choose their overtime shifts, reducing mandatory assignments.

SUIT FILED OVER APARTMENTS

Tim Hoiles filed a lawsuit Aug. 22 against the city, alleging it wrongfully rezoned property along South Nevada Avenue to accommodate a high-density residential project, called Creekwalk Apartments.

Hoiles runs the news website The Maverick Observer and helped establish the Integrity Matters citizen activist group.

A developer won approval earlier this summer to rezone 4.56 acres located between East St. Elmo Avenue and East Ramona Avenue just west of South Nevada Avenue. It went from mixed use medium scale and multi-family residential to a planned unit development zone district, the lawsuit notes. The developer plans to build an 85-foot-tall, seven-story apartment building with 400 units.

After the Planning Commission approved it, Council adopted the rezoning on second reading on July 25.

The lawsuit alleges the traffic study was flawed and didn’t account for the traffic that the complex will create.

In addition, the lawsuit asserts that Council failed to account for a 2010 fire evacuation study by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments that showed nearby Cheyenne Boulevard and Lake Avenue “cannot support necessary evacuations based on traffic and population density at that time, which was 13 years ago.”

Permitting a 400-unit apartment complex in that vicinity will only worsen conditions, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit also alleges a geologic survey should have been updated.

“The zoning change and Ordinance are not supported by the Traffic Study, the Fire Evacuation Study, the Geologic Survey, or other evidence in the record,” the lawsuit says, noting city code requires a Council action not be detrimental to the public interest, health, safety, convenience, or general welfare.

In a message to supporters, citizen activist group Westside Watch announced a similar lawsuit is in the works for The Launchpad, a 50-unit complex to house homeless young adults recently approved by Council. The city declined to comment.

In 1984 DE-TEST morphed into The National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), a nonprofit that, among other things, has convinced almost every competitive college/ university (including CC) to stop requiring applicants to submit ACT/ SAT scores.

In 1993, Weiss launched the Indy, a progressive alt-newsweekly, in what was arguably America’s most politically conservative town. While he served as publisher of the Indy, the paper earned hundreds of national and regional awards for reporting on stories the daily newspaper and other media largely ignored.

At the Indy, Weiss organized hundreds of candidate forums and community events. Working with CC Professor Val Veirs and graduates Richard Skorman (Class of 1976) and Annie Oatman-Gardner (Class of 1979), he mobilized community support for Colorado Springs’ first ballot measure to raise taxes to improve local quality of life.

So far, the Trails Open Space and Parks tax, which local voters recently extended for two decades, has generated more than $250 million.

Weiss also created the IndyGive! campaign (now known as the Give! Campaign) that has empowered small local nonprofits by generating $17 million from community donations.

Weiss has authored two books, and studied at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (master of public policy, 1983) and the Columbia School of Journalism (master of science, 1992).

Compiled by Pam Zubeck

Lonnie Timmons

III, Colorado College photographer

E IGH ANN WOLFE

strolls across her family’s Flying W Ranch, kicking up dust on a summer day.

She’s talking as fast as she can, recounting what she considers a nightmare of unnecessary obstacles she had to navigate to rebuild the iconic Western-themed tourist attraction after the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire burned it to the ground.

“Everything was a battle,” she says, referring to the city’s requirements for drainage from the Mountain Shadows site.

After giving the city access to her property to build its own drainage structures and use the ranch’s gravel for other projects, she asked that the city return her favor by constructing a water quality pond on her property.

Though the city agreed and paid a contractor to build it, “It doesn’t work, that’s all I can tell you,” she says. “It’s never worked, and it’s never going to work.”

A water quality pond is supposed

BY PAM ZUBECK | zubeck@csindy.com

to catch storm runoff and drain over a 72-hour period. The pond should empty gradually, slowing the volume of water that flows into a waterway during a storm, in this case Douglas Creek.

But the pond doesn’t drain, she says; during her stroll with a visitor on Aug. 11, it remained filled with water from a late July storm.

Wolfe alleges a design report was altered after the fact to back up the city’s story that she, not city officials, chose the site.

Those allegations and more are contained in a lawsuit Wolfe filed on June 16, 2021, that’s just now on the path to trial preparation. Progress was interrupted when the city appealed a district court judge’s ruling that the city couldn’t claim governmental immunity from the lawsuit. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled against the city this spring.

As Wolfe’s attorney, Bruce Wright, tells the Indy, “The city has embarked on this unbelievable legal journey to try and avoid any responsibility.”

pond

The city maintains the pond was built correctly in the spot where Wolfe directed it to be built and that it does drain as it should.

“We think it works fine. She doesn’t,” says city Stormwater Enterprise Manager Rich Mulledy. “No facility works without maintenance. We’ve sent her letters saying you need to maintain it.”

Asked about Wolfe’s perception that she’s being badgered by the city, Mulledy says, “We treat everybody the same. We have to. The [Environmental Protection Agency] lawsuit was about being sure we treat everybody the same under the Clean Water Act.” Accordingly, he notes, the city is under constant scrutiny by the federal government.

But now it appears that the pond dispute isn’t the only city action that’s a thorn in Wolfe’s side.

She and neighbors are protesting the construction of a water holding tank above the Flying W that’s 20 feet taller than initially planned. The tank looms over the Flying W like a hover-

ing spaceship, Wolfe says, ruining the authenticity of the ranch. (See sidebar.)

THE 2021 POND LAWSUIT WAS filed almost nine years after the Waldo Canyon Fire leveled the Flying W and destroyed 347 homes in Mountain Shadows.

The fire not only claimed 29 of the Flying W’s 30 buildings, it destroyed plant life there.

After the fire, the city asked Wolfe for permission to build large sediment catch basins and use gravel from the Flying W property for on-site and offsite drainage work. The basins were needed to stop sediment and runoff from flooding downstream areas and city infrastructure, the lawsuit says.

In an April 19, 2017, letter to thenmayor’s Chief of Staff Jeff Greene, Wolfe quantified, at Greene’s request, the value of the gravel removed from Flying W as “enormous,” estimated at $684,000 for 114,000 cubic yards. The gravel removal was allowed by Flying W “in the spirit of concern and community

A lawsuit's afoot as Flying W Ranch tries to wrangle the city into fixing a drainage

More than a week after a heavy rain, the Flying W Ranch water quality pond remains relatively full of stormwater runoff.

Pam Zubeck

Photo Illustration assets from stock.adobe.com

support,” she said in the letter, but the extraction left “large catch basins throughout the ranch that reduce the value of the land.”

In return for granting the city’s request at no charge, “the City agreed at its expense to undertake significant construction of drainage and related improvements at the Property,” the lawsuit says.

On June 30, 2016, Wolfe entered into a contract with the city for construction and maintenance of the drainage facilities on the property. Under the contract, the city agreed to undertake various “mitigation measures,” including construction of a water quality pond located near the Flying W’s 3330 Chuckwagon Road entrance.

The city also agreed to “monitor, repair, maintain and stabilize the Mitigation Measures so that they function as designed,” the lawsuit says, including assuring that the pond “function properly.” The agreement called for the city to maintain the projects for a threeyear period under a Jan. 12, 2018, change to the contract agreed to by both parties.

The contract also said that the “benefits and burdens of this Agreement shall run with the land.”

In 2016 and 2017, the city designed and built the water quality pond to accommodate about 20 acres of impervious area pursuant to the rebuilding of the Flying W business.

Under the contract, the city’s maintenance obligation ended in early 2021.

“The Water Quality Pond has not and does not work or function properly and it was neither built nor maintained by the City in accordance with the Contract, Federal or Colorado law, or the applicable City regulations,” the lawsuit alleges.

Deficiencies, according to the suit, include the pond’s failure to function as designed; its inability to drain in a timely way; and the buildup of sediment that prevents property drainage “because the City did not build a proper sediment trap basin to catch the sediment before it goes into the pond.

“This is significant because substantial sediment continues to wash down from the Waldo Canyon burn scar on the foothills immediately upstream from the Property,” the lawsuit claims.

Thus, the lawsuit alleges, the city has breached the contract and Wolfe seeks to force the city to redesign and rebuild the water quality pond. The suit also seeks attorney fees and unspecified monetary compensation for damages to the property.

In early 2022, Judge David Gilbert denied the city’s motion to dismiss based on governmental immunity. The city appealed,

and in April 2023, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals ruled that the immunity sought by the city “does not apply to actions ‘grounded in contract.’”

“In the document identifying the Pond as a mitigation measure, the parties agreed that the Pond ‘must function properly as a water quality pond,’” the decision said. “The core of this dispute lies in the contract. Flying W seeks damages to cover the costs to repair or to replace the Pond so that it functions as a water quality pond — the precise benefit Flying W bargained for in the contract.”

As Wolfe’s attorney, Bruce Wright, says, “The Court of Appeals said, ‘No, you [the city] have a contract.’”

In its answer, filed June 21, the city denies it’s responsible for a malfunctioning pond it had promised to build or have built. Rather, the city claims the “alleged injuries were caused by an intervening, superseding, or unforeseeable cause for which the City cannot be held responsible,” and that Flying W’s owners “voluntarily assumed a known, unreasonable risk and are barred from recovery.”

The city also states in its answer that any damage was caused by parties other than the city over which the city had no control and that the lawsuit is “frivolous, groundless, or lacking substantial justification,” which, if ruled as such by a judge, would entitle the city to collect its court costs and attorney fees.

AFTER QUESTIONS AROSE AS TO

the viability of the water quality pond, Mulledy wrote to Wolfe on June 22, 2020, alleging the ranch, not the city, was to blame for the pond’s failure.

“It is clear that work attributable to the owner, owner’s representative or owner’s contractors, has caused significant erosion and damage within areas previously stabilized by the City,” Mulledy wrote. “The damage and destabilization would not have occurred but for the owner’s work on the Ranch property.”

That means, he wrote, the work required “is far beyond” the original agreement the city signed.

“The Ranch needs to repair and stabilize these areas immediately to ensure protection of previously completed City work and to stop the deposition of sediment within the neighborhoods and public streets below the site,” the letter said, accompanied by more than 70 photos showing the alleged damage.

Due to work at the ranch to create parking lots and build new buildings, plantings by continued on p. 6 ➔

Leigh Ann Wolfe

Pam Zubeck

eigh Ann Wolfe’s headaches don’t end with the water quality pond lawsuit.

Colorado Springs Utilities built a water storage tank above the Flying W Ranch that looms over the Western-themed tourist attraction like a spaceship.

“I feel like it changes the chemistry of Flying W,” Wolfe says. “I want to keep the legacy [of the ranch] alive. The worst thing is these people [Springs Utilities] were lying.”

Utilities applied for a permit stating the tank would stand 45 feet tall — but built it to a height of over 60 feet without notifying neighbors or city planning officials, or gaining permission.

Now, the Planning Department has notified Utilities it must submit a “major modification” to its development plan to increase the permitted height. Public comment on the change closed on Aug. 28.

The decision is up to city staff, city spokesperson Max D’Onofrio says via email. But that decision could be appealed to the Planning Commission. In turn, the commission’s decision could be appealed to City Council by residents who have standing — those who are owners or tenants of a parcel within 1,000 feet of the property at issue, or those who submitted written comments to the staff during the comment period prior to administrative action.

More than a dozen people showed up at an Aug. 10 neighborhood meeting to protest the tank.

The tank site is named for Wolfe’s maternal grandfather, Don H. Wilson, who donated the land. It’s surrounded by land owned by Wolfe and two homeowners in the Mountain Shadows area.

Wolfe wrote to the city in September 2021 about the tank, suggesting it be built below ground, a practice seen in San Diego, Baltimore, Salt Lake City and Denver.

If not buried or moved elsewhere, the tank could be camouflaged with landscaping, she suggested. She also offered to donate another parcel that would allow for a less obvious tank.

Instead, Utilities built the tank over 60 feet tall, in violation of its development plan.

Jacqueline Gunn, who lives next door to the tank, says it went up within eight to 10 days and crews worked six days a week.

Post-Waldo Canyon Fire, Gunn and her husband worked to plant bushes and trees to shield the existing tank from their backyard. Now, that tank will be removed after installation of the taller tank, which she says will be impossible to camouflage.

On Aug. 1, attorney Murray Weiner wrote to the city on Wolfe’s behalf.

“If the City pushes this amendment through ...,” he wrote, “we can only assume it is doing so because the City is both the owner of the project and the reviewing authority.”

Weiner said Wolfe is prepared to go to court, if necessary, to force compliance with the original permit.

Wolfe tells the Indy the chief point is that the tank height demonstrates there is one standard for the city and another for everyone else.

“Perhaps the fact that Colorado Springs Utilities has deliberately covered up the circumstances of its violation of the permitting process is equally appalling,” she says.

Asked about all that, Utilities spokesperson Jennifer Jordan didn’t explain why the agency ignored its development plan criteria. Instead, she apologized that the agency failed to tell neighbors about the height change “in a timely manner.”

➔ continued from p. 5

the city were destroyed and the soils disturbed, he said.

“The material is clogging the facility and causing significant and ongoing maintenance needs,” the letter said. “The City considers this situation to be unexpected and contrary to the design and maintenance agreement for the facility.”

The Stormwater Enterprise has notified Flying W several times of work being done in violation of drainage requirements, according to records obtained by the Indy through the Colorado Open Records Act.

In fact, the city issued at least three “stop work” orders — on July 16, 2020, on May 26, 2022, and on Nov. 14, 2022.

The city also has issued the ranch “notices and orders to correct stormwater control measures” and “notices of deficiency” for failure to maintain stormwater measures several times over the last few years, most recently on Aug. 9. In a letter to Wolfe, the city noted that on Aug. 3, “the pond continues to hold water though we were able to see one of the clean outs .... This is evidence that the pond is draining.”

The U.S. Geological Survey shows that 2.2 inches of ran fell on the Flying W on July 31, and the National Weather Service reports that 1.08 inches of rain fell in Colorado Springs on Aug. 3.

On Aug. 4, city inspectors noted the pond held water and that an outlet structure “still has debris and needs maintenance as well as the inlets.”

On Aug. 8, the National Weather Service says .11 of an inch fell in Colorado Springs.

When the Indy visited the Flying W on Aug. 11, the pond remained relatively full. City regulations require water quality ponds to empty within 72 hours.

In addition, the city issued a violation to the ranch on March 27, after it found horse and cow manure in North Douglas Creek some distance from the ranch. Wolfe says she has no idea how the manure got there.

In any event, with that history, it’s no surprise that Wolfe says she feels like she’s living under a microscope, even being surveilled.

The latest communication from a city stormwater engineer, dated Aug. 9, noted that “the noncompliance items have been adequately corrected” and “no additional enforcement action is required.” The next compliance inspection was

scheduled

MULLEDY DISPUTES THAT THE city did anything wrong.

“That pond location was driven by her development plan,” he tells the Indy by phone. “The location of it, we wouldn’t care where it was, so she told us where to put it in her development.”

“It’s intended to be a water quality pond,” Mulledy adds. “The original purpose was as a temporary sediment facility. At the end of the restoration work, it would have been removed, because it was no longer necessary. Her team said, ‘We want that water quality pond to be there,’ so we converted it to suit her needs.

“It does actually work,” he says. “It’s been operating correctly all summer long. It’s at the point where it needs to be maintained.” He also notes the pond’s dam has never breached.

Mulledy says the Flying W mitigation is the “best post-fire mitigation project I’ve ever seen.

“We spent millions of dollars on restoration out there, and it’s beautiful,” he says. “It was so successful. It was amazing.”

As for the city targeting Wolfe and the Flying W, Mulledy notes that a 2016 lawsuit filed by the EPA against the city over neglect of its stormwater system was settled with a consent decree that requires all developers to be treated the same. That 20-year consent decree is in force for another 14 years, he says.

“We’re so highly regulated and looked over,” he says. “Every decision we do, every inspection we perform goes to the federal government for audit. We have no other option but to be sure people do their maintenance everywhere in the city. We don’t have autonomy to do whatever we want.”

He also provided a list of projects the city conducted after the Waldo Canyon Fire that benefited the Flying W. They were funded with money from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado Water Conservation Board and the city.

• From 2013 to 2017: North Douglas Creek drainage at the north end of Flying W — $4.2 million. Built several debris catch basins that hold back sediment from property below. Nearly a mile of channel was repaired and stabilized, and areas reseeded with native grasses to prevent erosion.

• From 2013 to 2019: South Douglas Creek drainage in the central part of the Flying W, including

— Pam Zubeck

A 60-foot-tall water tank looms over the ranch.

Pam Zubeck

the chuckwagon supper area — $4.3 million. Built several debris catch basins and repaired and stabilized more than a mile of channel.

• From 2013 to 2017: South Douglas Alpine Autism Center Drainage — $160,000. Storm flows from the ranch overwhelmed the center and neighborhood below. An existing detention basin was modified to prevent clogging the outlet pipe, and 500 feet of the drainage channel was stabilized.

“Since the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire, the City of Colorado Springs has successfully leveraged grants to reduce the post fire flood risk to the City while stabilizing the eroded Flying W Ranch,” Mulledy wrote in an email. “This success has helped the watershed across the Flying W Ranch recover, reducing the amount of sediment and debris across the Ranch and into the downstream neighborhoods, and providing a catalyst for the iconic Flying W Ranch & Chuckwagon Supper to redevelop and rebuild.”

Conversely, Wolfe gave an outline to the city on Jan. 23, 2017, itemizing the benefit to the city of using Flying W land on which to build the drainage projects and gravel removed from the ranch for those projects to stabilize channel banks there and elsewhere. Total benefit to the city: $5,385,000.

CONCERNS ABOUT THE POND WERE

highlighted in an Aug. 18, 2017, letter to then-mayor’s Chief of Staff Jeff Greene by Dave Rosgen, an engineer with Wildland Hydrology, who with James Nankervis, an engineer with Blue Mountain Consultants LLC, conducted a site review at the behest of the ranch on Aug. 12, 2017.

“Unfortunately, designs were implemented by an engineering firm and contractor unfamiliar with natural channel design principles without peer review from appropriately trained and experienced personnel,” Rosgen wrote to Greene.

Prior to the design and work being done in April 2017, the letter says, Nankervis walked the project area with the city-hired design team and contractor and advised the team, but his advice apparently was ignored.

Due to the design, the pond fills with sediment and the potential for breaching is likely, even in moderate storms, Rosgen wrote. “The potential damage to downstream residents and businesses is imminent and catastrophic!” he wrote, adding the dam doesn’t meet Colorado State Engineering design safety specifications. “This instream dam must be removed due to the severe hazard it poses.”

He also noted other problems, among them an over-steep parking lot and poor spacing and design of in-channel grade con-

trol structures that cause erosion.

“It is unfortunate that post-fire restoration funds have created these high-risk problems that require immediate correction,” Rosgen’s letter said.

Wolfe again questioned the viability of the pond in a letter to the city in January 2020. Mulledy responded on April 29, 2020, writing that the city “is confident the rain garden ... is designed and installed correctly.”

He noted tests showed that the pond drained at a pace of a halfinch to 2.46 inches per hour, which means the entire pond would drain in 67.2 hours, less than the city’s 72-hour requirement.

But Nankervis, hired by the ranch, found a year later, in July 2021, that most issues outlined to the city in the Aug. 18, 2017, letter “remain to this day.”

“Though there appears to have been some effort to redesign the water quality pond since 2017, the structure still functions primarily as a sediment basin collecting water and sediment runoff from areas that are still impacted by the Waldo Canyon Fire burn scar,” Nankervis said in a July 15, 2021, letter to Wolfe.

“This structure will never function as it was designed,” he wrote.

Due to the design, accumulations of sediment reduce the runoff it can handle, Nankervis wrote. “The original design volume to contain a single rare event may have been sufficient but because of how the basin has performed over the last 3 years, the risk of multiple, relatively frequent events over-topping the dam is increased. I would recommend removing the dam as it poses a hazard to your property and the properties downstream,” Nankervis wrote.

Wolfe is also suspicious of the city, after it finally produced the design report by its contractor, Matrix Design Group, which she alleges was altered.

Specifically, the city told Wolfe and her lawyer in June 2021 that it had no records in response to their Colorado Open Records Act request for the 2018 Matrix report on the water quality pond.

The next month, July 2021, Matrix issued a revised report to the city and in August 2021, the city produced the revised report and the 2018 report in response to Wolfe’s CORA request.

“Matrix did not revise the report until July 8, 2021 — two weeks after [emphasis in original] our initial CORA request and the City’s response that it had no records,” Wolfe’s attorney, Wright, said in a timeline he provided to the Indy

“When this dispute heated up, Richard Mulledy’s response was that it was the continued on p. 8 ➔

The pond outlet structure is clogged in this Aug. 3 photo.

The Waldo Canyon Fire destroyed the Flying W Ranch in 2012.

Waldo Canyon Fire mitigation included stabilizing hillsides.

City of Colorado Springs

Pam Zubeck

Pam Zubeck

➔ continued from p. 7

Flying W’s decision, not the City’s decision, to put the pond where it is,” Wright wrote. “The 2018 Matrix reports clearly state it was the City’s decision and the 2021 Matrix report appears to be a belated attempt to change what happened in order to bail Mulledy out of his 2018 decision on the location of the pond.”

In fact, Wright notes in a Sept. 9, 2021, letter to the city, that Matrix states in the 2018 report the design and location of the pond was done “at the city’s request,” whereas in the amended 2021 report, Matrix changes that language to say the “property owner’s request.”

Matrix didn’t respond to a phone call seeking comment. Aaron Sutherlin, the engineer who was working for Matrix at that time but has since taken a new job, tells the Indy he can’t recall the details of how the pond site was chosen.

Matrix has been hired by the city for many city stormwater projects: for Bear Creek, at the Air Force Academy and Monument Creek Branch, the Cottonwood Creek Drainage Basin, Clear Springs Ranch, Upper Dry Creek, on Monument Creek and other locations, records show.

IT’S ALSO WORTH NOTING that the City Attorney’s Office apparently asked Wolfe to provide a “monetary settlement offer” in 2021, to which Wright responded in the Sept. 9, 2021, letter with an estimate of $1.4 million.

Also in that letter, Wright noted that Nankervis with Blue Mountain Consultants predicts the pond will continue to accumulate sediment and pose a hazard to downstream properties.

In addition, Wright said that Matrix’s reports note design factors, including parking lot improvements and grading near the pond, had an impact.

“I note this as the parking lot was improperly graded by the City and contributing to the sediment getting into the water quality pond,” Wright states. (Wright tells the Indy that issue was resolved when the parking lot was paved; the bulk of the sediment flowing into the pond is from the burn scar.)

Thus, Wright told the city in the settlement letter that any agreement must include sufficient funds to remove the dam and reclaim the pond area, as well as to install individual water quality facilities in lieu of the single facility the city “was contractually obligated to build” for water quality treatment for the 22-plus acres of rebuild at Flying W.

Most recently, Wolfe wrote to Mayor Yemi Mobolade on Aug. 1, noting that heavy rains in late July threatened to cause the pond to overflow.

“The water quality pond is almost full to overflowing, the sediment catch basin attached to the pond is full, and the overflow infrastructure that was constructed is plugged, so there is no relief from rising water levels,” she says in her letter.

“Should we experience significant precipitation around the Flying W Ranch in the next few days,” Wolfe wrote, “there is a strong likelihood that the water will breach the top of the dam on the east side of the pond, causing the dam to fail and causing downstream flooding in the Mountain Shadows community.”

In an interview, Wolfe gives a tour of the rebirthed Flying W, which reopened in summer 2020. From a rodeo ground, to a Western village, to an outdoor performance area to the indoor chuckwagon dinner area — all of that was “easy,” she says.

Dealing with the city on drainage issues? Not so much.

Frustrated by her experience, she notes she didn’t charge the city “a dime” for the gravel pulled from her property to build drainage structures elsewhere. She relied heavily on the then-city Stormwater Manager Tim Mitros to act as a go-between, and things seemed to be working out.

“Then they fired Tim,” she says. “I’m left going, ‘What do I do now?’ The city wouldn’t do anything. Everything was a battle.”

(Mitros retired in 2017 and was paid severance pay, a sign that his departure wasn’t voluntary.)

But Wolfe doesn’t see herself as the only victim. She says the taxpayers are losers, too.

“They spent all this money on Matrix and to build the pond,” she says, “and it doesn’t work. It costs taxpayers all this money.”

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MATTHEW SCHNIPER

SEVEN THINGS FROM THE CHEF’S MOUTH AT SUSHI ROW

IWON’T CLAIM TO KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING, BUT MAYBE it’s: “Hey, wait, why is Schnip covering Sushi Row (316 N. Tejon St., sushi-row. com) again already? Didn’t he just review the spot two weeks ago?”

Yep, you’re correct, astute reader. I did just write them up, and I was impressed. The reason I’m writing about Sushi Row again so soon is twofold: 1) They just dropped a new lunch and happy hour menu that makes the spot just a touch more approachable. And I was invited to sample it with other media. 2) For my review, I missed the opportunity to connect with partner/chef Zaya Altbish to interview him. I opted to publish before I was able to pin him down. But now I have, and I’ve gleaned stuff worth sharing. Plus: more pretty pictures of food and drink.

All our food was exceptional, so I’m going to let my earlier review speak to that quality and let these images say the rest for now. Let’s get to Altbish. Here are excerpts from our convo:

• “What sets you apart?” I ask.

“Technique and knowledge — a lot of attention to detail,” he says. (He started at age 17 inside Denver’s sushi scene.)

continued on p. 10

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AMERICAN

TONY’S 326 N. TEJON ST. | 719-228-6566 | TONYSDOWNTOWNBAR.COM

Winners of 70+ Independent “Best of Awards” in 20 yrs. A great Midwestern Tavern with warm beer, lousy food & poor service!!! Pabst, Fried Cheese Curds, Leinenkugle’s, Walleye Fish-fry, cocktails, burgers and more. 11am-2am daily. HH 4-6. GO PACK GO!

ASIAN BBQ

online ordering from the location of your choice! Order and pay online, then skip the line when you pick it up! Visit our website at www.BirdDogBBQ.com and click ORDER ONLINE to place your order. We also offer our award-winning catering services in individuallyboxed meals! Call 719-573-7671 for details.

Bird

Sushi Row partner/chef Zaya Altbish

• “We are doing everything scratch every day,” he says. “We strike a fine balance to not over-prep, so we keep it fresh.”

• “I came up with a traditional Japanese training. I’m still rooted in tradition. But I’m figuring out how to make that work in a modern setting.”

• “Every sushi restaurant has access to fresh fish, and many places are essentially all the same. But I’m see-

ing some things here I don’t see elsewhere,” I say. “It’s access within the companies I’m sourcing from,” Altbish replies. “I’ve been working with some of these purveyors for 10 or 15 years. It’s relationships. I can get top pick of exclusive products.”

• As I noted in my review, Sushi Row is far from cheap, and some folks have complained about the prices. So I ask Altbish to justify them. “I buy top-of-line product. We minimize waste and maximize the yield we get from it. We’re charging a fair price for that. It’s the

cost of doing business. I wouldn’t feel good lowering quality to meet a certain price point.”

• “I’m striving to be on the cutting edge, and match the coastal cities,” he says. “I’m willing to teach everything I know to elevate this place. We want to create a casual environment, but we’re super serious about food.”

• Altbish calls this debut menu “timid” as the partners wanted to test the Springs to see what it’s ready for. “We’re at the 90-day mark and stabilizing, getting our service-flow down, and our cover count.” (That’s restaurant speak for daily averages on butts in seats, i.e., what to prep for.) “We wanted to cover the basics at high quality and make sure the market responded — and they have. From here, Jason and Riley [the copartners] want to take it up a notch… This menu will look completely different in a year from now.”

WHISKEY AND WATERFALLS

RESTAURANT 1858 AT THE BROADmoor’s Seven Falls (1045 Lower Gold Camp Road, sevenfalls.com/dine/restaurant-1858) has announced a series of Meet the Maker whiskey dinners. The first, which took place on Aug. 15 with Distillery 291, sold out within four hours of ticket sales going live. (Wowsa!) A second dinner’s scheduled for Oct. 24 with Buffalo Trace, “highlighting the more sought-after and rare offerings from the brand’s portfolio.” (Meaning George T Stagg, Elmer T Lee, Weller Special Reserve, Pappy Van Winkle 12 year and Thomas Handy). Get on their email list early (broadmoor.com/ email-signup) to be notified when tickets go on sale. More whiskey dinners will be announced down the line.

Sushi Row’s chirashi bowl

A lavish whiskey dinner with Distillery 291

➔ continued from p. 9

DAUNTLESS

SIDE DISH PARTNER FOCUS ON THE BEER HAS THE FULL BACKstory on Dauntless Brewing deciding to pull the plug on their planned facility at 1647 S. Tejon St., in the former Distillery 291 and Bristol Brewing location. This was after five years of attempts to get open, which included efforts in several other spots. See tinyurl.com/FoB-Dauntless for more.

BITES AND BITS

• Humble Coffee (hbrcoffee.com) celebrated the grand opening of its newest location at 4797 Barnes Road on Aug. 8. Not long ago, they’d expanded into Downtown at 80 S. Cascade Ave., on the first floor of the Wells Fargo south tower.

• King’s Chef Diner’s (kingschefdiner.com) purple castle location at 110 E. Costilla St. has launched evening hours, from 4:30 to 11:30 p.m., Thursday to Saturday for #BreakfastForDinner. Typically it’s only been open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday.

• Fuel & Iron Food Hall (400 S. Union Ave., Pueblo, fuelandironfoodhall.com) has launched Kids Nights on Thursdays (currently out through Oct. 12). Art activities (4-5 p.m.), story time (5-5:30 p.m.) and kids bingo (7-8 p.m.) don’t cost a thing. That frees parents up to check out the array of food vendors and enjoy the central bar responsibly. Additionally, F&I announced a monthly fundraising effort via a $5 wooden nickel program; details are online. For August, the food hall has raised money for Pueblo-based Southern Colorado Equity Alliance.

• A Minnesota-based, fast casual chain named Crisp & Green (crispandgreen.com) opened its sixth Colorado location Aug. 26, this one at 7465 N. Academy Blvd., in the former Crave Real Burgers location. Look for grain bowls, acai bowls, salads, smoothies and all the usual suspects in healthy fare concepts. According to a press release, “Through its mix of healthy meals and wellness lifestyle, the brand aims to promote a culture of living and eating well, or ‘Living Crisp.’”

Andrew Rauch is the local franchisee.

(Note to Side Dish readers: If you ever see me around town, I do hope you’ll come up to me for a fist bump and say something like “I hope you’re Living Crisp, Schnips!” That would make my day.)

• In Denver, “Colorado’s first coalition of pastry chefs” has sprung up in the form of 5280 Pastry Co-Op. “While the Mile High City earned its reputation for a diverse food scene and culinary expertise, the city has left some room for dessert,” reads a press release. “5280 Pastry Co-Op believes community support and continual improvement are essential to impart city-wide growth within the pastry industry: tackling high-altitude baking, staffing pastry cooks and encouraging local and sustainably sourced ingredients.” The Co-Op plans to meet quarterly. Board members include Brielle Fratellone, executive pastry chef for the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center.

Matthew Schniper is the former Food & Drink editor and critic at the Indy. You can find expanded food and drink news and reviews at sidedishschnip.substack.com.

CRAFT PUB

ODYSSEY GASTROPUB

311 N. TEJON ST. | 719-999-5127 | ODYSS EYGASTROPUB.COM

Voted Best New Restaurant 2015 by Indy readers. Specializing in an eclectic mix of craft food, craft beer, and craft cocktails. Odyssey Gastropub is a downtown gem with a warm, intimate atmosphere and awesome staff. Start your adventure with us! Mon.- Fri. 11am - 10pm, Sat. & Sun. 10am - 10pm

EDELWEISS RESTAURANT

34 E. RAMONA AVE. | (SOUTH NEVADA & TEJON) | 719-633-2220

For 50 Years Edelweiss has brought Bavaria to Colorado Springs. Using fresh ingredients, the menu invites you to visit Germany. Support local business! We’re open and doing drive-thru and takeout with a limited menu that can be found on our website! www. edelweissrest.com.

JOSÉ MULDOON’S

222 N. TEJON ST. | 719-636-2311 | 5710 S. CAREFREE CR @ POWERS |

SOUTHWESTERN/MEXICAN STEAKHOUSE

719-574-5673

Since 1974. Features authentic Tex-Mex & Mexican fare in contemporary Sante Fe-styled establishment. Across from Acacia Park, and west of Powers & Carefree. Josemuldoons.com. Support local restaurants! We are open for delivery, carry out, and dine-in at both locations! Please check our Facebook page for hours daily, as they are subject to change.

THE FAMOUS 31 N. TEJON ST. | DOWNTOWN | 719-227-7333

Colorado Springs’ finest upscale steak house and lounge located in the center of downtown. Dine in an elegant and classic steak house environment. Award winning prime steaks, fresh seafood, premium wines, craft brews and piano bar provide a provocative mix of atmosphere and entertainment. Reservations suggested.

MACKENZIE’S CHOP HOUSE

128 S. TEJON ST. HISTORIC ALAMO BUILDING | DOWNTOWN | 719-635-3536

Offering half off all bottles of wine under $100! Voted Best Power Lunch, Steakhouse and Martini! Downtown’s choice for quality meats and mixed drinks. Mackenzieschophouse.com. Open Mon.-Fri. 11:30am-3pm for lunch, and 5pm- close every day for dinner!

A Crisp & Green franchise has replaced Crave Real Burgers.

Courtesy Crisp & Green

PLAYING AROUND

WEDNESDAY, 8/30

Acoustic Hour, local musicians; 6 p.m., Buffalo Lodge, bicycleresort.com.

Ned Ledoux, country ; 9 p.m., Colorado State Fair, coloradostatefair.com/ events.

Colorado State Fair free concert: Live Wire, AC/DC tribute; 7 and 9:30 p.m., coloradostatefair.com/freeconcerts.

Roma Ransom, “world psych folk duo”; 6:30 p.m., Front Range Barbeque, frbbq.com.

Grant Sabin, singer-songwriter ; 5:30 p.m., Distillery 291, distillery291.com.

Suzanne Santo, rock, with Deirdre McCarthy, singer-songwriter; 8 p.m., Lulu’s Downstairs, lulusdownstairs.com.

Kurt Travis, alternative rock , with Amarionette, Moondough, Predisposed, Giveaway; 6 p.m., The Black Sheep, blacksheeprocks.com.

WireWood Station, country; John Wise & Tribe, New Orleans R&B/blues/ jazz/island; The Mitguards, folk ; 6 p.m., Hillside Gardens, hillsidecolorado. com/upcoming-events.

THURSDAY, 8/31

Pony Bradshaw, folk , with Grayson Jenkins; 8 p.m., Lulu’s Downstairs, lulusdownstairs.com.

Chatham County Line, country ; 8 p.m., Lulu’s Downstairs, lulusdownstairs. com.

Colorado State Fair free concerts: Forever Man, Eric Clapton tribute; 7 and 9:30 p.m., coloradostatefair.com/freeconcerts.

Disaster Artist, with Nautiloid, Glitter Porn; 7 p.m., Dog House, doghousecos. com.

Brandon Henderson, singer-songwriter ; 5 p.m., The Well, wellinthesprings. com/upcoming-events.

Peak Big Band, jazz; 6 p.m., Fox Run Regional Park, communityservices.elpasoco.com.

River Spell, folk/rock/ jam/funk/bluegrass; 8 p.m., Armadillo Ranch, manitouarmadilloranch.com.

The Sleeping Giants, Celtic rock ; 6 p.m., Jack Quinn’s, facebook.com/jackquinns/events.

Zizania, vintage jazz/swing/blues, with Ryan McCurry ; 7:30 p.m., Summa, dizzycharlies.com.

FRIDAY, 9/1

Colorado State Fair free concerts: Flobots, rap rock ; 7 and 9:30 p.m., coloradostatefair.com/freeconcerts.

Countywyde, bluegrass ; 7 p.m., Mash Mechanix Brewing Company, mashmechanix.com.

Forever Man, Eric Clapton tribute; 6:30 p.m., Brues Alehouse, Pueblo, bruesalehouse.com.

Lady A, country, with Tyler Braden; 7 p.m., coloradostatefair.com/events.

Rumours, Fleetwood Mac tribute ; 7 p.m., Boot Barn Hall, bootbarnhallco. com.

Sleep Signals, rock , with Glass Helix, Fall from Silence, Vitamin Red, Years Down, 3 Pill Morning; 6 p.m., Sunshine Studios, sunshinestudioslive.com.

The Townies, punk rock , with Total Cult, Cleaner; 7 p.m., Dog House, doghousecos.com.

WireWood Station, acoustic variety ; 6 p.m., Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, bicycleresort.com.

SATURDAY, 9/2

Collective Groove, jazz/soul/funk/Latin; 2 p.m., Cripple Creek District Museum, cripplecreekmuseum.com.

Colorado State Fair free concert: Just One Look, Linda Ronstadt tribute; 7 and 9:30 p.m., coloradostatefair.com/ freeconcerts.

Commonwheel Artists Festival: Tidal Breeze Hot Club, jazz; 12 p.m.; A Carpenter’s Daughter, mountain folk , 2:30 p.m.; Memorial Park, Manitou, commonwheel.com.

Cody Cozz, country ; 6 and 8:30 p.m., Memorial Park, coloradospringslabordayliftoff.com.

The Deer Creek Sharp Shooters, bluegrass; 9 p.m., Armadillo Ranch, manitouarmadilloranch.com.

Dueling Pianos: Born to Rock, variety ; 7 p.m., Boot Barn Hall, bootbarnhallco. com.

Laney Lou and the Bird Dogs, folk ; 9 p.m., Lulu’s Downstairs, lulusdownstairs.com.

Jim Lauderdale, country/bluegrass/ Americana; 6:30 p.m., Lulu’s Downstairs, lulusdownstairs.com.

Lava Gato, metal, with Lungburn, Falter Never Fail, Everflare; 7 p.m., The Black Sheep, blacksheeprocks.com.

Louse, punk rock/alternative , with Taunt, Mineral Palace; 7 p.m., Vultures, vulturesrocks.com.

Missy & The Dirty Secrets, rock ; 3:30 p.m., Memorial Park, coloradospringslabordayliftoff.com.

Music on the Mesa: Mile High, rock ; 4 p.m., Gold Hill Mesa, tinyurl.com/Music-Mesa23.

Nube Nueve, Latin jazz; 6 p.m., Summa, dizzycharlies.com.

Mike Pinto, roots/vintage rock/reggae/ ska/surf, with Mindstate; 7 p.m., Brues Alehouse, Pueblo, bruesalehouse.com.

The Raz-B 2k Evolution Experience, R&B , with DJ Craftmatic; 4 p.m., Production Point, tinyurl.com/razb2kevolution.

Rebels and Rogues with guest violinist/violist Jeffrey Smith, classical, Parish House Baroque; 7 p.m., The Peel House at First Lutheran Church, parishhousebaroque.org.

Swell, indie rock ; 6 p.m., Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort, bicycleresort.com.

SUNDAY, 9/3

After Nations, rock , with SemiFiction, Get The Axe; 7 p.m., Vultures, vulturesrocks.com.

Pat Benatar, rock , with Neil Geraldo; 7 p.m., Colorado State Fair, coloradostatefair.com/events.

Colorado State Fair free concerts: Mariachi Serna-Flores, 2 p.m.; La Nueva Herencia Lnh, 4 p.m.; Del Rancho Al Norte, 6 p.m.; Conjunto Tentacion, 8 p.m.; Banda Santa Anita , 10:30 p.m.; coloradostatefair.com/freeconcerts.

Commonwheel Artists Festival: High Mountain Duet, acoustic ; noon; LOOK’EE Here, blues , 2:30 p.m.; Memorial Park, Manitou, commonwheel. com.

Con4mity, goth punk , with Artpunx, Radiofry; 7 p.m., Dog House, doghousecos.com.

Corey Kent, “rock-infused country,” with Cody Cozz; 7 p.m., Boot Barn Hall, bootbarnhallco.com.

Martini Shot, rock ; 6 and 8:30 p.m., Memorial Park, coloradospringslabordayliftoff.com.

Monu-Palooza 7.0, local variety, with WireWood Station, Ashtōn, Skin and Bones, Missy & The Dirty Secrets, Mojo Filter, The Country Music Project; 12:30 p.m., Limbach Park, Monument, monupalooza2023.eventbrite.com.

Mosquito Pass, country ; 3:30 p.m., Memorial Park, coloradospringslabordayliftoff.com.

Rebels and Rogues with guest violinist/violist Jeffrey Smith, classical, Parish House Baroque; 3 p.m., The Peel House at First Lutheran Church, parishhousebaroque.org.

Steve Weeks, acoustic reggae/bluegrass/folk-hop ; 5 p.m., Goat Patch Brewing, goatpatchbrewing.com.

The Word Alive, metal/rock , with Dark

Country artist Cody Cozz plays two sets Saturday evening, Sept. 2, at the Labor Day Lift Off in Memorial Park.

Courtesy Cody Cozz

PLAYING AROUND

Divine, Nerv; 7 p.m., The Black Sheep, blacksheeprocks.com.

MONDAY, 9/4

4ID Mile High Rock Band, 8 a.m., Memorial Park, coloradospringslabordayliftoff.com.

Colorado State Fair free concert: Firefall, rock ; 6 and 8 p.m., coloradostatefair.com/freeconcerts.

Commonwheel Artists Festival: Roma Ransom, “eclectic bohemian world folk duo” ; noon; Interrobang Unplugged, alt-rock/grunge/funk , 2:30 p.m.; Memorial Park, Manitou, commonwheel.com.

LOOK’EE HERE!, blues; 5:30 p.m., Armadillo Ranch, manitouarmadilloranch. com.

TUESDAY, 9/5

Decent Criminal, “abrasive love pop, cynical self reformed guitar rock, and barbershop surf punk,” with Ricky, The Sleights, IN THE TEETH; 7 p.m., Vultures, vulturesrocks.com.

Dueling Satchmos, classic; 6 p.m., Bancroft Park, occpartnership.org.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Live in Concert, orchestra electronic turntables; 7 p.m., Pikes Peak Center, pikespeakcenter.com.

The Unlikely Candidates, alternative rock , with Elektric Animals, The Timberline; 7 p.m., The Black Sheep, blacksheeprocks.com.

WEDNESDAY, 9/6

Acoustic Hour, local musicians; 6 p.m., Buffalo Lodge, bicycleresort.com.

Cari Dell, variety; John Wise & Tribe, New Orleans R&B/blues/jazz/island; Roma Ransom, Bohemian psychfolk ; 6 p.m., Hillside Gardens, hillsidecolorado.com/upcoming-events.

Gilda House, “electronic-tinged indie pop”; 7 p.m., Vultures, vulturesrocks. com.

Seth Glier, singer-songwriter ; 7 p.m., Brues Alehouse, Pueblo, bruesalehouse.com.

THURSDAY, 9/7

Suzy Bogguss, country ; 7 p.m., Boot Barn Hall, bootbarnhallco.com.

The Criticals, rock ; 7 p.m., Vultures, vulturesrocks.com.

Sarah Groh Trio, jazz; 7:30 p.m., Summa, dizzycharlies.com.

Miniluv, alternative rock , with Years Down, Lava Gato, Between the Heart; 7 p.m., The Black Sheep, blacksheeprocks.com.

Benjamin Morse & The Sensations, singer-songwriter; 8 p.m., Armadillo Ranch, manitouarmadilloranch.com.

Red Mountain Boys, “high country traditional bluegrass”; 6 p.m., Stargazers Theatre, stargazerstheatre.com.

WireWood Station, pop/variety/Americana; 6 p.m., Fox Run Regional Park, communityservices.elpasoco.com.

BIG GIGS

Upcoming music events

Pony Bradshaw, Lulu’s, Aug. 31 Rezz, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Aug. 31-Sept. 1

Dawes, Caveman Music Festival, Weston, Sept. 1

Jim Lauderdale, Lulu’s, Manitou, Sept. 2

The Chainsmokers, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Sept. 2-3

The Word Alive, Black Sheep, Sept. 3

Gregory Alan Isakov, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Sept. 4

Left to Suffer, Marquis Theater, Denver, Sept. 5

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Pikes Peak Center, Sept. 5

Total Chaos, Bluebird Theater, Denver, Sept. 5

Rapper/actor Ludacris is coming to Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium on Oct. 20.

Goo Goo Dolls with O.A.R., Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, Englewood, Aug. 30

Suzanne Santo, Lulu’s, Aug. 30

Young the Giant and Milky Chance, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Aug. 30

ONE-STOP SHOP FOR ART

Lionel Richie with Earth, Wind & Fire, Ball Arena, Denver, Sept. 5

Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBride, Red Clay Strays, Harper O’Neill , Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Sept. 5

Dierks Bentley, The Infamous Stringdusters, Tanner Usrey, Kaitlin Butts, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Sept. 6

Janelle Monáe, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Sept. 7

Continued

Your guide to events in the Pikes Peak region CALENDAR

FIRST FRIDAY/ART

45º Gallery, 2528 W. Colorado Ave., Suite B, 719-434-1214, 45degreegallery.com. Paintings and prints by Stephanie Moon and wood sculpture by Jim Bradshaw. Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.

Academy Art & Frame Company, 7560 N. Academy Blvd., 719-265-6694, academyframesco.com. September shows: Miniature & Small Works, 12th annual judged show, in conjunction with the inaugural Massive, Big, Huge exhibit. Third Friday reception, Sept. 15, 4-7 p.m.

Anita Marie Fine Art, 109 S. Corona St., 719-493-5623, anitamariefineart.com. Past and Present, works by 30 artists who studied with Chuck Mardosz and Richard Dahlquist. First Friday celebration, Sept. 1, 4-6 p.m.; through September.

ART EXHIBIT

Yana Fanaro’s Fragmented — “Transition with me as I move into the chaos, disaster, and beauty, and as I gain an incredible and unexplainable love and priority for other humans.” Opens Friday, Sept. 1, from 5 to 9 p.m. at The Look Up Gallery, 11 E. Bijou St., thelookupgallery. com.

WHEN YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT REAL ESTATE

The Bridge Gallery, 218 W. Colorado Ave., #104, 719-629-7055, thebridgeartgallery. com. Works by Gary Weston, who uses recycled materials to create 3D pieces inspired by “Leonardo da Vinci and Jules Verne, as well as steampunk, sci-fi and space-age works.” Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.; through September.

Citizens Art Gallery at City Hall, featuring works by multi-media artist Nichole Montanez. Opening reception Friday,

Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.; City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave., enter through the southeast entrance off Kiowa Street.

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, 30 W. Dale St., 719-6345581, fac.coloradocollege.edu. First Friday Art Party, 5-8 p.m. Sept. 1, with free admission that includes the new Mi Gente: Manifestations of Community in the Southwest exhibit: “Focusing primarily on works by Chicanx/a/o, Hispanic, and Mexican American artists based in New Mexico and Colorado, Mi Gente considers the politics and complexities of community, including those who are perceived as outsiders.” The Friday event includes music by Mariachi Lobos, art by Ian Stewart, and a preview (with three lowrider cars) from the lowrider show and Mi Gente opening celebration happening Saturday, Sept. 2, from noon to 4 p.m. FAC museum free days: Sept. 9 and 15.

Commonwheel Artists Co-op, 102 Cañon Ave., Manitou Springs, 719-685-1008, commonwheel.com. Many Shades of Brown, with Thomas Conter’s wood creations, all with his signature turquoise inlay. Plenty of Color features paintings by Springs artist Susan Tormoen, who works in pastels, oils and woven tapestry. Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.; through Oct. 2.

Cottonwood Center for the Arts, 427 E. Colorado Ave., 719-520-1899, cotton-

1408 Tierra Berienda Drive – Pueblo - $25,000

4310 sq ft lot in upscale subdivision of 37 homes. Close to I-25, shopping, and dining. Complex has clubhouse with pool table, kitchen, meeting area, & indoor pool. Small park. Must conform to blend in (stucco, tile roofing, & privacy walls). May purchase 1 to 5 lots. Call Bobbi at 719-499-9451 for more information. MLS# 5093736

333

bobbipriceteam@gmail.com

3 bedroom, 2 bath 1995 double wide on a 6700 sq ft lot in Pueblo West. Cathedral ceilings. All appliances included. 1-car carport. Dog run. Big trees all around. Needs some work but priced accordingly. Only 2 miles south of Hwy 50 for easy commute to Colorado Springs or Pueblo. Complex has club house with basketball, gym, pool table, kitchen, & meeting rooms. MLS# 4978535

woodcenterforthearts.com. I See You, an invitational exhibition with works by three emerging artists — Nitra Olsen, Kumi Thompson and Sophia Rose — in mediums including ceramics, assemblage, painting and more. Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.; free, though donations are appreciated; through September.

Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, 121 S. Tejon St., #111; facebook.com/ artsculturefun. Mini Rotary Butterflies (see Grand Flight Reveal below) will be on display in the COPPeR office for First Friday, Sept. 1, and during office hours through Sept. 22.

Firkin First Friday, with artworks by Breaking Glass Creations Colorado, Robbie Cochran, Todd R Short, Creations by Colin, J&V Woodworks, Seth Boyce and High Altitude Engineer. September’s firkin ale: Vanilla NZ Pilsner. Friday, Sept. 1, 5-11 p.m.; Bell Brothers Brewing, 114 N. Tejon St.; bellbrothersbrewing.com.

First Friday at Studio Noir, with works by painter/sculptor Lance Green and multi-media artist Chandler Herbst. Studio Noir, 115 N. Tejon St., #115, tinyurl.com/ Friday-noir.

G44 Gallery, 121 E. Boulder St., 720-9510573, g44gallery.com. Corey Drieth’s

1601

1.47 acre lot at end of quiet cul de sac with sweeping unobstructed mountain & Pikes Peak views. Flat at front of lot & moving back the lot gently slopes to allow for a walkout. Backs and sides to open space. Easy commute to both Colorado Springs or Pueblo. MLS# 5628454

2615

One owner custom stucco walkout rancher on the upper part of Mountain Shadows on 0.45 acre lot backing to a common area ravine with pines, scrub oak, mountain views, & wildlife. 3628 sq ft with 3 beds & 3 baths. 2 family rooms. Total one level living in this immaculate open concept home with glass & sunshine throughout. MLS# 2757407

“Release” By Yana Fanaro

N Billy the Kid Lane – Pueblo West - $28,500

Countryside Drive – Pueblo West - $149,900

Tamora Way – Mountain Shadows - $825,000

RULES

From Aug. 2 to Sept. 5, vote for your favorites to determine who is the Best Of Colorado Springs! Fill out this ballot or vote online at csindy.com. Vote in at least 20 categories for your vote to count. Winners will be announced in the Best Of magazine inserted in the Oct. 25 Indy !

BACK TO BASICS:

1. One ballot per reader, including online. All paper ballots must be postmarked by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5; online ballots must be submitted before midnight Sept.

5. Paper ballots must be sent via U.S. Postal Service. Faxed, handdelivered or photocopied ballots will not be accepted.

2. You must vote in at least 20 categories for your ballot to count.

3. For verification purposes, ALL BALLOTS MUST INCLUDE NAME, ZIP CODE AND A VERIFIABLE EMAIL ADDRESS.

4. If we can’t read it, it doesn’t count. Spell check is a thing; please use it.

5. Take time to review this year’s categories. Some are new. Some are gone. Quick heads-up — there must be at least three businesses operating in a given category in order for that category to appear on our ballot.

6. Cheaters never prosper so don’t even think about it. We see you and you’ll be excommunicated from future Indy love.

All fields required NAME CITY STATE ZIP

EMAIL

Mail completed ballot to: Best Of Colorado Springs · Colorado Springs Independent 235 S. Nevada Avenue., Colorado Springs, CO 80903 · Or vote online at csindy.com

When categories specify a region (North, South, East, West, Downtown), vote based on these boundaries in order for your vote to be valid: North/South dividing line: Pikes Peak Avenue.; East/West dividing line: Cascade Avenue.; Downtown: between Uintah Street and Fountain Boulevard and from Wahsatch Avenue to I-25.

HOME & GARDEN

Hardware Store

Store for Houseplants

Interior Design and Décor

Roofing Company

Remodeling Contractor

Garden Supply/Nursery

HVAC Company

Kitchens and Bathrooms

Flooring Company

Windows and Doors

Used Furniture

Electrical Contractor

Deck Builder

Sustainable/Environmental Home Improvement Co.

Painting Contractor

CANNABIS

Place for CBD Products

Recreational Marijuana Dispensary

MMJ Dispensary-Downtown

MMJ Dispensary-West

MMJ Dispensary-North

MMJ Dispensary-East

MMJ Dispensary-South

Head Shop

MMJ Dispensary-Pueblo

FOOD

Neighborhood Restaurant-West

New Restaurant (since 7.1.22)

Vegetarian/Vegan

Food Truck

Chinese

Latin American

Indian

Neighborhood Restaurant-East

Mediterranean/Middle Eastern

“They Came on Ships” by Sylvia Montero

ART EXHIBIT

Catch an early look at Mi Gente: Manifestations of Community in the Southwest at the Fine Art Center’s First Friday Art Party, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.; 30 W. Dale St.; fac.coloradocollege.edu/events.

➔ continued from p. 14

Found Objects: “Inspired by daily life, the natural world, art history and religious traditions such as Zen Buddhism and Quaker Christianity, this work explores contemplative spiritual experience.” Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m. Artist talk with Drieth, Ashley Andersen and Gundega Stevens, Thursday, Sept. 21, 5:30 p.m. Through Sept. 29. (See p. 22.)

Gallery 113, 125½ N. Tejon St., 719-6345299, gallery113cos.com. Teri Homick’s Dark Reveries — “abstract ethereal works on canvas, embellished canvas prints, inlaid wooden boxes and more....” Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.

The Garfield Gallery, 332 E. Willamette Ave., 719-227-8836, garfieldgallery.com.

On My Way to See Mother, photography by Jené Jackson — “the story of last summer’s road trip to return to her mother’s grave in Tennessee for the first time in 10 years. A simple trip through the South became a journey into grief, trauma, and family as she reconnected with her mom’s 87 year-old brother.” Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m.

GOCA (Galleries of Contemporary Art, UCCS), Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery, Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 N. Nevada Ave., gocadigital.org. Martha Russo’s Caesura

“her sculptural investigations appear at once fragile and potentially dangerous, cautioning one away while hypnotically drawing one in — ever closer — for intimate examination.” Through Dec. 2. Visiting artists and critics lecture, Sept. 28, 6 p.m.

Grand Flight Reveal, “local artists have been commissioned to design beautiful butterfly and dragonfly garden art and butterfly petite sculptures. The gardensize art will be viewable on the northwest lawn of the Pioneers Museum and the

petite sculptures will be on display inside COPPeR [through Sept. 22].” All of the art will be sold later at a fundraising auction for Rotary Club of Colorado Springs. Friday, Sept. 1, 5:30-7:30 p.m.; free; Pioneers Museum, 215 S. Tejon St., and COPPeR, 121 S. Tejon St., #111.

Pete Hokanson’s dissolved ink images, “created by applying a solvent to the pages of National Geographic magazines.” Friday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m.; Rico’s Cafe and Wine Bar, 322 N. Tejon St.; poorrichardsdowntown.com; through October.

Hunter-Wolff Gallery, 2510 W. Colorado Ave., 719-520-9494, .hunterwolffgallery. com. Featured artist: oil painter Karen Storm. Opening reception and live demonstration Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.

Kreuser Gallery, 125 E. Boulder St., 719464-5880, kreusergallery.com. Floyd D. Tunson: Figures and Forms, photography and abstract painting including new works in the artist’s Redlining series — “The devastating economic, educational, environmental, and cultural impact of this insidious practice on people of color is too profound to ignore.” Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m. with music by Drew Gieger; artist talk Wednesday, Sept. 20, 5:30 p.m. Through Sept.29.

Just Art, works by Lisa Close, Lee Golub, John Hagerty, Graham Iverson, Amanda Janusz, Daniel Logan, Elizabeth Mackiewicz, Kerre Millman, Ania Milo and Kristine Urban. Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.; Universal Education Foundation, 301 E. Platte Ave.; universaleducationfoundation.org.

The Lawrence Dryhurst Gallery, 122 E. Kiowa St., 719-227-1980, lawrencedryhurstgallery.com. Mountain Soul Drummers (outdoors, bring a chair) followed by jazz continued on p. 20 ➔

SEPTEMBER FEATURED ARTIST: Teri Homick

Her show, Dark Reveries, encompasses a wide variety of abstract ethereal works, including many crow paintings.

Teri’s current body of work features original paintings, embellished canvas prints, art inlaid wooden boxes, matted prints, greeting cards, and hand-painted leather bookmarks, keychains & unisex bracelets.

OPENING RECEPTION: 5-8pm on First Friday, Sept. 1st at Gallery 113 downtown.

CALENDAR

ART EXHIBIT

Floyd D. Tunson: Figures and Forms — “I especially enjoy switching from one medium to a contrasting one because that sparks my imagination and helps keep my thinking fresh. Hence, the choice of photography and abstract painting for this show.” Opens Friday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m.; Kreuser Gallery, 125 E. Boulder St., 719464-5880, kreusergallery.com.

➔ continued from p. 19

inside at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, 4-8:30 p.m. LightSpeed Curations, 306 S. 25th St., 719-308-8389, lightspeedart.art. A Woman’s Touch, “celebrating 17 local female artists” — Mac Coplin, Jo Carol Ciborowski, Sydney Wilkerson, Vashti Ruiz, Dawna Isham-Pierce, Kimberly Sewell, Sherrie Mitchell, Elizabeth Juvera, Liza Tudor, Jade Doe, Kristy Lorenzen, Sherrie Gibson, Jen Kruse, Rebecca Jones, Ellia Vaga, DollyGirl and Jessica de la Luna. Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 6-10 p.m.

The Look Up Gallery, 11 E. Bijou St. (inside Yobel), thelookupgallery.com. Fragmented, new works by Yana Fanaro that “play with the multiple emotional experiences I face as a mother, the pieces of myself that are fragmented, out of focus, scattered and blurred.” Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m.; through September.

Manitou Art Center, 513/515 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, 719-685-1861, manitouartcenter.org. Campus-wide First Friday celebration Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m. Includes a new show by Susan Morello — who works mostly in soft pastels — in the Hagnauer Gallery, plus courtyard music by The Tidal Breeze Jazz Trio.

Meraki Springs, 2708 W. Colorado Ave., Suite B; 719-424-7185, merakisprings. com. Paintings on vintage windows by Kari Merritt. Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.

Philippine Diaspora Art Exhibit, presented by Jasmine Dillavou on the COATI Mezz, with works by diaspora artists from the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce. Opening Tuesday,

Floyd D. Tunson

LABOR DAY FESTIVITIES

There are holiday celebrations all over the Pikes Peak region this weekend, from the Monu-palooza music festival in Monument to the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo...

• Labor Day Lift Off, with its herd of hot air balloons and tons of food, drink and entertainment, is the biggest Labor Day fest hereabouts. It opens at 5 a.m. Saturday and runs through late morning on Monday. You’ll find all the deets at coloradospringslabordayliftoff.com.

• Commonwheel’s Labor Day Art Festival kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday with juried works for sale by artists and artisans; live music, food and prizes; and giant soap bubbles, balloon animals and art activities for the kids. Saturday-Monday, Sept. 2-4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; free; Memorial Park, 502 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs; tinyurl.com/ Commonwheel-23. Check out the Quilt Showcase & Boutique by Piecing Partners Quilt Guild across the street at Memorial Hall, tinyurl. com/Quilts-23.

• Fountain’s Blues & BBQ Fall Festival ticks all the boxes — pancake breakfast... parade... live music... chili cookoff... beer garden... farmers market... tractor pull. Monday, Sept. 4, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; various venues, but most events are at Metcalfe

Sept. 5, 4-6 p.m., includes a Q&A with artists; COATI Uprise, 514 S. Tejon St.; tinyurl. com/Diaspora-art.

Platte Collections, 2331 E. Platte Place, 719-980-2715, plattecollections.myshopify.com. First Friday celebration featuring up-cycled fiber art by Fort Collins’ Elizabeth Morisette, local artists discussing their work, plus cocktails, beer, wine and charcuterie. Sept. 1 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Portraits of Manitou by C.H. Rockey, features original town views and significant historical buildings. Manitou Springs Heritage Center, 517 Manitou Ave.; manitouspringsheritagecenter.org; through November.

Rooftop Art Walk, with work by Mateo Ramirez-Rose, a contemporary indigenous painter based in Colorado Springs. Friday, Sept. 1, 5-8 p.m.; Lumen8 Rooftop Lounge, 402 S. Tejon St.; lumen8cos.com.

Surface Gallery, 2752 W. Colorado Ave., 719-359-6966, surfacegallerycos.com. Decode, a father/son show with works by Daniel Romano “combining painting and sculpture in unexpected materials and forms,” and “calligraphy-based art, spanning mediums of street art, paint, metal work, clothing and jewelry” by his son Foster. Opening reception Friday, Sept. 1, starting at 5:30 p.m.; learn more at tinyurl.com/ two-Romanos.

Park, 618 E. Ohio Ave., Fountain; tinyurl.com/Fountain-blues.

• Monu-palooza: This is Monument’s “Labor Day Eve throwdown ... live music from the area’s best bands, food trucks and a sweet send-off to the Summer of ’23.”

Sunday, Sept. 3, 12:30-8 p.m.; Limbach Park, 151 Front St.; tinyurl. com/monu-palooza-23.

• Victor Celebrates the Arts, the week before the show, plein air painters from around the country chose subjects within a 10-mile radius of city hall. Show and sale Saturday-Monday, Sept. 2-4, including a Quick Draw with live models and props for painters on Monday. Free; see victorcelebratesthearts.org for times and more info.

• Labor Day Vintage Baseball, the annual 1880s-style baseball match at Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site — “no spittin’, no swearin’, and no gloves.” Monday, Sept. 4, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 3105 Gateway Road; tinyurl. com/bball-23.

• Colorado State Fair runs through Labor Day, with its carnival, live music, demolition derby and 4-H events. Colorado State Fairgrounds, 1001 Beulah Ave, Pueblo; head to coloradostatefair.com and explore your options.

True North Art Gallery, 31 E. Bijou St., 210-842-2476, truenorthartgallery.com. New work by the collective’s artists. Opening reception — “late-night gallery viewing, wine sippin, and chatting about art” — Friday, Sept. 1, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

ZoneFIVE, 1902 E. Boulder St., zonefivecs.com. Idiom: Works by Warren Arcila, “a collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures created throughout the years.” Through September.

KIDS & FAMILY

Back to School Culture Fest, with Lil’ Miss Story Hour and Knob Hill Urban Arts District — “we will bring the heart of Knob Hill Urban Arts District to life for one magical day with live art, workshops, speakers, vendors, food trucks, a silent art auction, giveaways, and more.” Saturday, Sept. 16, 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; 2331 E. Platte Ave.; tinyurl. com/23-culture.

No Child Left Behind at Mueller, part of the nationwide movement promoting outdoor exploration for K-12 kids. Handson activities that teach about Colorado’s natural resources — examine animal skins and skulls, tracks and scat; make pinecone bird feeders; and try your skill at archery. Saturday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; free, but parks pass required; Lime Kiln Parking Lot in Cheyenne Mountain State Park, 410 JL Ranch Heights; 719576-2016, cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/

parks/CheyenneMountain.

Cool Science: Strange Fluids, “play with Oobleck, magnetic fluids, and maybe even make some slime.” Saturday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; general admission required; Space Foundation Discovery Center, 4425 Arrowswest Drive; tinyurl.com/ strange-fluids.

MUSEUM EXHIBIT

Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight is “the story of African Americans who, despite facing tremendous racial barriers, attained amazing achievements in aviation history. ... stories and artifacts from local Tuskegee Airmen will be on exhibit to highlight the many Black heroes in our community.” Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; free; Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Annex, Plaza of the Rockies, 121 S. Tejon St., #100; cspm.org.

STAGE/THEATER

Borscht Belted, “laughs, dreams and cold beet soup in the cradle of American comedy” with Warren Epstein, who “channels Rodney Dangerfield, Woody Allen, Jack Benny and other humor pioneers as he recreates his childhood memories in the famous Catskill resort area.” Friday-Saturday, Sept. 8-9, 7:30 p.m.; Millibo Art Theatre, 1626 S. Tejon St., themat.org.

If you like...

SHOVEL READY

Corey Drieth’s new Found Objects is archeology for the mind

BY

RAVEN | nick@csindy.com

COREY DRIETH’S NEW exhibit at G44 Gallery isn’t just the latest knot in a rope he’s been working on for nearly two decades, but as a professor of visual art at UCCS, this is his first local non-faculty solo display in years. While a series of drawings going back as far as 2013 will occupy the rear gallery, the front will hold nearly two dozen newer abstract explorations of paint on unique wood tablets.

They’re seas and forests; they’re deserts and rivers. The firm and sometimes finely measured boundaries occasionally betray the fact that they’re abstract works. But lean a little closer and they beckon you to take a journey.

“I typically work within a small range of themes,” Drieth says. “I chose a kind of revealing and concealing theme here, so most of the pieces play off of that idea in one form or another. My hope is that the longer that you look at them, you feel this kind of tension between things familiar and mysterious, between balance and unbalanced.”

The boards that serve as canvases — themselves found objects — were hand-picked for their aesthetics, not laminated together from different pieces. He finds the grain, then cuts and sands the wood down to a base that he can work from.

“I play with the grain that I find within boards,” he says. “I’m looking for specific things [but] also trying to be open when looking for pieces of lumber or grains that might surprise you.”

With the grain to guide him, he can layer on color and create compositions. Since any mistake requires significant effort to remove, he leans on his expertise.

“You start with an intuition or a thought or an idea and you apply that,” Drieth says. “With this work, if the color’s not right, I can’t paint over it — you have to wash it out, sand it out and start again. Part of me really hopes that it feels like it doesn’t take a lot of work even though they’re really meticulous and challenging.”

It’s his goal to make each work an individual exploration with titles like “Shimmer,” “Rupture” and “Praise.” Drieth balances much of the work on his studies

of Zen Buddhism and the contemplative aspects of Christianity, but he doesn’t want to guide you too strictly or allow his artist statement to dictate too much of his intent and steal imaginative potential from the viewer.

But if they remind you of ice cream or cartoons and not the undulations of the divine, he’s fine with that, too.

Found Objects is a show that he’s spent years processing and creating. Some of the works you’ll see here are ones that he finished and set aside, only to revisit and recompose into a work that he’s more comfortable with. As he chatted with the Indy, he was still a couple works shy of the full set that will be on display starting on First Friday (Sept. 1).

“Every person brings a unique perspective to it,” Drieth says. “When you’re sensitive and look thoughtfully and mindfully, you’re guided by the direction the artist sets you up for. I think when you’re insensitive, you’ll just bring whatever you bring to it.”

But Drieth won’t apologize if these objects come across as inaccessible.

“I assume if it’s beautiful to me, some other people are going to find it to be beautiful. That will inspire someone to care about it, to pay more attention to it and spend more time with it,” he says. “If you try to please everybody, you water down what your original purpose was.”

G44 Gallery, 121 E. Boulder St., through September, opening reception First Friday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m.

If you try to please everybody, you water down what your original purpose was.

— Corey Drieth

NICK

Corey Drieth

are effortlessly simple at a distance, but get closer.

“Shimmer (blue)” and “Shimmer (green)” in the studio

Unlike Drieth’s pieces, his studio does not look simple from a distance.

“Return” and “Descent”

Photos by Gundega Stevens/G44 Gallery

LOWDOWN

By Jim Hightower jimhightower.com

The right’s plan for success: LET EARTH BURN

WHEN YOUR POLITIcal opponents push extremist public policies that would be disastrous for America, should you wring your hands in dread… or applaud?

Consider “Project 2025,” put together by former Donald Trump officials and the Koch brothers’ network of billionaire plutocrats. Their strategy is to win the presidency next year by demonizing all environmental protections and promising to halt all national efforts to cope with the obvious crises of climate change. Their proposals include repealing regulations that curb fossil fuel pollution, terminating our nation’s transition to renewable energy, shutting down all environmental protection agencies, encouraging more oil and gas drilling and use, and promoting the deadly delusion that global warming is not a real problem.

Moreover, they intend to implement Project 2025 in the first 180 days of a right-wing Republican’s presidential term — obviously anticipating that Trump will be that president. “We are not tinkering at the edges,” brags a farout right-wing group that instigated the scheme. “We are writing a battle plan and we are marshaling our forces.” They’ve already drawn up a list of agencies and policies they’ll begin eliminating on Day One, and they’ve readied a list of some 20,000 right-wing henchmen to put on the federal payroll immediately to enforce their plan.

crats to demonstrate their bipartisan spirit by doing all they can to publicize the Republicans’ let-it-burn global warming policy.

AND HERE’S STILL MORE RIGHTwing skullduggery. Ohio voters scored a big election victory for women’s rights on Aug. 8. It was a tricky vote, too — deceptively couched as a statewide referendum to approve a little technical change in the procedure for approving statewide referendums. How boring.

But Ohioans figured out that it really was a BIG vote on an underhanded ploy by right-wing Republicans to block the right of women to make their own reproductive decisions. Not boring. So, in a huge turnout, a whopping 57 percent of voters said “yes” to women and “NO!” to the tricksters.

Yet the referendum actually did encompass a procedural issue that’s an even bigger political story than the election results — namely the GOP’s ongoing attempts to rig election rules so its extremist minority can “win” without getting a majority of the votes. Background: A state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion is already set to be voted on this November in Ohio. Right-wing Republican leaders fear that more than half of Ohioans will support that amendment. Thus, last week’s referendum was their desperate attempt to win by losing, specifically by decreeing that — hocus pocus! — constitutional initiatives must get 60 percent approval to become law. Yes, a 40 percent minority of voters could nullify the majority will of the people.

If this sounds ludicrous, it is. But it’s actually happening, for the Republican Party has decided to be ludicrous. As the director of Project 2025 told The New York Times, “[This is] where the conservative movement sits at this time.”

Maybe, but it damn sure won’t sit well with the American people, who’re currently suffering the hellish ravages of our rapidly overheating climate. Indeed, here’s a great chance for Demo -

This gaming of the system by devious Republican officials and far-right extremists has become their core political strategy across the country. It’s actually a deeply embarrassing admission by them — they are conceding that they are now captives of ideological extremism and outright nutballism, making their party so completely out of touch with the American majority that they can’t win honestly. So they’ve become the AntiDemocracy Party, acting as rabid political veterinarians out to “fix” democracy by neutering the power of the people.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo journalist Anthony Loyd has spent a lot of time in war zones, so it’s no surprise he has bleak views about human nature. He makes the following assertion: “We think we have freedom of choice, but really most of our actions are puny meanderings in the prison yard built by history and early experience.” I agree that our conditioning and routines prevent us from being fully liberated. But most of us have some capacity for responding to the raw truth of the moment and are not utterly bound by the habits of the past. At our worst, we have 20 percent access to freedom of choice. At our best, we have 70 percent. I believe you will be near the 70 percent levels in the coming weeks, dear Virgo.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libra poet T.S. Eliot wrote the iconic narrative poem “The Wasteland.” One part of the story takes place in a bar near closing time. Several times, the bartender calls out, “Hurry up, please — it’s time.” He wants the customers to finish their drinks and leave for the night. Now imagine I’m that bartender standing near you. I’m telling you, “Hurry up, please — it’s time.” What I mean is that you are in the climactic phase of your astrological cycle. You need to finish this chapter of your life story so you can move on to the next one. It means you have a sacred duty to resolve, as best you can, every lingering confusion and mystery.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Addressing a lover, Scorpio poet Margaret Atwood says, “I would like to walk with you through that lucent wavering forest of bluegreen leaves with its watery sun & three moons, towards the cave where you must descend, towards your worst fear.” That is a bold declaration. Have you ever summoned such a deep devotion for a loved one? You will have more power and skill than usual to do that in the coming months. Whether you want to or not is a different question. But yes, you will be connected to dynamic magic that will make you a brave and valuable ally.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian theologian N.T. Wright writes, “The great challenge to self-knowledge is blind attachment to our virtues. It is hard to criticize what we think are our virtues. Although the spirit languishes without ideals, idealism can be the greatest danger.” In my view, that statement formulates a central Sagittarian challenge. On the one hand, you need to cultivate high ideals if you want to be exquisitely yourself. On the other hand, you must ensure your high ideals don’t become weapons you use to manipulate and harass others. Author Howard Bloom adds more. “Watch out for the dark side of your own idealism and of your moral sense,” he writes. “Both come from our arsenal of natural instincts. And both easily degenerate into an excuse for attacks on others.” Now is a good time for you to ponder these issues.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn playwright and novelist Rose Franken said, “Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.” That’s interesting, because many traditional astrologers say that Capricorns are the least likely zodiac sign to be silly. Speaking from personal experience, though, I have known members of your tribe to be goofy, nutty and silly when they feel comfortably in love. An old Capricorn girlfriend of mine delighted in playing and having wicked good fun. Wherever you rank in the annals of wacky Capricorns, I hope you will consider expressing these qualities in the coming weeks. Romance and intimacy will thrive if you do.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): As I work on writing new books, I often draw on inspirations that flow through me as I take long hikes. The vigorous exercise shakes loose visions and ideas that are not accessible as I sit in front of my computer. Aquarian novelist Charles Dickens was an adherent of this approach. At night, he liked to walk around London for miles, marveling at the story ideas that welled up in him. I recommend our strategy to you in the coming

BY ROB BREZSNY

weeks, Aquarius. As you move your body, key revelations and enriching emotions will well up in you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The coming months will be an excellent time to build, discover and use metaphorical bridges. To get in the mood, brainstorm about every type of bridge you might need. How about a connecting link between your past and future? How about a nexus between a task you must do and a task you love to do? And maybe a conduit between two groups of allies that would then serve you even better than they already do? Your homework is to fantasize about three more exciting junctions, combinations or couplings.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Climate change is dramatically altering the Earth. People born today will experience three times as many floods and droughts as someone born in 1960, as well as seven times more heat waves. In urgent efforts to find a cure, scientists are generating outlandish proposals: planting mechanical trees, creating undersea walls to protect melting glaciers from warm ocean water, dimming the sun with airborne calcium carbonate, and covering Arctic ice with a layer of glass. In this spirit, I encourage you to incite unruly and even unorthodox brainstorms to solve your personal dilemmas. Be wildly inventive and creative.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “When love is not madness, it is not love,” wrote Spanish author Pedro Calderon de la Barca. In my opinion, that’s naive, melodramatic nonsense! I will forgive him for his ignorance, since he worked as a soldier and celibate priest in the 17th century. The truth is that yes, love should have a touch of madness. But when it has more than a touch, it’s usually a fake kind of love: rooted in misunderstanding, immaturity, selfishness and lack of emotional intelligence. In accordance with astrological factors, I assign you Tauruses to be dynamic practitioners of genuine togetherness in the coming months: with hints of madness and wildness, yes, but mostly big helpings of mutual respect, smart compassion, tender care, and a knack for dealing maturely with disagreements.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini author Iain

S. Thomas writes, “There are two things everyone has. One is The Great Sadness and the other is How Weird I Really Am. But only some of us are brave enough to talk about them.” The coming weeks will be a favorable time to ripen your relationship with these two things, Gemini. You will have the extra gravitas necessary to understand how vital they are to your full humanity. You can also express and discuss them in meaningful ways with the people you trust.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A self-fulfilling prophecy happens when the expectations we embrace actually come to pass. We cling so devotedly to a belief about what will occur that we help generate its literal manifestation. This can be unfortunate if the anticipated outcome isn’t good for us. But it can be fortunate if the future we visualize upgrades our wellbeing. I invite you to ruminate on the negative and positive projections you’re now harboring. Then shed the former and reinforce the latter.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The holy book of the Zoroastrian religion describes a mythical mountain, Hara Berezaiti. It’s the geographic center of the universe. The sun hides behind it at night. Stars and planets revolve around it. All the world’s waters originate at its peak. Hara Berezaiti is so luminous and holy that no darkness can survive there, nor can the false gods abide. I would love for you to have your own version of Hara Berezaiti, Leo: a shining source of beauty and strength in your inner landscape. I invite you to use your imagination to create this sanctuary within you. Picture yourself having exciting, healing adventures there. Give it a name you love. Call on its invigorating presence when you need a sacred boost.

The New York Times

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ

done

7 One who prefers only the highest-priced things,

19 Some bars have 24 of them

21 Small, as chances

24 “___ is wasted on the stupid”: Oscar Wilde

25 Word with sand or tourist

27 Revolutionary invention?

28 Situation involving unrequited love

29 One whose weight goes up and down

30 ___ manner of speaking

33 “The ___-Body Problem” (Hugo Award-winning novel by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin)

34 Not many

35 [Sad trombone]

36 Roaring Twenties and Swinging Sixties

40 Is indebted to

42 Psychics supposedly have six of them

43 Company making tracks

44 Taking prescription drugs, informally

45 Coat that might be satin?

47 Big name in electric cars

48 Miles away

49 “Lovely” Beatles girl

50 Privy to

51 Computer accessories

54 Fall behind

55 Car pooler’s letters

Find the answers on p. 31

LATINO COMMUNITY LUNCHEON

Powered by the Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber

DATE: September 13, 2023

TIME: 11:30am - 1:00pm

LOCATION:

Bella Vista Event Center, 4th Floor

2886 South Circle Drive Colorado Springs, CO

COST: $25.00

PRE-REGISTER AT: cshispanicchamber.com

NO WALK-INS ACCEPTED.

BUILDING COMMUNITY, UNITING CULTURES

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL

Americans abroad

Sponsored by:

Sponsorships are available! Call (719) 231-5353

The Colorado Springs Latino Community Luncheon powered by the Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber brings together our diverse community to share information and ideas, promote cultural awareness, and educate the community on the events and issues impacting Hispanics/Latinos in El Paso County.

Security guards at the Eiffel Tower in Paris discovered two American tourists sleeping near the top of the structure on Aug. 14 as they prepared to open to visitors, Yahoo! News reported. Paris prosecutors said the two dodged security the night before and “appear to have got stuck because of how drunk they were.” Firefighters were dispatched to collect the men, who were questioned by police; Eiffel Tower management company Sete said it would file a criminal complaint, although the pair didn’t “pose any apparent threat.”

Clothing optional

At Stoke Fruit Farm on Hayling Island in England, the sunflowers have been in full bloom for several weeks. The colorful fields offer a perfect background for photo shoots, but, the BBC reported, the farm has seen an “increase of reports of naked photography taking place” since July 28. “People are having fun and taking pictures for their Instagram but we just ask that they keep their clothes on,” said Sam Wilson, who runs the site. In an Aug. 11 Facebook post, the attraction cautioned that “this must not happen during our public sessions please.” One commenter said her son “got a right eyeful” after stumbling across a woman wearing just a thong. “Should have seen his face!”

Incompetent criminal

Sure, Mountain Dew has been compared to battery acid, but one suspect thought a can of the stuff could save her from being fingered as a killer. Fox35-TV reported that on Aug. 5, Nichole Maks, 35, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 79-year-old roommate, Michael Cerasoli. Cerasoli was discovered beaten and stabbed in the home they shared in Daytona Beach, Florida, on July 1. Officers tracked down Maks around 3:30 the next morning at a Krystal’s restaurant, where she had blood on her leg and part of her shirt had been torn or cut away. She dropped a knife and hammer she’d been carrying, telling officers she often carried such items. Police said that as they questioned her about her roommate, she became “agitated” and asked for a drink; they gave her a can of Diet Mountain Dew, which she poured over her body and hair, hoping to eliminate any evidence on her person. Unsurprisingly, that stunt didn’t work, and her DNA was found on the knife used to kill Cerasoli.

IN MORE NEWS FROM PARIS, an “experienced climber” got to the top of the Eiffel Tower early on Aug. 17 and parachuted off before guards could stop him, The Guardian reported. The unnamed man landed safely after the leap from about 1,100 feet and was promptly arrested for endangering the lives of others. “This kind of irresponsible action puts people working at or near the tower in danger,” scolded Sete, the tower’s management company.

Why? Just why?

An unnamed man called his dangerous stunt “a joke” after being arrested in Ostrobothnia, Finland, Sky News reported on Aug. 9. The man allegedly stored 26 pounds of dynamite in his friend’s two cars before calling the owner and telling him. The owner wasn’t laughing: He alerted police, who evacuated nearby buildings. “In addition to the dynamite, detonators were also confiscated from the cars,” said Tony Rauma, detective chief inspector with the Ostrobothnia Police. The jokester told police he did not intend to blow up the cars, and links to terrorism have been ruled out.

(Not) a mystery

When the European Space Agency shared a composite photo taken by the James Webb Telescope in late July, highlighting two actively forming stars, another shape in the photo caught the attention of Earthbound gazers: an orange formation in the shape of a question mark. Kai Noeske, ESA communication program officer, explained to NPR what scientists think the shape is: “a group or a chance alignment of two or three galaxies. The upper part of the question mark looks like a distorted spiral galaxy, maybe merging with a second galaxy.” Galaxy mergers result in “all kinds of beautiful shapes and structures,” said Macarena Garcia Marin, a Webb project scientist. They are “a normal phase in the life and evolution of galaxies.”

Photo illustration assets from stock.adobe.com

Big bang Focus Tourism

Sports and events tourism ends summer on high note

BY SARAH MCMAHON

Over the first three weekends in September, Colorado Springs can expect to see upwards of 185,000 visitors flocking to the city for outdoor and sporting events. The Labor Day Liftoff, the Pikes Peak APEX and the Pikes Peak Ascent & Marathon will generate millions of dollars for local businesses.

In fact, throughout the year, the outdoor recreation and sporting industry is a major player in the economic vitality of the city. And Colorado Springs leads the nation in outdoor activity and sporting event tourism.

According to the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, 68 percent of overnight visitors reportedly come here for outdoor activities, compared to the national average of 48 percent; and 37 percent come for sporting events, compared to 21 percent nationally, according to the 2022 Longwoods International study of Colorado Springs tourism.

And some of these popular events are right around the corner.

One of the largest events of the year is the Labor Day Lift Off, which invites about 70 different hot air balloon pilots from all over the country to participate in the weekend-long event. This year the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, one of the event’s organizers, anticipates 180,000 attendees across three days.

In 2022 “the Labor Day Lift Off generated $20 million in economic activity, and it also contributed to booking 20,000 room nights in hotels,” says Lauren DeMarco, Sports Corp’s marketing manager. Major events like the Lift Off are a boon to the lodging industry as visitors tend to stay multiple nights.

But Springs residents also turn out in droves for local events, especially the Lift Off. “Twenty-one percent of Colorado Springs residents [who participate] say that they stay in town for this event, rather than leave,” says DeMarco. “I think that just goes to show how amazing the event is itself, that people want to stay and experience it.

“So not only are we bringing people in from out of state to come, but we’re keeping the people in the city as well to spend money and enjoy the event itself.”

Many residents support the events by volunteering. Sports Corp alone relies on 900-1,500 volunteers annually to host a variety of events, according to DeMarco. The need for volunteers fluctuates depending on the year — and these numbers don’t include the vendors, organizations and service providers that also come together to support the events.

Kathy Hubel, office manager for the Pikes Peak Marathon, says that in 2022, the Marathon included “28 vendors who participated in the event expo, and over 170 people, including support organizations such as El Paso County Search and Rescue, Pikes Peak – America’s Mountain and the city of Manitou Springs, along with 350 volunteers.”

continued on p. 29 ➔

July’s Rocky Mountain State Games drew participants (and spending) from all over Colorado.

Courtesy The Sports Corp

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The upcoming Pikes Peak APEX will rely on the help of 100 volunteers for the three-day mountain bike challenge, that runs Sept. 8 to 10. In its fourth year, the event expects more than 250 riders competing for a range of prize packages.

New to hosting the APEX, Sports Corp aims to grow the event’s participant base and popularity — for the sake of the sport as well as the community. For DeMarco, more involvement means good things for local businesses.

Riders and their supporters, she says, are “going to do more than just bike the mountain. They’re going to explore and see what else there is here, whether it’s the [Pikes Peak] Cog Railway or The Broadmoor or Downtown or Old Colorado City and Manitou.”

“However, [in 2022,] with 2,700 registered runners (about 2,300 of which are actually here on race weekend), I do know the spending in Manitou and COS on travel, lodging, food, auto, merchandise, etc. [was] tremendous.”

cannot

It seems businesses on the Westside have mixed results during these events. Cassidy Sedlacek, president of the Old Colorado City Associates, says the restaurant industry typically sees an increase during the Ascent and Hill Climb and similar large scale events. When it comes to boutiques and other businesses in OCC, Sedlacek says some report an increase in sales, while others actually report a drop in revenue.

it for granted. It takes investment.

The competition will serve as a fundraiser for the PPORA Stewardship Fund, which focuses on trail maintenance and protection.

The Pikes Peak Ascent & Marathon is next — Sept. 16-17 — attracting around 2,600 runners this year, according to Hubel. The two-day event hosts the bulk of runners for the Ascent on Saturday, and the marathoners on Sunday.

The legacy event is in its 67th year and welcomes runners from all over the world. Hubel says that based on registration data from Pikes Peak Marathon Inc., in 2022, 65 percent of registered runners (for both races) came from outside El Paso County, with Ascent participants representing 49 states and 18 countries, and marathon participants representing 42 states and 10 countries.

“I don’t have a current estimate on the total economic impact,” Huber says.

— Becky Leinweber

DeMarco says that Sports Corp has an overall local economic impact of more than $100 million annually in Colorado Springs. A parade of other events also represent a major source of income for the community: think Rocky Mountain State Games, which brings 11,000 athletes; or this summer’s World Jump Rope Championships that saw 1,200 athletes from 27 countries competing in the 11-day event at Robson Arena.

Outdoor recreation — camping, hunting, hiking, water activities and fishing — comprise another world of tourism, much of which is supported by the efforts of PPORA. Keeping these industries going takes a lot of support from the community.

“We cannot take it for granted,”says Becky Leinweber, executive director of PPORA. “It takes investment. It takes people caring about the places that they enjoy, that are bringing people here. That comes from us as individuals — volunteering for organizations and supporting them financially.” n CSBJ

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take

Last year’s Labor Day Lift Off generated $20 million in economic activity.

Front The

Art of healing

Unique therapies are benefiting veterans

Working with art to help veterans deal with their combat experience has been around since World War I, when it was administered by occupational therapists, Red Cross volunteers and artists. Art therapy is used to reduce debilitating symptoms, provide opportunities for expression and resolution of painful memories, and enhance stress reduction through art-based relaxation techniques and coping skills.

In particular, art therapy helps by reducing anxiety and mood disorders common to military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder; helping to alleviate behaviors that interfere with emotional and cognitive functioning; externalizing, verbalizing, and resolving memories of traumatic events, and reactivating positive emotions, self-worth, and self-esteem.

Art therapists are trained in a variety of media such as painting, drawing, ceramics, collage and design used in conjunction with psychotherapy to help veterans deal with the horrors of combat as well as assist them with everyday stress at home. For example, a veteran experiencing PTSD can use art to release what is stored in his body and mind coupled with cognitive behavioral therapy to reframe negative thoughts.

During individual art therapy sessions, veterans can safely and nonverbally express what is inside and practice managing overwhelming emotions by directing them into visual creative outputs. It can be less threatening to retell their memories through pictures and visual symbolism than to speak about them. Since making art can be relaxing and therapeutic, the triggers of their combat experiences can lessen over time and be reintegrated, thereby cre -

ating more emotional regulation.

As one veteran participat ing in art therapy noted, “I was able to open up and see inside myself without hav ing to talk to anyone. It gave me a positive way to process the loss of life which I experi enced during combat, process and express previously unac cessible parts of my memory and traumatic experiences by providing an outlet in a safe atmosphere. Art therapy was a direct approach that allowed me to process trau matic events on a timeline that was comfort able for me. It allowed me to bring my memories and nightmares/ fears into the real world and have control over them.”

Group art therapy increases motivation to become engaged in treatment since veterans can be with others who have similar backgrounds, provide

ers bear witness to their experiences. It can also improve fine motor skills, cognitive functioning, manage stress and substance abuse, cope with symptoms of PTSD and traumatic brain injury, while also enhancing their sense of self-esteem and overall physical and mental health. There is something about being in a group with people like yourself that helps further the healing process.

Art therapy has three significant outcomes for veterans with PTSD. First, the ability to express thoughts which could not previously be verbalized. Next, improved

to reduced social detachment. And finally, less anxiety, being better able to control intrusive thoughts and feeling less emotionally numb.

Art therapy is most effective when veterans first return home and should be continued even after some of the major symptoms subside. Just like an exercise and food regimen, follow-up is important and can help veterans cope better in the long run, enhance their self-worth and be able

to be involved in their communities, and improve their outlook on life.

Marianne Elden Torres is the facilitator for Art Expressions at Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center. She is an art therapist/mental health clinician who has counseled veterans and active duty military on depression and anxiety, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse.

The Veterans Voice News Service, presented by The Veterans Voice Project and Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, provides weekly, military and business-themed news, analysis and commentary for The Front in partnership with the Colorado Springs Business Journal

During individual art therapy sessions, veterans can safely and nonverbally express what is inside.

Marianne Elden Torres

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NONDISCRIMINATION

STATEMENT

Pikes Peak State College is committed to assuring equal employment opportunity and access to services, programs, and activities. In all aspects of the application and employment process, decisions shall be made based on merit, competence, performance, and business need without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status, or any other protected status, in accordance with applicable law. All personnel responsible for employment decisions and the development and implementation of programs or activities are expected to support this commitment and give their cooperation to assure their individual conduct is in alignment with the commitment to equal opportunity.

The College has designated Kim Hennessy, Vice President for Human Resource Services, as Title IX Compliance/Equal Opportunity Officer with the responsibility to coordinate its civil rights compliance activities and grievance procedures under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. For information, contact Kim Hennessy, Vice President for Human Resource Services, at 5675 South Academy Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80906 or at (719) 502.2600.

You may also contact the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, Region VIII, Federal Office Building, 1244 North Speer Boulevard, Suite 310, Denver, CO 80204, telephone (303) 844-3417.

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