CS Independent Vol. 1 Issue 11 | October 3, 2024 by pikespeakmediaco

Cannon Taylor

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EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ben Trollinger

REPORTERS Andrew Rogers, Cannon Taylor, Noel Black and Karin Zeitvogel

CONTRIBUTORS

Adam Leech, Lauren Ciborowski, Bob Falcone, and Jeffery Payne

SALES

AD DIRECTOR JT Slivka

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Monty Hatch, Erin Cordero

AD COORDINATOR

Lanny Adams

COPY EDITOR Willow Welter ART

SENIOR

Adam Biddle OPERATIONS

DIGITAL AND

Sean Cassady

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Kay Williams

Mayor Yemi Mobolade gives his State of the City speech at the Broadmoor International Center. | Credit: Karin Zeitvogel

Yolanda Avila and Puma.| Credit: Karin Zeitvogel

HALF-BAKED DEMOCRACY

By BEN TROLLINGER • ben.trollinger@ppmc.live

There was a buzz in Colorado when I moved here back in late 2012. We were just over a year away from the state becoming the first in the nation to allow for the sale of recreational cannabis. And, as the editor of the Summit Daily News, I had a front-row seat to this unprecedented experiment.

As a journalist, it was a Michael Jackson-eating-popcorn kind of moment, spawning countless articles, think pieces and even a magazine devoted exclusively to the subject. On the business side, the Summit Daily raked in a windfall of ad dollars from the dispensaries, as did many newspapers across the state, including the old Indy.

But more than 10 years on, the sticky-icky luster has worn off. People are increasingly concerned about the long-term health effects of regular consumption, particularly on young developing minds. And Politico recently reported that the once-booming industry has taken an epic financial hit.

“In 2020, the market soared to $2.2 billion,” reporter Mona Zhang wrote back in June. “But just three years later, sales had plummeted to $1.5 billion, leading to layoffs, closures and downsizing. The market downturn has spelled trouble for state finances too: Colorado took in just $282 million in cannabis tax revenues in the last fiscal

year, down more than 30 percent from two years earlier.”

So, was the experiment ultimately a failure? The answer to that question is still up for (a seemingly interminable) debate, but the Colorado Springs City Council certainly thinks so. Despite the multiplicity of medical dispensaries across town, the city has held fast on recreational marijuana sales — not here, no way, no how. Voters appear to agree with that direction. In 2022, they roundly rejected a measure to legalize recreational marijuana. And yet, advocates refuse to stash the cause.

"IN EFFECT, THE CITY COUNCIL MOVE NULLIFIES THE TWO BALLOT MEASURES — AND YOUR VOTE. "

As you’ll read in this issue, Springs voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on two competing ballot measures this November regarding recreational weed sales. One would allow for existing medical dispensaries to offer recreational products as well, while the other would outlaw the same. To add a layer of confusion on top of that, the council gave initial approval last month to expand the setback radius between pot shops and schools, daycares and rehab centers from 1,000 feet to one mile. In effect, the move nullifies the two ballot measures — and your vote.

Reporter Karin Zeitvogel is seeking to make sense of it all, particularly City Councilmember Lynette Crow-Iverson’s controversial comment that the council is not a democratic institution. And Zeitvogel, the latest addition to the Independent newsroom, is uniquely qualified to weigh in on the subject. She’s reported on a host of governments in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for institutions including the BBC World Service, Agence France-Presse, The Independent (UK), London Evening Standard, and Stars and Stripes.

We’re thrilled to have her on the staff. Say hello — or maybe bonjour — the next time you see her at City Hall.

Ford Amphitheater to host neighborhood open house after a second lengthy public hearing regarding noise complaints as well as support for the new venue. On September 10, the Colorado Springs City Council heard hours of public comment about the venue, many speaking on behalf of JW Roth and the Ford Amphitheater and the cultural impact the venue will provide to the city. Others continued to voice their dismay over the noise. The open house will take place on October 5 at 3:45 p.m. JW Roth, chairman and CEO of Venu, the owner of the Ford Amphitheater, is the co-owner of Pikes Peak Media Company, the parent company of the Colorado Springs Independent.

UCCS will use grant funding to empower first-generation students. UCCS recently announced that it has been awarded a grant for the 2024 First-Generation College Celebration initiative. The grant was provided by the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) to enable UCCS to further its commitment to supporting first-generation college students in our community. “First2Go is immensely proud and grateful to have received the grant for our 2024 First-Generation College Celebration Week, which will run from November 4 to November 8,” said Ashley San Miguel, First2Go program coordinator. “This grant empowers the university to expand its efforts to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for first-gen students.”

The Downtown Partnership honored three outstanding contributors in Downtown Colorado Springs during their 27th Annual Breakfast. The awards were given to an individual, civil servant and organization for their impact on the area’s economic, civic, and cultural vitality. The Downtown Star Awards were given to Matthew Schniper, Rich Mulledy and Colorado College.

DEMOCRACY GETS SMOKED

Councilmember’s remark on democracy raises eyebrows

by KARIN ZEITVOGEL • karin.zeitvogel@ppmc.live

“That’s insane!” an audience member shouted at the Sept. 10 City Council meeting as Council President pro tem Lynette Crow-Iverson said the council was “not a democracy.”

Crow-Iverson made the statement during the first reading of an ordinance that would increase by a factor of five the setback between shops that sell recreational pot and schools, daycares and rehabilitation facilities. The broader setback would effectively ban sales of recreational weed in Colorado Springs.

The Council voted 7-2 to pass the ordinance on first reading, despite Colorado Springs’ Planning Commission recommending that the setback remain at 1,000 feet instead of being changed to one mile.

“The Planning Commission heard a lot of testimony about the fear of marijuana use, especially among the youth in our community, but they did not see the logic between a one-mile versus a half-mile versus whatever other distance,” Walker said in response to a question from

Councilmember Dave Donelson (D1) at the Sept. 10 meeting.

But Crow-Iversen thought otherwise. The main reason the council asked the planning commission to weigh in on extending the setback around recreational marijuana shops was to protect the young people of Colorado Springs, she said.

The Planning Commission had stepped “…out of line a little bit into asking why Council was doing this, and are you usurping the will of the people,” she said.

“I think they need to go back and do a little bit of a civic class because we are not a democracy,” she said. “We are elected to write policy and to govern on behalf of the people.”

‘A

REPUBLIC IS A FORM OF DEMOCRACY’

Crow-Iverson had trotted out an oftenused, but erroneous right-wing assertion, said political science professor Lonna Atkeson, the LeRoy Collins Eminent Scholar in Civic Education & Political Science and director of the LeRoy Collins Institute at Florida State University.

“There’s this distinction that conservatives make a lot between a democracy and a republic — but a republic is a form of democracy,” she said. “If you read James Madison, it’s very clear that the point of representation is representation, and if people are not represented in the way they like, ... their obligation is to hold those legislators, those politicians accountable.”

Some Colorado Springs residents have said on social media that they plan to start the process to recall Crow-Iverson. They say she feels she is “outside of the purview of democracy” and “it’s time we show her that she works for us.”

Two weeks after the first vote, Council again ignored the Planning Commission, as well as pleas from members of the public, and passed the ordinance on second reading. The same councilmembers voted for extending the setback, and the same against. The exclusion zone was extended to one mile, effectively barring sales of recreational cannabis in Colorado Springs.

“This was engineered,” said Councilmember Yolanda Avila (D4), who,

Exterior of Native Roots Medicinal Dispensary in Colorado Springs. | Credit: Andrew Rogers

with Councilmember Nancy Henjum (D5), voted against the ordinance.

“It’s to make sure there’s no recreational cannabis in Colorado Springs, a way to get around what the people really want,” Avila said.

Before the vote, Donelson suggested that the ordinance be withdrawn until after the Nov. 5 election, when voters will have their say on two opposing ballot questions about recreational marijuana.

One, question 2D, would totally ban sales of recreational weed in Colorado Springs.

"REPRESENTATION IS REPRESENTATION, AND IF PEOPLE ARE NOT REPRESENTED IN THE WAY THEY LIKE, ... THEIR OBLIGATION IS TO HOLD THOSE LEGISLATORS, THOSE POLITICIANS ACCOUNTABLE."

The other, question 300, grew out of a citizens’ initiative that gathered thousands of signatures to get on the ballot. It calls for recreational marijuana to be sold out of existing medical cannabis dispensaries that are at least 1,000 feet away from facilities frequented by kids or other sensitive populations.

“It may turn out that (the ordinance allowing) recreational marijuana sales in the city doesn’t pass and that [2D] does pass,” Donelson said. “The council doesn’t have to pass an ordinance before the election even occurs, and I think it would be a wiser thing for council to do. I think it’s better to just wait and see how the vote goes.”

But Crow-Iverson refused to pull the ordinance, and the vote went ahead.

Luther Bonow, who had helped gather signatures that got question 300 on the ballot, was angered and frustrated by the lack of democratic process surrounding the vote.

“Why petition for change if the council can just go against the petition?” he said. “Petitioning takes a lot of money, it takes a lot of time, and what’s the point? How can

Colorado Springs to receive $1 million for city-wide road safety initiatives from the Safe Street and Roads for All program included in the bipartisan infrastructure law. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet announced the funding in a statement regarding the $28.6 million in total funding earmarked to the Centennial State. “As our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is building new roads and investing in our nation’s infrastructure, we’re also hard at work to make our local Colorado roads safer for families,” said Hickenlooper.

change ever come to Colorado Springs if you have councilmembers that don’t want to implement change?”

PURE DEMOCRACY

If an issue is important to voters and they are letting that be known by starting a citizens’ initiative, “then to not be responsive to that is misunderstanding what it means to be a representative in a republic,” Atkeson said.

“We’re not a pure democracy, but the initiative process is pure democracy,” she said. “The purest democracy would be where the people would vote on every legislative matter. An initiative is the people voting on a legislative question.”

Henjum said when she voted against the ordinance the first time, she failed to see why the change was needed. Avila questioned how democratic it was.

“It’s a sure way to stop there being recreational marijuana,” without even paying lip service to the citizens’ initiative, she said. “And that, I thought, was taking away a citizen’s right.”

The Pikes Peak Community Foundation was granted more than $35,000 to support the Pikes Peak region’s creative economy. One grant will be awarded to the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPR) and their LEVEL UP! program to build a sustainable arts economy. The Board of Trustees also approved a second grant to help fund a program at the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College for the Experiential Arts Collaboration provided to students at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind.

Wealthy Gen Zers are relocating to several states, including Colorado. According to a study from SmartAsset, members of the age group, born between 1997 and 2013 who earn $200,000 or more per year may be more prone to moving for economic and lifestyle opportunities than some older counterparts. The study shows the top states where Gen Zers are calling home, according to IRS data are, New York, Florida, Tennessee, Colorado and Texas.

El Paso County has launched an online Affordable Housing Directory. The interactive tool features a user-friendly map and specialized filters aiming to connect individuals and families to housing options that match their specific needs

Compiled by Andrew Rogers andrew.rogers@ppmc.live

Marijuana selection at Native Roots. | Credit: Andrew Rogers

STATE OF THE CITY

Mayor paints Colorado Springs as a 21st century shining city on a hill

Mayor Yemi Mobolade gives his State of the City address at the Broadmoor International Center on Sept. 10. | Credit: Karin Zeitvogel

By KARIN ZEITVOGEL • karin.zeitvogel@ppmc.live

The road to success runs through Colorado Springs — and it’s a road with fewer potholes, more police officers ensuring public safety, fewer unhoused people and, oddly, more than a thousand fewer errant shopping carts than in previous years, thanks to efforts by Mayor Yemi Mobolade and city officials.

“Based on the number of athletes who live and train here, if Colorado Springs were a country, we would have finished third in the Paris 2024 Olympic medal count with 66 total medals, and we would have finished ninth in the Paralympic medal count with 57 total medals,” Mobolade told a packed Broadmoor International Center on Sept. 10 as he delivered his State of the City speech.

“This proves that the road to the Games, the road to the podium and the road to greatness

runs through Colorado Springs.”

The roads theme was woven throughout the speech, the second Mobolade has given since he was elected mayor of Olympic City last year. He is the first immigrant, the first Black man and one of the youngest people to be chosen by voters to lead the city of some half a million residents.

A SHINING CITY

His vision for Colorado Springs is to continue to build “a safe, economically prosperous, culturally rich, welcoming and vibrant, world-class American city on a hill that shines brightly,” Mobolade said, evoking what the first governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, told fellow colonists as they sailed to America — urging them to work

together to build “a City upon a Hill” in New England. Ronald Reagan reprised and updated Winthrop’s phrase centuries later to articulate the idea of American exceptionalism. And earlier this week, Mobolade spoke of Colorado Springs’ exceptionalism.

“We are the most desirable city to live in America and the third-best place to live in our great country,” he said, citing U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings. Its economy grew by 8.5% last year, or nearly $4 billion dollars, he said. In the last five years, despite COVID-19 restrictions, Colorado Springs’ economy has grown by 30%. The city is a hub for the high-tech industry, and this year became one of the first in the country to benefit from federal funding under the CHIPS and Science Act, which authorizes some $280 billion for semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States, he noted.

“The promise of these investments is significant,” Mobolade said. “Groundbreaking innovation. Good-paying jobs. American-made manufacturing. And a secure, prosperous future.”

The city has indeed come a long way since it was founded more than 150 years ago, but there is still room for improvement, he added, before outlining a raft of successes notched up in his first year in office:

Infrastructure: Road crews have filled in 73,000 potholes in the Springs this year, repaved more than 160 miles of roads, replaced 152,000 feet of concrete curbs and gutters and installed 600 pedestrian ramps.

The main source of funding for road improvements in Colorado Springs is a voter-approved sales tax called 2C. A ballot measure in November will ask voters to extend funding for 2C by 10 years, starting in 2026. Mobolade called for a yes vote for the measure.

Four of the 10 longest bridges in Colorado Springs are set to be upgraded — not a moment too soon, as they are over 60 years old.

Public parks are being beautified and made safer, and eyesores are being effaced from the Colorado Springs landscape. More than 2,900 tons of debris, or around 5.8 million pounds, and over 3,000 abandoned vehicles have been cleared;

trash, including 1,300 discarded tires and 1,100 abandoned shopping carts, has been hauled away, and 10,000 graffiti tags have been removed.

Colorado Springs Airport is set to expand air services and flight options and could one day offer international travel, Mobolade said.

Missing from the infrastructure plan was a plan to improve public transportation and add bicycle lanes on city streets or sidewalks to provide safe corridors for those who don’t have cars. Getting more people on bikes can also help to improve air quality and health. An interactive map of cycling infrastructure projects compiled by People for Bikes shows just one project in Colorado Springs, near Fort Carson. Housing: Although the number of people experiencing homelessness in Colorado Springs fell to its lowest level since 2015, more than 1,400 residents remain unhoused. To fill a shortage of up to 27,000 housing units, the city is considering modular housing. It is also leveraging funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to invest in local projects, and this year allocated around

“$1.6 million dollars to a total of 1,194 units that are either under construction or ready to lease,” the mayor said.

Economic vitality: The city has awarded nearly $1.2 million in loans to 54 small businesses this year, and hired a smallbusiness-development administrator. It attracts world-class talent at entertainment venues from Weidner Field to the new Ford Amphitheater and intimate bars and clubs downtown. “Our road trip has an incredible soundtrack, the perfect mixtape,” Mobolade said before pausing as he realized that many in the online streaming generation have no idea what a mixtape is. He urged them to ask their parents for clarification.

Mental health: One way Colorado Springs is tackling the mental health crisis is by getting communities to host gatherings that help people feel less isolated. Over 700 such events were held this summer in Colorado Springs. The gatherings are helping to change the social fabric of communities and are inspiring towns and cities elsewhere in the United States to organize similar events, Mobolade said.

Public safety: Colorado Springs’ police force expects to hire an additional 130 officers this year and is on target to reach its full authorized capacity of 819 officers by next year. For residents, that should translate into better service and response times, Mobolade said.

One new fire station has been opened, and ground has been broken on another. The city’s firefighters’ rapid and effective responses to two dozen wildfires this year have protected lives and property and prevented a repeat of the devastating Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires, he said.

Throughout his speech, Mobolade thanked the city’s individual, corporate and government partners for helping Colorado Springs tackle its challenges and continue making its way down the road toward a bright future.

“The road to our future is paved with progress,” he said. “Our road to the future, our destination, is a thriving city … This is the American Dream. The idea that anyone, regardless of their background, culture or circumstances, with the right opportunity can flourish.”

A leaflet on a table at the Broadmoor International Center, which was filled to capacity Sept. 10 for Mayor Yemi Mobolade’s State of the City speech, urges Colorado Springs residents to organize community gatherings. | Credit: Karin Zeitvogel

.

‘There has to be compassion’

How life’s tests have taught Yolanda Avila to never give up

by KARIN ZEITVOGEL • karin.zeitvogel@ppmc.live

Yolanda Avila sat in her second-hand Toyota, looking out the moonroof at the cerulean California sky, and thought, “It’s true. You work hard, you go for what you want, and you can have it.”

The Colorado Springs native had moved to California after graduating from Colorado College in 1985, when the United States was recovering from the severe global recession of a few years earlier, after being rejected for every single job she applied for in her home state.

On that day that she sat gazing through the moonroof, she had been working in the Orange County public defender’s office for a few years, doing something she loved.

She’d never lost hope that she’d get the job, which she saw advertised in a classified ad in the local paper, and had ignored the nay-sayers who told her she, a Latina from out of state, didn’t have a snowflake’s chance in the Mojave Desert of being selected for it.

“When I got to California, I was working as a temp and this guy offered me a job in a manufacturing firm, saying they wanted me to be their office manager,” Avila told the Independent during a week when there were no City Council meetings. She’s served on Colorado Springs’ Council for nearly eight years, and will be leaving her position in April.

“I told him, ‘Oh, this is just temporary for me. I’m going to be an investigator for the public defender’s office,’” she recalled. That elicited a patronizing laugh from her wannabe employer, who told her that no one got a job in Orange County unless they knew someone, “And you’re from Colorado, you don’t know anybody, so you can just forget that and come work with us.”

“But I thought, no. I’m not going to just forget that. And I got the offer about three weeks later for a job that I loved,” Avila said.

She was helping people who were down on their luck, who’d fallen on hard times and who were trying to stay out of jail. When she wasn’t working, she’d drive around in her old Fairline clunker, usually alone because her friends refused to ride in it, or go salsa dancing.

Over the years, she was promoted several times and eventually made enough money to be able to replace the Fairline with a Toyota Camry. She was sitting in that car in Newport Beach, Calif., when she had her life-is-good epiphany. But just three years later, in 1998, she was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that leads to blindness. She felt that her dream had been ripped out from under her.

THE

COLORADO

SPRINGS

COUNCILMEMBER WILL STEP DOWN IN APRIL

AFTER SERVING

TWO, FOUR-YEAR TERMS, BUT SHE SAYS SHE’S NOT LEAVING THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE THAT HAS DEFINED HER AND HER FAMILY’S LIVES.

She spent two years trying to figure out what her value would be to her community, her job, to life, without her eyesight. She considered going back to Colorado Springs and moving in with her mother. But after years of confusion, sadness and some anger, she realized she was still the same person, regardless of her health problems. She was still the woman who refused to give up on her dreams, the compassionate soul who fought for the rights of the least of her brothers and sisters, who lived by the Mexican dictum “No te rajes” — don’t give up, no matter what the world is throwing at you. She probably got that from her American father and Mexican mother, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen. They, too, never cracked in the face of adversity and discrimination.

AMERICAN DEPORTATION

A week before she spoke with the Independent last month, as some in the United States were enthusiastically welcoming promises from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to “… have the largest deportation from our country” if he’s elected in November, Avila stood before her fellow councilmembers in a packed meeting room in City Hall and told the story of a little-known mass deportation from the United States that happened nearly a century ago.

It caught her U.S.-born father and his family in its net. It still hits home with Avila. Her dad, Benito Vargas Avila, was born and raised in Garden City, Kansas, and had just graduated from high school when authorities in some states began rounding up people of Mexican extraction, including those who were U.S. citizens, like Avila’s father.

“They rounded up my dad’s family and deported them to Mexico, where they had never lived,” Avila said.

Benito’s parents enrolled him in a teachers’ college in Mexico, and it was there that he met Avila’s mother, Angela. Their backgrounds couldn’t have been more different: He was from a working-class family that had spent years in the United States and struggled to survive the Great Depression; she was the product of wealth and privilege and really didn’t care that much for Benito when they first met.

But he grew on her, and they built a life together, started a family and lived in the home that Angela’s wealthy father had gifted them when they married.

They lived an idyll in Mexico. Benito, who studied music at college, lulled Avila’s oldest brother and sister to sleep by playing the violin to them, Avila said.

“They had this beautiful life and were well respected. And then my dad got a letter from Uncle Sam that said, ‘You’re to

Yolanda Avila and her dog Puma. | Credit: Karin Zeitvogel

report for duty.’”

Deemed an illegal alien as a teen, despite the fact that he was American, Avila’s dad was being told to return to the United States in a time of need.

It was, Avila thinks, around 1944. World War II was in its final throes, but U.S. troops were fighting some of its fiercest battles.

Not once did Benito Avila question the U.S. government order. A consummate patriot, he packed up his wife and kids and headed to a new, very different life in Kansas, which, at the time, was segregated. Blacks and Latinos had to enter restaurants through back doors and drink from different water fountains than white folk. And while he was off fighting, Benito Avila’s wife and kids were barred from swimming in the local pool back in Kansas, except for the day before it was due to be cleaned. Blacks were also banned from the pool, the implication being that they and Mexicans were unclean. Whoever made that rule didn’t reckon with Avila’s mother. She got together with other families, and they used to scale the fence at the pool so their kids could go swimming, climbing back over when a lookout would give them a sign that the cops were coming. Angela Avila later formed a committee and got the pool ban on Blacks and Latinos lifted.

Avila learned many of these family stories by eavesdropping outside the kitchen as her parents reminisced. But those overheard conversations never included a hint of her father’s deportation story. Avila first got wind of that when she was doing a course at Colorado College about U.S.-Mexico relations and learned about the roundups of Mexicans, and how some of those who were deported were American citizens, she said.

“I was shaken by this news. I went to my parents’ house and I said, ‘Mom! Dad! Did you know they deported Mexicans? And they were American citizens?’ And my dad, his face went ashen.”

When Avila was a child, Benito Avila would hold a finger up to his lips and point toward the door, indicating that she should leave the room, when he didn’t want to explain something. He was a

very private man, and never spoke about his youth, his service in World War II, the Korean War, or any of the 21 years that he ended up spending in the U.S. military.

“When he would do that, when I was little, my mom would say, ‘Te digo después,’ I’ll tell you later. It was my mom who told me my dad’s story. He was too ashamed. I can’t be in his head, in his heart, but what happened that he wouldn’t even talk about it?” she wondered.

Benito Avila was one of some two million people of Mexican ancestry who were forcibly sent to Mexico during the Great Depression years. More than half of them had been born in the United States; many of them were never able to return to the United States.

Anti-immigrant sentiment is “cyclical, when things get really bad here — in times of recession, depression, unemployment, we blame immigrants coming in. And usually, it’s been immigrants of color,” Avila said.

“There’s no compassion. There has to be compassion,” she added.

Avila ended up on the Council after returning to Colorado Springs in 2011 to be with her then 90-year-old mother. She found a city is disrepair. Streetlights didn’t work, buses only ran once an

problem for months.

“The first time we debated the migrant issue was when there were false reports that busloads were coming down from Denver. Now, with the gangs… they want to make it clear that this is not a sanctuary city, and that we don’t believe in illegal immigration. And I was like, well, nobody does,” Avila said.

The underlying message appears to be that “we’re not going to tolerate (migrants, including asylum seekers), we’re not going to be kind, we’re not following the teachings of Jesus and, you known, feed someone that’s hungry and take care of the kids,” she said, evoking another personal experience that has shaped her. It’s one of her earliest memories, and again involves looking up. But this time, it wasn’t through a moonroof and the feelings were not positive.

hour on weekdays — and there were none after 5:30 p.m. — and sidewalks were crumbling or non-existent.

But instead of grousing about the sorry state of her hometown, Avila set out to fix what she could. She attended City Council meetings and talked about transit and sidewalks. She joined committees, and within three years, buses were running more frequently, and were running more frequently, into the evening hours and on weekends.

“And I was like, wow, if I could do this as a regular citizen, what could I do as a City Council person? So I ran for Council.” She was elected in 2017, and re-elected four years later.

NEW DEBATE ABOUT MIGRANTS

At its second meeting in September, City Council passed a resolution reaffirming Colorado Springs’ status as a non-sanctuary city. Council was spurred to take up the issue again after news about Venezuelan gangs overrunning Aurora spread around the country and world, despite Aurora’s mayor, police, city council and city manager saying in a joint statement that the gangs’ presence in Aurora was limited to specific properties, and that city officials had been addressing the

Her mother became severely ill with tuberculosis and was hospitalized when the family first moved to Colorado Springs when her dad was stationed at Fort Carson in the late 1950s. “Mom was interned for a year, my dad couldn’t take care of us, and my little brother and I were put in an orphanage,” Avila said. They remained there for a year.

“I remember looking up at the hospital, holding my little brother’s hand, and saying, ‘Look at mom and wave to her.’ My first memory was about longing for my mom and not understanding why I can’t be with her,” she said.

Seeing reports in recent years of migrant children being taken from their parents after crossing the southern U.S. border from Mexico brings back that memory and strengthens Avila’s resolve to continue seeking justice and equity. She won’t do it on City Council because she’s reached her term limit and feels that she’s done her time.

Voters know she’s leaving her position, and they ask her what they’re supposed to do “without you on the council, being our voice?” she said.

“And I say, ‘We’ll just keep marching forward and expressing ourselves.’” Or, as the Mexican saying goes, no se rajan. They won’t give up. Avila won’t let them.

Migrants, family of Mexicans, on road with tire trouble. Looking for work in the peas. California. | Credit: Dorothea Lang, courtesy: the Library of Congress archive

.

COLORADO SPRINGS’ NON-SANCTUARY CITY

STATUS REAFFIRMED

by KARIN ZEITVOGEL • karin.zeitvogel@ppmc.live

City Council voted on Sept. 24 to reaffirm Colorado Springs as a nonsanctuary city for immigrants but failed to add three amendments proposed by Councilmember Dave Donelsen.

One amendment called for Colorado Springs to join a lawsuit against the authorities in Denver, who Donelsen said had turned Colorado into a de facto sanctuary state. The second called for the city to explore joining a potential lawsuit against Denver over the impact its sanctuary city status has had on other communities in the state, and the third called for the “remigration, deportation of all of the approximately 20 million illegal aliens who have recently entered our country.”

The phrase “sanctuary city” is not a legal term but means a community typically does not honor requests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants, unless the local authorities suspect the immigrant of being involved in a serious crime.

Councilmembers argued that the status of “sanctuary state” doesn’t exist, and some visibly reacted when Donelsen called for mass deportation. No one seconded any of the motions brought by Donelsen, and they weren’t incorporated into the resolution.

Citizens who addressed councilmembers during the comment period were vocal in their opposition to the resolution, brought by Councilmember Brian Risley, who said it was “about getting out ahead of the lawlessness and chaos that has plagued other communities, and prevent that from happening here.”

Podcast host Jacqueline “Jax” Armendariz Unzueta called the resolution and unsuccessful amendments “bigoted b*llsh*t,” and “shallow grandstanding.”

Chauncy Johnson said the resolution sent a message that “we don’t care who you are, we don’t want you here.”

“As a Black person, it tells me if you’re going after them, you’re coming after me next,” he said.

The Independent will cover the sanctuary city debate and resolution in depth in the Oct. 17 issue.

A PSYCHEDELIC SPIRITUALITY

Colorado’s first church for magic mushrooms opens in Colorado Springs

By OLIVIA PRENTZEL

The Colorado Sun •

•

The walls of Benji Dezaval’s basement are painted a deep forest green. Vines trickle below a white lotus lantern in the center of the room and a pot of succulents hangs in the corner. The lights are dimmed, giving the room a gentle green glow.

About a dozen people face each other, some sitting in chairs and others crosslegged on the floor, as Dezaval guides them in a conversation about community and pride.

At a quick glance, it looks a lot like a group therapy session.

But as the clock nears 6 p.m., the group gathers around a bar in the next room to accept a “communal gift” — 2 grams of dried psilocybin mushrooms, two weeks’ worth of microdoses or a light dose of dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, which Dezaval extracts from root bark.

“Everything is provided for free as an act of wellness,” lead guide Dezaval said before offering the psychedelics he cultivated inside his northeastern Colorado Springs home to the group of faces, some familiar to him, some new.

What started with a psychedelic trip in January — when he felt like he was transported to a dense forest in Mexico where an ancestor told him to help others heal with mushrooms — has become a full-time job for Dezaval. He now runs about a dozen gatherings a month, mostly in his home, through what he has dubbed “Colorado’s first psychedelic church.”

During “primary gatherings” at the church, Dezaval guides people into discussion on topics from love to social justice. He also hosts a range of social events, from movie nights to painting while microdosing. Mushrooms along with other psychedelics

are offered to anyone 21 years or older. He is in the process of certifying the organization as a religious nonprofit and promotes it on his website, through Meetup, Reddit and Discord, and word of mouth. The church is just one example of a tidal wave of new ideas about how to use psychedelics after Colorado voters approved Proposition 122 in 2022, which decriminalized the use of psilocybin — the psychedelic fungi commonly known as “magic mushrooms” that have long been used by Indigenous people as a natural medicine. Dezaval is not charging for the psychedelics and is not operating his church as a healing center. Under the state’s natural medicine laws, adults 21 years and older are legally allowed to share psychedelics in the context of counseling, spiritual guidance and “community-based use.”

A spokesperson for the state’s Natural Medicine Division declined to comment specifically on the church.

“I use these tools with respect and reverence,” said Dezaval, who worked as a mental health worker for 10 years. “The universe has provided these for us to find our wellness.”

As someone who has fought depression and suicidal thoughts, Dezaval said he formed the church to make psychedelics more accessible, knowing firsthand their power to impact mental health, and foster community.

Though he speaks about the power of psychedelics in spiritual terms, Dezaval remains sharply critical of some traditional churches.

“To sit here and to look at a society that has paved the way for a lot of religious organizations to manipulate the system to find their version of benefit, not society’s version, their version,” said Dezaval, who goes by Teopixqui Dez to those in his com-

Top: Chauncy Johnson. Bottom: Jacqueline “Jax” Armendariz Unzueta. | Credit: Karin Zeitvogel

munity. (Teopixqui translates to “guard of God” in Aztec.)

“What if we took that same power and did something actually meaningful with it? Those same avenues that are used to spread hate, those same avenues that are used to to restrict people, we can use to empower people,” he said.

Since January, he has transformed his basement to prioritize comfort for those who choose to trip there. There’s a daybed with pillows to lie down on. At the bar, there are popcorn, snow-cone and cotton-candy machines.

Before passing out psychedelics, Dezaval confirms the person is at least 21 years old and then hands them a business card that reads “Enjoy shrooms responsibly” with a QR code that brings people to a Google document that lists safety information and a dosing guide.

Those who attend the church are welcome to take the psychedelics at Dezaval’s home or in their spare time.

He also gives a verbal warning about the dangerous side effects of consuming psychedelics while taking antidepressants.

“You’re not going to have a headache, you’re not going to get nauseous, you’re going to have a seizure, and then you’re gonna die,” he said. “There are other ways for you to find your wellness and I will personally work with you if I need to make sure you can find that if you are on those.” At the bottom of the document is a recipe for a lemonade that helps combat nausea when ingesting psilocybin mushrooms. Since forming the church, Dezaval said he has poured $4,000 of his money to sustain it. He accepts donations for each gift of mushrooms, microdoses or DMT, but doesn’t charge for any of his psychedelics or events.“I have dedicated myself entirely to this — this is my full-time job,” Dezaval said, adding that he was $1,800 “in the hole.”

Dezaval said he hopes the nonprofit status will help bring in more money to sustain the church.

“This might be me being a little idealistic — I know that what we’re doing is good, I’ll find the money, I’ll find it somehow,” he said. “Everybody in our community brings a different resource.”

Erasing a taboo around psychedelics There’s research that backs the power of mushrooms to help mental health disorders that haven’t been eased by traditional therapies or medicines. Studies from respected institutions including John Hopkins School

of Medicine have shown that psilocybin is helping in treating everything from alcohol dependence to major depressive disorder.

Reyes Saucedo, a 25-year-old veteran transportation officer in the U.S. Air Force, said he came to Dezaval’s house because he wanted to engage in more groups that are creating safe spaces to talk about psychedelics and their benefits.

“I’ve dealt with my own suicidal ideations and psychedelics definitely helped me, mentally, see things differently,” he said.

Saucedo said he is glad more organizations, like the Veterans Administration, are more open to having conversations about how psychedelics can be used to treat PTSD and other mental health conditions. His goal is to start a nonprofit to help support veterans through the use of psilocybin.

“They’re doing DMT,” he said, nodding to a group of people in a nearby bedroom.

“As an outsider looking in, to us, it may not mean anything, but to that person right now, those three to five minutes they could find the serenity, growth or motivation they need.”

In Colorado, lawmakers are navigating uncharted waters as they begin to enforce recently adopted guidelines for psilocybin

mushroom growers, manufacturers and drug testing labs. The new regulations offer guidance on waste disposal, define drug serving sizes and product labeling requirements and set penalties for people caught breaking the laws.

Businesses must also report to state authorities if anyone experiences a serious or life-threatening incident that requires medical intervention or if someone dies.

Colorado’s Department of Revenue, one of the two agencies that oversee the state’s burgeoning psilocybin industry, also just finalized regulations for psychedelic-assisted therapy, which is expected to roll out in 2025. Colorado is the second state in the county, after Oregon, to legalize the model, which has shown promise in treating mental health conditions like depression and end-of-life distress.

In Colorado Springs, where city leaders have still not allowed the sale of recreational marijuana, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said they are aware of Dezaval’s church and are “monitoring how the state is creating rules and oversight.”

“The Mayor’s Office has not received resident concerns on this topic,” spokesperson Vanessa Zink said in an email, declining an interview request with the mayor.

Livia Demopoulous and Tori Honour, who had each used psilocybin to help with depression and ADHD before, learned about the church after meeting Dezaval at another event in the city and were eager to visit a place that aimed to lessen the taboo around psychedelics.

“He’s very educational, which we love. We’re very big on education and people understand what they are getting,” Honour, 28, said.

The church also serves as an inclusive “third space” — that fosters community outside of home, work or school. They’ve seen attendees range in their 20s to late 50s, with many people identifying as LGBTQ+ or neurodivergent.

“People who are already not concerned with labels or taboo,” Honour said.

“This community has a lot of potential to bring people joy, whether it’s through experiences that they have using a substance safely, or whether it’s just knowing the community,” they said. “Even if you were never to take substances here, honestly, the community is so important.”

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonprofit news outlet that covers our state. Learn more and sign up for free newsletters at coloradosun.com. n

Benji “Dez” Dezaval, director of The Community of PACK Life, distributes gifts of psychedelics to attendees of “Colorado’s Psychedelic Church” in Colorado Springs. | Courtesy: Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America

THE ARTS IN AUTUMN

Celebrate Springs creativity this October

By CANNON TAYLOR cannon.taylor@ppmc.live

This October, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPR) is asking us unite with one another through the arts. It’s a fitting request, given the upcoming election.

“People are not always able to get over those differences, but dialogue is important,” said Dylan Craddock, program manager. “Art is a safe way to do that.”

October is Arts Month, an initiative by COPPR to drive tourism, the economy and community through the arts.

“The arts are worth investing in not just because they bring joy and fun to communities, but because they are community health initiatives that bring people together,” said Craddock. In the spirit of Arts Month, the Independent has compiled an autumn guide to arts and community events. As COPPR insists, there’s something for everyone.

SHOPPING LOCAL

Wanting to shop local art, but not sure where to start? Pikes Peak Zine Fest, held in Berger Hall at UCCS on Oct. 5, is a fantastic way to meet Colorado Springs’ up-and-coming creatives. Zines — short for “magazines” — provide authors and artists the perfect way to self-publish their work. Individually and lovingly handcrafted, these DIY books are so small that you could fit several in your pocket. The best part? Zines are cheap enough that you can shop ’til you drop (or zine ’til you sing?) without emptying your wallet. I attended last year’s Zine Fest, and the variety and creativity on display was insane. The zines I picked up ranged from colorful comic books to informative political pamphlets to guides on gardening. As for more established local artists, you can usually find them hiding in their galleries during the Old Colorado City ArtWalk. Taking place every first Friday of the month at 4 p.m., the next two ArtWalks will be on Oct. 4 and Nov. 1 on Colorado Avenue and 25th Street. ArtWalks allow you to visit dozens of galleries while getting in some exercise. The best part is that you don’t have to

spend a dime if you don’t want to. But if you do, there are plenty of local art galleries to spend your allowance on, and even more restaurants to eat at once you’ve worked up an appetite.

"AND THERE ARE STILL MORE HIDDEN GEMS FOR YOU TO DISCOVER THIS ARTS MONTH. NOW GO OUT THERE AND CELEBRATE THE ARTS! (OR BE BORING AND STAY AT HOME. YOUR CHOICE.)"

In the same vein as ArtWalk, the fifth annual Neighborhood Arts + Crafts Crawl is being held in the Divine Redeemer and Mid Shooks Run neighborhoods on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will allow participants to meet the artists as they visit 15 different galleries within 2.5 miles of one another.

I haven’t forgotten you readers up north! Front Range Maker’s Market at Lewis-

Palmer High School is a great option for you. The Maker’s Market takes place Oct. 26-27. Additionally, Black Forest Arts and Crafts Guild’s 60th Fall Show and Sale will be taking place Oct. 30–Nov. 3 at the Black Forest Community Center. These markets will feature everything from boutique clothing to birdhouses. If you perked up when I mentioned birdhouses, you should probably attend the Pikes Peak Whittlers’ 40th Annual Woodcarving & Woodcraft Show

Taking place Oct. 12-13 at the Colorado Springs Shrine Club, the show will feature a judged competition and vendors of

carved goods and furniture. And although we all love our feathered friends, please leave your pet woodpeckers at home. If you love your pet woodpecker so much you want to permanently engrave it on your body, consider getting it so at the Colorado Springs Tattoo Arts Festival Get tattooed by your choice of artists from across the U.S., including Anwon “Boneface” Johnson and Mystical Mike, as seen on “Ink Master.” Not a tattoo person? Come browse through vendor goods and watch the sword swallowing and burlesque. There will even be a tattoo contest if you want to see bizarre and breathtaking pieces of body art. The festival will take place Oct. 18-20 at the Colorado Springs Event Center.

FILM

Film buffs, you face a crossroads. Two local film festivals are taking place on the same weekend. Go to one? Both? You decide.

“We Are the Sky” | Credit: Stellar Propeller Studio for the Galleries of Contemporary Art at UCCS

ARTS&CULTURE .

Your first option is Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival. Now in its 37th year, the festival will feature short and feature-length films by female filmmakers from across the world. Attendees have a variety of flexible viewing options, from day- and festival-length passes to the Flex Five pass, which gives access to five blocks of films of your choice. The festival takes place Oct. 18-20 at Colorado College, with a virtual encore Oct. 24-27 for those who can’t make it in person.

Online ticket purchasing ends Oct. 15, after which attendees will have to purchase their tickets at the festival.

As for those of us who find ourselves, surprisingly frequently, hypnotized by a documentary we landed on while channel surfing, Pikes Peak docuFEST is the festival for us. Taking place Oct. 18-19 at COS City Hub, it will feature a breadth of documentaries covering subjects from water use to masculinity to sports. There are even a few mockumentaries and an after-party to lighten the mood. Though

The film features a wealth of local talent and locations that will have viewers pointing at the screen in recognition like that one meme of Leonardo DiCaprio. Screenings will be held at the Millibo Art Theatre on Oct. 11, 17 and 18, What’s Left Records on Oct. 19, Salad or Bust Deli on Oct. 26 and The Green Line Grill on Oct. 27.

THEATER

Theater kids, you’re eating good this month, too. In fact, you can devour 10 plays in one day during The Play Crawl on Oct. 12. Funky Little Theater Company has enlisted 10 playwrights to write 10 original plays based only on a setting and a pair of actors. Each group of attendees will have a Crawl Guide who will lead them through in Old Colorado City to see a new play at each venue. There’s no need for intermissions, either — each play is under 10 minutes in length.

“Henry IV & V,” presented by Theatreworks, is a bit of a longer affair at two-and-a-half hours in length. This play adapts both parts of William Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” and “Henry V” into one condensed script. It’s like a Netflix adaptation of a TV show, but a million times better. “Henry IV & V” will be playing at the Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS through Oct. 13.

Another adaptation, “Dial M for Murder,” presents a new version of the play that inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film. A web of lies created by an affair ensnares its prey as things turn grisly. Director Elise Santora describes this take on the play as “noirish and flirt(ing) ever so slightly with camp.” The play will be shown at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College through Oct. 6.

this festival features filmmakers from across the United States, the majority are from Colorado.

You’re not out of the woods yet! Keep your schedule open, because hot new local film “Duck Rabbit” will also be premiering throughout the month. The film explores four disparate yet connected plots about a woman with writer’s block, a kid searching for a missing chicken, two actors in their failure of a rehearsal and three friends delivering a couch across town while under the influence of psychedelics.

The characters in “God of Carnage” also get their hands dirty as two sets of parents meet with each other to resolve a playground fight between their children. Diplomacy only takes them so far, though, and before long, each of the parents engages in a brutal brawl. This play by Springs Ensemble Theatre will be playing at The Fifty-Niner through Oct. 6. Maybe their kids got a little too heated in their debate over the state of … opera? Highbrow opera is probably the last thing you’d imagine your child listening to, but the Millibo Art Theatre and The Pikes Peak Opera League just might change that. “Professor Splatz and the Singing Book” is an original musical, intended for elementary students and their families, about a scientist who learns all about opera

“Alhamdu: Muslim Futurism,” through Jan. 11 | Courtesy: The Fine Arts Center at Colorado College

The Play Crawl, Oct. 12 | Courtesy: Funky Little Theater Company

in her laboratory of sounds. The play will be shown Oct. 5-6 and 12-13.

POETRY

If poetry slams are your jam, you’re in luck – Poetry719, the foremost poetry organization in the Pikes Peak region, is hosting a wealth of events in celebration of Arts Month.

Oct. 5 will be a poetry, pole and aerial show at Pole Revolution. Poets will read their work as pole artists perform interpretations of their work.

A Story Hour Open Mic & Book Drive will be held the next day at Stompin’ Groundz. During this event, attendees are invited to read their favorite children’s book on the mic in remembrance of Vanessa Little, who ran Lil’ Miss Story Hour until her death a few months ago. The books will then be donated to the Deerfield Hills Community Center.

A poetry slam will be held at the Fine Arts Center on Oct. 11, with High Maintenance: Poetic Justice, a poetry and drag show, being held at Frisky’s the following day.

Two poetry events will be held on Oct. 19: a BIPOC Queer Open Mic at Prism Community Collective and a poetry and hiking event with Blackpackers, a local nonprofit focused on equity in outdoor recreation.

Another outdoor poetry event will be held on Oct. 20 at the Lower Columbine Trail at North Cheyenne Canyon. Following the outdoor poetry will be Poetry in Motion at Ormao Dance Co. Dancers have created routines based on poems, with the catch being that the dancer and the poet are restricted from meeting until the moment of the reading, when their respective interpretations of the same work will blend into one performance.

A Disability Awareness Open Mic will be held on Oct. 25 at UCCS in honor of Disability Awareness Month.

And finally, Poetry719 will be holding the This is Colorado Springs Vendor Market at Treehouse Cafe on Oct. 27. The event will feature art vendors, live music, a writing workshop and an open mic.

“Poetry can be in nature, it can be with dance, it can be erotic,” said Ashley Cornelius, co-director of Poetry719 and poet laureate of the Pikes Peak region. She further emphasized the joy of organizing and consuming a “palette” of poetry that

challenges common conceptions (and misconceptions) about the genre.

This is Poetry719’s seventh annual festival, with many more expected. More detailed festival information can be found at poetry719.com.

CONCRETE COUCH

Concrete Couch, an arts staple in the Pikes Peak region, will be celebrating the 20th year of its nonprofit status with an anniversary party at Concrete Coyote on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 4 to 7 p.m. The party will feature food, music, speeches from community members and hands-on art activities. Attendees can let their kids go wild constructing and painting wood sculptures while they print a shirt with Groovy Printshop.

Concrete Couch has been serving the Pikes Peak region since 1990, working with children, schools and community groups to create public art.

Concrete Couch has created about 800 projects across town. Some of their more recognizable projects include the great pumpkin sculpture in downtown made of recycled materials and the tile mosaic projects seen at the Old Colorado City and Penrose libraries.

Concrete Coyote, a community park constructed on the grounds of an old industrial wasteland, opened last year and is the organization’s new headquarters.

“There were homicides on the property. There were weekly police and fire calls, and we’ve had zero police or fire calls since we owned the property,” said Steve Wood, executive director. “It’s been many years of cleaning it up, running all kinds of programs that were really communitydeveloped.”

Concrete Couch has hosted roughly 4,500 classes, including summer camps and other programs, at Concrete Coyote, all free. Subjects have included all mediums of art, construction, science and music. I caught Steve Wood after a clay class.

“Today was a pretty muddy day,” Wood said. “I think people that end up gravitating towards doing work with us are ones that like to get their hands in things and be involved and … don’t really mind getting a little bit dirty.”

ART EXHIBITS

Embodying similar themes of inclusion and community is group art exhibition

“We Are the Sky.” The exhibition features over 40 artists from the Pikes Peak region inspired by the work and life of Colorado Springs artist Starr Kempf, whose angular sculptures can be spotted at across town at such locales as the Ent Center for the Arts. Three decades after Kempf’s suicide, the exhibition inspired by him addresses themes of mental health and empathy. “We Are The Sky” will be on display through Oct. 5 at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery at the Ent Center for the Arts.

“Alhamdu: Muslim Futurism” will be on display through Jan. 11 at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. This multidisciplinary exhibition was created by MIPSTERZ, a Muslim arts and culture collective. Inspired by Afrofuturism — a sci-fi aesthetic created by Black artists imagining the future —

Alhamdu’s artists imagine futures for Muslim people. Examine and experience the art through paintings, sculptures, soundscapes and virtual reality.

Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum’s “50% of the Story: Women Expressing Creativity” exhibit provides another chance to immerse yourself in art. The museum is offering guided research experiences on Oct. 5 or 19 with Pioneers Museum archivist Hillary Mannion. Visitors will be able to get hands-on with the artworks of creatives from across the Pikes Peak region.

Whew! That was a lot – and there are still more hidden gems for you to discover this Arts Month. Now go out there and celebrate the arts! (Or be boring and stay at home. Your choice.)

Poetry719 Festival | Credit: Authentic Culture Photography, courtesy Poetry719

DUCK

Local film embraces whimsy and the absurd

by CANNON TAYLOR • cannon.taylor@ppmc.live

What do a kid searching for a missing chicken, a play about two poets trying to write their masterworks before dying of consumption, a woman struggling with writer’s block on her day off and three friends tripping on psychedelics while carrying a couch across town have to do with one another? Not a lot, but in new indie film “Duck Rabbit,” these four seemingly unconnected plots take place within a few hours and miles of one another.

“Duck Rabbit” was writer and director Mi-

chael Alexander Lee’s pandemic project — his “sourdough bread,” as he puts it. “Venus in Cancer,” the first film produced by Grown Up Costume Party (the production company Lee runs with his friends Christian O’Shaughnessy and Bob Morsch), had to be delayed as social distancing restrictions were put in place. Meanwhile, Lee began imagining random snapshots set to classical music: clowns competing in a pie-eating contest, a chicken crossing a road and a pair of stoners hosting an “Alice in Wonderland”-style Mad Tea Party (where they

consume substances a little stronger than tea). These scenes eventually came together to form a mosaic of interwoven yet disparate plots set over the course of a single day, à la Richard Linklater’s “Slacker.”

Speaking of his film’s couch-carrying subplot, Lee joked, “It’s a movie about how you could spend all day walking across the town (but) if you had a … car or a truck, you’d get across town in like two minutes.”

Still, it’s only by wandering through Colorado Springs, as the characters do in the film, that

Credit: All photos courtesy of Grown Up Costume Party

OR RABBIT?

you can gain a fuller understanding of this strange town and its even stranger inhabitants.

The local angle is inescapable. The film opens with views of Pikes Peak and the Labor Day Lift Off. Several scenes take place in the Millibo Art Theatre and the old Lulu’s Downstairs location in Manitou. Locals will scratch their heads with déjà vu as they take in a series of overpasses and train tracks that they’ve passed countless times on their morning commutes.

“We tried to film all the girls’ scenes kind of by industrial hellscapes. One of my favorite shots is the Drake Power Plant,” Lee said. “I’m sure if we were in certain spots, someone might have asked about permitting or something like that. We were kind of just doing everything guerrilla style and running with a camera.”

It’s not just the settings viewers will recog-

nize. The cast and crew are made up of countless community artists, from local thespians to Letters from the Sun vocalist Steven Huckaby.

“The end goal isn’t just to show it to the locals,” Lee said. “We want it to be locally loved, but we also want to show the world what we can do here in Colorado Springs.”

The cinematography by Travis Eckland and editing by Bob Morsch bring life to the small city we adore and sometimes resent. The colors pop with brilliance and the camera is irresistibly drawn toward antiquated yet whimsical objects: umbrella hats, little red wagons and Kit-Cat Klocks.

In their free moments, the characters don’t check their phones; they whip out the crossword, fiddle with a kaleidoscope or read a 3D comic with the accompanying red-and-blue glasses. Combined with the childish yet crude

characters and the jokebook-style comedy (“I used to think I could read minds, then I realized I was just making assumptions”), the film comes across as a millennial’s love letter to simple summer vacations, before the digital world dominated our free time.

Lee says the film is a trope stew, pulling from Americana iconography and tired cliches, aiming, in part, to comment on how no art is truly original due to the never-ending cycle of artists inspiring other artists. However, it is in the blending of its countless hackneyed influences that “Duck Rabbit” accomplishes true originality.

Inspired by the classic optical illusion first published in 1892, “Duck Rabbit” leaves its meaning up to interpretation. Is it a duck? Is it a rabbit? Both? Neither? Or a secret, third thing?

AMERICAN

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. 11:30a.m.-3p.m. for lunch, and 5pm every day for Dinner.

Voted Best Power Lunch, Steakhouse and Martini! Downtown’s choice for quality meats and mixed drinks. Mackenzieschophouse.com. Open Mon-Fri. 11:30a.m.-3p.m. for lunch, and 5p.m. - close every day for dinner!

https://www.MackenziesChopHouse.com

https://www.mackenzieschophouse.com

AMERICAN

Tony’s Downtown Bar

326 N Tejon St. / (719) 228-6566

Mackenzie’s Chop House

Winners of 80+ Independent “Best of Awards” in 25 years. 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 3-6.

Winners of 80+ Independent “Best of Awards” in 25 years. A great Midwestern Tavern with warm beer, lousy food & poor service!!! Pabst, Fried Cheese

128 S. Tejon St. Historic Alamo Building / Downtown / 719-635-3536

Offering half off all bottles of wine under $100!

Curds, Leinenkugle’s, Walleye Fish-fry, cocktails, burgers and more. 11am-2am daily. HH 3-6.

GO PACK GO!

https://tonysdowntownbar.com

Voted Best Power Lunch, Steakhouse and Martini! Downtown’s choice for quality meats and mixed drinks. Mackenzieschophouse.com. Open Mon-Fri. 11:30a.m.-3p.m. for lunch, and 5pm every day for Dinner.

https://TonysDowntownBar.com

https://www.MackenziesChopHouse.com

https://www.mackenzieschophouse.com

GERMAN

Tony’s Downtown Bar

Edelweiss

GERMAN

326 N Tejon St. / (719) 228-6566

Edelweiss

34 E. Ramona Ave. / (South Nevada & Tejon) / 719-633-2220

Winners of 80+ Independent “Best of Awards” in 25 years. 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 3-6. GO PACK GO! https://tonysdowntownbar.com

For 55 years Edelweiss has brought Bavaria to Colorado Springs! Using fresh ingredients, the menu invites you to visit Germany. Voted Gold Best German, Silver Dessert Menu and Bronze Best Patio by Indy readers! Reservations and the menu can be found online at https://Edelweissrest.com.

https://TonysDowntownBar.com

GERMAN

JAMAICAN

GERMAN

Rasta Pasta

Edelweiss

JAMAICAN

405 N Tejon St. / (719) 481-6888

Edelweiss

34 E. Ramona Ave. / (South Nevada & Tejon) / 719-633-2220

Rasta Pasta

34 E. Ramona Ave. / (South Nevada & Tejon) / 719-633-2220

405 N Tejon St. / (719) 481-6888

Open daily for lunch and dinner. Happy Hour daily 3-5 PM. Italian-Jamaican Fusion Cuisine, unlike anything else! Caribbean inspired pasta dishes, fresh and fun Salads, full bar with local drafts and rum specials, ridiculously good desserts. Lively atmosphere and friendly service.

http://realrastapasta.com

JAMAICAN

http://RealRastaPasta.com

MEXICAN

Rasta Pasta

José Muldoons

JAMAICAN

222 N. Tejon St. / 719-636-2311 / 5710 S. Carefree

MEXICAN

405 N Tejon St. / (719) 481-6888

CR @ Powers / 719-574-5673

Rasta Pasta

405 N Tejon St. / (719) 481-6888

José Muldoons

222 N. Tejon St. / 719-636-2311

Since 1974. Features authentic Tex-Mex and Mexican fare in a Contemporary Sante Fe-styled establishment. Across from Acacia Park, and west of Powers and 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, as they are subject to change. https://josemuldoons.com

Celebrating 50 years! Authentic Tex-Mex & Mexican fare in a Contemporary Sante Fe-styled establishment. Across from Acacia Park Downtown. Award winning Queso, Chili Rellenos, and Mean Green Chili. https://JoseMuldoons.com

http://RealRastaPasta.com

MEXICAN

José Muldoons

222 N. Tejon St. / 719-636-2311 / 5710 S. Carefree

CR @ Powers / 719-574-5673

Since 1974. Features authentic Tex-Mex and Mexican fare in a Contemporary Sante Fe-styled establish-

222 N. Tejon St. / 719-636-2311

ARTS&CULTURE .

This reviewer’s take is that the film is a celebration of laziness. During childhood, we’re given whole summers to do whatever we want. There’s a reason why summer break is a popular setting in films about childhood; it’s a magical time when we create unforgettable memories only made possible by complete freedom from responsibility. As adults, we are given no such luxury. We work year-round with occasional vacations, weekends and sick days, during which a hum of work anxiety irritates in the background as we do our house chores and errands.

In “Duck Rabbit,” Calliope, the author experiencing writer’s block, spends her day off pushing herself to be productive. However, it’s only in experiencing life through her eyes instead of the lens of a mental checklist that she’s able to light the imaginative spark that makes her want to create out of a sense of passion, not

obligation. Just like the chicken-hunting kid puts it toward the end of the film, it’s not the end of the world if we don’t accomplish our goals today; there’s always tomorrow to try again. We need space from our digital worlds and daily grinds to make our work, and our lives, meaningful.

That’s just my interpretation, though.

“It can mean more than one thing at the same time, or it doesn’t have to mean any thing,” Lee said. “It’s embracing that life is not necessarily inherently meaningful, but you can still enjoy it and appreciate it. … It’s not a nihilist thing, it’s an absurdist thing. Life is silly.”

“Duck Rabbit” will be premiering at the Millibo Art Theatre on Oct. 11, 17 and 18, What’s Left Records on Oct. 19, Salad or Bust Deli on Oct. 26 and Green Line Grill on Oct. 27. Money raised from the screenings will help fund the film’s submission to festivals.

A BRAT CHILDHOOD

By LAUREN CIBOROWSKI

Iwalked up to the front door of the school with my heart in my stomach. It was a new school to me. I didn’t know if the door was a “push” or a “pull.” I knew I wouldn’t know anyone there. I was nervous nearly to the point of nausea. And it wasn’t an unfamiliar sensation.

This was my son’s first day at a new preschool, but from the tug I had in the pit of my stomach, it may as well have been mine. That oh-so-familiar feeling of pushing open a new door into a new room full of new faces took me right back to my childhood. You see, I grew up an Army brat, and we moved every two to three years on average. From kindergarten to senior year, I attended six different schools. The unusual thing about my family is that it wasn’t just me who grew up as a brat — Mom’s dad was in the Army, and Dad’s dad was in the Army, and both grandfathers served in several wars. If “generational brat” is a thing, let’s call it that. (Like … endless Brat Summer, but more fraught?)

Ultimately, I’m incredibly grateful for the upbringing that I received from this sometimes maddeningly peripatetic lifestyle, but I’ve been thinking about it more than usual lately for two reasons. Primarily because I just switched my little boy into a slightly bigger boy school for his last year before kindergarten. But also because I recently met a new friend.

I hosted a gathering a few weeks ago for some families who had just moved to the neighborhood, and this woman was one of the attendees. She and her husband are both working at Fort Carson in various capacities, and out of concern for her young sons, she wondered how it had affected me to grow up

as an Army brat, and if she might be eternally effing up her 6- and 2-year-olds by moving them all the time.

On the bright side, I told her, I really learned how to make new friends as quickly as possible. I became proficient in how to unpack and make a space my own with astonishing efficiency. I definitely appreciated my mother’s ability to do the same. And her mother and my paternal grandmother also excelled in that arena — a generational inheritance of sorts.

I additionally had the incredible fortune to travel the world at a young age. I still marvel at the fact that in the mid-1990s, when my parents were stationed in Germany — and in an era with no GPS, no cellphones, and none of the conveniences we have today — they had the fortitude to pack up my very young sister and me and hit the road. We spent time not only at more convenient Army post lodging throughout Europe, but also stayed at tiny and rural Gasthäuser, where the innkeepers spoke no English and the towels were all minuscule and line-dried to a specific crunch. Of course, my childhood also had its downsides. The Army lifestyle taught me that it’s important to be resilient and make friends and make your space your own on the double… but also that if friendships or situations get challenging, don’t worry, you’ll get to move in one to three years. As I think back on my 20s and part of my 30s, I see a myriad of choices I made that seem to have been still informed by this childhood and childlike mentality. Honestly, I don’t know how any thinking human would have done some of the things I did unless they believed, on some mitochondrial level, that they were going to be able to simply bail at some point.

And there’s this: Whenever anyone asks me where I’m from, I say, “Nowhere and everywhere.”

If nothing else, it’s a good conversation starter.

At the end of the day, I’ve decided that the good of being brought up Army outweighs the bad. For one thing, it’s not like I can change it. And for another, as any parent knows, we’re all going to eff up our kids somehow, no matter how hard we try not to. So in my opinion, new friend, your kids are going to be just fine. (Just don’t sue me if they aren’t.)

You need art. Art needs you.

Lauren Ciborowski writes about the arts and music in every issue. W.I.P. stands for Works in Progress.

OUT OF THE WOODS, INTO THE FIRE

Green’s books of dreams introduced countless readers to Colorado outdoor treasures

By JEFFERY PAYNE

• Rocky Mountain Reader •

Many of us have moments when we climb out of a haze or a terrible nightmare or a daydream, and wonder, “What day is it? What’s going on?” These moments are unsettling and confusing. Peter Heller’s newest novel, Burn, begins in such a way.

Following their annual weeks-long hunting sojourn, two lifelong friends, Jess and Storey, stumble out of the wild woodlands of Maine only to discover death and destruction in a small town. Dead bodies signal that something horrific has happened: homes are destroyed, infrastructure is decimated, communications are down, and it appears that everyone is gone. There are no dogs barking in the background. Even the natural world is unnaturally quiet.

Denver-based Heller, known for dystopian themes in his recent novels, takes the reader along a powerful journey as the main characters try to navigate and comprehend what has happened to the world around them while they were gone. They witness the specter of a dark helicopter thundering overhead, shooting first and not bothering to ask questions later. This moment dumbfounds both men as they begin to comprehend the severity of their plight.

With considerable effort, and not knowing who can be trusted, Jess and Storey begin working their way to what they hope will be civilization. As they scavenge for food and supplies, they begin to piece together what is happening. The political climate of the nation has ratcheted

up tensions so taut that there has been an assassination of significance. Secessionists hold sway in several states. Rural Maine, where they are, is the center of secessionist fervor. Somehow the men must make it out of the area and find their way to back to their homes and family.

As the men look for a safe passage out, we learn about the foundation of their friendship through personal remembrances and thoughts. We begin to understand what is driving each of them forward and learn of a dark secret that has somehow not broken their steadfast companionship. The

secret has been weighing heavily on Jess’ mind for many years and Storey’s reaction is surprising. The gift of friendship and the challenges it often presents to both men are only strengthened.

An unexpected and tiny find changes their course and urgency as the men grapple with so many unknowns. With determination to reunite a small child with her family, Jess and Storey carry on, evading both government and secessionists troops, focusing solely on the safety of the child, leading to a surprising conclusion.

Peter Heller’s succinct use of words draws us into a world of imagery and emotion. His obvious connection to and knowledge of wilderness is evident as he captures the true feeling of the woodlands and water. The reader is easily walking, quietly, alongside Jess and Storey as they navigate through their odyssey. We are drawn into the alarming ‘us vs them’ mindset on disparate political sides, the rage, the animosity and mistrust of one another. Burn is a cautionary tale of what could really happen and it’s scary as hell.

At its heart, the essence of Burn is about devotion—to family, those we are born into and those we cultivate and acquire, to the strength and wonder of the world around us. It’s a dark ode to survival and courage, to forgiveness and love.

Jeffery Payne has been a bookseller for over 40 years. This review first appeared at rockymountainreader. org, a nonprofit service dedicated to the literary landscape in Colorado. n

ON A COSMIC SPREE

GOING ON?

By ADAM LEECH

Remember last fortnight, when I told you I wasn’t really a very religious or spiritual guy? That was lie. Maybe not a complete lie, as the whole cynical agnostic nihilist thing does run pretty deep, but like the great philosopher poet Homer (Simpson) said about sleeping nude in an oxygen tent giving him libidinal powers, that’s a half-truth. In reality (whatever that is) I truly do believe in the existence of some higher power; more specifically, I believe in the interconnectedness of all matter, energy and consciousness in the entirety of the known and unknown multiverse. Simply stated: Everything, everywhere, all at once. For the ease of articulation (and for the sake of not losing my more “traditional” readers) I’ll just call it “God.”

So, in this infinite and eternal realm of all possible realities, I really do believe that “God” works in mysterious ways, and that he/she/it/they (or whatever your preferred pronouns) will move heaven and earth to put you where you need to be when you need to be there. As was the case when my friend and accomplice Jeremy Bennett told me that he had an extra ticket to see The Polyphonic Spree at the The Perplexiplex in Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station. See, he had purchased a pair of tickets for him and his girlfriend (Paralympic gold medalist, Team USA archivist and NBC commentator Amanda McGrory) to see the spectacle the night before she flew off to be seen on national effing television giving play-by-play commentary on the Paralympic Games in Paris effing France. As fate would have it, she was summoned a day early and would no longer be able to attend, and he was looking for a replacement cohort.

Until that point, I had been aware of The Polyphonic Spree but, for whatever reason, had not partaken. Fronted by Tim DeLaughter, former leader of the 1990s neo-psych/pop band Tripping Daisy, the Spree is a symphony/orchestra of anywhere between 15 and 60 people that can only be described as a quasi-cosmic cult of ever-expanding and -contracting, psychically interconnected auditory evangelicals who preach a foreign yet familiar brand of infectiously exuberant, pseudo-psychedelic indie chamber pop. Basically everything, everywhere, all at once. I was simultaneously completely unprepared and perfectly primed for the experience, and if they truly were a cult, I would have immediately exchanged all my worldly possessions for a tambourine and one of their signature matching white smocks or, at the very least, I would have signed up for the newsletter. I did, nevertheless, purchase a copy of every record they had available, and I have had them spinning as consistently as the sunrise, drawing ever more significance, comfort and inspiration with each rotation.

I have had a few experiences with the various Meow Wolf installations over the years, ranging from a minor manic obsession with “solving” the secrets of the House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, to a near visceral disgust of the Las Vegas Omega-Mart, spurred by their confiscation and destruction of my cherished leftover Red Dwarf Tavern pizza, inarguably the greatest pizza in the cosmos and the best damn tiki/ dive punk bar in Vegas. Next time you’re in the ol’ City o’ Sin, be sure to check out their Sunday Surf Brunch and get yourself a devilishly delicious, Detroit-style pie and a stiff cocktail served in a sick tiki mug, and enjoy the surfed-up ’80s covers from the house band, The Surfers of Mercy. Feel free to thank me later.

As it were, I was a bit apprehensive to see a concert at Meow Wolf, worried that I would find it a superficial cash grab, and although there will always be that aspect to any mass public art-musement park, the ebullient authenticity of the music and message of The Polyphonic Spree gloriously outshadowed even the most pretentious of my anxieties. It isn’t every day “God” gives you exactly what you need the moment you need it, but every all-at-once in a while, you do get that cosmic phone call, and there he/she/it/they are; your metaphorical Conan O’Brien is on the line. Are you going to answer it? Smell ya later!

Adam Leech is the proprietor of Leechpit Records & Vintage at 3020 W. Colorado Ave.

MUSIC .

Local Live Music, Oct. 3- Oct. 16

SpringsSCENE

THURSDAY, OCT. 3

Jazz Thursdays | Free, live jazz music at the Mining Exchange Hotel. 8 S. Nevada Ave. 5 p.m.

Jazz 93.5 Ad Lib Lab | Monthly jazz jam session at The Carter Payne. 210 S. Weber St. 5:30 p.m.

David Ramirez, Thomas Csorba | Americana singer-songwriters performing at Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 5 p.m.

E J R M | Ambient instrumentalist performing at Ohana Kava Bar. 112 E. Boulder St. 7 p.m.

Turnover, Glare, Glixen | Rock bands performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 4

Amoré | Americana band performing at Salad or Bust Deli, where art curated by the Pikes Peak Arts Council will be on display. 8 E. Bijou St. 6 p.m.

Opening Night Gala for Kids First Family Opera | Opera gala at the Millibo Art Theatre. 1626 S. Tejon St. 6 p.m.

Chocuba | Musician performing at Jives Coffee Lounge. 16 Colbrunn Court. 6:30 p.m.

Ezra Bell, Krew | Folk bands performing at

S. Tejon St. 6:30 p.m.

Experience Hendrix | Jimi Hendrix tribute band performing at Pikes Peak Center. 190 S. Cascade Ave. 7 p.m.

CKY, Crobot, Chase the Comet | Rock bands performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 7:30 p.m.

Jeffrey Foucault, Erik Koskinen | Folk musicians performing at Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

MONDAY, OCT. 7

Many Eyes, Lava Gato, Run Off | Metal bands performing at Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 7:30 p.m.

Local H, Radkey | Rock bands performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

Spinphony | String quartet performing at Stargazers Theatre. 10 Parkside Drive. 7 p.m.

Boundaries: Songs From Outside the Box | Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble performing at St. Mary’s Cathedral. 22 W. Kiowa St. 7:30 p.m.

Humbird with Frail Talk | Indie bands performing at Oskar Blues Grill & Brew. 118 N. Tejon St. 7:30 p.m.

Kansas | Rock band performing at Pikes Peak Center. 190 S. Cascade Ave. 7:30 p.m.

Dusty, Ronen, Suisside, Trippin.Ace, Reminiscent Wounds | Rock bands performing at Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

Shakedown St | Grateful Dead tribute band performing at Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 8 p.m.

SATURDAY, OCT. 12

Down East Boys | Gospel quartet performing at Inspiration Church. 1218 Prairie Road. 6 p.m.

Jeffrey Alan Band | Country band performing at Stargazers Theatre. 10 Parkside Drive. 7 p.m.

Leon Majcen, JD Clayton | Folk musicians performing at Oskar Blues Grill & Brew. 118 N. Tejon St. 7 p.m.

The Rocket Man Show | Elton John tribute band performing at Boot Barn Hall. 13071 Bass Pro Drive. 7 p.m.

Blackberry Smoke | Rock band performing at Pikes Peak Center. 190 S. Cascade Ave. 8 p.m. Joshua Hyslop | Folk singer-songwriter performing at Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 8 p.m.

Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 7 p.m.

Hot Boots Duo | Variety band performing at Back East Bar and Grill. 9475 Briar Village Point. 7 p.m.

John Craigie & Megan Burtt | Singer-songwriters performing at Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 7 p.m.

Lorrie Morgan | Country musician performing at Boot Barn Hall. 13071 Bass Pro Drive. 7 p.m.

Ivan Cornejo | Pop singer-songwriter performing at Ford Amphitheater. 95 Spectrum Loop. 8 p.m.

SATURDAY, OCT. 5

Thunderstruck | AC/DC tribute band performing at Boot Barn Hall. 13071 Bass Pro Drive. 7 p.m.

Descartes a Kant | Punk band performing at Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

Gimme Gimme Disco | Disco party at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

Josh Ritter | Folk singer performing at Lulu’s Downtown. 32 S. Tejon St. 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCT. 6

Jonathan Powell and Mambo Jazz Party | Jazz group performing at Lulu’s Downtown. 32

TUESDAY, OCT. 8

The Airborne Toxic Event, Brigitte Calls Me Baby | Rock bands performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 7 p.m.

Stony Jam | Reggae band performing at Armadillo Ranch. 962 Manitou Ave. 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 9

Atlas Genius and Robert DeLong | Rock musicians performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

THURSDAY, OCT. 10

Jazz Thursdays | Free, live jazz music at the Mining Exchange Hotel. 8 S. Nevada Ave. 5 p.m.

Frog & Fiddle | Folk band performing at Armadillo Ranch. 962 Manitou Ave. 7 p.m.

Electric Avenue | ’80s tribute band performing at Pikes Peak Center. 190 S. Cascade Ave. 7:30 p.m.

Grayson Jenkins | Singer-songwriter performing at Oskar Blues Grill & Brew. 118 N. Tejon St. 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 11

Hot Boots Band | Variety band performing at O’Furry’s Bar. 900 E. Fillmore St. 7 p.m.

julie, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Her New Knife | Rock bands performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

Scoop | Country band performing at Armadillo Ranch. 962 Manitou Ave. 9 p.m.

SUNDAY, OCT. 13

Vienna Light Orchestra | Tribute orchestra performing at Pikes Peak Center. 190 S. Cascade Ave. 7 p.m.

MONDAY, OCT. 14

Icon for Hire, Halocene, Long/Last, Thousand Frames | Rock bands performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 7 p.m.

TUESDAY, OCT. 15

Last Reel Hero, K-Man and the 45s | Ska bands performing at Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 16

Osees, Iguana Death Cult | Rock band performing at the Black Sheep. 2106 E. Platte Ave. 7 p.m.

Still Gonna Bail, Dancing with Dante, Reminiscent Wounds, Years Down | Punk bands performing at Vultures. 2100 E. Platte Ave. 8 p.m.

julie plays the Black Sheep on Oct. 12. | Credit: Maya Spangler, courtesy Atlantic Records

Jeffrey Foucault plays Vultures on Oct. 6. | Credit: Joe Navas, courtesy Jeffrey Foucault

Statewide Live Music, Oct. 3- Oct. 16

Ashley McBryde | Memorial Hall, Pueblo, Oct. 3

Breaking Benjamin with Daughtry, Staind | The Junk Yard, Denver, Oct. 3

Elevation Worship | Ball Arena, Denver, Oct. 3

Luna Li | Globe Hall, Denver, Oct. 3

Maoli | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 3

Point North | Bluebird Theater, Denver, Oct. 3

Wilderado | Ogden Theater, Denver, Oct. 3

Air | Bellco Theatre, Denver, Oct. 4

Blonde Redhead | Levitt Pavilion, Denver, Oct. 4

Christian Nodal | Ball Arena, Denver, Oct. 4

Edén Muñoz | Eclipse Event Center, Denver, Oct. 4

Faye Webster | Mission Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 4

Joey Valence & Brae | Fox Theatre, Boulder, Oct. 4

Kaitlin Butts | The Moxi Theater, Greeley, Oct. 4

Marca MP | Paramount Theatre, Denver, Oct. 4

Montgomery Gentry | Mesa Theater & Club, Grand Junction, Oct. 4

Myles Smith | Marquis Theater, Denver, Oct. 4

Slander | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 4

Ginger Root | The Summit Music Hall, Denver, Oct. 5

Mod Sun with lovelytheband | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 5

Riovaz | Gothic Theatre, Englewood, Oct. 5

Thievery Corporation | Mission Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 5

Upsahl | Convergence Station, Denver, Oct. 5

RoadSHOWS

Aurora, Oct. 6

Rend Collective | Pueblo Memorial Hall, Pueblo, Oct. 6

Yung Gravy | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 6

Evan Honer | Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins, Oct. 7

Flatland Cavalry with Randy Rogers Band | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 7

Brittany Howard with Michael Kiwanuka | Mission Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 8

Dropkick Murphys with Pennywise | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 8

Caskets | Market Theater, Denver, Oct. 8

Meghan Trainor with Natasha Bedingfield | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 8

6arelyhuman | Convergence Station, Denver, Oct. 8

Royel Otis | Ogden Theater, Denver, Oct. 8

Crumb | Mission Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 9

Judah & The Lion | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 9

Still Woozy with Gus Dapperton | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 9

Sueco | Gothic Theatre, Englewood, Oct. 9

Bowling For Soup | Gothic Theatre, Englewood, Oct. 10

Dylan Gossett | The Summit Music Hall, Denver, Oct. 10

Goth Babe with The Aces, Ritt Momney | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 10

Juvenile | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 10

Kaytranada | Mission Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 10

Alison Wonderland | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 11

Charli XCX with Troye Sivan, Shygirl | Ball Arena, Denver, Oct. 11

Conner Smith with Jonathan Hutcherson |

Dashboard Confessional plays The Fillmore Auditorium on Oct. 16. | Credit: Salma Bustos, courtesy Big Hassle

MUSIC .

Rose, Denver, Oct. 11

Underoath | The Summit Music Hall, Denver, Oct. 11-12

Hayden James | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 12

Midland | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 12 & 14

Ocie Elliott | Boulder Theater, Boulder, Oct. 12

Valley | Gothic Theatre, Englewood, Oct. 12

Alec Benjamin with Matt Hansen | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 13

Destroy Boys | Gothic Theatre, Englewood, Oct. 13

Koe Wetzel with Treaty Oak Revival | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 13

La Santa Grifa | The Summit Music Hall, Denver, Oct. 13

Montell Fish | Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 13

Terror Reid | Ogden Theater, Denver, Oct. 13

Catfish and the Bottlemen | Ogden Theater, Denver, Oct. 14

Clairo | Mission Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 14

Dasha | Bluebird Theater, Denver, Oct. 14

Rise Against with L.S. Dunes | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 14

Wale | The Summit Music Hall, Denver, Oct. 14

Kehlani with FLO | The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, Oct. 15

Nilüfer Yanya | Convergence Station, Denver, Oct. 15

Skillet with Seether | Mission Ballroom, Denver, Oct. 15

Zedd | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 15

Denver, Oct. 16

Drowning Pool | Mesa Theater & Club, Grand Junction, Oct. 16

Godsmack with Nothing More | Blue Arena at The Ranch Events Complex, Loveland, Oct. 16

Korn with Gojira | Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre, Englewood, Oct. 16

Porter Robinson with ericdoa | Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Oct. 16

Set It Off with New Years Day, From Ashes To New | Ogden Theater, Denver, Oct, 16

Panteon Rococo | Stampeded,

Grizzly

Dashboard Confessional with Boys Like Girls, Taylor Acorn | The Fillmore Auditorium,

Charli XCX plays Ball Arena on Oct. 11 | Credit: Harley Weir, courtesy Atlantic Records

CALENDAR&EVENTS .

ART EXHIBITIONS

“Enchanted Textures of Taos, New Mexico”

Thursday, Oct. 3 and Friday, Oct. 4, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, 30 W. Dale St., 9 a.m.: Professional artist and instructor Martha Mans will concentrate on water media and gouache painting with a special, small presentation about how she creates her casein paintings.

fac.coloradocollege.edu.

“Alhamdu: Muslim Futurism”

Thursday, Oct. 3, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, 30 W. Dale St., 10 a.m.: Alhamdu is an evolving multidisciplinary exhibition and archive featuring a variety of work that explores five themes: imagination, identity, community, resistance and liberation. Through Jan. 11. fac.coloradocollege.edu.

“The Aspen Show”Thursday, Oct. 3, Laura Reilly Fine Art Gallery and Studio, 2522A W. Colorado Ave., noon: “The Aspen Show” is Laura Reilly’s annual tribute to the changing seasons. Her canvases shimmer with brilliant colors, textures and energy. Through Nov. 3. laurareilly.com.

Van Briggle Pottery and Garden of the Gods Pottery

Thursday, Oct. 3, Manitou Springs Heritage Center and Museum, 517 Manitou Ave., noon: See dozens of beautifully designed pottery creations crafted by Van Briggle Pottery, America’s longest-running pottery works and Garden of the Gods Pottery, founded by early Colorado Springs craftsman Eric Hellman. Through Dec. 31. manitouspringsheritagecenter.org.

“The Age of Rust”

Friday, Oct. 4, Shutter & Strum, 2217 E. Platte Ave., 5 p.m.: Caleb Butcher is extremely interested in art as a conversation between people and materials but approaches his art more like a movie prop maker than a conceptual artist. This is the opening of his exhibit.

shutterandstrum.org.

“Bump in the Night”

Friday, Oct. 4, Cottonwood Center for the Arts, 427 E. Colorado Ave., 5 p.m.: We asked artists to create works in homage to the weird and wild. Come experience this exhibit this First Friday and all month during normal business hours. cottonwoodcenterforthearts.com.

“The Light Within”

Friday, Oct. 4, Surface Gallery, 2752 W. Colorado Ave., 5 p.m.: This collection of porcelain and stoneware sculptures emerged initially as a tribute to the shapes that define the human influence on the American Southwest landscape. Through Oct. 25.

surfacegallerycos.com.

“Neon Desert”

Friday, Oct. 4, Surface Gallery, 2752 W. Colorado Ave., 5 p.m.: This show includes a limited number of screen prints and artisan frames that take you on an adventure through neon west Texas and along Route 66. Through Oct. 25. surfacegallerycos. com.

Old Colorado City ArtWalk

Friday, Oct. 4, Old Colorado City, 23002800 W. Colorado Ave., 5 p.m. Visit dozens of shops and galleries representing hundreds of works of art by local artists. Featuring the 19th anniversary celebrations of Hunter-Wolff Gallery. First Friday of every month.

shopoldcoloradocity.com.

“50% of the Story” Program Series

Saturday, Oct. 5, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, 215 S. Tejon St., 10 a.m.: Learn more about women artists represented in the archival collec tion and have hands-on time with their work. cspm.org.

Pikes Peak Zine Festival

Saturday, Oct. 5, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, 1 p.m.: Our mission is to share the joy of expression through self-publishing, promote diversity and inclusion within our community, and support our local artists. pikespeakzinefest.tumblr.com.

“We Are The Sky”

Ending Saturday, Oct. 5, Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 N. Nevada Ave., 2 p.m.: This exhibit features over 40 talented artists from the Pikes Peak region and explores themes of mental health, community identity and innovation. entcenterforthearts.org.

PERFORMING ARTS

“Dial M for Murder”

Thursday, Oct. 3, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, 30 W. Dale St., 7:30 p.m.: Tony is convinced that his wife, Margot, has been cheating on him. In his jealousy, Tony spins a web of suspicion and deception that will tighten around them and ensnare both in danger, recrimination and murder. Through Oct. 6. fac.coloradocollege.edu.

“God of Carnage”

Thursday, Oct. 3, The Fifty Niner Speakeasy, 2409 W. Colorado Ave., 7:30 p.m.: After their 11-year-old son hits another boy with a stick, a diplomatic conversation between parents turns sour as the adults pull no punches, proving no one is immune from a playground brawl. Through Oct. 6. springsensembletheatre.org.

“Professor Splatz and the Singing Book”

Saturday, Oct. 5, Millibo Art Theatre, 1626 S. Tejon St., 11 a.m.: With the assistance of her book and its magical singer, Profes

“Henry IV & V”

Thursday, Oct. 3, Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 N. Nevada Ave., 7:30 p.m.: Shakespeare’s multipart saga chronicling the meteoric rise of King Henry V comes to Theatreworks, combining the text and stories of three scripts into one exceptional and fast-paced play. Through Oct. 13. entcenterforthearts.org. “The Dinner Detective” Comedy Mystery Dinner Show

Saturday, Oct. 5, Great Wolf Lodge, 9494 Federal Drive, 6 p.m.: Solve a hilarious mystery while you feast on a fantastic dinner. Just beware! The culprit is hiding in plain sight somewhere in the room and you may find yourself as a prime suspect

thedinnerdetective.com.

“Science Riot” Comedy Show

Saturday, Oct. 5, Space Foundation Discovery Center, 4425 Arrowswest Drive, 7 p.m.: Real science, real funny. Like a TED talk, but better. discoverspace.org.

Magic and Mind Reading

Saturday, Oct. 5, and Friday, Oct. 11, Cosmo’s Magic Theater, 1045 Garden of the Gods Road Unit 1, 7:30 p.m.: Continuing in our tradition of storytelling, light, and fun presentation and comedy, this show includes brandnew, original material created specifically for this performance. Weekly performances throughout 2024. cosmosmagictheater. com.

“The Light Within,” Oct. 4-25 | Credit: Alison Santa Maria, courtesy Surface Gallery

“Professor Splatz and the Singing Book,” Oct. 5-13| Courtesy: Millibo Art Theatre

Jeff Dye

Thursday, Oct. 10, Boot Barn Hall, 13071 Bass Pro Drive, 7 p.m.: Jeff Dye is a nationally touring comedian, actor and host. Dye’s passion is bringing love and positivity through laughter while maintaining truth to everyone he encounters. bootbarnhall.com.

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

Friday, Oct. 11, Palmer Lake Town Hall, 42 Valley Crescent Drive, 7 p.m.: Eight performances of this retelling of the classic. This one-man take on Washington Irving’s classic is perfect for the whole family. Through Oct. 26. funkylittletheater.org.

The Play Crawl

Saturday, Oct. 12, Bancroft Park, 2408 W. Colorado Ave., 4 p.m.: Ten mini-plays staged in 10 locations around Old Colorado City. funkylittletheater.org.

FILM

Three Nights of Horror Film Festival

Friday, Oct. 4, Ivywild School, 1604 S. Cascade Ave., 6 p.m.: Join us for our 9th annual horror film festival! We have seven feature films along with free events that feature vendors and a film. The festivities begin with two screenings of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Through Oct. 6. indiespiritfilmfestival.org.

“Duck Rabbit”

Friday, Oct. 11, Millibo Art Theatre, 1626 S. Tejon St., 7:30 p.m.: “Duck Rabbit” is a local indie comedy about many strange characters on a summer’s day, including a girl with writer’s block, a kid looking for a missing chicken and three friends who carry a couch across town while on under the influence of a psychedelic. Through Oct. 18. themat.org.

“Beyond the Fantasy”

Tuesday, Oct. 15, Stargazers Theatre, 10 Parkside Drive, 7:30 p.m.: Get ready for an unforgettable night of adrenaline-pumping action as Teton Gravity Research brings its latest ski and snowboard film to Colorado Springs. stargazerstheatre.com.

WRITING

Shelley Read

Saturday, Oct. 5, Library 21c, 1175 Chapel Hills Drive, 10:30 a.m.: Join Pikes Peak Library District as we welcome Shelley Read to discuss her book “Go as a River,” the 2024 All Pikes Peak Reads selection. ppld.org.

Friends of PPLD Big Fall Book Sale

Friday, Oct. 11, East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd., 4 p.m.: Everything is $2 or less at this book and media sale. Admission is free, and proceeds benefit the Friends in support of Pikes Peak Library District. Through Oct. 13. ppld.org.

Margaret Mizushima

Saturday, Oct. 12, Covered Treasures

Bookstore, 105 Second St., 1 p.m.: Colorado author will be signing the latest title in her Timber Creek K-9 mystery series, “Gathering Mist.” coveredtreasures.com.

FOOD & DRINK

Oktoberfest Templeton Gap

Saturday, Oct. 5, The Plaza at T-Gap, 2117 Templeton Gap Road, 2 p.m.: Get ready to raise your steins and celebrate Oktoberfest like never before! robbeers@usa.net.

Oktoberfest at Phantom Canyon Brewing Co.

Sunday, Oct. 6, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co., 3 p.m.: Colorado’s finest breweries are coming together to bring craft beer, live music and traditional Bavarian competitions to beer enthusiasts for an unforgettable afternoon.

wynkoop@primtheagency.com.

CFAM Downtown Farmers Market

Ending Wednesday, Oct. 9, Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, 215 S. Tejon St., 3 p.m.: The Wednesday Farmers Market is a vibrant weekly event that brings together local farmers, artisans and community members in a lively and welcoming atmosphere. farmandartmarket.com.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Harvest Festival

Saturday, Oct. 5, Rock Ledge Ranch, 3105 Gateway Road, 10 a.m.: Take a wagon ride with the family, listen to old-time music, pick a pumpkin to take home, scramble for candy, kick back on the lawn with a slice of pie, tour the historic homes, visit the blacksmith and more. rockledgeranch.com.

Neighborhood Arts & Crafts Crawl

Saturday, Oct. 5, Divine Redeemer and Mid Shooks Run Neighborhoods, 628 N. Sheridan Ave., 10 a.m.: This year’s event features locally crafted paintings, pottery, glass art, jewelry, quilt wearables, wood turning, performing arts, a food truck and special guest artists. bit.

Couch 20th Anniversary Party

Saturday, Oct. 5, Concrete Coyote, 1100 S. Royer St., 4 p.m.: Concrete Couch is hosting a celebration of over 20 years of building community with creative programs and projects with food, music, speeches from local community members and more fun activities! concretecouch.org.

Thrive Ribbon Cutting Rally

Saturday, Oct. 5, Family Success Center, 1520 Verde Drive, 4 p.m.: Hear some of our alumni talk about their businesses. Together, we can break down economic barriers and create a wave of positive change in Colorado Springs. info@thethrivenetworks.org.

Woodcarving & Woodcraft Show

Saturday, Oct. 12 and Sunday, Oct. 13, Colorado Springs Shrine Club, 6 S. 33rd St., 10 a.m.: Pikes Peak Whittlers’ 40th annual show is our opportunity to all get together in one place and share our love of wood carving with the general public. pikespeakwhittlers.com.

OUTDOOR REC

Barnyard Buddies

Thursday, Oct. 3, Rock Ledge Ranch, 3105 Gateway Road, 10:30 a.m.: Barnyard Buddies is an educational initiative of the Ranch to engage early learners with fun and engaging storybooks about farmyard animals, all while enjoying the company of the Ranch’s very own farmyard animals. rockledgeranch.com.

Miner’s Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, Oct. 5, and Saturday, Oct. 12, Western Museum of Mining & Indus -

try, 225 North Gate Blvd., 9 a.m.: Our annual pumpkin patch features sack races, a giant hay maze and slide, a magician, animal encounters, gold panning, pumpkin smashing, machine demos, a blacksmith, an apple cider press demo and more! wmmi.org.

Women’s Wellness Walk

Saturday, Oct. 5, Panorama Park, 4540 Fenton Road, 10 a.m.: Join the Women’s Wellness Walk to raise awareness of women’s mental health and promote wellness through community engagement and physical activity. dbsacolospgs@gmail.com.

Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, Broadmoor World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd., 12:30 p.m.: Don’t miss the only opportunity to watch your favorite Hot Wheels Monster Trucks light up the floor in outrageous competitions and battles. broadmoorworldarena.com.

Leaf Peepers

Saturday, Oct. 5, Garden of the Gods Visitor and Nature Center, 1805 N. 30th St., 12:30 p.m.: Join our leaf peeping hike to see beautiful hues of color while learning more about our amazing ecosystems. Through Oct. 29. gardenofthegods.com. Endurocross

Saturday, Oct. 12, Broadmoor World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd., 7 p.m.: This extreme dirt-bike-racing event combines the challenging obstacles of an enduro into the tight confines of a fan-friendly stadium setting. broadmoorworldarena.com

ly/nacc.

Concrete

“God of Carnage,” Oct. 3 | Courtesy: Springs Ensemble Theatre

SPOOKY IN THE SPRINGS Your guide to Halloween events

By CANNON TAYLOR • cannon.taylor@ppmc.live

October is a time for leaves to fall, pumpkins to sprout and ghosts and ghouls to rise from their graves with the sole purpose of soliciting candy from strangers.

That’s right, it’s somehow already time to begin making Halloween plans. Not sure how to celebrate this year? You’re in luck because I’ve compiled a comprehensive catalogue of chilling celebrations. After all, what better guide could there be than

someone who experienced regular anxiety attacks in Spirit Halloween until age 12? (I still have nightmares sometimes.)

Watching the leaves change is my favorite part of the season. Leaf Peeper hikes at Garden of the Gods provide the perfect opportunity to surround yourself with autumn colors. These guided hikes with park interpreter Sam Owens are a workout for the

“Welcome Chapter Earth 2047” by Doug Mansfield, from “Bump in the Night,” Oct. 4-26 | Courtesy: Cottonwood Center for the Arts

calves and cerebrum as you learn about nature while surrounded by it. Hikes occur on Tuesdays and Saturdays through October.

Rather take in the views from a train?

You can do so during the Fall Colors Cog Tour & Banquet by the Broadmoor Manitou Pikes Peak Cog Railway

Taking place on Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m., this event will raise money to support the Mineral Springs Foundation. The cog railway will be operating throughout the season if you can’t make the banquet.

Film buffs wanting to get in the Halloween spirit can attend the Three Nights of Horror film festival at Ivywild School, Oct. 4-6. Friday kicks things off with a screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which may well be worth attending just to see what antics the fans come up with on the fly during the screening in their nearly 50-year tradition. Do the time warp again on Saturday and Sunday as more horror films like “Candyman” and “The Evil Dead” are screened. Mark Arnest will even play a live piano score to silent horror film “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” Don’t miss the Oddity Market at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, during which the public can browse bizarre vendor goods in the gym as an antiquated horror film plays in the background.

Watch the tale of Frankenstein and his monster come to life during “Beyond the Grave: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” presented by Front Range Theatre Company and The Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast, on Oct. 4 and 5. Guided tours depart every 30 minutes at Evergreen Cemetery, and proceeds will be used to preserve the cemetery.

Pumpkin-picking options are plentiful in the Pikes Peak region. Rock Ledge Ranch will be hosting their Harvest Festival on Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. The event will feature wagon rides, pies, a blacksmith and more. Western Museum of Mining & Industry’s Miners’ Pumpkin Patch will feature similar festivities, from their hay maze to their tractor-pulled hayrides to their giant hay slide. (Maybe don’t go if you’re allergic to hay.) The pumpkin patch is open every Saturday in October, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you’d rather party in Old Colorado City, be sure to check out Pumpkins in the Park at Bancroft Park on Oct. 19,

noon to 4 p.m. The event will feature plenty of vendors and artist showcases, along with a scarecrow or two.

Two art galleries will be celebrating the supernatural throughout October.

Cottonwood Center for the Arts’ “Bump in the Night” exhibit will be featuring art inspired by the weird and wild between Oct. 4 and Oct. 26. Commonwheel Artists Co-op’s “Samhain – A Time When Goblins, Fairies and Spirits Roam” exhibit takes cues from the Celtic pagan festival of the same name, which was considered a time when boundaries between this world and the Otherworld were weakened. Commonwheel’s interpretation of Samhain will be on display between Oct. 4 and Oct. 28.

Fridays and Saturdays throughout October will give you a chance to meet ghosts during the Ghost Stories of Old Manitou Walking Tour at Manitou

coil 40 years prior, came crashing down Red Mountain thanks to the eroding effects of weather. A century later, the city of Manitou Springs honors Crawford’s memory by dressing up in costume, putting wheels on coffins like Pinewood Derby cars and racing them through the streets. This year’s Emma Crawford Coffin Races will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 10 a.m.

Following the coffin races, figure out if the exhibits really do come to life at night during Night at the Museum at Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, 4:30-7:30 p.m. (Insider info says they do, and that guests will be able to interact with them on this night only.)

Pioneers Museum isn’t the only museum getting in on the Halloween fun. Space Foundation Discovery Center will be hosting their Mad Science Day on Oct. 26, where kids can dress up, go on a Halloween scavenger hunt and trick-ortreat in the museum.

Additionally, the May Natural History Museum will be hosting its Boooo with the Bugs! event on Oct. 18-20, 25-27 and 31 at 4 p.m. What better way is there to get into the Halloween spirit than to peruse the museum’s insect collection, eat insect-themed candy and get your face painted like an insect?

Springs Heritage Center. Meet Gen. Zebulon Pike, con artist Soapy Smith, photographer William Bell and even … The Homicidal Hairdresser! I’m more of a Headless Horseman fan, myself.

Funky Little Theater Company’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow will be playing at Palmer Lake Town Hall between Oct. 11 and 26. Solomon Abell is the one and only starring actor, embodying Washington Irving — the author of “Sleepy Hollow” — along with each of his iconic characters. Artistic director Chris Medina promises a performance that commands the audience’s attention for 90 minutes in a “master class of storytelling and theater and acting.”

The Headless Horseman isn’t the only corpse capable of riding through the town at high speeds. In 1929, the coffin of Manitou Springs resident Emma Crawford, who departed from this mortal

If you’re more scared of clowns than creepy-crawlies, maybe skip out on Urban Cirque’s Carnival of Shadows on the afternoon of Oct. 26. Aerial circus performers will defy gravity under the big top as guests trick-or-treat and play carnival games.

And if you’re wanting your fix of circus animals following the carnival, visit Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Oct. 1820, 25-27 or 31 at 4 p.m. for Boo at the Zoo, a night of trick-or-treating. Trickor-treaters will collect candy made from sustainable palm oil to help protect wild orangutans. (Please refrain from feeding candy to the animals.)

Whether you plan on dragging your kids around random neighborhoods as an awkward chaperone or plan to get wasted at a house party while dressed in a tasteless costume, there are plenty of opportunities to get in the spirit of Halloween this month.

Wait a second. Spirit… Halloween?! I’ve gotta get out of here!

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Oct. 11-26 | Courtesy: Funky Little Theater Company

THE STATE .

COLORADO WANTS TO HELP FARMERS SURVIVE DROUGHT, PESTS AND MARKET CHANGES. IMPROVING THE SOIL MAY BE KEY.

By SHANNON MULLANE • The Colorado Sun

UTE MOUNTAIN UTE RESERVATION — In southwestern Colorado, Greg Vlaming crouched down to look at dying remains of an oat crop baking under the July sun. It wasn’t just a dead plant — it was armor, he said.

“This minimizes wind erosion and surface runoff,” said Vlaming, a soil scientist, consultant and farmer. “Water can’t run off on something that’s like this.”

Vlaming is wor king alongside the state, researchers, farmers and ranchers on a newly expanded soil health program established by the Colorado legislature in 2021. The goal of the program is to nurture soils in order to reap rewards — like more efficient irrigation, more carbon storage and healthier crops.

But changing long-standing growing practices can be a risky, expensive challenge for

farmers already dealing with drought and thin margins. That’s why the state spent this year building out resources, like traveling soil specialists, for anyone who wants to try its soil health practices, said John Miller, Soil Health Program administrator for the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

“They spend pretty much every day of the week on the road meeting with producers … and we can’t do it fast enough,” Miller said. “They want more.”

For almost all of the last 24 years, parts of Colorado have experienced some level of drought. Farmers and ranchers are used to dealing with swings in precipitation, but if there are multiple poor water years in a row, their crops, livestock and bottom line can suffer.

They are also facing increasing pressure to cut back on their water use as Western

Greg Vlaming shows a layer of stubble left after an oat crop was harvested. | Credit: Shannon Mullane, The Colorado Sun

states grapple with gaps between the demand for water and the supply in river systems like the Colorado River Basin, the source for 40 million people and about 5.5 million acres of agricultural land.

Already in Colorado, about 20% of the agricultural demand for water goes unmet each year, according to the 2023 Colorado Water Plan. By 2050, that gap could widen by 150,000 to 200,000 acre-feet per year, depending on the location.

One acre-foot roughly equals the annual water use of two to three households.

The Colorado Soil Health Program team aims to help farmers and ranchers stay in business whether there’s drought, low reservoir storage, poor market prices for their crops or a new influx of pests.

Improving soils is one way to make that happen, Vlaming said.

“If you’re holding more water, you’re building pest resistance, you’re building resilience to drought, you’re building vigor in the plant and higher yields,” he said.

MICROBES: WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS

In the field at the Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch in southwestern Colorado, Vlaming checked his cell phone, where he could access real-time measurements from a soil sensor.

“Look what it shows me,” he said. “We’re super dry.”

Ideally, the soil is about 17% to 40% saturated with water, depending on the soil texture. As soils become more saturated, it can lead to flooding, erosion and runoff. This field — already cut and no longer irrigated — was at 15%.

Farmers can use these soil readings to time when their center pivots will swing over the field and sprinkle water over the crops.

“You’re not going by intuition, and you’re going, ‘Welp, field’s dry, let’s irrigate,’” Vlaming said. “It’s like no, we know exactly how dry we are. That’s part of this program. … It’s just so cool.”

The soil health program focuses on building up organic matter, like decaying roots and plant leaves, and increasing microbial diversity in the soil.

Keeping a few inches of plant stubble on the ground after harvesting a crop is one method. The program also encourages farmers to minimize soil disturbance, increase the diversity of plants grown on the field, keep live plant roots in the soil and integrate livestock into farming practices.

More organic matter helps store carbon, cuts down on pest problems, boosts nutrients, provides aeration that helps roots grow and stabilizes crop yields.

It also acts like a sponge: For every 1% increase in organic matter, the soil can store roughly 20,000 to 27,000 gallons of additional water per acre, according to Miller and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

That means a farmer can wait longer before irrigating again, using less water on a particular field and opening up water supplies. They can reinvest that extra water in their business or even conserve it as part of efforts like the System Conservation Pilot Program, a federal program that pays farmers to cut their water use.

Growing without organic matter is like growing something on Mars, Miller said. “Organic matter is the key to everything,” he said. “If it’s just dirt, just the mineralized portion, that water is not going to stay there at all.”

MINDSET AND MONEY

The Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe, which owns the Farm and Ranch, has 10 fields in the state soil program, most of which are using at least one soil health principle.

“It’s gonna be a good program for us to be able to monitor and stay on top of our soil health program along with our water placement and usage,” said Simon Martinez, who manages the 7,700-acre operation.

The Farm and Ranch is one of 300 producers that enrolled in the three-year program this summer. It’s the second iteration of the program: In 2022, 120 producers enrolled and are wrapping up their participation this summer. The total number of farms and ranches in Colorado as of 2022 is 38,800, according to a 2023 federal agricultural statistics report.

There’s still a lot of work to do, said members of the soil health team during a tour of the Farm and Ranch on July 30. The main challenge is money and mindset, they said.

People who want to try a different soil health practice, like minimizing disturbance of the soil, might not have access to a less disruptive tiller. They might want to leave stubble to armor the soil’s surface, but they can’t afford machinery with a giant roller that creates a mat on the soil’s surface.

Or they heard that their neighbor tried to grow a new crop to increase the plant

diversity, and it was a costly failure.

“Anything experimental can lead to a failure. … When you have the type of thin margins that ag operations do, costly failures can’t be happening,” Miller said. “It’s a good way to go out of business.”

The state’s soil health program helps pay for the costs of trying out the new practices, and the team’s soil specialists offer on-site advice to help people test out the new soil practices.

“It’s not a lot of money, but the idea is to change the mindset in the management decisions,” Vlaming said. “It values soil health in your decision-making.”

Through the program, sociologists are talking to producers about barriers to changing practices. Researchers are doing economic case studies to understand the financial impacts. They’re gathering hard data on water retention, the quality of runoff, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration.

“We want to know more about what those microbes are and what they’re doing,”

Miller said.

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonprofit news outlet that covers our state. Learn more and sign up for free newsletters at coloradosun.com. n

Simon Martinez speaks to Colorado Soil Health Program staff. | Credit: Shannon Mullane, The Colorado Sun

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OUTDOORS

FALL COLORS THAT AREN’T ASPENS (AND WHERE TO FIND THEM)

I’m going to start out by admitting that I’m a bit of a fall colors snob. Having grown up on the east coast, I’m used to fall scenes that are of a cacophony of colors. The reds, greens, oranges, yellows, and blues of the maples, oaks, sycamores, willows, cottonwoods and other foliage that are common almost

anywhere east of the Rockies are a sight to behold and overshadow Colorado’s gold-leafed aspens.

Now before you get too riled up because it looks like I’m dissing Colorado’s iconic fall display, know that in my three decades of living in Colorado, I have spent much time viewing, appreciating and photographing the beautiful views that grace our mountains. While the east coast autumns are more colorful, the views here of towering snow-capped peaks rising above a sea of gold are absolutely breathtaking. In fact, by the time you’re reading this, I would have taken a couple of trips into the high country for the sole purpose of photographing this year’s display. And, by now, the aspens have in all likelihood peaked in their color change, and if you didn’t get to see as much of it as you would have liked, or if like me, you appreciate seeing more than just gold, you’re in luck. While not the big expanses of multi-color displays from the

eastern parts of the country, there is plenty of color to see, especially here in Colorado Springs, a “Tree City USA” town. Since Colorado Springs is just at the lower elevation level for aspens to really proliferate, you’ll see maples, ash, oaks, cottonwoods and other trees, along with viny type plants such as Virginia creeper, and they all turn a myriad of colors. Even the much-maligned scrub oak will turn a variety of reds and oranges for a short time before turning their rather bland rust brown. While these trees can be found almost anywhere in Colorado Springs, the best places to get up close and personal and to hike

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BOB “HIKING BOB” FALCONE

North Cheyenne Canon Park | Credit: Bob Falcone

16 |

OUTDOORS

among them (and get great photos, too) is in the lower parts of North Cheyenne Canon Park, and Red Rock Canon Open Space and the adjacent “Section 16”, and Bear Creek Regional Park. Trails in these areas include the Lower Columbine Trail and Creekside Trails in North Cheyenne Canon Park, the lower section of High Drive to the Palmer/Red Rock Loop Trail and the Creek Bottom Loop and Bear Creek Regional trails in Bear Creek Park, along with the Stephanies Trail that connects Bear Creek Park to Section 16. Really, any trail runs near a creek or stream at the lower elevations will have a variety of colors.

Remember that October 11th is Veterans

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Day, and entry fees to all U. S. National Park Service sites are waived for the day. Also, veterans and active duty military are admitted free to all Colorado State Parks, with proof of military service.

Be Good. Do Good Things. Leave No Trace.

Bob “Hiking Bob” Falcone is a retired career firefighter, USAF veteran, an accomplished photographer and 30-year resident of Colorado Springs. He has served on boards and committees for city, county and state parks in the Pikes Peak region, and spends much of his time hiking 800 or more miles each year, looking for new places and trails to visit, often with his canine sidekick, Coal.

Bear Creek |Credit: Bob Falcone

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PUZZLES!

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News of the WEIRD

BY THE EDITORS AT ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

PRECOCIOUS

A family in Bedford, Ohio, reported their Nissan Rogue and their 8-yearold daughter missing around 9 a.m. Sept. 15, the Associated Press reported. Police learned that witnesses had seen a small child driving nearby, but it wasn't until they checked the parking lot at Target, about 13 miles away, that they discovered the car. The girl was inside the store; she told officers that she had hit a mailbox during her journey but that otherwise it went fine. Authorities were weighing whether any charges would be filed.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• In Japan, the number of people ages 100 or older has hit a new record — 95,119, AFP reported Sept. 17. Most of the centenarians are women, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications noted. The world’s oldest person, Tomiko Itooka of western Japan, is 116. Japan’s oldest man, Kiyotaka Mizuno, 110, told local media that he has “no idea at all about what’s the secret to my long life.”

• About 40 feet off the coast of Miami Beach, the world’s first underwater cemetery is already home to about 1,500 “placements,” ClickOrlando reported Sept. 17. The Neptune Memorial Reef’s community resource director, Michael Tabers, said the area had already been designated for an artificial reef when “a group of businessmen in the area ... had the idea.” The reef was built “from an artist conception of the Lost City of Atlantis”; customers’ cremains are mixed with water and then formed into road columns, archways or depictions of local sea life, such as starfish or seashells. Then the coral grows around them. “We have sea turtle placements; those are some of our more popular ones,” Taber said. The reef has already been extended once, but when it fills up, “we will launch the next phase,” he said. Coral reef conservation activists are thrilled; the reef provides hard surfaces that help coral to thrive. And loved ones can also dive to visit their family members’ resting places.

POLICE REPORT

Javaughn J. Owens, 23, was charged with first-degree attempted murder after he got into a dispute over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich Sept. 15, the DeKalb County Daily Chronicle reported. A witness told DeKalb police that Owens and another man argued about the victim “not cleaning up after themselves,” whereupon Owens swung a butter knife and struck the other man. The victim was seen at a local hospital but had to be transported to Chicago for further treatment of a punctured intestine. He said he believed “100%” that Owens would kill him. Owens faces up to 60 years in prison.

INEXPLICABLE

Beaches along the Atlantic Ocean in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia were closed to swimmers by authorities Sept. 15 after mysterious medical waste started washing up, The New York Times reported. The trash included syringes and needles, used feminine hygiene products and plastic cigar tips.

“We currently have no idea where it came from and will not be speculating about a source,” said the National Park Service office at Assateague Island National Seashore. They were unsure how long beaches would remain closed.

“We recommend wearing shoes on the beach and avoiding the ocean entirely,” warned Joe Theobald, director of Emergency Services in Ocean City, Maryland.

SAW THAT COMING

Norton Havoc, 32, can now “smell colors,” they said, after blowing their nose in the shower and dislodging a Lego block that had been stuck inside for “at least 26 years,” the New York Post reported. Havoc posted that they suffered from “multiple breathing issues” after the childhood incident; at the time, their mom tried to extricate the piece with tweezers to no avail. “I can breathe out of this side of my nose now, and it’s fantastic,” Havoc said.

THAT'S THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES

Poor Crumbs. The now-famous corpulent cat, named for his ability to eat, was found in early September in the basement of a hospital in Perm, Russia, the New York Post reported, where the staff had given him a steady diet of cookies and soup. When he was discovered, he weighed more than 37 pounds — about three times the average size for a cat — and was unable to support his weight to walk. Crumbs (or Kroshik, in Russian)

was moved to the Matroskin Shelter, where workers put him on a strict diet and exercise regimen — apparently not his cup of tea, as he tried to escape Sept. 11. Rehab expert Ekaterina Bedakova said Crumbs was “extremely displeased” when, during his escape attempt, he got himself stuck in a shoe rack and couldn’t get out. But she was enthused about his effort because it demonstrated that he’s a “very active guy.”

Astro-logic

WARIES

BY CAMILLE LIPTAK, COSMIC CANNIBAL

elcome to October’s horoscopes! Haunting Halloween vibes are creeping in fast, but fear not — these cosmic tricks and treats will guide you through the chills and thrills of the month. Whether it’s drama or destiny, you’ve got this. Let’s dive in! Want more astro-logic from Cosmic Cannibal? Social Media @cosmiccannibalcamille, Substack cosmiccannibal.substack.com and the web cosmiccannibal.com

CANCER

Watch out for family/relationship drama around Oct. 6 — tensions might make you want to run for the hills. Luckily, Oct. 11 offers a sweet escape in your career, and there’s forward momentum on a major project or pursuit. By Oct. 13, you’re again dealing with home/family/ partnership stress, but it’s an opportunity to empower yourself and others …

TAURUS

The ghosts of exes past might pop up around Oct. 4, but don’t panic — just remind yourself of your boundaries.

Eek! By Oct. 6, you’re rubbed the wrong way at home. Instead of reacting with your pincers, use your diplomacy. Thankfully, Oct. 8 brings some romantic magic to lighten the mood. On Oct. 11, relationship shifts are coming whether you’re ready or not. Don’t run from the emotional mess — it’s all part of your personal glow-up …

LEO

Home life’s looking haunted on Oct. 4, but this is your chance to resurrect and heal old family dynamics. By Oct.

LIBRA

On Oct. 6, your patience may be wearing thin as tension flares between you and the boss. Then Oct. 11 brings forward progress to your home life, making it easier to get things done. By Oct. 13, you may be pushed to stand your ground. Time to show everyone who’s boss of this haunted house …

SCORPIO

October is your month, and it’s kicking off with a creative power surge on Oct. 4. Romance heats up around

CAPRICORN

Relationship and career power struggles could hit hard — especially on Oct. 6. Lessons lie in the tension. By Oct. 11, though, you’ve got the upper hand in whatever’s brewing. Oct. 13 could force a tough choice between work and your personal life. Pick wisely — you don’t want your ambition haunting your love life (or vice versa) …

AQUARIUS

Autumn’s equinox on Sept. 22 put you in adventure mode. The caveat? Your attention also shifts to making your mark