Author: By STEPHANIE EARLS [email protected]
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Coffin race and festival in Manitou Springs an annual nod to the spirit of Emma Crawford
Colorado is home to a host of kooky festivals that frolic with the macabre. Consider: Frozen Dead Guy Days, named for the relic of a failed backyard cryogenics undertaking in Nederland. And Fruita’s Mike the Headless Chicken fest, honoring a chicken that lived for 18 months after botched meal prep left him headless but still…
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‘Unsung hero of the Cold War’: Late Colorado Springs man helped keep nuclear apocalypse at bay
Most of the people who came to say their final farewells to 90-year-old Richard “Dick” Feasel early this month in Colorado Springs knew him as a quick-witted retiree and hall of fame bowler who’d rolled several perfect 300 games during his long tenure on the lanes. What many of them didn’t know — at least…
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107-year-old Harold Nelson, thought to be Colorado’s oldest WWII vet, receives Silver Star
After decades spent fighting to receive the Silver Star Medal he earned for gallantry during combat in World War II, 107-year-old Harold Nelson — believed to be Colorado’s oldest WWII veteran — can finally close the chapter on the longest battle of his life. The Denver resident received the medal Tuesday at a ceremony at…
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Air Force Academy’s ‘Mom/dad’ controversy draws renewed attention to a modern, military-wide debate
The “woke wars” that have been raging in U.S. culture for the past few years have now arrived full force in military academies, as evidenced by the recent controversy over a diversity and inclusion briefing at the Air Force Academy — and the academy’s defense of the program. Academy officials say such diversity training is…
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Extreme skier Hilaree Nelson helped reset horizons, especially for moms who mountaineer
Hilaree Nelson spent years pursuing her passion up treacherous, snowbound summits, a woman in an extreme sport dominated by men, pushing boundaries and breaking ice on her way to the top of the world — and the top of her game. It was in the return to base camp, however, where Nelson truly found her groove,…
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OK to say ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad?’ Air Force Academy says inclusive language controversy is overblown
The U.S. Air Force Academy is pushing back after recent reports accusing it of overly “woke” policies that bar cadets from using “gender-specific terms” such as Mom or Dad, boyfriend or girlfriend. An informational slide on “inclusive language,” included as part of a recent employee diversity seminar, was intended to demonstrate how “respect for others…
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Girl Gone Mild: Stephanie rides an e-bike in Manitou
I’m not an outdoorsy person, but I’ve periodically played one in the pages of The Gazette. In the name of journalism, and because, well, Colorado. For my (very) occasional column Girl Gone Wild, I’ve joined skilled guides who have taken me rock climbing, fly- and ice-fishing, camping, caving and dog-sledding. I even hit the road…
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Fight to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs finds traction in new report
Colorado lawmakers and civic leaders were handed a powerful argument in the fight to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs on Tuesday, in a leaked report from the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General. Findings from a federal investigation into the legitimacy of the January 2021 decision to base the agency in Huntsville, Ala. —…
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GAO finds ‘shortfalls’ in Space Command relocation process
A Government Accountability Office review of the process that awarded U.S. Space Command to Huntsville, Ala., instead of Colorado Springs, has identified “significant shortfalls” in the “transparency and credibility” that led to the decision, according to a senior-level source with knowledge of the report. The GAO report won’t be available to the public for at…
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Iconic Air Force Academy chapel to remain closed for several more years
The U.S. Air Force Academy announced Thursday that its Cadet Chapel — Colorado’s most-visited man-made tourist attraction and an iconic structure at the campus north of Colorado Springs — will remain closed for massive renovations until early 2027, more than three years longer than originally expected. The discovery of more asbestos than anticipated or budgeted for in…