Good morning southern Colorado and here's what you need to know on your Friday morning.
If you'd like to read the full story, be sure to click on the story headline.
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El Paso County to receive 12,900 vaccines, governor's office claims county left doses on shelves
El Paso County officials announced Thursday it would be receiving 12,900 vaccine doses early next week, adding there have been no doses wasted by the county though the governor's office is claiming otherwise.
In the county's announcement, officials stated each provider in the county has "an excellent record of tracking and distributing all vaccines" and that "no doses have been shelved." In response to El Paso County, the governor's office released a statement saying the state is "anxious to send El Paso more vaccines" and that the county will be receiving the 12,000 doses next week "based off assurances" to use them immediately, but it is "unfortunate El Paso has had thousands of life-saving doses sitting on shelves for approximately 8 days."
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Day 2 of Donthe Lucas murder trial: Several friends of Kelsie Schelling take the stand
Several friends of Kelsie Schelling testified Thursday on the eight-year anniversary of her disappearance. The friends described Schelling's personality would change whether her relationship with Lucas was good or not. During cross-examination, the defense has one of her friends testify to seeing Donthe Lucas drive Schelling to and from work at least two-dozen times. According to Colette Bordelon, the point the defense was making here was in regards to the prosecution's argument about Lucas' DNA being found in the car after Schelling disappeared.
The third day of the trial is today and News5's Colette Bordelon will be there every day and will have coverage both online and over the air. Follow her on Twitter for the quickest updates.
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Chilly and cloudy today with more ski resort snow through Saturday!
The weather looks pretty standard for February in southern Colorado today. We're going to be cold, breezy, and we'll have clouds move off the mountains through the plains. We'll stay breezy overnight and lows will fall into the 20s. Over the high country, snow will fall today through Saturday, leading to dangerous and slick drives through the mountains but great extra powder for the ski areas.
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Senate approves budget bill in key step to passing stimulus package with VP Harris tie-break
The Senate has approved a budget bill that's a key step toward fast-track passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan without support from Republicans. Vice President Kamala Harris was in the chair to cast the tie-breaking vote, her first.
Democrats in the chamber applauded after Harris announced the 51-50 vote at around 5:30 a.m. Friday. The action came after a grueling all-night session, where senators voted on amendments that could define the contours of the eventual COVID-19 aid bill.
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Fremont County moving to Safer at Home Level Yellow
Fremont County health officials announced they are moving to Safer at Home Level Yellow on the state's COVID dial, due to a decline in new COVID-19 cases.
In a press release, health officials said the county's positivity rate is 2.4%, and they have seen a stable hospitalization rate for 12 days. These changes will go in effect today.
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