Good morning southern Colorado and here's what you need to know on your Monday morning.
If you'd like to read the full story, be sure to click on the story headline.
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Rain and snow expected across the region
An active week is in store for southern Colorado with cloud cover increasing today and moisture coming out of the mountains as a mix of rain and snow across the region. We're going to see rain at first through most of the Front Range, but it will quickly turn to snow in the evening, even over some of the lower plains areas. Not much accumulation is expected, but a range of 1 to 3 inches is possible across much of the Pikes Peak Region.
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Pueblo City Council to vote on deal with Black Hills Energy
City Council members will vote on a proposed ordinance that would stop the city from establishing its own electric utility. For years, city officials have debated started their own municipal utility as a response to constituent complaints of high rates from Black Hills Energy.
The latest issue in this debate is the city council's possible adoption of an ordinance that includes accepting the following:
- Black Hills would not seek a utility increase until at least 2025
- Black Hills would cooperate with the city to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2035
- Black Hills would provide $400,000 every year for the rest of its contract for low-income energy assistance
If approved, voters will still be asked if they want to break away from Black Hills and allow the city to start the process of creating a utility. If the ordinance is rejected, the deal goes away completely and the city could still move forward with creating its own utility if that's what voters choose.
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Day 2 of defense presentations in the impeachment of President Donald Trump
The first day of defense took place this weekend with a short two hour session during which the President's legal team tried to tear down three days of arguments alleging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. His legal team telling lawmakers this is all about politics. "They're here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in American history," says White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.
However, Democrats in Congress say otherwise. "Regardless of what you say, the truth still matters, and the evidence against the President is overwhelming,: Rep. Val Demings told ABC This Week.
According to the New York Times, former National Security Advisor John Bolton's unpublished book says he heard President Trump tie aid to the Biden investigation. A claim President Trump denies.
News5 will cover all of the impeachment events live in our top story on KOAA.com and the News5 App.
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Tributes continue pouring in following death of Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant and one of his daughters were among the nine people killed in a helicopter crash in southern California on Sunday. The former NBA star and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were aboard the aircraft when it crashed into a hill in Calabasas. There were no survivors among the nine people aboard.
The Weather Channel reports that low clouds and fog were present in the area at the time of the crash, but the cause of the accident remains under investigation.
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Both escaped inmates from Custer County now in custody, 9 days after jail break
According to a Facebook post from the Custer County Sheriff's Office, Bryan Webb was located based on an anonymous tip that he was staying at a home in Huerfano County, where he was originally arrested for drug charges, assault on a peace officer and for introducing contraband into a detention facility. Webb was found at the home and arrested without incident by Huerfano County Deputies.
He'll be held in Huerfano County before heading back to the Custer County Jail, eventually being placed in another facility. Due to his escape, he's now charged with kidnapping, second degree assault on a peace officer, escape, and aggravated motor vehicle theft
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Bonus Content!
Today is the kick-off of National News Literacy Week, a partnership between KOAA News5's parent company of The E.W. Scripps Company and the News Literacy Project. This is a national public awareness campaign on the importance of news literacy and the role of the free press in American democracy.
The campaign, which is now running across Scripps’ local broadcast stations and national media businesses and with other journalism media partners, promotes news literacy as a fundamental life skill for America to have an educated and empowered populace.
Across the nation, Scripps journalists are working directly with high schools in their communities to produce original pieces of student journalism and are teaching them about the standards and principles journalists use to identify, research and produce a story. The stories, which focus on issues of importance to local audiences in each market, will premiere throughout the week on-air and online across Scripps’ stations; a selection will be available at the campaign landing page, NewsLiteracyWeek.org.
