When Davis Mortuary was shuttered, and Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter resigned from the office, six people applied to fill the position.

Only one of them was qualified under state law.

That was Cotters deputy coroner, who was omitted from the search due to his close working relationship with Cotter. This forced Pueblo County Commissioners to appoint an individual who was not qualified under state law.

This dilemma has prompted state lawmakers to try to create more accessibility to the position in smaller counties, but it has some concerned about the quality of candidates that might step forward.

Greg Grahek has been Pueblo County's interim coroner since the resignation of Cotter in September. He is currently seeking a formal election into the role.

Grahek said he was upset when he learned the state legislature is trying to pass a bill that he says would lower the standards required to become a coroner in the county.

"I see the need to have a pool of people to elect for him, but you need to make it such that there are some baseline qualifications," said Grahek.

The bill is meant to improve transparency by requiring a coroner to post on their official website written disclosures of their financial interests, if they have any, such as owning a mortuary or funeral home.

However, tucked below in the qualifications, an amendment changes the population threshold for mandatory professional accreditations.

The amendment states a person is eligible to hold the office of coroner if they are a death investigator certified by the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators or a forensic pathologist certified by the American Board of Pathology, but it raises the county population requirement for this rule from 150,000 to 300,000.

These professional accreditations would no longer apply to the role in Pueblo County if the bill passes.

Representative Tisha Mauro cites a lack of qualified individuals.

"We're raising the population to 300,000 before you qualify because counties at 300,000 or more have an abundance of that threshold that can run for office," said Rep. Mauro.

"I think that would be a good argument if it were actually a smaller county, but Pueblo is not a smaller county," says Steph Vigil, a former House representative, and the architect of the 150,000 threshold. "This wasn't like Steph Vigil came up with a number and said, figure it out. This was negotiated and discussed with the county coroners, specifically. This is their number. So, you know... it seems a little odd to me."

Grahek said he could support the adjustment to the bill with some changes.

"It's the minimum requirement to be elected. If you get elected, then within six months, you have to be certified," said Grahek.

Notably, Grahek was not certified upon accepting the interim coroner position, but became so within months.

A shared statement from the bill's primary sponsor defended the amendment.

"At its core, this amendment is about preserving democracy at the county level. Communities deserve more than one viable candidate when selecting someone for such an important role," said the sponsor.

But Grahek believes the change comes at a cost.

"It's been a hard seven months to start clawing back and gaining that trust and integrity and transparency to the office. So, we're going to lighten the laws? That actually makes no sense," said Grahek.

Beyond qualifications, Grahek is also concerned about how the legislation, specifically HB 26105, impacts transparency regarding financial conflicts of interest.

While the bill requires a coroner to post written disclosures of financial interests on their official website, Grahek argues it strips away deeper reporting requirements.

"Now, you still, under the new bill, would have to disclose that you have some relationship, but you don't have to disclose how many referrals did your family business get, how many referrals did you give to X mortuary," said Grahek. "What was that income? What was that dollar figure? And so then we just go, it seems shady.

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WOODMOOR, Colo. (KOAA) What started as a quiet, peaceful day quickly turned into a life-or-death emergency for one man who lives in the South Woodmoor neighborhood.

Tim Chambers says his heart stopped three times.

By the time I got to the top of the stairs I dont remember this, but my wife says she heard a thud, said Chambers. She was cooking dinner. When she came upstairs, she found me collapsed in the bedroom.

First responders rushed to the home and began lifesaving efforts.

They revived me in the bedroom and then in the ambulance, my heart stopped again and it stopped again in the emergency department, he said.

Chambers is recovering now.

Too many men take better care of their cars than they do their bodies, said Chambers.

For Chambers, survival is nothing short of a miracle. But theres something else hes been looking forward to: thanking the people who saved his life.

I cant wait to get well enough to give the guys a big bear hug and thank them for saving my life, said Chambers.

So, on his behalf, News5 reached out to the Monument Fire Department. They didn't hesitate to meet him again.

We found Tim lying on the floor semi-conscious, said paramedic Jon Bauer. He was able to utter a few words, but beyond that, we couldnt get much else from him.

While cardiac arrest calls are something crews train for, successful outcomes like this are rare.

It is fairly rare that we get cardiac arrest patients back, said Bauer.

What began as a moment of fear and uncertainty has turned into a moment of community connection.

I just want to say thank you for doing your job, for being there, said Chambers.

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Demonstrators showed up outside Trailblazer Elementary on the Westside of Colorado Springs to bring attention to a decision made by School District 11 allowing the charter school Orton Academy to share the building.

Parents and local residents say they were taken by surprise by the announcement that a charter school is going to share the building.

"We've been blindsided by the whole thing, so we just want some answers," said Sarah Huber, the incoming PTA president for Trailblazer.

Huber said parents had no idea about this deal until a few days ago.

"We want to know the why and the how. How did this come about? What were the discussions beforehand, because there are legalities in place and processes in place for a reason, and we feel that none of those were reached," said Huber.

The demonstration also attracted residents from the area questioning the move.

"Definitely lots more questions than answers," said Melanie Cress, a nearby resident. "I think they underestimated the community and the impact the families have in the community and want to know what's going on with their students and their teachers. The teachers are incredibly important."

Jessica Wise, who leads engagement for District 11, said the number of students at Trailblazer is far below capacity. She said there is room to share and it offsets operating costs.

In addition, Wise said the Orton Academy charter school's focus on dyslexia will not compete with the public school curriculum.

Parents will be asking questions about things like age differences in the programs.

"They're bringing in 2nd through 8th graders, what does that look like and what kind of support are my kids going to be getting? And it's a little concerning to have, you know, higher level kids with pre-K to 5th grade," said Huber, who has two kids going into first grade next year.

The district is holding an information session for parents Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m. at the school.

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A Central Springs woman reached out to News5 after receiving a concerning phone call from a man claiming to be with the U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Justice. He told her she missed jury duty and had a warrant out for her arrest.

Jennifer Cecil discovered the man who called her was not a sergeant with the El Paso County Sheriffs Office because she went straight to the source.

I thought, well, gosh, I'll just go on down to the sheriff's office. It's right here," Cecil said.

In the meantime, Cecil was still on the phone, and the caller kept transferring her up the so-called chain of command.

He wanted me to go to my bank and pull out $15,000, Cecil said.

Cecil also received a text message with a picture of a so-called arrest warrant. The warrants have some discrepancies.

Im just really meticulous with fonts and formatting in life and at work, and so I noticed that the fonts didn't all match up and it didn't look like a standard filled-in form, Cecil said.

She tells News5 she also noticed the signature of the U.S. Marshal belongs to a man who serves in the western district of Pennsylvania.

She says the man on the phone also mispronounced Vermijo Avenue which was her final straw to go inside the sheriff's office.

The El Paso County Sheriffs Office calls it a jury duty warrant scam. The sheriffs office says they were not the ones to make this call or any others that might be going around.

Over the last several years my name's been used, recently the sheriff's name has been used in some of them. Most everybody in the office whose name is out there publicly, their name gets used in these scams, Kurt Smith, the public informaton officer for the sheriff's office, said.

"It's not me," Smith said.

While this is not a new scam, the sheriff's office tells me they get calls about it every day.

About a third of the phone calls we receive a day through our front desk or through different areas of the office is to confirm whether or not the person calling them was legitimate, Smith said.

The sheriff's office posted about the scam last month on Facebook. They say they will never request money for any reason, and no law enforcement agency will call or text people to say they owe taxes, missed jury duty, or have a warrant out for someone's arrest.

In all of these cases we want the public to reach out and ask and verify who they're talking to so we can cut down on these scams and we don't continually have this issue throughout our community, Smith said.

They can, like Cecil, report this scam through the FCC.

Cecil is glad she did not fall for the trick and says others need to stay skeptical and vigilant when receiving calls that could be suspicious.

Having the luxury of suspending my disbelief, I figured that the justice would prevail if I came inside that the sheriff's office would be a rational place of people who could explain it to me better in person than I was absorbing it over the phone if it was real, Cecil said.

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Pueblo City Council heard a proposal Monday evening for a safe-ride program aimed at protecting young people and preventing deadly crashes on the city's streets.

The program, called Arrive Alive 719, would provide free rides home for youth ages 15 to 22. It would operate Thursday through Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., filling a service gap after Pueblo's public transit closes.

Between 2016 and 2021, the city lost 22 teenagers to vehicle crashes, most of them on Saturday nights. The Boys and Girls Club of Pueblo is one of several partners seeking a solution to decrease these accidents.

"Here in Pueblo County, public transportation ends at 6 p.m., so we know that, you know, lots of people want to participate in activities after 6 p.m.," said Becky Medina.

The Senior Resource Development Agency (SRDA) would provide the rides free of charge.

"It would include three drivers, as well as a dispatcher, and we are looking at being able to design an app that, you know, young people can use so they can request a ride," said Medina.

SRDA said it would hire and diligently screen new drivers. The program would be funded by the Colorado Department of Transportations Clean Transit Enterprise Program, using funds from Senate Bill 230, which established fees on Colorado oil and gas for public transit improvements.

Medina told me the program would initially launch for youth within Pueblos city limits.

"We hope to be able to get this out to Pueblo County and Pueblo West in the future," said Medina.

The program is expected to launch at the end of May.

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High childcare costs and a lack of available facilities are forcing some parents in eastern Colorado Springs to leave the workforce.

SherryLynn Boyles, CEO of Joint Initiatives, a nonprofit focused on youth programming in the Pikes Peak region, said the area is severely lacking resources.

"We are living in a childcare desert, and the hottest part of that desert is in the east side," said Boyles.

Emma Martinez, a mother of two, experienced this firsthand. While out with her three-year-old Monday, she shared why she left her job as an EMT to become a stay-at-home parent.

"It's very expensive. It's why I became a stay-at-home parent," said Martinez.

Martinez agreed that finding care in the area is difficult.

"Yes it's few and far between," said Martinez.

The financial burden ultimately drove her decision to leave her career.

"It would cost almost my whole monthly income just to send my child to someone else to look after," said Martinez.

Martinez said childcare would have cost her about $3,500 a month, or roughly $40,000 a year.

"They were very short staffed by the time I was leaving, but there was just no other option," said Martinez.

Despite the difficult sacrifice, Martinez noted there are benefits to staying home.

"I get to raise him and I get to be at every sports game for my older son," said Martinez.

Boyles said these scenarios are affecting an increasing number of young families daily.

"Where we don't have adequate childcare, it is heavily on the east side," said Boyles.

The lack of options is changing the dynamics of local households.

"We have one parent staying home with children at much greater rates than you would expect," said Boyles.

To address the shortage, Boyles suggested incentivizing childcare resources with more funding and peeling back certain regulations, such as specific building renovation requirements, that make it difficult to build new facilities.

"We certainly support regulation that ensures the healthy and safety of children, but these go way beyond the health and safety of children," said Boyles.

While the east side is heavily impacted, Boyles noted it is not the only part of the city lacking childcare resources. She said the highest needs are in the southeast and Fountain-Fort Carson areas.

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A southern Colorado nonprofit is providing free exercise and recreation programs for children with special needs, filling a crucial gap in the community.

Kevin Blunt founded Autism Mana five years ago after moving from Hawaii. He realized there was a lack of therapeutic and recreational activities for youth in the area, including his 13-year-old nonverbal son.

"There's a lot of families like ours that can't go and sign up for regular softball, baseball, soccer, or any of those events," said Blunt.

The organization hosts a free 10-week exercise program in the spring and fall. Classes are currently held every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at E.P.I.C. Fitness, which is located near the I-25 and West 29th Street interchange, and will run until May 30.

Autism Mana also offers paddleboarding, equine-assisted learning and sensory-friendly roller skating.

"Getting them out, getting them active, getting them away from those tablets, making friends in a non-judgmental, all-inclusive environment is especially important for our special needs kiddos," said Blunt.

Laurie Duran has brought her son, Dane Rice, to the program for three years.

She said the free classes are vital for families and have helped her 12-year-old son come out of his shell and learn to stand up for himself.

"He recognizes his friends. He goes and greets his friends, you know, because we've known these kiddos for like three years, so they're part of our family now," said Duran.

Duran added that the program also provides a support system for parents to share resources and connect with others facing similar challenges.

Jayden Miller, 12, has been participating in the exercise classes since 2020. He said the workouts help him build physical strength.

"Because I need to get stronger and got to get my bones strong too," said Miller.

Miller also enjoys welcoming new participants, remembering how nervous he felt during his first class.

Autism Mana will host its first annual autism walk and resource fair at the Pueblo Riverwalk on April 25.

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Vivian Cobb thought she had financial security, but weeks before her husband's death, she discovered their accounts were empty, and her home was in foreclosure.

Now, the Colorado Springs woman is sharing her story to encourage couples to have difficult conversations about finances.

"He was a very wealthy man, we were together about 10 years," Cobb said.

In 2011, Cobb's husband fell ill, and his condition worsened quickly. Weeks before he died, Cobb went to the bank to secure more funds and realized there was a surprise regarding their finances.

"We opened account after account after account. They were all pretty much empty, except for his checking account, which had $5,000 left in it. That's when I found out we had no more money," Cobb said.

"My house was five months in foreclosure. He had maxed out all his credit cards," Cobb said.

Cobb was unaware of the financial issues before her trip to the bank.

"He kept it from me because he was trying to protect me," Cobb said.

Following her husband's passing, Cobb had to get back on her feet.

"I built my real estate business. I catered parties for my friends. I cleaned houses," Cobb said.

Despite working her way back, Cobb said the main thing she did not do with her late husband was have a tough conversation regarding finances.

"Emotional and physical intimacy is great in a relationship, but a big missing piece is financial intimacy," Cobb said.

Catherine Hammond founded Hammond Law, a Colorado Springs-based estate planning firm. She said that while this is a unique example, it is still rather common for a partner to leave behind something unexpected for their widow.

"This is one of the most heartbreaking situations that we see," Hammond said. "I've had clients discover they were having an affair, and purchased property with the person they were having an affair with. We've seen all sorts of really surprising things."

To avoid these situations, Hammond and Cobb both recommend acknowledging the weight of a financial conversation with a partner. They suggest accepting it might be uncomfortable, but to consider how uncomfortable it would be if finances were not addressed.

"These are tender conversations and most of us don't want to face our mortality," Hammond said.

Hammond suggests approaching the conversation by leading with a scenario that could happen to anyone, such as asking what would happen if one of them got into a car accident.

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Eastern Colorado Springs continues to experience growth with new homes and businesses, and local entrepreneurs are stepping in to fill community needs in the Springs Ranch area.

David and Andrea Kruth opened the first Beans & Brews Coffee House in Colorado Springs in January. The couple saw an opportunity in the eastern part of the city due to its combination of traffic, proximity to schools, and retail options.

"We really wanted to create a sense of community here," said David and Andrea Kruth.

"I have stressed to the baristas, we're doing more than pouring their cup of coffee when they come in," said David and Andrea Kruth. "Having that ability to be in that big a traffic corridor, but also where a lot of people live, is really important. We know there's a love and need for it, so we thought it was a no-brainer."

A few doors down from the coffee shop, Jason and Kaylee Derra celebrated one year of business at Fit Body Boot Camp. They wanted to provide a smaller, local gym environment that caters to people of all ages.

"We saw a need in the fitness space," said Jason Derra.

"We do hold you accountable," said Kaylee Derra.

"All groups of all fitness levels can really work on their health in here," said Jason Derra. "We just started workouts for 60+ folks. It's really hard for that community to have an outlet to work out in."

Both couples acknowledged how much the area has grown, noting that as the eastern side of the city expands, the demand for neighborhood services will continue to rise.

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For many students in southeast Colorado Springs, frustration is all too familiar when applying for jobs in their field, even as new federal data shows the job market is still growing.

Dove Jagd, a senior at Pikes Peak State College, is set to graduate in May with three degrees in communication, psychology and anthropology.

"It's just been a lot. I feel a little overwhelmed too," said Jagd.

The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 178,000 jobs were added in March, mostly in healthcare, transportation and construction.

While federal government employment continued to decline in March since reaching a peak in October 2024, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.

Despite the job growth, Jagd said the hardest part about applying for jobs is not hearing back.

"I think I've applied to two positions a week," said Jagd.

Jagd said she tries to stand out in her applications.

"I tailor my resume directly for my job. I look into the company actually because I want the company to align with my interests," said Jagd. "I wish I could get some feedback on why I was rejected so that way I can work on it."

She noticed many job descriptions require prior experience, even with an associate degree.

"However, it's hard to get experience when there is no real entry-level jobs in that area," said Jagd.

The Pikes Peak Workforce Center saw more than 150 job seekers at their first job fair on April 1, with around 200 people attending each month.

"Job seekers can still find work, but it may well take longer and require more targeted searching," the Pikes Peak Workforce Center said.

For the new workforce generation, they just want an opportunity.

"Employers should look for people who are ready to grow, and I think college students are the correct population. We are always ready for challenges. We are always ready to grow," said Jagd.

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