The Lewis-Palmer School District 38 board voted on Oct. 19 to start an application that would make the district the authorizer of Williamsburg Academy of Colorado, an online school whose current authorizer is being dissolved. It also postponed three policy revisions a parent had asked it to revisit, and heard parents and a coach protest […]
Posted inGovernment
Monument Town Council, October 19, 2026: E-Motos Banned from Town Property, Council Backs 2B
Monument’s council voted 7–0 to bar e-motos, electric dirt bikes and off-highway vehicles from the town’s streets, sidewalks, trails and parks, with a fine of up to $250 for a parent who knowingly lets a minor ride one. It also voted 7–0 to support Ballot Issue 2B, the construction use tax on the November 3 […]
Posted inGovernment
If the City Says No, Try the County
Projects that failed to get into Colorado Springs, Monument or Palmer Lake keep reappearing before El Paso County, where the answer is nearly always yes. Voters in Colorado Springs and Palmer Lake have claimed a say over annexation. A bottling plant that, fully built out, could use as much water as the development Colorado Springs […]
Posted inOpinion
Half of Colorado’s Voters Belong to No Party
Matthew McConaughey asked Americans on Sunday to stop treating a vote for an independent candidate as a wasted one. In a state where unaffiliated voters outnumber Democrats and Republicans combined, the argument deserves a hearing, and Colorado’s independents can begin with a ballot they already receive. Matthew McConaughey’s six-minute video, posted to Facebook on Oct. […]
Posted inGovernment
2B Asks Monument’s Builders to Pay the Rate Shoppers Already Do
Monument taxes construction materials at 2 percent, a lower rate than any of ten Front Range towns of similar size. Nine of those ten set that tax at the same rate as their sales tax. Ballot Issue 2B would raise Monument’s to 3.5 percent, put the town in the middle of the group, and send […]
Posted inGovernment
Laura Kronick Reads Every Line of the Budget. Now She Is Running for Mayor.
A retired Hewlett-Packard solution architect who served on the Monument Sanitation District board before joining the council, Laura Kronick has built her time in town government around reading the books line by line. As mayor, she says, she would bring the region’s water providers and outside experts together to find a renewable supply the town […]
Posted inGovernment
CDOT Sends the Buc-ee’s Interchange Request to the Full Transportation Commission
Colorado’s chief transportation engineer will not decide the ramp changes Buc-ee’s needs at Interstate 25 and County Line Road himself. The state Transportation Commission will decide them, likely in spring 2027, after an Environmental Assessment. No state permit for the work can be issued before it acts. Updated Oct. 19, 2026: Adds the Colorado Department […]
Posted inGovernment
Kenneth Kimple Wants Monument Ready Before It Needs to Be. Now He Is Running for Mayor.
A retired Navy air traffic controller who manages Fort Carson’s airfield, Kenneth Kimple has spent years on the Planning Commission and the council pressing the town to plan ahead: for a wildfire evacuation on the east side, a backup connection for its water, and roads that can carry its growth. As mayor, he says, he […]
Posted inBusiness Spotlight
Ruby Rae’s Brings Afternoon Tea to Downtown Monument
Ruby Rae’s Vintage Tea House opened on Sept. 29 in a suite on Front Street in downtown Monument. A retired Air Force veteran runs it with her husband and children, serving British-style afternoon tea by reservation and pots of tea to anyone who walks in. Where other travelers bring home shot glasses, Melissa Holtzlander brought […]
Posted inLocal News
When the Black Forest Farmed Foxes
For about twenty years the Tri-Lakes raised silver foxes for their fur, and the largest fox ranch in Colorado stood on land that is now Fox Run Regional Park and the Sanctuary Pointe neighborhood. Fashion, a wartime tax and cheap imports all but finished the trade within a few years of the Second World War, […]