What do humans do for shelter and safety? We may have started in caves, but we soon began to build. Thatched huts soon became encampments, villages, towns, cities and metropolises. As migrants from coastal and midwestern states poured into Colorado Territory in 1859, settlements that would grow into cities sprung up along the Front Range. […]
Hello! My name is Ryan Lloyd. I’ve been a resident of the Westside for over 15 years. In 2008, I founded Echo Architecture, a local architecture firm focused on “thoughtful design that is sustainable, memorable and inspirational to our local community.” In 2021, we made the very intentional decision to move our operations from Downtown […]
Thanks to J.D. Vance, we can assume that many “childless cat ladies” that might have voted for the Trump-Vance ticket have migrated to Harris-Walz, but what about all the childless (and not childless) dog people? Trump has reportedly never owned a dog and doesn’t seem to like them. That may have contributed to his defeat […]
The great 18th-century French diplomat Charles Talleyrand said of the exiled Bourbons, who sought to return the Monarchy after the French Revolution, that they had “learnt nothing and forgotten nothing.” After four grumpy years in exile at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump seeks return and restoration. He still believes (or pretends to believe) that he won in […]
Here’s some good news for businesses in Old Colorado City and the historic Westside: our friendly rivals in Downtown Colorado Springs are about to spend millions of dollars to screw up Tejon Street between Colorado Avenue and Boulder. The “Tejon Street Revitalization Project” will do away with diagonal parking, eliminate the center lane, create bike […]
We may be, as our national anthem reminds us, “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave,” but we’re also a nation of noisemakers. Here on the Westside, we have a daily dose of noise from multiple sources, including automobile and truck traffic, motorcycles, trains, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, barking dogs, gunshots and/or […]
November 5, 1940. That was the day that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to a third term, much to the dismay of my staunchly Republican father. It was also the day his only son was born, triggering multiple telegrams from his pals suggesting that the child should be named Franklin Roosevelt Hazlehurst. He chose to […]
On November 5, residents and business owners within the boundaries of the proposed Old Colorado City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will likely have their votes tallied on whether to authorize its creation. If approved, the district will extend to the Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs boundary to the west; to the north by the alley […]
Manitou Springs is full of larger-than-life personas – think of civic legends like former Mayor and Colorado state representative Marcy Morrison, artist Charles Rockey and the legendary Emma Crawford, whose coffin slid down Red Mountain during a heavy rainstorm in 1929. Manitoids see themselves as quirky and fun, sharply contrasting with the dull and duty-driven […]
Last week I wrote about my parents’ glittering 1926 wedding in the then-new Grace Episcopal Church, the first couple to be “solemnized within its walls.” (See “Finding a treasure in an envelope” in the Bulletin’s Aug. 2 edition. –ed.). They weren’t kids – my father was 32, my mother 27. They were small business owners […]
The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum recently debuted an interesting exhibit titled “50% of the Story: Women Expressing Creativity.” It’s an ambitious undertaking, especially when it’s situated in one of the medium-sized main floor galleries. Paintings, photographs, prints and woven art are hung salon-style on the walls, so many that the eye is overwhelmed. There is […]
Nobody knew exactly what to expect on the evening of July 5 in and around Manitou Springs. One unscripted scene quickly answered any question about the community jewel known as First Friday Artwalk. All you had to do was climb the stairs inside Miramont Castle Museum and step into what’s known as the Great Hall. […]
The proposed Old Colorado City Downtown Development Authority has a beguiling name. We Westsiders love OCC, want it to flourish and hope that OCC voters will endorse it. Here are the boundaries: Colorado Avenue from I-25 to the boundary with Manitou Springs, along with some adjacent properties, and some more in the current OCC Special […]
Welcome to the presidential race! On November 5th, the septuagenarian Donald Trump will face off against the octogenarian Joe Biden. Their first debate was disconcerting, to say the very least. Trump lied…and lied…and lied some more. Biden dithered, stumbled and lost track of what he was saying. Neither seemed reasonably competent, let alone ready for […]
Early in the morning on June 28, 1969, police in New York City raided the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ+ bar and nightclub. The following days’ protests – known as the Stonewall Riots – against this unprovoked treatment are widely considered the origin of the contemporary LGBTQ+ Rights Movement. The transgender women of color who led […]
Might as well admit it – I’m addicted to historic preservation. Born in 1940, I grew up in a house in the 1500 block of North Tejon Street. In those days, it was a somewhat shabby middle-class neighborhood. Our neighbors were lawyers and doctors, young families with lots of kids, apartment dwellers, investment advisers, booksellers, […]
One of the attractions of Old Colorado City and the historic Westside is the absence of defined and exclusionary boundaries. We live a few blocks from the historic buildings at the heart of OCC, but according to Wikipedia, we’re definitely in it. “The approximate boundaries are U.S. Highway 24 to the south, 32nd Street to […]
As the first issue of the new Colorado Springs Independent hit the streets, I was reminded of the little rag that debuted on Aug. 8, 1993. It was all of 24 pages — spirited, contrarian, fun, feisty and original. John Weiss, the publisher and co-founder (with Kathryn Eastburn) of the original Independent, figured that there […]
Sunday night in our creaky old house on West Bijou Street began calmly and hopefully, as do most Sunday evenings. The incessant rain had finally stopped, Monday’s weather was forecast to be sunny and mild, and our three young dogs were behaving reasonably well. We sat at the dinner table, opened a bottle of wine […]
Dear granddaughter — We are delighted to hear that you’re taking this next step in your life. I have been mentoring students as a college professor and college president for several decades. Here is some advice that may be helpful: Set high expectations for yourself, yet reward yourself for reasonable achievements. Take what you do […]
