Mold Remediation in Pueblo, CO

Pueblo is hosting its 23rd annual Veteran's Day Parade on Nov. 16. The parade was initially planned for Nov. 9 but was rescheduled due to inclement weather.

The Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce Veterans Day Parade will start at 10 a.m. beginning at Union Avenue and B Street before heading down Union, taking a right on City Center Drive, and then turning left on Main Street to Third Street.

"Hosting the Veterans Day Parade serves as a poignant reminder to our local veterans that we honor and commemorate their service," said Pueblo Chamber of Commerce Spokesperson Krystle Herrera. "Here in Pueblo, Colorado, we proudly uphold our patriotic spirit."

Pueblo has a long and proud tradition of military support and appreciation and is known as the "Home of Heroes" — a reference to the four Medal of Honor recipients from Pueblo, as well as the greater military community in Pueblo County.

This year's parade will be led by Parade Marshal Bob McClelland and Honorary Parade Marshal Eddie "Santa" Bedlien.

McClelland served 30 years alongside the U.S. Marine Corps as a Navy Corpsman, including during Operation Desert Storm, and retired from the Navy in 1995 as a chief petty officer after 30 years of service.

In McClelland’s retirement, he has volunteered in numerous veterans' affairs organizations and assisted in many events supporting veterans. He traveled to seven countries and 20 states during his career. During his service, McClelland earned two Navy achievement awards, two Army achievement awards, a Marine service award, and a Meritorious Service Award.

Bedlien also served 22 years in the U.S. Navy, serving on seven different submarines throughout his distinguished career.

In addition to his military service, Bedlien is actively involved in various organizations, including the American Legion, American Legion Riders, TREA, and the Patriot Guard Riders. He also participates in his church community, providing flags for veterans' funerals and commemorative events such as the Veterans Bridge on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

More veteran stories from Pueblo:Pueblo soldier's daring escape was 'one of the greatest stories of World War II'

Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @jayreutter1.

PUEBLO, Colo. - #7/6 CSU Pueblo prevailed in a defensive struggle, winning 28-13 over #14/21 Colorado School of Mines at the Thunderbowl.

Mines (7-3, 5-3 RMAC) ran for 231 yards and held CSU Pueblo to 63, and outgained the Pack (9-1, 8-0 RMAC) 392 to 332 overall, but third- and fourth-down conversions were hard to come by for both teams as CSUP ultimately had more explosive offensive opportunities to win.

led Mines with 97 rushing yards and scored a 44-yard touchdown while hit a couple of field goals. Roman Fuller threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns for CSUP with Reggie Retzlaff catching two of those scores among his 139 yards on the day.

The Oredigger defense worked a quick out on the Thunderwolves' opening drive, and a 34-yard Capra run set up 43-yard field goal to open the scoring on the Orediggers' first possession. It was a trade of punts for the rest of the first quarter as CSUP was held to 1-of-4 on third own and Mines was 1-of-3, but the Thunderwolves grabbed the game's first turnover to end the period when Eli Pittman jumped a pass at midfield.

CSUP cashed in on the opportunity, converting a 4th-and-1 along the way to score on Russell's 19-yard touchdown run to open the second quarter. The sides then traded turnovers on downs, and the Thunderwolves showed their explosive offensive potential with four straight completions to march 73 yards in less than 30 seconds and score on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Russell.

Mines took advantage of a turnover on downs to get points on the board before halftime with another 43-yard Eich field goal into the wind, making it 14-6 at the break.

The two traded outs to start the second half before the Thunderwolves scored on a 26-yard Fuller-to-Retzlaff connection that was upheld on review, but Mines stayed alive late in the third quarter when Tate found a seam and streaked 44 yards to score, making it 21-13 with 1:38 left in the third.

The fourth quarter opened with a dagger of a touchdown as Fuller went over the top to hit Retzlaff for a 61-yard score, and Mines was stopped in the red zone to turn it over on downs after a 12-play, 5:03 possession, then had to punt twice more to be held off the board in the fourth.

NOTABLES - made his second straight start at quarterback and was 15-of-34 for 161 yards with two interceptions, and ran for 80 net yards. - led Mines receivers with 86 yards on six catches. - CSUP was 1-of-7 and Mines 1-of-8 on third downs in the first half, and ultimately CSUP ended up 2-of-12 and Mines 4-of-16. - Capra was sacked six times while Mines got to Fuller once. - led the Mines defense with a career-high seven tackles, 2.5 for a loss, and a sack. - CSU Pueblo clinched at least a share of the RMAC title with the win.

NEXT UP Mines will close the regular season at home against Fort Lewis next Saturday at noon.

Heavy snows continued to pummel Pueblo and much of southern Colorado Nov. 8, causing interstate shutdowns and business closures and bringing more than 2 feet of snow to some parts of Pueblo County.

The days-long storm, which began bringing heavy snowfall and biting cold temperatures to Pueblo on Nov. 5, caused Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to declare a disaster emergency Nov. 7 and authorize the Colorado National Guard to provide winter storm response support to impacted communities.

How much snow has fallen on Pueblo County during the storm?

According to the National Weather Service in Pueblo, a cumulative total of 28.7 inches of snow had been recorded in Beulah as of 7 a.m. Friday, 12 inches of snow was recorded by that time in Colorado City, more than 9 inches was recorded in Pueblo, and a high of 8.4 inches was recorded in Pueblo West.

A winter weather advisory remained in effect for southern El Paso County, Pueblo County, Cañon City and eastern Fremont County through 5 a.m., Saturday, according to the NWS, with anticipated additional snow accumulations of between 4 and 10 inches and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.

Cameron Simcoe, a meteorologist at the NWS' Pueblo office, said the snowfall is just part of a "typical fall-winter storm passing over the area, bringing lots of snow and moisture."

He said the bulk of the snow expected had already fallen through Friday afternoon, though southern Colorado was expected to get an additional burst of snow late Friday afternoon, which would then start to "slowly dwindle down throughout the late overnight hours as the system pushes up to the northeast."

"Pueblo will probably start to dry out pretty quickly overnight as that storm moves up to the northeast," he said.

I-25 remained 'indefinitely' closed as of Friday afternoon

Interstate 25 was shut down in Pueblo on Nov. 7, from Mile Marker 91 on I-25 to the New Mexico state line, and remained indefinitely closed through Friday.

During that time, only local traffic, meaning residents of Colorado City, Rye and Walsenburg, were allowed to proceed to those locations, according to the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office.

In a travel update posted to X on Nov. 8, PCSO officials said the I-25 closure "remains in effect for the foreseeable future."

The PCSO's post noted that parking for semitrucks unable to proceed down I-25 was available in Pueblo at the old dog track at Pueblo Boulevard and Lake Avenue, with overflow parking available at the Pueblo Mall.

"Obviously, heed CDOT closures," Simcoe said. "Don’t ignore CDOT closures, they have things closed for a reason. If you have to travel, make sure you have an emergency kit with you — a shovel, extra food, water, blankets and such — but those are the big things if you have to go out.

"But if you can stay in, stay in and stay nice and warm."

What the weather currently looks like on NWS radar

What's in store for the Pueblo forecast over the weekend?

Simcoe said the Pueblo forecast calls for "much quieter" conditions come Saturday.

"The system pushes out and we'll very slowly start to warm up and we’ll start to clear out and it’ll be a little more typical fall-like weather, maybe still a little bit below average on the temperature, but we’ll dry out and it’ll be more sunny," he said.

Saturday's NWS forecast calls for a high of 38 degrees Fahrenheit, with mostly sunny conditions. Sunday and Monday's weather was expected to be largely the same, with anticipated highs of 45 degrees both days and sunny conditions.

More on the snow storm:I-25 shut down south of Pueblo due to heavy snow, dangerous conditions

Chieftain Editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@gannett.com or on X, at @ZachHillstrom. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

Dozens of reports and interviews from the ongoing federal investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board into last year’s BNSF coal train derailment north of Pueblo are now posted online.

Investigators had earlier identified broken rail on the tracks near where six coal cars dropped onto Interstate 25 and a bridge across the highway partially collapsed, killing truck driver Lafollette Henderson of California.

Hundreds of pages of the recently released documents include interviews with railroad employees, as well as the results of tests and inspections.

The train was traveling from Denver to La Junta at a speed of 32 miles per hour when the accident happened. That's below the maximum allowed speed. Conditions and equipment appeared normal prior to the crash according to the train crew.

“As they began to approach the bridge,” the report said, ”they felt a section of rough track and that it caused ‘real bad shaking to the left and to the right.’”

The locomotive engineer slowed the train using air brakes and then used the emergency system to bring it to a stop.

The engineer "stated that he was not aware that the train had derailed at that point in time due to the clouds of dust obscuring the cars in his mirror,” the report said. “As the dust cleared, the engineer stated that he could see that some cars were ‘knocked over to the right’ and that they were pouring out their coal. He then stated that the first four cars behind the two locomotives were upright.”

He issued a radio emergency alert and called 9-1-1.

Sarah Taylor Sulick, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board said it is typical to release documents gathered so far about a year into the investigation.

“None of the reports in the docket will contain analysis, probable cause or our recommendations on how to prevent similar events from occurring,” she said. “That will come later in the final report, which can take 12- 24 months to be completed.”

Previous reporting

Southern Colorado is changing a lot these days. We can help you keep up. Sign up for the KRCC Weekly Digest here and get the stories that matter to Southern Colorado, delivered straight to your inbox.