COS Town Tidings #25-356

CLICK to READ ONLINE - if it gets cut off below

🤣 Daily Chuckle

📰 Mayor Yemi Looks Back at 2025 Highlights 🌟

📰 One-Star Review Extortion Alert! 😡

📰 $1.6 BILLION up for grabs 💰

Wellness: 🎄 This Holiday Habit Adds Years

📆 Local Events + Concerts & 🤶 Holiday Events

🌟 We want to feature your business

🌤 COS Weather - Mostly sunny, breezy and ridiculously above average temps (no change of a white Christmas this year 😢)

Why do Christmas sweaters hang out together?

👉Because they're close-knit 🤣

🌟 Mayor Yemi Looks Back at 2025 Highlights

Colorado Springs is ending 2025 on a strong note, according to Mayor Yemi, who shared a year-end look at community progress and priorities ahead. He celebrated major gains in public safety staffing, including the CSPD topping 800 sworn officers, and an overall drop in crime.

The City opened a new fire station, improved 911 staffing, repaved more than 187 lane-miles, and tackled thousands of potholes. Affordable housing continues to expand with nearly 1,700 units moving forward across the city. The Colorado Springs Airport launched its first international flight, and last week’s announcement of a $475M Swire Coca-Cola manufacturing facility added to our economic momentum.

Looking toward 2026, the City plans to expand initiatives to support cleaner, safer business corridors, continue driving job growth at Peak Innovation Park, and maintain a balanced growth approach to serve current and future families.

😡 One-Star Review Extortion Alert!

Colorado Springs business owners are being hit with a troubling new scam: FAKE one-star Google reviews posted by scammers who then demand money to remove them. The reviews appear detailed and believable, making the damage to local reputations even more severe.

Several local companies, especially in the trades industry, have reported sudden waves of negative posts followed by texts demanding payment to make the reviews disappear. None of the affected businesses have paid, choosing instead to report the fraud to Google. Industry owners say reputation and word-of-mouth are everything and one false rating can significantly harm search rankings and customer trust. When you look at the reviews for businesses, please be diligent and look at multiple sources. Fake reviews are not knew and it’s sad times when now it’s extortion. Full Story

💰 $1.6 BILLION up for grabs

The Powerball jackpot just got a whole lot bigger. After no one matched all six numbers in Saturday's drawing, the top prize has climbed to an estimated $1.6 billion.

That staggering amount officially makes it one of the largest lottery prizes ever offered in the United States. It currently ranks as the fifth biggest US jackpot on record. The only prizes to have topped it were other Powerball and Mega Millions drawings, with the record still held by a $2.04 billion Powerball win in 2022.

The next drawing is TONIGHT, and tickets typically stop selling hour or two before the numbers are pulled. The odds of hitting the jackpot are about 1 in 292 million. You're far more likely to win a smaller prize by matching just the Powerball number or a few of the white balls.

It's fun to dream about what we would do IF we won...there have been some Colorado winners, in the past. Now that would be a Christmas miracle, eh?! 😉

What would you do if you won? Would you take the lump sum cash option, which for this jackpot is an estimated $782.4 million before taxes? Or would you go for the full annuity, paid out over 29 years?

🎄 This Holiday Habit Adds Years

Wellness Monday kicks off NOW with Kristen Nielson of TogetherWON, dropping her first 60‑second boost, and trust me, she picked a topic that can impact our wellbeing as much as major lifestyle changes… without the effort.

We’re not giving it away. Just hit play and feel the shift.

*Information is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Please consult a health care professional, nothing above should be construed as medical advice.

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🎉 Events Calendar! (More events including FREE, click here)

Have an event to share? Click on calendar above and add it

📆 Sample Local Events

*Weather permitted

• Dec 23, 26-28, 1-4 PM: 3-Hour Original Colorado Springs Food Tour @1 Tejon St $69-$87

• Dec 26-28: Mary Poppins @ Fine Arts Center, 30 West Dale St $18-$70

• Dec 29, 9am-5pm: Dog Days at the Zoo @ Cheyenne Mtn Zoo

• Dec 31, 11am, 2 & 4pm: Big Bubbles New Years Eve @The MAT, 1626 S Tejon $33 (Limited Seats Available)

• Jan 4, 6pm: Swing 'n Jam Gatsby Gala @ 2103 N Weber $8-$10

• Jan 6, 2-3pm: Listening To The Quiet Voice Within: A Talk On Intuition @ Treehouse Cafe $20

  • —> Taught by Laurel: 👁️‍🗨️ The Strength To Endure Comes From This.

• Jan 9, 6pm: Soap Making Class @ Meraki Springs, 2703 W Colorado Ave $65

🎶 Fall Concerts - Weather permitting

• Dec 30 & 31, 7:30pm: New Year’s Eve: Rhapsody In Blue @ Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts, 190 S Cascade $70-$120

• Dec 31, 8:30pm: New Year's Eve Bash featuring Disco Revue @ Phil Long Music Hall, 13071 Bass Pro Dr $62 - $168 (21+ yrs old) (Limited Tickets available)

• Jan 10-11: The Human Equation @ Ent Center for the Arts $18-$41

• Feb 22, 3pm: Pikes Peak Philharmonic: Pops @ENT Center for the Arts, 5225 N Nevada $14-$20

🤶 Holiday Festivals, Fairs & Activities

• ⛸ Through - Jan 18: Skate In The Park @Acacia Park $15

• 🕯 Through Jan 4, Fri & Sat (5:30-10pm) & Sun - Thurs (5:30-9pm): Magic of Lights at Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) $28-$72/vehicle

• 🎄 Through Dec 27: Christmas at Forest Bend @ Black Forest, 9525 Burgess Rd $15 (Tickets Sell Out Fast)

• Dec 22-23, 25-Jan 1, 5-8:30pm: Electric Safari @ Cheyenne Mtn Zoo $21-$24

• Christmas Lights Guide - COS, Manitou & Woodland Park

• Jan 3-Feb 21: Ice Castles @ Cripple Creek $16-$29 (tickets on sale now)

   

• Dec 22-23, Noon-8pm: OCC Christkindlmarket @ Bancroft Park, 2408 W Colorado Ave FREE to attend

• Dec 22, 6-8pm: Holiday Cookie Exchange @ Cocktails After Dusk, 8 E Bijou

• Dec 23-24: Christmas Eve @ Mountain Springs Church, 7345 Adventure Way

• Dec 24, 5pm: Candlelight Christmas Eve Service @ The Table at Highland Park, 2550 E San Miguel St COS FREE to attend

• Dec 24, 6pm: Christmas Eve Service & Candle Lighting @ Renovation Church, 13071 Bass Pro Dr FREE to attend

• Dec 24, 7pm: Christmas Eve Candlelight Service @ Community Congregational Church of Manitou Springs, 103 Pawnee Ave, Manitou Springs FREE to attend

• Dec 25, 1pm: Christmas Feast @ Wackadoo Brewing, 5158 Centennial Blvd FREE

• Dec 26-27, 5:30-8pm: 🎄 2.5-Hour Holiday Lights & Bites Progressive Dinner @ Downtown COS $99 (waitlist only)

• Dec 26, 6:30pm: Pajama Paw-ty @ Pub Dog, 2207 Bott Ave

• Dec 27, 6-9pm: Murder Mystery, The Hollywood Hit - Holiday Show @Great Wolf Lodge, 9494 Federal Dr $79.95

• Dec 31, 8:30pm: Broadmoor's New Year's Eve Bash $80 + $25 parking

• Dec 31, 9pm-midnight: New Year’s Eve Party @ Mining Exchange, 8 S Nevada Ave $99 (21+)

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