COS Town Tidings #26-083

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🤣 Today’s Chuckle

📰 Poor Richard’s Steps Up Again ❤️

📰 24 Fire Update + Town Hall Tonight 🔥

📰 I-25 Closures Overnight 🚧

📬 Trivia Time: Before Amazon, There Was This Springs Giant

🛍 New: Bargain Box Weekly Sales, Mar 17-21!

📆 Local Events + Concerts & Special Events

🌤 COS Weather - Partly cloudy and above record high temps 🔥

A Colorado Springs restaurant is stepping up to help federal workers who aren't getting paid. Poor Richard's Restaurant is offering free meals and drinks to furloughed employees and their families during the government funding lapse.

Owners Richard Skorman and Patricia Seator, say they feel for the local workers caught in the middle of the shutdown. They see it as a small way to help our neighbors through a difficult period. With many agencies still working without pay, this ongoing effort helps ease the financial strain, especially at a time when everyday costs like gas and groceries remain high.

Eligible employees from agencies like FEMA, TSA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Coast Guard Reserve Unit – U.S. Northern Command, can get a free meal by showing your government ID at the register. The offer starts today, March 24, and will continue until affected workers start receiving paychecks again.

The restaurant is located at 324 1/2 North Tejon St. It's also encouraging other local businesses to find ways to support the federal workforce.

For community members who want to help, they have set up a GoFundMe page to offset the costs of the free meals (similar to last shutdown that made a huge difference to feed our neighbors.) The page is called Help Poor Richard's Feed Federal Families in Need.

*Other local eateries are joining the effort, too. The Brit Pub and its sister restaurant, Codswallop, are also offering one free entrée to furloughed federal employees at their locations.

Fremont County officials lifted the mandatory evacuation order for homes near the 24 Fire last night, downgrading the area to a "READY" status as firefighters gain control. As of 8pm it was reported to be 24% contained.

While the immediate threat has lessened, smoke and flames will remain visible. Crews are conducting controlled burns along the southern edge, and containment lines are holding strong, preventing further growth.

Hwy 115 remains closed to the general public between mile markers 18 and 39, with only residents allowed to return. The stretch from mile markers 20 to 28 is for emergency vehicles only. Fort Carson commuters are asked to avoid Gate 6 at Wilderness Rd to ease congestion.

A community town hall is scheduled for TONIGHT, Tues at 6pm at Penrose Elementary (100 Illinois St). Authorities will continue daily assessments and adjust road restrictions as needed.

A new week means new treasures! We're giving you a first look at the incredible finds and amazing sales hitting the floor for Mar 24-28 (New Deals). Watch now to see what's waiting for you!

👉 Remember, you can donate items here too!

Location: 405 S Nevada Ave, Open Tues - Sat 10am-2pm. (719) 475-1029

Drivers in Colorado Springs should be aware of overnight closures on northbound I-25 between Fillmore and Garden of the Gods as crews replace overhead signs. The closures are scheduled from 11pm to 3am on last night and tonight, with all lanes reopening by early morning to avoid impacting the daily commute.

During this time, the Fillmore on-ramp to northbound I-25 will also be closed, and drivers are encouraged to use alternate routes such as Nevada or Centennial. While the temporary closures may require a quick detour, the work is part of ongoing improvements to keep traffic moving safely and efficiently.

👵 From "Too Fragile" To Daily Adventures... with Kristen Nielsen

Did you know one Colorado Springs woman helped turn a dining room table side hustle into a national brand we remember from our youth, that still ships from right here in our region?

In the late 1940s, Orin and Miriam Loo moved to Colorado Springs and started tiny Looart Press, with a press in the garage and designs spread across their home. Miriam saw more than pretty note paper. In 1950, she tested a bold idea: a mail‑order fundraiser for churches, sending offers to 500 ministers and inviting groups to sell their boxed stationery. That experiment exploded, transforming a local family business into what became Current Inc., a name that would end up in millions of American kitchens through catalogs and Christmas cards.

In what year did the Loo family merge their operations under the name Current Inc.?

By the 1970s and 80s, that little idea had grown into a sprawling operation off Woodmen Road, with miles of conveyor belts and more than 1,500 employees at its peak, processing millions of orders a year from under Pikes Peak. For decades, holiday seasons here meant neighbors picking up extra shifts at Current, kids seeing those big buildings on Woodmen and knowing “that’s where the catalogs come from,” and this Colorado Springs company quietly shaping how the rest of the country celebrated birthdays, graduations, and Christmas morning. Current is still in business today, selling cards, wrap and gifts online and by catalog, with its headquarters still based in our area.

Do you remember flipping through those catalogs for school or church fundraisers? Maybe circling what you wanted as a kid (I do!) or helping your own kids sell from them? Do you still order from Current today?

Answer: 1967. *Source

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