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A failure involving a Pueblo wastewater pipe released about 4.2 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Arkansas River on Aug. 26-27. Colorado health officials detected elevated downstream E. coli levels, prompting public-health warnings as the contamination moved east. On Sept. 2, Colorado Parks and Wildlife expanded its water-contact advisory to additional state properties while the earlier John Martin Reservoir advisory remained in effect.
Labor Day Lift Off is Colorado Springs’ annual hot-air-balloon festival at Memorial Park. The 2026 edition is billed as the event’s 50th anniversary; it originated as the Colorado Balloon Classic in Black Forest in 1976, later moved to Memorial Park and adopted the Labor Day Lift Off name in 2015. The free public festival includes morning balloon launches across all three days, with evening balloon glows and other programming on Saturday and Sunday.
A pickup truck drove onto a sidewalk in the 100 block of West Mountain Avenue in Old Town Fort Collins shortly before noon on Aug. 29, while crowds were in the area for the annual Tour de Fat event. Investigators said the truck had been backing out of a parking space, struck an eastbound vehicle, then moved forward onto the sidewalk and hit pedestrians before striking a tree. Police said they did not believe pedestrians were intentionally targeted, though the cause remained under investigation.
Pikes Peak United Way has administered Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in El Paso and Teller counties since January 2013. The free-book program serves children from birth through age 5, with local operating costs split between the state and the United Way. The organization says it has been seeking another operator for about 18 months as enrollment growth has made costs less predictable.
Colorado reintroduced gray wolves beginning in late 2023; female wolf #2504 was among 15 wolves brought from British Columbia in January 2025. A hunter in northwest Colorado shot and killed #2504 in January 2026 after mistaking her for a coyote, then promptly reported the incident and cooperated with investigators. Colorado Parks and Wildlife handled the case as a regulatory violation rather than pursuing a statutory case in court.
The Inspirato Colorado Senior Open is a three-round professional and amateur event at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver, with a reported $80,000 purse and $15,000 to the winning professional. Willie Wood, 65, is a former Colorado Open champion and former PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions player competing from Edmond, Oklahoma.
Widefield High School’s football program went 0-10 in 2024 before Brian Winkelman took over as head coach in 2025. The Gladiators improved to three wins in 2025, and their 25-22 win at Harrison on Aug. 27, 2026 ended a 1,054-day road-win drought. The program’s rebuild has included alumni coaches and players with multigenerational ties to Widefield.