COLORADO SPRINGS — Good morning southern Colorado and here's what you need to know on your
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"There are no words:" Family speaks at vigil honoring victims of birthday party mass shooting
Mothers of Murdered Youth (MOMY) hosted a candlelight vigil on Thursday for the six victims of the mass shooting at a birthday celebration in Colorado Springs over the weekend.
Some family members of the victims spoke at the vigil, including a father and grandmother of three of the victims.
Colorado Springs Police have identified the six victims as:
- Sandra Ibarra-Perez, 28-years-old
- Jose Ibarra, 26-years-old
- Mayra Ibarra De Perez, 33-years-old
- Melvin Perez, 30-years-old
- Jose Gutierrez, 21-years-old
- Joana Cruz, 52-years-old
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Colorado reviewing new CDC mask guidance; updated state guidance could be coming soon
A change to Colorado's mask mandate could be coming soon, a spokesperson for the governor said, as health officials are reviewing the Thursday announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask in any setting.
Masks are still mostly required in Colorado in public indoor settings unless there are less than 10 people in the room or at least 80% are vaccinated.
The health officials on Thursday said Colorado could have modified guidance, based on the CDC's recommendations, in the coming days.
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Get your latest First Alert 5 Weather forecast
The weather is about to get a whole lot more active, so we hope you enjoyed the fairly calm and easy-going Thursday! We'll actually start quite nice today and tomorrow but today will feature a lot more sunshine in the morning. Cloud cover will increase today ahead of thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.
Storms today will likely start up near the mountains and Denver only to move east through the plains. We could see strong to severe weather today, especially east of Denver and from the Palmer divide southeast to the Colorado border. Severe threats today are mainly east of I-25 in our region, but they do include large hail and strong winds with lightning.
We'll see a better chance for strong to severe storms along I-25 on Saturday with better storm energy pushed farther west.
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Former staffer sues Rep. Doug Lamborn, alleges "reckless" approach to COVID-19
A former staffer of Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn is suing him over his handling of COVID-19.
In the complaint filed in a U.S. District Court, Brandon Pope accuses the congressman of taking a "reckless" approach to COVID-19, exposing his staff to the virus, and calling COVID-19 a "hoax" in April of 2020.
The lawsuit claims Lamborn didn't require employees to wear masks or social distance and says that Lamborn refused to implement responsible COVID-19 protocols after he and other senior members of his staff became infected with COVID-19 in 2020.
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Vaccine providers ready for expanded age groups
In Colorado protecting yourself or your teenage children from COVID-19 is as easy a trip to the grocery store. The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday expanded its emergency use authorization for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to 12 to 15-year-olds.
Those age groups can receive a shot from any of the providers in southern Colorado who offer the Pfizer vaccine. Some providers, like Safeway and Albertsons pharmacies, don't even require appointments.
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