When students return to schools in Harrison School District 2 on Aug. 17, they’ll be entering a vastly different landscape than the one they left last spring.

Every Wednesday morning at 5 a.m., Southeast Colorado Springs resident and entrepreneur Elena Salinas rolls out of bed and prepares for a long day ahead.

The Chinook Center of Colorado Springs held a fundraiser and community barbeque on Sunday, July 19, at Van Diest Park. 

Never fear: Fun in the sun is slowly coming back into focus. 

After the birth of their second child, Jorja and Clint Harrison wanted more. But after two complicated pregnancies, they decided to forego another and adopted a little girl from Ethiopia instead.

It’s June. The sun is shining, the trees are leafing out and the grass is growing … and growing … and growing. 

A confession, I love summer. I love everything about it: the sweltering heat, the long, sun-soaked days … I even love the occasionally destructive thunderstorms that leave everything looking freshly scrubbed. 

I’m a horrible artist. Like, a capped-out-at-stick-figures, everything-I-paint-looks-like-a-Tim-Burton-landscape, good-thing-you-have-other-talents artist. 

It’s hard to imagine that, last fall, any of the hundreds of high school and college seniors or final-year elementary and middle schoolers in the area, envisioned their studies and lives uprooted by a potentially fatal virus. 

A waterfall bubbles from the empty sprayground at Deerfield Hills Community Center & Sprayground May 11. The center and sprayground have been closed since March in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic; however Deerfield Hills Park and its fields remain a popular place to recreate.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on countless businesses since arriving in Colorado in early March, forcing statewide shutdowns and unprecedented economic disruptions.

People always think Keyshon Cooks is older than he is — but the new community coordinator for the Colorado Springs Council of Neighbors and Organizations is only 23. 

The Deerfield Hills Community Center has resumed its monthly food pantry, more than a month after the COVID-19 pandemic forced its temporary closure. 

When mobile groomer Brenda Davis drives around town, she often catches inquisitive glances from other drivers. It seems to have something to do with the name “Clip-N-Dales,” painted in multi-colored letters on the side of a work trailer and hitched to the back of her silver SUV.

Library to curate personal stories, images for future historians

What a difference a year makes. 

She was the first person to know and love us, even before we knew ourselves. She was our first caregiver, our first friend, our first role model. She was the giver of hugs, the kisser of owies, the healer of scraped knees and broken hearts. 

I always get excited when some new culinary development lands on my plate. So it was with a certain eager anticipation that I stopped at Mission Trace Shopping Center on March 7 for the chance to learn more about Southeast Colorado Springs’ first mobile grocer, The Helping Hand Neighborhood Grocery Store.

This is for the pusher of swings. The builder of toys. The one who showed a little boy how to be a man; who was a little girl’s first dance partner. The one who first taught you how to throw a ball and, even more importantly, how to catch. 

Rehabilitation project kicks off at South Shooks Run Park  By Zach Hillstrom The Southeast Express Rehabilitation of the Leon Young Pavilion in South Shooks Run Park began last week and is expected to be completed by the end of April. The pavilion is named after

‘Basically a giant egg pie Hi there, home cooks! After a few months off, it’s nice to be back with you and getting creative in the kitchen. March is National Nutrition Month, an annual campaign led by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to get

Entrepreneur brings fresh, affordable options directly to Southeast Colorado Springs food deserts Elena Salinas likes to say, “food is love, and I love people.” The entrepreneur grew up cooking alongside her mother, who, she said, was the first person to volunteer to make a meal

A mural by Molly McClure and Muji Rieger depicting Mother Earth invokes the coming growing season and summer’s bounty.

This month’s shout-outs go to the Youth of the Year contestants, community engagement and Southeast Springs voters.

Leading an accessibility renaissance It could be easy to forget, when you’re sitting in Benjamín “Ben” Gallegos-Pardo’s office, that you’re on a college campus. Picture windows offer sweeping views of the mountain and the city unfurling to the north, and on a sunny February morning,

This is what family looks like. On Feb. 22, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum celebrated the opening of its new exhibit, “Una Familia Grande: The Conejos Neighborhood Project.” The collection features historic photos, interpretative signage, traditional clothing and memorabilia from the insular and colorful community

Coming home This is a love story. It’s a tale of the love that anchored a group of Colorado Springs residents to the small neighborhood they called home; of the tightly knit friendships among children and a lifetime’s worth of surrogate parents; of the insular-yet-formative

Honoring mom, the maker of memories She was the first person to know and love us, even before we knew ourselves. She was our first caregiver, our first friend, our first role model. She was the giver of hugs, the kisser of owies, the healer

A portrait of a wild flower hangs near a set of exam rooms and the vision-testing station in the new Peak Vista Family Health Center at Mitchell High School. A first-of-its-kind partnership between the health care provider and Colorado Springs School District 11 means Peak

Edie Wren recalls the sense of isolation, the struggles with anger and sorrow, and the incredible sense of shame. She remembers being told by a teacher that her father was a bad man. As the daughter of an inmate, Wren sympathizes with young people who

New art program hopes to help kids of incarcerated express themselves.

Here are some of the area’s offerings on New Year’s Eve By Zach Hillstrom The Southeast Express With 2019 coming to an end and the new year fast approaching, it’s time for Southeast residents to start making their plans for New Year’s Eve. For those

“Artist,” a mural of a multi-talented octopus, celebrates the many facets of art made in Colorado Springs. The work by Knobhill Urban Arts District-affiliated creative Mario Sanchez, is painted on the west wall of Platte Furniture, 2331 E. Platte Place. [Express photo/Regan Foster] The Express

This decadent dinner won’t bust your belt … or the bank A few years ago, while I was still covering health and wellness, and writing a weekly food column, I spoke with a nutritionist about battling the bulge at this time of year. Let’s face

Community gardens, nonprofit address Southeast food desert By Erinn Callahan The Southeast Express Joan Clemons is the first to say that the Hillside Community Garden is not run by experts. “We just saw a need and said, ‘Hey, can we do this? Yes, we can,’”

From murals to performances, local makers use art as advocacy By Stewart Ricker Special to the Southeast Express Editor’s note: This autumn, the Southeast Express partnered with a second-year publishing class at Pikes Peak Community College to examine may facets of voting and politics. This

Lisa Marie Coleman finds purpose in volunteer work, art and hip-hop By Faith Miller The Southeast Express Lisa Marie Coleman isn’t afraid to take on big projects. And perhaps nothing exemplifies her enthusiasm and fierce determination more strongly than Drinks & Jewelry Studios (D&Js), a

Deeno the Dinosaur stands guard in a sun-dappled grassy knoll at the Market at Spring Creek. The wayward brontosaurus was stolen over the summer from its home at the shopping center, located on the corner of Circle Drive and Monterey Road. It was returned more

  Arts Month highlights Southeast’s growing creative culture By Eric Friedberg The Southeast Express At 10 a.m. on a sunny Wednesday, 9-year-olds Kalaya Weems and Joshua Obi gleefully slathered bright blue paint on the sidewalk. Volunteer Chelsea Rotondo kept a watchful eye on the scene,

Hundreds participate in Southeast community centers’ Halloween festivities Ghouls, ghosts, superheroes, villains — even a toddling pediatrician and his tiny physician’s assistant — swarmed the halls of the Hillside Community Center on Saturday, while a grinning procession of princesses, dinosaurs, witches, wizards and a stilt-walker

This holiday season, let’s start a new culinary tradition! The holidays mean food, family and friendship. Whether your winter holiday traditions involve gathering with your closest pals around an overflowing table; cramming yourself into a kitchen packed with cousins to hand-roll your grandmother’s favorite tamales;

These quick game-day dishes are sure to score some extra points   Are you ready for some football, Southeast Colorado Springs?  I have a confession to make: I’m not really a fan of football. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the sense of community that

Satellite hotel celebrates half-century of community This year marks the 50th birthday of the Satellite Hotel, an impressive milestone for the massive landmark that towers over Southeast Colorado Springs in silent homage to the Space Age. It also happens to commemorate 50 years since Charlotte