Colorado Springs City Councilor Gold was reprimanded recently, for comments “in violation of the rules and procedures of City Council,” when in fact her comments were an example of the civility and decorum council rules strive to achieve. We share what went down in the January 13, 2026 Colorado Springs City Council meeting – in which faith leaders made comments about Martin Luther King Jr. Day which incited City Councilor Dave Donelson to walk out, refusing to participate in a photograph commemorating the mayor and council’s proclamation. Councilor Kimberly Gold reminded the room that, “Doctor MLK was a fiery person. He had to be in order to create change. And we need that same fiery spirit today and beyond to create the continued change that we need in our country.”

At its next public meeting, City Council heard from several citizens who praised Gold’s behavior and comments. In this episode we speak with Kimberly Gold to get her take, and we discuss the incident, the reprimand, and subsequent events with Pikes Peak Bulletin Managing Editor Heila Ershadi.

LINKS:

Pikes Peak Bulletin Coverage:

Councilmember Gold Reprimanded for MLK Proclamation Remarks:

https://pikespeakbulletin.org/news/councilmember-gold-reprimanded-for-mlk-proclamation-remarks/

Juicy Public Comments on No Black History Month Proclamation, Gold Reprimand, ICE:

https://pikespeakbulletin.org/news/juicy-public-comments-on-no-black-history-month-proclamation-gold-reprimand-ice/

Discover Downtown Pass: https://downtowncs.com/pass

2026 Winter Olympic & Paralympic Celebration: https://usopm.org/gamesexperience/

Nike Team USA Collection: https://www.nike.com/w/medal-stand-collection-7q64t

Downtown Colorado Springs on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/downtown_cs/

Downtown Colorado Springs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DowntownColoradoSprings

MENTIONED:

City Councilor Kimberly Gold

City Council President Lynette Crow-Iverson

City Councilor Dave Donelson

Rev. Josh Rumple

First Congregational Church

Rev. Candace Woods

Seth Palmer Harris

League of American Bicyclists

Bicycle Colorado Springs

PikeRide

2026 Winter Olympics

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum

U.S. Olympic pommel horse champion Stephen Nedoroscik

Galentine’s Day

Good Intentions

Novis Mortem Collective

Painting With a Twist

Comfort & Joy Cat Café

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center

The Local Motive

Loving the Springs celebrates the best of Colorado Springs and elevates the rest.

Plug into what’s happening in the Pikes Peak region, learn about awesome people, places and happenings, and explore opportunities to make life here even better. Longtime Springs booster Carrie Simison co-hosts with local gadflies Al Brody and Dave Gardner. All three love our two springs – Colorado and Manitou, so they give them the mic in this twice-monthly podcast. Nothing’s off the table – recreation, the arts, government, business, politics...

Our beloved Trails and Open Space Coalition is sure to be up to something you didn’t already know. Executive Director Glenn Carlson shares his vision, what TOSC has been up to since he took the reins, and exciting news about a new web tool that will help us all enjoy our trails, parks and open spaces that much more.

We also get tips for trail etiquette when mud is the order of the day. Great news that TOSC is looking into bringing Starlight Spectacular back to life – but reimagined. Plus, Heila Ershadi, managing editor of the Pikes Peak Bulletin, shares an interesting story about a proposed new luxury hotel and what the Mill Street neighborhood is trying to do to avoid the gentrification shuffle.

LINKS:

Trails and Open Space Coalition (TOSC): https://trailsandopenspaces.org/

Colorado Springs Parks Assessment and Master Plan: https://coloradosprings.gov/ParkSystemMasterPlan

Downtown neighborhood seeks dialogue with Norwood Development – Pikes Peak Bulletin story: https://pikespeakbulletin.org/news/downtown-neighborhood-seeks-dialogue-with-norwood-development/

MENTIONED:

Susan Davies

Mesa Ridge High School

Widefield

Colorado College

Arrow Electronics

Running for Colorado Springs City Council

The Legacy Loop

Allen Beauchamp

Botanic garden

Denver Botanic Garden

Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

Garden of the Gods Foundation

Garden of the Gods Dog Park

Pikes Peak

Blodgett Open Space

Pikeview Quarry

Timberline TrailCraft

Loving the Springs celebrates the best of Colorado Springs and elevates the rest.

Plug into what’s happening in the Pikes Peak region, learn about awesome people, places and happenings, and explore opportunities to make life here even better. Longtime Springs booster Carrie Simison co-hosts with local gadflies Al Brody and Dave Gardner. All three love our two springs – Colorado and Manitou, so they give them the mic in this twice-monthly podcast. Nothing’s off the table – recreation, the arts, government, business, politics – if it touches your life, they’ll talk about it. We’ll invite the movers and shakers, conspiracy theorists, NIMBYs, YIMBYs, yaysayers and naysayers to join them.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and give us feedback and suggestions via comments at https://studio809podcasts.com/loving-the-springs or lovingthespringspodcast at gmail.com

Spoken word artist, idealist, and entrepreneurial cheerleader Judy Pearring shares some of her poetry and explains the vibe we love at The Next Us. The Next Us is home to Studio 809 Podcasts’ community podcast studio, as well as a family of extraordinary entrepreneurs. “We’re all the weirdos,” she tells us, and she means it with affection and respect. We also find out Carrie is a “recovering poet,” and Al wants to take one of Judy’s poems to Burning Man.

LINKS:

The Next Us: https://thenextus.spaces.nexudus.com

Clean & Safe Pilot Program - episode 23 of a Place for everyone: https://studio809podcasts.com/clean-and-safe/

Studio 809 Podcasts: https://studio809podcasts.com/

Get Involved. Get Engaged. - Episode 61 of Elevating Pikes Peak Women: https://studio809podcasts.com/get-involved-get-engaged/

MENTIONED:

One Million Cups

First Fridays

AI

TEDx

Open Mic Night at Rico’s

Downtown Colorado Springs

Sara Vaas and Dizzie Charlie’s Live Jazz

Acacia Park Bandshell Renovation Project

Eleven Mile Canyon

The “Manitou River”

The Clean & Safe Program

Homeward Pikes Peak

Pat Rigdon

Beth Roalstad

Mary Lou Makepeace

Melissa Marts

Brenda Morrison

Marcy Morrison

Burning Man

Cottonwood Center for the Arts

Loving the Springs celebrates the best of Colorado Springs and elevates the rest.

Plug into what’s happening in the Pikes Peak region, learn about awesome people, places and happenings, and explore opportunities to make life here even better. Longtime Springs booster Carrie Simison co-hosts with local gadflies Al Brody and Dave Gardner. All three love our two springs – Colorado and Manitou, so they give them the mic in this twice-monthly podcast. Nothing’s off the table – recreation, the arts, government, business, politics – if it touches your life, they’ll talk about it. We’ll invite the movers and shakers, conspiracy theorists, NIMBYs, YIMBYs, yaysayers and naysayers to join them.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and give us feedback and suggestions via comments at https://studio809podcasts.com/loving-the-springs or lovingthespringspodcast at gmail.com