More than three months after the Aspen Acres fire, a Colorado homeowner says his recovery has been complicated by two companies hired to help him including a packing company that billed his insurance $41,000 and failed to return his mattresses.

Dustin Ross' home survived the fire, but the land surrounding it was burned, he has been working to get his home clean enough to safely move back in.

News5 Investigates previously reported on Ross issues when he hired a cleaning company that said it underestimated how long the job would take, taking weeks instead of three days. The company stopped working with him and said it would bill him for the work completed, but Ross said he still doesn't know exactly what was done.

Just kind of a nightmare," Ross said, in talking about his experience to move back home.

The problems didn't stop there. Ross later had issues with a packing company called Prime Packouts he said was referred to him by the cleaning company that was meant to store and clean his belongings while his house was being cleaned. When he tried to get his items back after cutting ties with the cleaning company, he said he couldn't reachTHE company for days.

"I literally just couldn't get ahold of them, Ross said, so I basically finally got a hold of him, talked to him about just bringing my property back," Ross said.

Ross said Prime Packouts also sent a bill of $41,000 to his insurance company. After going back and forth, Ross agreed to pay the packing company $25,000 in exchange for the return of all his belongings.

Once his items were returned, Ross noticed things were missing.

"I cut him a check and then I started looking around a little bit and I figured, you know, big things that I could find would would be like, you know, my mattresses," Ross said.

Ross said Prime Packouts told him the mattresses had been labeled "not salvageable."

"He basically just said that they were tossed in the landfill," Ross said.

That didn't add up for Ross, because multiple other items Prime Packouts deemed "not salvageable" were returned to him. He put a stop payment on the check.

I looked into Prime Packouts and found it registered in Arizona, but not in Colorado, the same situation as the cleaning company. Prime Packouts did not respond to News5 Investigates request for comment.

In the previous story, I tried to get answers from the cleaning company. Since that story aired, the cleaning company has registered as a business in Colorado.

Ross has since hired a new cleaning company and said things are better.

"I'm doing good, I'm seeing progress on the house. You know, I got majority of my property back," Ross said, "ultimately, we're moving in the right direction."

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An investigation is underway at a Pueblo West assisted living facility for misappropriating resident funds.

Capella of Pueblo West is owned by Christian Living Communities, who confirmed the investigation. They say it began as an internal investigation but due to the seriousness of the allegations, it contacted local law enforcement.

Christian Living Communities also contacted Adult Protective Services and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).

"We take our responsibility for the safety and well-being of residents and families very seriously and we are committed to uncovering the facts, addressing any wrongdoing, and ensuring that appropriate action is taken," Christian Living Communities said in a statement to News5.

Christian Living Communities later clarified to News5 that their initial investigation shows just one resident and their family have been contacted.

We also reached out to the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office, which said it cannot comment because it is an open investigation.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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Families from two Colorado Springs high schools say they were subjected to racist comments during football games against Lutheran High School, a private school in Parker, just south of Denver.

Families from both Sand Creek High School in District 49 and Rampart High School in District 20 have been posting about the incidents on social media. The alleged incidents happened at a game Sept. 24 for Sand Creek High School and Oct. 2 and 3 for Rampart High School.

A parent told News5 via email that Black cheerleaders from Sand Creek had racial slurs yelled at them and that another cheerleader was called Harriet Tubman.

District 49 released a statement addressing the situation.

"Leaders at Sand Creek High School are in close communication with Lutheran High School after immediately sharing their concerns with LHS and the Colorado High School Athletic Association," District 49 said.

District 20 also responded to the reports.

"Rampart administrators and athletic staff investigated the reports and shared those findings directly with Lutheran High School. In instances where concerns were reported during an event, our staff also notified Lutheran coaches and administrators at that time," District 20 said.

Lutheran High School's executive director sent me a statement on the allegations.

"We're aware of allegations of student misconduct and they take these allegations seriously and are actively investigating them," Lutheran High School's executive director said.

I also reached out to the Colorado High School Athletic Association (CHSAA), which said it is "aware of this serious situation" and called the initial reports "incredibly alarming, and they deserve our immediate attention and focus. Our office has a responsibility to pull together information from multiple sources, including our member schools. That process is ongoing."

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade has released his proposed 2027 budget for the city, and after a year of savings, the proposal for next year is an increase of about $110 million compared to 2026.

The total funds in the proposed 2027 budget is $1,025,130,213 compared to $914,244,032 in 2026. About $465 million of the proposed 2027 is the general fund, which is largely made up of sales tax revenue.

"What we're really focusing on is maintaining the services that we're providing, maintaining our infrastructure, and in a couple of places, adding in," Chief Financial Officer Charae McDaniel told reporters Monday morning.

The budget includes more than $2.5 million that was out of the 2026 budget because of unpaid furlough days taken by city employees. The mayor is also looking for technology upgrades for the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) and the addition of a dedicated pothole crew, which would cost taxpayers about $370,000 for four full time employees.

McDaniel said the budget proposal includes $16.1 million for employee compensation, which includes pay raises for certain employees.

The 2027 budget tells a very different story from the budget process one year ago. At the time the city was figuring out how to solve an anticipated $31 million budget shortfall. It cut one percent of city staff and required employees to take days off without pay. The city says those efforts helped solve the shortfall.

"What we're seeing is better sales tax revenue collections than we had anticipated in 2026. So when we built the 2026 budget, of course, we were at the end of 2025, and we were building that budget based on our sales tax forecast at that time," McDaniel said.

With sales tax revenues better than expected for the city, the city is also proposing to remove the furlough day in November city employees were scheduled to take.

The budget is now in the hands of Colorado Springs City Council, where several hearings will take place before a final version will be passed.

A town of about 3,000 people doesn't typically get a lot of attention leading up to a midterm election, but when nearly the entire town's government is on the ballot, it's bound to get a good look.

Palmer Lake, a small community in northern El Paso County, is electing a mayor and five of its six trustees. The town has faced numerous challenges between board members recalled, a mayor and other trustees resigning and town employees leaving their jobs.

If there's one thing the 10 candidates who participated in a forum Sunday night agree on, the town needs to get back to civility and listening to the concerns of constituents.

"I think the focus on civility points out the fact that we've been through a rough patch," said Rich Wilcox, who said he's lived in the community for decades. "It's a great small town. I call it a Friday night lights community. Everybody steps up for each other. Everybody's always been neighbors."

A proposed Buc-ees travel center created a lot of division in the small community. The business sought annexation into the town of Palmer Lake. It caused voters to then put a ballot initiative to voters requiring all annexations to go to a vote of the people and two trustees were recalled out of office.

Buc-ees withdrew its annexation application and is now in the process of gaining approval to build in El Paso County.

"I just know it's pitted people against each other who weren't necessarily against each other ever," Wilcox said.

The forum, organized by the Tri Lakes Chamber of Commerce, gave candidates an opportunity to talk about their vision if they're elected to office. They spoke about how the town should handle Buc-ees if it does get approved.

"We need leadership that's willing to make tough decisions," Ed Gonzalez, a voter in Palmer Lake, said. "I was encouraged to hear that so many of the candidates talked about the need to increase revenue."

Candidates spoke about the town's ongoing budget challenges, with concerns the town doesn't have enough money to sustain itself.

"What's critical is businesses that sell things to consumers that will raise sales tax revenue for the town," Paul Olivier, a voter and former Mayor of Palmer Lake, said. "All the other revenue from buildings, houses, things like that, that doesn't bring in the type of revenue that are needed to be able to make improvements."

The full forum will be posted to the Tri Lakes Chamber of Commerce website and social media.

Kent Hutson and Atis Jurka are running for mayor. There are 10 candidates seeking five spots on the board of trustees. The two top vote-getters will serve four year terms and the remaining three will serve two year terms.

Candidates who participated in Sunday's forum included Becky Albright, Bill Bass, Tony Beltran, Eric Alan Burton, Kathy Keeley, Karla Kerstner, Roger Moseley and Dennis Stern.

Beth Harris and John Marble did not attend. Marble said he had a challenge at his business.

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