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Vatican says pope has lung cancer and lower lobe of his right lung was removed

13 October 2026 at 19:06

Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery Tuesday that confirmed that he has lung cancer, and doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican said Tuesday.

The tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin after the surgery. It said the diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery.

The 71-year-old was in the operating room for about 3 hours, the statement said. The surgery itself lasted approximately 90 minutes. "The surgery was successful, and there were no complications," the statement said.

Leo had walked into Rome's Gemelli hospital through the main entrance earlier in the day and waved to dozens of well-wishers who had gathered to greet him. The Vatican said the surgery would be performed by a team led by Gemelli's chief thoracic surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.

RELATED STORY | Pope Leo XIV will undergo surgery to remove a nodule on his lung

The American pontiff has offered a rare level of transparency about the first publicly disclosed major health problem of his 17-month papacy. He revealed the discovery of the small, localized nodule during his Sunday noon prayer and announced that he would have it removed.

Oncologists said prior to the operation that even if the nodule turned out to be cancerous, Leo's prognosis is "excellent" since it will have been removed at an early stage.

The Vatican on Monday canceled all Leo's audiences through Oct. 20.

While Gemelli has a specific papal apartment that past popes have used, complete with a private chapel on the 10th floor, Leo will actually be staying in a nearby room since the papal apartment is currently undergoing renovations, according to the Vatican press office.

Water service restored to southeast Colorado Springs neighborhood after water main break

11 October 2026 at 18:30

Water service was restored to residents of a southeast Colorado Springs neighborhood on Saturday.

Colorado Springs Utilities said they were able to restore service around 2 p.m. This is after a water main break on Friday near Airport Road and Murray Boulevard that resulted in services being stopped and some areas being flooded.

As far as a cause, Utilities said it was likely an aging pipe, but it is still being looked into.

But detours will remain in place until Thursday, they said. Murray Boulevard will remain closed between Airport Road and Dewey Drive as crews work to repair the road in the area, according to Utilities.

Utilities asks drivers in that area to proceed with caution as those crews work.

This same area saw another water main break earlier this year, but Utilities said they arent able to say yet whether it was the same main that broke this time, nor how that incident ties into this most recent break, if at all.

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Water flooding area of southeastern Colorado Springs, crews responding

9 October 2026 at 18:26

Crews responded to an apparent water main break in southeastern Colorado Springs Friday.

At the intersection of Murray Boulevard and Airport Road, water covered the surface of the road. A neighborhood northwest of the intersection also has water covering the road.

Viewers have reached out to us about the water.

Colorado Springs Utilities says they have crews at the scene. They say Murray Boulevard is closed from Airport Road to Dewey Road. Utilities did says they planned on replacing a hydrant in the area, but that work has been postponed.

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Venetucci Farms celebrates 90 years by giving kindergarteners pumpkins

9 October 2026 at 15:52

Hundreds of local students celebrated the fall season while also getting some hands on learning.

On Thursday, Venetucci Farm hosted one of several school field trips of the month. Kindergarteners were able to learn about planting, watering and growing vegetables.

The Pikes Peak Real Estate Foundation says they expect to have about 1,500 students visit the farm in October. The foundations says while the farm cannot grow its own edible food because of contamination that happened a decade ago, the tradition continues with pumpkins from a farm in Pueblo.

Why is it important to teach kids about agriculture? We want to ensure that these kids know the true heritage of the Pikes Peak region, Martin Trujillo, the southeast executive director of Colorado Youth Outdoors, said. It is not only essential, but also the different climates and things like that that this community brings together is truly what we want them to take home with them going forward.

Every student also leaves with their own pumpkin to take home as long as they can carry it back to the bus on their own.

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Coast Guard searching for plane with 6 aboard that lost contact on trip from Bermuda to Boston

4 October 2026 at 02:05

An air ambulance carrying six people may have been "coming in blind" with electrical problems when a storm loomed ahead of it early Saturday shortly before it vanished in the waters off Nantucket.

The pilot reported electrical problems and declared an emergency as it approached the coast on the flight from Bermuda, according to air traffic control audio posted by LiveATC.net. "Roger, you said you're coming in blind. Is that what you said?" a controller can be heard asking the pilot.

That makes Mary Schiavo, who is a former Inspector General of the Transportation Department, think the plane may have lost its navigational instruments just as a storm moved across its path on radar. The plane also descended sharply from its cruising altitude of around 24,000 feet to around 10,000 feet, according to preliminary data from flight tracking site FlightRadar24.

"Something bad happened with this big drop, and they flew into this big storm. It's a terrible place to have a loss of your instruments and be flying blind," said Schiavo, who is an aviation attorney. "It's very easy to get disoriented and not know if you're turning, climbing, descending, etc. Spatial orientation hits pretty quickly."

The Canadian-registered air ambulance jet had four crew members and two passengers aboard when it departed Bermuda's L.F. Wade International Airport overnight for the flight to Massachusetts, according to a statement from the Bermuda airport's operator, Skyport.

Four of the six people on board the flight that went missing early Saturday were Canadian nationals, the country's Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon said on X. Transport Canada is closely monitoring and working with authorities on search and rescue efforts, he said.

The Coast Guard said the Federal Aviation Administration reported that the Gulfstream G100 had lost contact very early Saturday morning. The search for the jet included crews in the air and on the water, the Coast Guard said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information about the situation Saturday, but did not say immediately if it would investigate.

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