It's Thursday. We're monitoring the Project Taurus hearing this morning — be sure to check our website for updates later today.

• Today's weather: Partly sunny and 40% chance of afternoon storms. High of 79.

Today's newsletter is 819 words — a 3-minute read.

Colorado Springs' past is hiding in plain sight.

Why it matters: Two walking tours this month will transform familiar buildings and downtown intersections into a record of how the city was built — giving newcomers and longtime residents a stronger sense of place.

Driving the news: The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum will offer two "Seeing History in Place" tours as part of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and Colorado's 150th birthday.

• The walking talk is less like a history class, memorizing names and dates, and more of a guide to the city's history in its streets.

What they're saying: Museum program administrator Meg Yevara told the Gazette, "Our history matters. We're part of the story."

Flashback: The Antlers hotel hosted Colorado's 25th-anniversary celebration in 1901 with speeches, parades and a women's congress.

• Near Pikes Peak Avenue, the first stake was placed for Fountain Colony — the settlement that became Colorado Springs.

🚶 If you go: Both tours begin and end at the Mining Exchange Hotel, covering roughly 1 mile in 90 minutes.

• The first is 9:30 to 11am Saturday. Tickets cost $10.
• The second is 2 to 3:30pm Sept. 26.
• The walk includes a cocktail at the Mining Exchange's Golden Hour bar. Tickets are $15, and participants must be 21 or older.

The big picture: The museum's strolls are part of a broader menu of ways to explore Colorado Springs history on foot.

The Downtown Partnership offers hourlong tours one Saturday a month from February through October, covering landmarks, public art and cultural attractions. The outings frequently sell out.

• This season's next tour, "Ghosts of Downtown," is scheduled for Oct. 3 and features Pikes Peak Writers Guild storytellers sharing true and invented tales from the city's early years.

The bottom line: Colorado Springs is alive with history — you just have to slow down long enough to see it.

Send to a history buff

The rich stayed rich in Colorado this year.

• And the wealthiest among them has deep Colorado Springs ties.

Zoom in: Philip Anschutz, worth an eye-popping $19.3 billion, leads the four Colorado billionaires who cracked the Forbes 400 this year.

• The 86-year-old energy, sports and entertainment mogul ranks as the 60th-richest person in America.

Between the lines: Colorado's other mega-rich members of the club are:

• EchoStar cofounder Charles Ergen ($12.8 billion)
• Venture capitalist Mark Stevens ($11.8 billion)
• Cable television baron John Malone ($11.4 billion)
• Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke, who lives in Texas but has deep Colorado roots, ranked 41st nationally with a $27.6 billion net worth.

Yes, but: Being just a billionaire wasn't enough — $4.4 billion was required to make the Forbes 400 this year, up from $3.8 billion in 2025, Forbes says.

• That left 590 American billionaires off the list, including Pat Stryker — the only woman among Colorado's billionaires on Forbes' previous ranking.

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🚩 About 2,800 drivers who were ticketed by speed cameras are getting a partial refund after a software error charged them $80 instead of $40. (News5)

👏 Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Corey Cook, who leads a training detachment at Fort Carson, received a Purple Heart for combat injuries sustained in Afghanistan. (Gazette 🔑)

🚨 Authorities responded to six separate rescue requests at the Manitou Springs Incline and Barr Trail last Saturday. (Fox21)

🍎 The Schools to Home program that launched July 1 is helping Colorado teachers and public school employees with down payments and closing costs on a new house. So far, 85 people have used the program. (Chalkbeat)

Early risers can catch a glimpse of three bright planets stretching across the morning sky the rest of this month.

• And you won't need a telescope to see them.

State of play: Saturn, Mars and Jupiter can all be spotted, weather permitting, in September's early morning hours, per EarthSky.

How it works: The planets will spread in a long arc along the ecliptic — the path the Sun, Moon and planets follow — like lights strung across the sky.

• To see all three, head outside before dawn and scan from east to west: Jupiter will be the bright one in the east, followed by reddish Mars and Saturn farther west.

• Currently, Saturn rises shortly after sunset and is up most of the night, with Mars appearing after midnight and Jupiter joining in the early morning hours.

What's next: The Orionid meteor shower begins later this month, building toward its peak around Oct. 23, when up to 20 meteors an hour may streak across dark skies.

Send to a stargazer

❄️ John is reading this fascinating article about a new avalanche prevention system at Crested Butte.

Thanks to my editor, Gigi Sukin.