2006 Burrito EZ

Chipotle Mexican Grill wants to make the last-minute rush to file your taxes a little bit taxing with a free burrito.
Here’s what to do: Visit Chipotle this weekend and buy a burrito, taco, burrito bol or salad. Save your receipt. Fill out the all-in-fun 2006 BurritoEZ form available at Chipotle. Then return Monday (April 16), the day before tax day, with your receipt and form to get a free burrito.

Pizza party

Colorado Springs is getting its second Chuck E. Cheese’s family fun restaurant.
Hiring has begun at a Chuck E. Cheese’s built at 2925 Geyser Drive, near the Colorado Springs World Arena. The restaurant has a tentative opening date of May 7, a spokesperson for CEC Entertainment Inc. said.

Irving, Texas-based CEC consists of about 485 corporately owned and operated Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurants and 45 franchise restaurants.

The Springs’ other Chuck E. Cheese’s, which started out as ShowBiz Pizza Place, is at 5156 N. Academy Blvd.

VillaSport to open in fall

A grand opening is planned for this fall for the VillaSport Athletic Club and Spa at the southwest corner of Woodmen Road and Powers Boulevard.

The club originally was expected to open this summer, but the tough winter weather slowed construction. The last steel beam is expected to be placed in May and pre-sale memberships will be offered beginning late that month. At 88,000 square feet of space set on 11 acres, VillaSport (www.villasport.com) will be the city’s biggest athletic club.

New at Chapel Hills Mall

Dick’s Sporting Goods has opened at the Chapel Hills Mall, occupying the site of the mall’s former ice arena.

The 50,000-square-foot store is one of two Dick’s Sporting Goods in Colorado Springs. The other is on the city’s east side in the First & Main Town Center.

Pittsburgh-based Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. operates nearly 300 stores in 34 states, primarily in the eastern half of the U.S.

Colorado Springs Auto Show

This weekend (April 13,14,15), the Colorado Springs Auto Show will feature more than 200 new cars, trucks, vans, hybrids, sport utility vehicles and crossovers from 31 auto manufacturers and 38 local dealerships.
Held at the Expo Center at Chapel Hills, 1515 Auto Mall Loop, the show is open to the public 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets, available at the door, cost $5 for adults. There is no charge for children 12 and under and active duty military with identification. Proceeds benefit a local charity, Operation School Bell, which clothes needy children.

Internationally known urban planner speaks Wednesday at Colorado College

When internationally renowned urban planner and architect Peter Calthorpe (right) speaks in Colorado Springs on Wednesday night, he might feel as out of place as Don Imus at a Rutgers University women’s basketball game. Calthorpe, based in Berkeley, Calif., is one of the nation's leading proponents of new urbanism — traditional neighborhood designs that feature narrower streets, homes with front porches and garages built in the rear of homes. But Colorado Springs has a reputation as a city of sprawl -- a large suburb surrounding an urban core, as it's been described. Calthorpe will discuss “New Communities, New Urbanism,” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 11 at Colorado College as part of the school’s annual State of the Rockies Conference. He’ll speak at Armstrong Theatre, inside Armstrong Hall, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St. on the Colorado College campus, north of downtown Colorado Springs. The event is free and open to the public.

Shoppers select best/worst vehicle names

Do you think Toyota's Yaris is the worst name for a vehicle?

The majority of the 700 car shoppers that participated in a naming poll conducted on Autobytel's consumer website, http://www.autobytel.com/ did.

By the way, Yaris is a combination of the German affirmative "ya" and the Greek goddess Charis.

Close contenders in the "worst name" category were the Subaru B9 Tribeca (named for the lower Manhattan neighborhood associated with trendy loft living) and the Volkswagen Touareg (named after Berber tribesmen).

What's the best? Ford's Mustang rated as the current best car name. Shoppers selected the Chevrolet Corvette (a type of warship) as the best domestic vehicle name from the past. Their favorite import name from the past was the Volkswagen Beetle.

According to the Autobytel poll, there's something in a name -- 72 percent of respondents said an unappealing or silly name has made them less likely to purchase the vehicle and half said a bad name can make even a great car less desirable. Remember the AMC Gremlin and the Ford Probe?

Tastes like chicken!

Starting April 16, Chipotle Mexican Grill will serve only naturally raised chicken at its Colorado restaurants. With that step, Colorado will join a select group of other Chipotle markets nationwide serving all naturally raised meat. In addition to its use of naturally raised meats, Chipotle recently began serving sour cream that’s free of the synthetic hormone rBGH in all of its restaurants.

More alternative fuel vehicles on Colorado's roads

Nearly 204,000 hybrid electric, ethanol-capable E-85 and
clean-diesel autos were on Colorado's roads last year,
according to R.L. Polk and Co. figures. That ranks Colorado 18th in the nation in terms of the total number of alternatives in use.

Nationally, 1.5 million alternative fuel vehicles were sold in 2006, surpassing automakers' expectations by 50 percent.
Last year's sales brings the total number to 10.5 million alternative-fuel vehicles on the road.

April has been dubbed Alternative Fuel Autos Month, and there are 60 models of alternative-fuel vehicles on the market. That's up from just 12 models for sale in 2000. A complete list is at www.DiscoverAlternatives.com.