Langstaff-Brown Urgent Care Center turns 25

Langstaff-Brown Urgent Care Center in Woodland Park will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an open house Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 41 State Highway 67.

Free hamburgers, hot dogs, prizes, entertainment and blood pressure checks will be available.

Children can take their favorite stuffed toy to an interactive Teddy Bear Clinic for a checkup. Dr. Funny Bones will provide animal balloons and the Peterson Air Force Working Dogs will give a demonstration.

Chamber weighs in on Pinon Canyon debate

The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce is working to make its voice heard in the debate over expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

The Army’s intention to buy more than 400,000 acres of land in southeast Colorado has met with fierce opposition from ranchers who live near the training area. The House voted last month to stop the Army from spending money on the project.

In letters this week to senators Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard, the chamber urged passage of the Senate version of the 2008 Defense Military Construction Appropriations bill. The letters encourage Salazar and Allard to reject the amendment that the House added to its bill blocking funding for the study and assessment of the maneuver site expansion.

“The state’s military installations are critical to the vibrancy and well-being of our state’s economy, contributing approximately $2.8 billion annually,” the letters state. “Colorado’s military installations not only provide a tremendous number of jobs and revenue to our state, but also create an atmosphere that entices other companies to relocate to Colorado, including many small start-up businesses.”

It's Hammons, not Hammonds

You'd think after developing 185 hotels over nearly a half-century, Missouri hotelier John Q. Hammons (right) could get a little respect. But in Colorado Springs, they don't know how to spell his name. Hammons has said he plans to build a 220- to 240-room Embassy Suites hotel in southwest downtown as part of an urban renewal project, and a 306-room Renaissance Hotel as part of the InterQuest Marketplace shopping center on the city's far north side. But the city's Urban Renewal Authority often spells Hammons' name as "Hammonds" in planning documents, while Nor'wood Development Group -- the Springs real estate company developing InterQuest Marketplace -- does the same on its Web site. Everybody misspells a name now and then. Of course, this is the name of a man who's investing tens of millions of dollars in the Springs.

Hospital opening delayed a month

The opening of Pikes Peak Regional Hospital in Woodland Park has been pushed back one month to Sept. 17.

The first full-service hospital in Teller County was supposed to open in August but equipment and finishing touches won't be ready until September, according to hospital officials.

Within the next month, the Pikes Peak Regional Medical Center Foundation hopes to raise $1 million in cash and pledges. To date, the foundation has raised $4 million from 550 donors to help keep the project on track.

Tax forum set for August

Colorado’s tax structure and its effect on business solvency and growth will be the subject of a forum Aug. 13 in Denver. The forum, open to all Colorado small-business owners, starts at 1 p.m. in the Old Supreme Court Chambers on the second floor of the state Capitol. It’s hosted by the National Federation of Independent Business/Colorado. To RSVP, e-mail Tyler Nifong at tyler.nifong@nfib.org.

Wybron gets second-largest order

Wybron Inc. will deliver its second-largest order ever in September to the Dubai Mall Aquarium in the United Arab Emirates.
The 164-foot aquarium will pay more than $500,000 to the Colorado Springs-based manufacturer of theatrical lighting fixtures and related products for 226 large-format "Aquarams," a lighting fixture that can display and change 32 colors, and an "InfoTrace" control and management system to control all 226 fixtures, Wybron announced last week.
The lights will allow visitors to the world's largest mall in downtown Dubai to see "sharks, stingrays and other species in their natural habitat" when the aquarium opens in 2008, Wybron said in a press release issued Thursday. Wybron will complete the order with existing staff.
Wybron's largest order totaled more than $600,000 in 2006 from a mall in Doha, Qatar.
"We are very pleased with the spike in sales of our architectural fixtures," said Wybron Chief Executive Larry Turner.

Fall opening for Rancho Liborio

Springs residents waiting for the opening of Rancho Liborio, near the intersection of South Circle Drive and Monterey Road, will have to keep waiting for a few more months. A May opening was first eyed for the Hispanic supermarket, which is part of the Liborio Markets chain. But the city permitting process took longer than anticipated, said Anthony Trujillo, a Denver developer and partner with Liborio Markets. Now he has a permit in hand and work will begin immediately on the store. “We should be open some time in late October, early November,” he said. The nearly 65,000-square-foot store, occuping a former Grocery Warehouse, will employ about 100 people, he said.