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25th High Plains Honor Flight takes veterans to Washington, D.C.

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25th High Plains Honor Flight takes veterans to Washington, D.C.


As High Plains Honor Flight went wheels up for its 25th expedition back to Washington, D.C., on Sunday morning, plenty of people on board knew exactly what to expect.

Honor Flight President Matt Voris said there are volunteers going on their 15th-plus trip. Voris himself said he has lost track of how many he’s been on.

But for the 120 veterans on board, the next 36 hours will be like almost nothing they’ve ever experienced.

“We find the magic of Honor Flight is when 120 of them are together, they start chatting. They’re in like company with people who have experienced the same kind of things they did,” Voris said. “And by the time we get back here, it’s like the weight of the world is lifted off of them.”

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Voris said many veterans — specifically combat veterans — return home from serving and bury most of what they experienced deep down, not even wanting to talk about it with their closest family. He’s noticed with those who have taken an honor flight, something loosens up inside them.

“We’ve had many, many families tell us after their veteran gets home from a trip, ‘Uncle Jimmy never talked about anything while he was overseas. And now since he took the trip, we can’t get him to shut up.’ ” Voris said. “It’s an awesome thing.”

The veterans started their 36-hour trip Sunday morning with the Escort of Heroes, which took them from the McKee 4-H Building at The Ranch Events Complex to the Northern Colorado Regional Airport. Thirteen veterans who served in Korea, 106 who served in Vietnam and one who served in both flew to Baltimore, where they were scheduled to attend a banquet in their honor. They will wake up Monday morning and head to D.C. to visit the World War II Memorial, Iwo Jima Marine Memorial, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Air Force Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and Korean War Memorial and fly back. All before bedtime.

Buses carrying veterans to the Northern Colorado Regional Airport drive down Fairgrounds Avenue during High Plains Honor Flight’s Escort of Heroes on Sunday in Loveland. (Chris Bolin – Public safety reporter)

“We keep busy,” Voris said.

This year’s trip — named in honor of the late Col. William R. Suhre, an Army veteran and Greeley resident who was awarded a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Silver Star for his heroics in Vietnam — will be the first without any World War II veterans.

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Along with the natural fight against time, that is in big part because the group has grown that much closer to fulfilling the original goal of founder Stan Cass.

Cass, a 29-year-old Army veteran, founded the organization in 2008 as Northern Colorado Honor Flight with the goal of giving every Northern Colorado World War II veteran an opportunity to see the then newly established World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Voris took over in 2008, reviving the program and renaming it to High Plains Honor Flight.

“There are not very many World War II guys left from this area that have not previously been on one of our flights,” Voris said.

Before the trip officially kicked off, High Plains Honor Flight paid tribute to those who have passed since last year’s flight as well putting on a pair of musical performances at the McKee 4-H Building.

Veterans along with their friends and family crowd the McKee 4-H Building at the Ranch Events Complex Sunday morning ahead of High Plains Honor Flight's 25th expedition to Washington D.C. (Chris Bolin - Public safety reporter)
President Matt Voris speaks as veterans — along with their friends and family — crowd the McKee 4-H Building at The Ranch Events Complex on Sunday morning ahead of High Plains Honor Flight’s 25th expedition to Washington, D.C. (Chris Bolin / Greeley Tribune)

Local artist Fleeka performed her song, “Lovin A Hero,” about saying goodbye to a soldier about to deploy; and Richard Kerns, a veteran who went on an honor flight last year, performed his song, “Take to the Sky.”

The lyrics of the chorus —  which he wrote on the flight back last year after being inspired by the journey — read:

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“Take to the sky, with honor they fly, serve those who served, take them higher than high.”

Veterans, with honor, took to the sky Sunday morning. And after a busy day-and-a-half, they will take to the sky again Monday evening and return home, hopefully, feeling higher than high.



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Washington, D.C

Suspected National Guard shooter due back in court on two new charges

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Suspected National Guard shooter due back in court on two new charges


A deadly shooting case with ties to the National Guard and the White House is heading back to court, and prosecutors have now expanded the charges.

FOX 5’s Maureen Umeh reports this is one of the District’s highest profile cases, and the man accused in the ambush is expected to appear before a judge on Thursday.

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What we know:

Prosecutors have added two new counts, and the hearing could help shape the direction of the case as it moves forward in federal court.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal is accused of opening fire on two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House the day before Thanksgiving. Prosecutors have now added two counts of assault with intent to kill, tied to the National Guard member who tackled and subdued him after the shooting.

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READ MORE: Who is Rahmanullah Lakanwal? Afghan national accused of shooting 2 National Guard in DC

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed. Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was critically injured and continues to recover.

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Lakanwal now faces first degree murder while armed, multiple assault charges, and several weapons offenses. Federal prosecutors say they are aggressively pursuing the case and note that nothing is off the table, including whether to seek the death penalty, one reason the case is now being handled at the federal level.

The indictment includes nine criminal counts. Lakanwal has pleaded not guilty to the initial charges.

READ MORE: Two new charges for alleged gunman in National Guard shooting

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The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting.  

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D.C. set to receive $200M in federal funds

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D.C. set to receive 0M in federal funds


The House and Senate appropriations committees included almost $200 million in the first draft of an upcoming appropriations bill, which, if approved by Congress, would fund D.C. programs including school choice, college tuition, HIV prevention, clean rivers and police overtime.

If approved, $90 million would reimburse the District government for the cost of providing police and other support at events like large protests, state funerals and the upcoming 250 birthday celebration of the country.

While the Bowser administration is happy with the funding, the mayor sent a letter to Congress asking for an additional $10 million to offset the added costs to D.C. taxpayers for the federal surge, writing, “This higher funding level is also essential to support the ongoing federal law enforcement surge and the associated increased costs to the Metropolitan Police Department, including MPD’s work to coordinate with federal agencies, facilitate National Guard deployments, and sustain police overtime required to support the surge.”

There is also $40 million to fund D.C. tuition assistance grants, which help offset the cost of college tuition for D.C. high school grads. If approved, the funds would allow D.C. to increase the amount students could qualify for each year from $10,000 to $15,000 and boost the lifetime cap from $50,000 to $75,000.

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“Which is a huge amount of money for families, and that’s going to help us help more of our residents on their pathway to getting degrees,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser’s chief of staff, Tomas Talamante.

Schools would benefit, too.

“We were able to get 17.5 for D.C. Public Schools and 17.5 million for D.C. public charter schools, as well as the 17.5 million that goes to the voucher program,” Talamante said. “We also were able to get money for HIV/AIDS prevention, about $4 million that we were able to secure for HIV/AIDS prevention. We were also able to secure $8 million for DC Water, which their clean rivers project is the huge tunnel-boring system that helps keep the Anacostia and our waterways clean.”

The legislation includes riders placing restrictions on recreational cannabis, and Congress could add other riders, including changes like doing away with cashless bail or photo traffic enforcement in the District.

The legislation still must go through the House Rules Committee before a full House vote.

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DC weather: Wintry mix, snow showers possible late Wednesday into Thursday

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DC weather: Wintry mix, snow showers possible late Wednesday into Thursday


A mild Tuesday is ahead for the Washington, D.C. region, with a brief chance of a wintry mix or even a few snow showers arriving late Wednesday into early Thursday.

What we know:

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Tuesday starts cold, with temperatures in the 30s, but the day stays dry and warms into the low 50s with some afternoon sunshine.

Isolated showers move in Wednesday morning and linger at times throughout the day. FOX 5’s Taylor Grenda says colder air rushing into the region Wednesday into early Thursday could briefly flip that rain to a wintry mix or some light snow showers.

Any mix is expected to be brief and minimal. Snow chances should clear by early Thursday, leaving behind cold, blustery and dry conditions for the rest of the day.

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What’s next:

Friday turns sunny but very cold, with highs only in the mid 30s. Saturday stays dry, and there’s a slight chance of snow showers returning on Sunday.

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DC weather: Wintry mix, snow showers possible late Wednesday into Thursday

The Source: Information in this article comes from the FOX 5 Weather Team and the National Weather Service. 

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