our melissa garcia live with the breaking details. always sad when a trooper dies, serving our community. >> reporter: it is very sad. and the news weighing very heavily on colorado state patrol troopers. authorities say that trooper, as you mentioned, was investigating a car accident when a passing semi hit and killed him. right now, a very heavy presence on scene of troopers and pds who are investigating this. take a look at the video taken from copter 4 earlier this afternoon. we saw what appears to be the victim's body in the northbound lane of i-25. it's near a black sedan that crashed up against the outside lane guardrail there. now, this happened around 1:30 p.m. just south of castle rock between thumb creek parkway and toma road. you can see traffic backed up for miles. and authorities say the trooper was hit by a merle motor-vehicle. the video shows a u.s. food

where the trooper -- just north of where the trooper was hit. the loss, as mentioned, is just very difficult on the members of the colorado state patrol, who lost trooper jamie jercefex a year ago while she was also investigating a crash along very similar stretch of road here on i-25. >> needless to say it's been very difficult last couple years. it's a matter of being able to comfort one another, being able to pull together and understand why we do what we do, and make sure that we are doing the best we can in order to go home each night. but to make sure everybody in the state has the opportunity to do the same thing. >> reporter: and douglas county deputies now are investigating to try to determine what caused this crash. csp troopers have not yet released the identity of the trooper who was killed.

still shut down northbound between largspur and castle rock. we'll have much more on this story coming up tonight at 6:00. live in douglas county, melissa garcia, cbs 4 news. >> thank you, melissa. a vigil is planned after another deadly accident. one teenager was killed, another critically hurt after being hit by a suspected drunk driver. it happened early thanksgiving morning near i-25 and highway 7. that's near the eerie jamie leery live in windsor. that's in wind soar, where that vigil will start in about an hour. >> reporter: yeah. we're just at windsor high school, where people are starting to gather for that individual ill. entire community, anyone who wants to offer support is invited. it's for both of the teens: one a recent graduate of the high school. he's the one who passed away, and 16-year-old still in critical condition. >> a drunk driver, makes things

>> reporter: sixteen-year-old gnash rider and karl maccus were headed back from a concert thursday morning. it was after 3:00 a.m. when a jeep headed the wrong direction, struck gnash's sub rut head on. the impact hurt kyle and nearly killed nash. >> we had detectives saying nash has two broken legs and swelling from the brain and bleeding from the abdomen, and that kyle did make it. i texted about three times to make sure it said what i think it said. >> reporter: nash has been stabilized, but his injuries are severe. >> i believe he has it in him that he's strong enough to come through and beat this. >> reporter: despite their shock and pain, friends of the two teens say they will try and push forward. >> i don't want to mourn kyle's death. i really want to celebrate his life. >> kyle would definitely want me to be -- he would tell me, "cheer up.

. >> reporter: while they were against drinking and driving before, they are now opponent of it for life. >> there's just got to be a stopping point. it doesn't just affect you. >> reporter: now, the suspect in this case is 25-year-old alex rodriguez. he suffered only minor injuries in the incident. he was just released from the hospital a couple hours ago. it's unclear at this point if he's been arrested and formally charged. we are in contact two the weld us an answer within the next couple hours. as far as the vigil here tonight, all are welcome to show support. another way to do that is by visiting our web site, cbsdenver.com. both families have go fund me pages on there. live from high school, jamie lery, cbs 4 news. an update after a fire at a popular denver restaurant. the owners of the cherry cricket say the place will be closed indefinitely. that fire was in the restaurant's kitchen wednesday night. some of the stoves and kitchen equipment are a total

were forced to evacuate, and were unable to pay their checks. >> we have all these people coming to our web site saying how sorry they are. number two, they didn't pay for their dinner and want to if they can come by and pay. so it's on us. no need to come by and pay. we massively appreciate it. >> a lot of loyal customers at the cherry creek. the owner also says all employees will be paid during that repair work. a man being thd a fire broke out at an apartment complex in thornton. this is now an arson investigation. our john chitna is live at sunset peak apartment. shawn, the man who alerted the neighbors also helped the suspected arsonist get to safety. >> reporter: yeah, jim. he did it all. he helped that man. he warned his neighbors, and he also called 911 while trying to put out that

firefighters arrived and as the flame started to spread up the building. this fire spread fast from inside the apartment to the side of the building. minutes before that, christian anderson heard a smoke detector from two doors down. he knocked, but no one answered. >> tried the doorknob. it was a little warmer than usual. once i opened the door, it was just smoke down to knee level. >> reporter: he said he walked in and saw a man inside, standing up, watching the flames. thornton fire says a burning couch is what caused so much damage. >> i grabbed him, inside. >> reporter: anderson called 89911 and brought the man to his apartment. then anderson went back to the fire to pour some water on the flames. >> when i came back here at that point, i could already see there were flames inside the window. >> reporter: the man he helped disappeared. anderson tried to find him, but he was gone. police later arrested juan perez on arson. how does this compare to some of the other scenes you reacted to? . >> i never seen a couch or sofa

be a volunteer firefighter, training he put to good use this week. but he doesn't like anyone calling him a hero, even though some in the apartment complex already have. >> i feel like it's your job as a neighbor to look out for each other. >> reporter: no one was injured in this fire, but it's still not safe to live in this unit, and many families lost erg they had. one even lost their thanksgiving meal that was in the reat before the holiday. we have information on cbsdenver.com on how to support them, help them during the holidays. >> thanks, shawn. the community is also showing support tonight for a family in aurora after someone spray-painted racial slurs on their home. our grant flores live at aurora police headquarters tonight, following the investigation. andrea, any suspects so far? >> reporter: well yet, jim.

what many are calling a disturbing hate time, but what police haven't figured out yet is why this woman and heritage daughter were targets. >> i opened up the front door and noticed someone had spray-painted three "ks" on my front door. >> reporter: ari and her teenage daughter were at home tuesday night when a neighbor notified them of some disturbing news: racial slurs, including the "n" word spray-painted on the door while they were home. >> they taped the note to the door that also "watch your back. kkk." . >> reporter: it happened in this unsecured apartment complex in thal listen's reach neighborhood. the local naacp chapter is standing by ari's side >> people are emboldened in this political climate, thinking they can say and do anything, and the naacp is not going to tolerate it, local leaders aren't going to tolerate it. >> this isn't just an issue of

dean say as a human being, regardless of race, color, or culture. >> reporter: aurora pd says the investigation is at the top of their list. >> it's targeted to the community, and it creates fear within the community as a whole. we will pull out all the stops. >> reporter: while ari says she no longer feels safe, she has a strong message to share. >> you're a coward, and your behavior is not acceptable. if and people responsible, i want them prosecuted to the full extent of the law. >> reporter: aurora pd says they are investigating all leads now, but they ask, if you have any information, to give them a call. they also say, if you are the victim of a biased-motivated crime, to not wait, and call 911 as quickly as possible. reporting live in aurora, andrea flores, cbs news. retailers starting to add up the sales on this

morning news at the cabella's store in loan tree. very eager shoppers pouring into the store to cash in on the deals. and long lines formed early this morning. outside the mall of america in bloomington, minnesota. experts predict total holiday sales will jump nearly 4% this year over last to more than $655 billion. coming up, after being missing for weeks, a california mother is back with her family. now the investigation begins >> and we look back at the career of america's mom. remembering florence henderson. >> and a beautiful day today. let's do another one tomorrow. but that's not going to last forever. here comes rain and snow and colder weather headed for colorado. the hour-by-hour time line coming up. >> nfl play offs don't start until january, but for the broncos, they say the play offs start on sunday. >> and we continue to follow that sad breaking news

i-25 northbound remains closed after a deadly accident that killed a state trooper who was investigating another wreck at the time. the name of the deceased trooper not yet released. ,,

,, , ? i'm waaaiting... ? ? don't wait to bring a little kiss of blue bunny to your holiday favorites.

>> she was bound with restraints, was able to summon help from a passing motorist who notified law enforcement. >> reporter: sherry pepini was taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries and reunited with her husband after her alleged

thursday, about 100 miles from her home. >> we are looking for a dark- colored suv with two hispanic females. >> reporter: but peaty also told police the two females were armed with a handgun. but so far no word on a possible motive or where she may have been held all this time. earlier this month, keith pepini made an emotional appeal for his wife's safe return after he said she went for a jog and never came home. he reported her missing when she didn't pick children from day care. >> bring her home. just bring her home. bring her home safe. >> reporter: investigators and volunteers spent weeks searching for pepini, and is six-figure award was supposedly offered through a negotiator. >> we give you more cash than you can spend. >> reporter: police say that offer does not appear to be linked to her release. >> this investigation is far from over. this has only begun a new chapter in the investigation.

cbs news, new york. fans worldwide are remembering florence henderson. the beloved actress died on thanksgiving from heart failure. she was 82. >> "here's the story of a lovely lady." . >> rules are very important, bobby. they're made to protect people. >> oh, boy. those were the days. often called america's mom, henderson is best known for playing carol brady on "the baby encourage" sitcom. she started her career on broadway after "the brady series" ended she would star in several reboots of the show. she leaves behind four children and five grandkids. the toys go to the kids at the boys and girls clubs. 90% of the kids who go to the club clubs every day are living in poverty. >> how do i make sure my children have a coat and proper shoes? how do i make sure i can pay my

that our families are facing, they're often times not able to think about things like, what's the best toy, and how do i make sure my child has something to open this holiday season. >> that's where we can all come in. the care for colorado toy drive runs through december 24th. find a list of participating king supers at cbsdenver.com. time to check with ed. a glorious day out there. >> pretty nice day. got to 63 degrees. we had sun. now we have clear skies. nothing going on on doppler 4000, but that's behind that we have rain and some snow and some colder air. as we take a look out ahead of that, high pressure holding in our area. couple of front seat down to the south, few scattered showers. rain and snow as you get into new england. we have a cool front, a kind of stationary front as this high pressure protects us for one more day. once this begins to sink to the south, this will push in with the moisture and cooler conditions. here it is on the hour-by-hour

snow sunday, at 3:00 a.m. we might see a couple scattered showers by sunday morning. i'm going to roll it up to game time for the broncos. the game is underway at 7:00. you can see clear to partly cloudy skies, still snow at higher elevations. as we roll it into monday, you can see lot of sun for the eastern plains, more snow for the mountains. here comes more snow behind it. this is good news for the high country. 63 and 64 the highs today. we should be at 48. 22 and 27 is where we started out. this day. look at this. 56 downtown, still pretty nice. look at the airport. they've dropped off to 44 degrees with a south breeze at 10. we do have a steady prompter. nice set from jill hostetter. take a look at this from justin schaffer. this is the african gold medalist bobby brown. i think he's a four-time gold medalist. he's at loveland, getting in a practice run. temperatures for tonight will be mostly in the teens

teens for the high country. out west, temperatures in the teens and 20s. tomorrow, another nice day for the eastern plains. look at the 50s and 60s once again. we'll find 40s for the mountains, 50s out west. here is that denver forecast. for tonight, clear skies. temperatures in the mid-20s by morning. then, for tomorrow, another nice day, fair and mild with temperatures in the low to mid-60s. now you see a little bit of change. sunday maybe a few isolated showers and 53. monday we're at 41 degrees partly cloudy skies. maybe some snow showers tuesday. look at the high, 33 degrees. wednesday chilly, too, with 38 degrees. there may be even colder air coming our way. >> we're due. thanks, eddy. the broncos gearing up for -- really it's a play-off-like match up against the chiefs.

? to me the holidays are special, it's family traditions and of course great food. with all the things we could worry about over the holidays, turkey shouldn't be one of them. (laughter) i'm very proud to be a turkey farmer. i'm proud to raise turkeys with no growth g antibiotics, hormones or steroids. my name is tammy plumley, and i raise honest, simple turkey for honeysuckle white. know what's in this box? well, in case your crystal ball is broken, here's a hint. safe, reliable energy, for starters. but there's also a commitment to this community. see, at xcel energy this is our hometown. so, we're not just about making a living here, we're about living here.

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>> broncos could be in 3rd place, really looking up if they don't get a win on sunday. the loser of the chiefs and broncos game sunday night is going to find themselves in a big hole in the afc west. broncos star of the weekend tide with the chiefs, and a game back of the raiders. so if the broncos were to lose at home, they're going to have a lot of work to do and need some help if they want to win a 6th straight division title. good news, the broncos are

the mind set is every game is basically -- nation game. >> look at as every game as a play-off game. i mean, every single game we play is going to be that big play-off call inner- type game. we're taking those games seriously. we're not taking any of them lightly. >> you got to play every game like it's the last. we're in a situation where anything can happen. so we're 3rd place now. so we have to try to win up, take one game at a time. when you think of du athletics, pioneers probably best known for their hockey -- national championships. they also won 23 ineskine. could the men's soccer team join that list this year? pioneers have not lost a regular-season game in back-to-back seasons. right now getting ready to host an ncaa round 16 game tomorrow against washington. maybe eu could become also known as a soccer school.

team win the national championship a few years ago, it was, like, we watched it, and why not us? you know, for us, sometimes i think, in college soccer, some teams get big names. but what team just went back to back undefeated in the regular season? and that's denver. the falcons win would clinch the mountain west mountain division. air force blocking the punt for a touchdown. fall in as 14. it came down to this: boys see stopped on a 4th and goal in the 4th quarter. falcons pulled the upset. so wyoming will play in the mountain west title game. speaking of conference title else, pac 12 north online in the apple cup between washington and washington state. washington jumped out to and early lead, and really never looked back. 45-17 the final. so huskies punch their ticket. we will now see if the cu bus

>> they will. >> all ,, ,,

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,, ,, >> another face day tomorrow. we were in the 60s today, be back there tomorrow, 50 on sunday. then the temperature dives down to the low 30s by thursday. >> when they moved the broncos to an evening game, you were thinking, oh, no. >> could always be trouble. >> that will be great. thanks for watching colorado's news channel. cbs evening news coming your

ca captioning sponsored by cbs >> quijano: black friday sets a record. not at the stores but through mobile apps. >> any store that has an app, i use it. >> quijano: also tonight, will it be rudy or romney? the public squabble continues over whom to choose for secretary of state. up in flames-- arson arrests are made as wildfires rage across israel. a $1 fix could save lives in a car crash. our investigation has prompted congress to demand action. and-- >> look at all this space? >> quijano: steve hartman and the story of a woman's dream come to life. >> reporter: they call her mama shu, and they say she'll put a boot in your behind if you don't help her rebuild this block of avalon street. this is the "cbs evening news"