News5 Senior Reporter Tony Keith and Meteorologist Alan Rose have been meeting with members of our community in a new way, over coffee. Most of the people we have talked to in the past three weeks have said the same thing. They don't turn on the news because they feel it is just too depressing.We paid a visit to Wayfinder Coffee shop off Austin Bluffs just north of Rangewood on Friday. There we met Jessica Franks. She's lived in Colorado Springs for more than two years. But her husband grew up here, and just about all of her extended family is here.She does not have a TV in her home. She said she doesn't want to hear any negative news. So I had to ask, what would she like to see covered?"I would like to see where people can get more involved," Franks explained. "I think when people get more involved, it tends to bring a lot of positivity into their lives along with the people they are serving."For Franks and anyone else looking to connect more through volunteering, the City of Colorado Springs has made it really easy to find volunteer opportunities. They have a page dedicated to neighborhood services, parks and recreation, and public safety. You can even adopt a creek! Click here for more on volunteer opportunities.Franks is a member of the Colorado Springs Church of God 7th Day. While she tends to avoid TV news, she is a subscriber of The Gazette with many of her interests leaning toward faith-based work and community service. One of her big concerns was tied to cleaning up waterways. Her concerns help highlight Creek Week, which is typically scheduled in the fall in Colorado Springs. Click here for more on Creek Week.We also met Alice Anderson and her newborn son Jude at the coffee shop. She also does not have a TV in her home. She said she doesn't want to hear any negative news, but would love to have us highlight more community events, especially for young moms."I really think it would be good to cover more community spots. One thing that I hear a lot of new moms say is that they just don't have any community and they don't know where to go find community," Anderson said. "I think covering more community spots and local events that are happening would be really helpful for the community in general."A new tool was launched by Visit COS late last year. Penny the Pika. When you go to the Visit COS website, Penny pops up. You can ask her questions, and she will scour the Visit COS website and GuideGeek's 1,000 plus sources of travel data to suggest new businesses and attractions! Click here for more on how Penny works.The website also features events from Peak Radar, so there are plenty of events or groups you can learn about.If you have a story you would like covered, you can email [email protected]. You can also reach out if you are a local coffee shop that is willing to play host to our Conversations and Coffee segment!This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.____Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching. ...read more read less