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Latest News
Gulde touts experience, years of service
News
Election 2025
Gulde touts experience, years of service
Gulde touts experience, years of service
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
Tamara Gulde didn’t intend to assemble campaign flyers and put up yard...
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Underwood sees gap between council, public
News
Election 2025
Underwood sees gap between council, public
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
When he looks out at the audience at a Ouray City Council meeting or w...
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News
Water costs increase for county irrigators
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
The cost of leasing backup water to support Ouray County irrigators is...
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Driver survives plunge off pass
Main, News...
Driver survives plunge off pass
Distracted Montrose County man sustains minor injuries, cited for suspected careless driving
By Erin McIntyre and Mike Wiggins erin@ouraynews.com mike@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
A Montrose County resident survived an accident on Red Mountain Pass on Oct. 9, where his truck went over the edge and rolled down the mountain. According to information from the Colorado State Patrol, Steven Rogers only received minor injuries after the Ford F150 he was driving went off the road near the snow shed as he was traveling south from Ouray toward Silverton on U.S. Highway 550 between m...
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News
Wildfire panel focuses on insurance issues
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
Wildfires are one natural disaster communities can exercise some control over. And the hope is that soon homeowners will not only have control over mitigating wildfire risk around their homes, but als...
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Feature
Ridgway Film Festival offers packed weekend
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
"Eclectic" might be the word to describe the 11th Annual Ridgway Independent Film Festival's schedule. The fest has exploded into a four-day event, running today (Thursday) through Sunday, with 101 fi...
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In budget crunch, county may revive hiring policy
Commissioners could have final say on filling vacant positions
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
Ouray County leaders plan to revive a policy that would allow county commissioners to reconsider hiring new employees to fill vacant roles, as alarm over the county’s financial situation intensifies. ...
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News
County ok’s variance for home construction
Variance OK'd for home
October 15, 2025
Ouray County commissioners have approved an exception to the county’s skyline regulations for a property in Dallas Meadows, agreeing there was no way to build on the property without violating those r...
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Investigation nabs illegal guns, suspected drugs
News
Investigation nabs illegal guns, suspected drugs
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
October 15, 2025
An investigation into a report of shots fired from a truck on Log Hill Mesa led the Ouray County Sheriff's Office to an arrest involving illegal firearms and suspected drugs. David Allen Wolfe, 46, wa...
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Ouray School Board candidate profile: Phylis Fagrelius
News
Election 2025
Ouray School Board candidate profile: Phylis Fagrelius
By Phylis Fagrelius 
October 15, 2025
Phylis Fagrelius has learned an important lesson, living in Ouray for the past 37 years. “The more you give, the more you get back,” she said. It’s something she has experienced through teaching, ment...
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Ouray School Board candidate profile: Andrea Calhoon Meruelo
News
Election 2025
Ouray School Board candidate profile: Andrea Calhoon Meruelo
By Andrea Meruelo 
October 15, 2025
It wasn’t long after Andrea Calhoon Meruelo graduated from Ouray School in 1999 that she realized she received a pretty stellar education at the tiny mountain school. “I recognized right away in colle...
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Ouray School Board candidate profile: Tony Schmidt
News
Election 2025
Ouray School Board candidate profile: Tony Schmidt
By Tony Schmidt 
October 15, 2025
Tony Schmidt remembers how Ouray School used to feel like it was the center of the community. When he was a kid, he saw community members coming to the basketball games, even the ones who didn't have ...
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Features coverage
Young Ouray volleyball squad showing progress
Columns, Feature...
PREP ROUNDUP
Young Ouray volleyball squad showing progress
By By Matt Meyer Special to the Plaindealer 
October 15, 2025
The second win of the season is rarely cause for celebration. But when the Ouray High School volleyball team defeated Pinnacle 25-18, 25-18, 20-25, 26-24 on Saturday, it secured the program’s best fin...
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Calendar & Events
Feature
Calendar & Events
October 15, 2025
THURSDAY OCTOBER 16 Ridgway Independent Film Festival begins, visit ridgwayfestival.co for full schedule and details. Festival pass $120, single film and day passes available. Puppet shows with Judy f...
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A muddy mess in Mancos
Feature
A muddy mess in Mancos
October 15, 2025
The Oct. 11 Chicken Creek Challenge cross country meet in Mancos proved to be a sloppy affair. Far left, Ridgway middle schooler Neely Hepp finished 19th in the middle school girls' 3K race with a tim...
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How the San Juans got their name from an early trailblazer
Columns, Feature...
How the San Juans got their name from an early trailblazer
By Carolyn Snowbarger 
October 8, 2025
The San Juan Mountains are not just a mountain range; they are the jagged, breathtaking spine of southwestern Colorado. This is a land of untamed peaks, alpine meadows and sheer rock faces. Our mighty...
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Run, don’t walk: How a Ridgway athlete is improving dramatically
Columns, Feature...
PREP ROUNDUP
Run, don’t walk: How a Ridgway athlete is improving dramatically
By By Matt Meyer Special to the Plaindealer 
October 8, 2025
Orion Catron first ran because he really, really didn’t want to walk. As a freshman at Ridgway High School, he wasn’t connecting with classmates or pushing himself. “I think my parents recognized this...
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‘An Iliad’ shares ‘an epic story in a really intimate setting’
Feature
‘An Iliad’ shares ‘an epic story in a really intimate setting’
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
October 1, 2025
Playing in Ouray this weekend, modern-day retelling of Homer's poem explores valor, savagery of Trojan War In the last 20 years, John Kissingford has played all manner of roles. A novelist in a romant...
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Ouray approves housing administrator contract
By Erin 
October 15, 2025
Ouray city officials have approved their portion of the contract to hire an affordable housing administrator along with Ouray County and the town of Ridgway. The city council on Oct. 6 unanimously app...
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News
Open house scheduled to meet county manager finalists Oct. 20
By Erin 
October 15, 2025
Residents can meet the two finalists for Ouray County’s county manager position on Monday, Oct. 20, at the Ouray County 4-H Event Center and Fairgrounds. The finalists are Patrick Rondinelli, the Colo...
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Blue Lakes parking lot reopens
By Plaindealer Staff 
October 15, 2025
Blue Lakes parking lot reopens The gate to access the U.S. Forest Service’s Blue Lakes trailhead via County Road 7 has reopened after more than four months of construction and restoration work. Hikers...
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The pinnacle of autumn
Main, News...
The pinnacle of autumn
October 8, 2025
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State eyes Ouray County for wolf release
Main, News...
State eyes Ouray County for wolf release
Wildlife officials won't disclose dropoff site for up to 15 wolves this winter, but Billy Creek a possibility
By Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntyre mike@ouraynews.com erin@ouraynews.com 
October 8, 2025
Wildlife officials are eyeing Ouray County for the next release of gray wolves in southwest Colorado this winter to help fulfill a mandate from voters to re-establish a self-sustaining population of t...
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Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines

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