On the Slope
News
By Plaindealer Staff 
April 7, 2026
A 34-year-old Ouray man died in a two-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 550 south of Ridgway last night, which is still under investigation. Alixzander Thomsen was driving the Dodge Caravan, headed tow...
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News
By Plaindealer Staff 
April 6, 2026
UPDATED STORY HERE: Ouray man dies in accident A fatal crash involving a Dodge Caravan and a Ford F-350 truck hauling a trailer on U.S. Highway 550 south of Ridgway tonight is under investigation. Acc...
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Main, News...
Town seeks payment of sales, lodging taxes; hotel calls lawsuit 'misguided'
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
April 1, 2026
The town of Ridgway is suing the owners of MTN Lodge over their plans to use the hotel as workforce housing for the next several years, aiming to suspend operations and demanding they pay lodging and ...
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Main, News...
Niece, Nauer censure Padgett for secretly recording closed-door meeting
April 1, 2026
Two Ouray County commissioners publicly reprimanded their fellow commissioner after discovering she secretly recorded an executive session last week. Portions of the audio from that executive session ...
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Main, News...
Latest draft bases members' voting power on financial contributions
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
April 1, 2026
The current proposal to combine fire and emergency medical services entities in Ouray County could eventually make the new fire chief the highest-paid public official in the county and may base partic...
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News
April 1, 2026
A jury has convicted a former Ouray woman of retaliating against another woman who accused her son of sexual assault in 2023. Jurors deliberated for about an hour on March 26 before finding Kristyn Tr...
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News
By Deb Hurley Brobst Special to the Plaindealer 
April 1, 2026
Ouray County Emergency Medical Services is moving its sleeping quarters for on-call staff in Ouray into the former Public Health office location, with donations providing rent assistance. An EMT will ...
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News
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
April 1, 2026
Prosecutors have again been ordered to turn over to defense attorneys a report detailing some of the contents of a cellphone belonging to a woman who accused three men of sexually assaulting her in Ou...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
April 1, 2026
Editor’s note: The Plaindealer mistakenly published a previous letter to the editor from Ellie Kehmeier in last week’s edition. We are publishing the letter she most recently submitted in this week’s ...
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Columns, Opinion...
FROM THE PUBLISHER
By Erin McIntyre 
April 1, 2026
This week marks our seventh anniversary of owning the Plaindealer. I always remember the date because of April Fool's Day. We were careful to avoid April 1 as our closing date for purchasing the paper...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
April 1, 2026
Dear Editor: I appreciate the Plaindealer’s coverage and article on the Board of County Commissioners' meeting about the blocked access to the Greyhound Road. The article correctly stated that there w...
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