Nauer's 'timeout' idea is a non-starter - Ouray County Plaindealer

Letters, Opinion

By Dear Editor:, on December 3, 2025

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Nauer’s ‘timeout’ idea is a non-starter

Had I not participated in scores of Ouray County Board of County Commissioners' and Planning Commission meetings, that Commissioner Lynn Padgett was elected or appointed to, I may have felt differently about the article in the Nov. 20-26 edition of the Plaindealer. Three points: 1. Relative to all the county commissioners that I have experienced in the past 35 years, Lynn is in the top three.

Main, News...

Ridgway to grow capacity to fight wildland fires

Additional staff, engine can enhance skills, create more revenue

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 3, 2025

Ridgway’s wildland firefighters have mopped up hotspots in Nevada, fought wildfire on the front lines in California and protected structures at home in Colorado. Since the Ridgway Fire Protection Dist...

Main, News...

County chops event center operations to aid budget

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 3, 2025

Ouray County is performing triage on its 2026 budget as 2025 revenues are coming in lower than expected, placing even more pressure on the county’s general fund savings. County leaders have been worki...

News

New council’s first task: Fill vacancies

December 3, 2025

After soliciting applications, councilors to interview, pick appointments Jan. 5 By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com Ouray city leaders swore in a new mayor and city councilor Monday night, then turned...

News

Slow start to snow season

Wave of storms helps, but snowpack in San Juans well below normal

By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com

December 3, 2025

A series of post-Thanksgiving storms delivered desperately needed snow to the moisture-starved San Juans, but snowpack at the start of December remains well below average in Ouray County and the surro...

News

SEASON OF SHARING

Ridgway Ouray Community Council

December 3, 2025

Editor's note: The Ouray County Plaindealer is continuing its tradition of featuring nonprofit organizations based in Ouray County, serving Ouray County in a series of profiles called Season of Sharin...

News

Snowpack lagging in San Juans

December 3, 2025

A recent series of storms helped boost the paltry snowpack in the San Juans, but the amount of water in that snowpack in the Gunnison River Basin — known as snow-water equivalent — is still among the ...

Letters, Opinion...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

‘Timeout’ for Padgett sends bad message

By Dear Editor:

December 3, 2025

We don’t put women in timeout; we put children in timeout. When you put a woman in timeout, you are putting her voice in timeout; telling her to go be quiet and that she should be seen and not heard. ...

Governor’s silence on Tina Peters is baffling

Columns, Opinion...

GUEST EDITORIAL

Governor’s silence on Tina Peters is baffling

December 3, 2025

I do not know why Gov. Jared Polis keeps playing footsy with Tina Peters and President Donald Trump. Apparently neither does any other serious individual engaged in Colorado’s election system. Since T...

State to reduce highway speeds near Ridgway

Main, News...

HIGHWAY 550 SAFETY

State to reduce highway speeds near Ridgway

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

November 26, 2025

The Colorado Department of Transportation plans to lower the speed limit for traffic along a half-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 550 north of Ridgway, near a section of road where the highest number of ...

Main, News...

OURAY'S 2026 BUDGET

City trims jobs, capital expenses

By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com

November 26, 2025

A cautious Ouray City Council approved a $16.8 million budget for 2026 on Tuesday, leaving a handful of vacant jobs unfilled and slashing capital projects in anticipation of a potential economic downt...

News

Schools adopt frameworks for AI tools

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

November 26, 2025

Both Ridgway Secondary School and the Ouray School District have adopted guidelines for students to use artificial intelligence, joining the first wave of schools in the state to do so. Lining classro...

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines