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Feature

Spotlight on the Arts: The Closet Potter

When Joan Gibson-Bevier first sat down at a pottery wheel in 1976, she knew she had found her passion. Forty- nine years later, she runs her own busin...

July 23, 2025

Feature

Meet your neighbor: Robert Stoufer

Name: Robert Stoufer Age: 73 Lives in: Ouray When did you come to Ouray? I studied to be a geologist, but I never did geology for a living. I went to ...

July 2, 2025

Feature

Meet your neighbor: Amy Exstrum

Name: Amy Exstrum Lives in: Ouray Age: 61 What’s your profession? Well, I’m retired now, but I spent many years as a vocational home economics teacher...

June 11, 2025

Feature

Meet your neighbor: Rob Rose

Editor's note: During focus group discussions we held earlier this year, to gather feedback for our upcoming redesign of the newspaper, we heard from ...

May 14, 2025

Feature

Seed money helps teens sprout businesses

Neva Hines spent hours looking for internships her junior year at Ridgway Secondary School. She contacted at least eight businesses, and most of the t...

February 26, 2025

Feature

Students to showcase work at fair

The public will be able to view a showcase of student inventions, science experiments, art projects and beyond at the second annual Uncompahgre STEAM ...

January 29, 2025

Feature

Mexican eatery adds second location in county

Editor's note: The interview for this business feature was conducted in Spanish and translated by Chloe Kiparsky. A new taste of Mexico came to Ouray ...

December 25, 2024

Feature

Nature photography exhibit opens in Ouray

A new photography exhibit will transport viewers to nature landscapes at the Wright Opera House. Shanda Akin and Betsy Botsford’s photography show, "S...

November 6, 2024

Feature

‘Constitution’ play takes stage this weekend

Playwright Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by traveling the country doing speeches on the U.S. Constitution for prize money. Her award-winnin...

November 6, 2024

Feature

ONCE TEAMMATES, NOW FRIENDLY RIVALS

The track and field and cross country athletes from Ridgway and Ouray who once were teammates now compete against each other. The split in the teams e...

October 23, 2024

News

City administrator to lead Ouray police chief search

By Mike Wiggins

January 21, 2026

Ouray City Administrator Michelle Metteer told city councilors Tuesday she will take charge of recruiting a new police chief. That’s a different approach than the city took when it was looking for a p...

Main, News...

ICE FARMERS GET THEIR CROP

A long-awaited cold snap allows Ice Park to open, just in time for festival

By LIA SALVATIERRA

January 21, 2026

After weeks of planning for the worst, the Ouray Ice Park has ice to offer after all, just in time for the 31st Ice Festival this weekend. Ice Park Executive Director Peter O’Neil has spent the past t...

Main, News...

Judge delays assault trials

Attorneys say they're not ready; cases will be heard by Montrose juries

By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com

January 21, 2026

The trials for two men accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in Ouray County in 2023 have been postponed, even as the woman and the judge presiding over the cases expressed concerns about ...

News

New county manager tackles big ticket items

Mendez focused on 2027 budget, team building

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

January 21, 2026

Ouray County’s new manager wants commissioners to start thinking about the county’s 2027 budget now — just two weeks into 2026 and three weeks into his new job. During Antonio Mendez’s first work sess...

Feature

Film showcases climber’s return to sport

'Anna' documents how Ouray-based Pfaff pushed ahead after amputation of toes

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

January 21, 2026

Anna Pfaff’s choice to move onward and, especially upward, resonates beyond world-class peaks in a locally made film on the elite Ouray-based climber. "Anna" is a 22-minute portrait of Pfaff’s return ...

By Chloe Kiparsky Plaindealer intern

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines