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News

After criticism last spring, group must meet several tourism promotion standardsThe Ridgway Area Chamber of Commerce will continue marketing tourism p...

January 17, 2024

News

Deal helps protect bighorn sheep habitat

Montrose sheep ranch retires grazing permits south of OurayEfforts to protect bighorn sheep habitat in the San Juan Mountains recently received a boos...

January 10, 2024

News

Fire District struggles to fill open seat

For more than two months, the Ridgway Fire Protection District Board of Directors has been short a board member and the district has struggled to find...

January 10, 2024

News

Fire Department plans training center

Shipping container in Ridgway would offer permanent, year-round opportunitiesLocal public safety organizations may soon have a permanent training faci...

January 10, 2024

Feature

‘What else is there for me but this?’

Throughout Shea Freedom’s life, timing has been everything for better and for worse. It was everything when his mother passed away right before he was...

January 10, 2024

News

New program to fill energy workforce gaps

Initiative aimed at training for small-scale energy efficiency jobs For years, local renewable energy companies have struggled to find enough qualifie...

January 3, 2024

News

County eyes permit fee increases

Marijuana businesses expected to bear largest brunt of hike For the first time since 2008, Ouray County is expected to increase user fees across a bro...

January 3, 2024

News

Updated resolution secures public winter road access

In a win for winter recreationists and environmentalists, Ouray County commissioners last month approved an updated resolution designating certain cou...

January 3, 2024

News

Commissioners preview priorities, tout accomplishments

Ouray County commissioners discussed prioritizing public health, environmental protection and affordable housing projects in 2024, and reviewed highli...

January 3, 2024

News

County attorney receives glowing review

County Attorney Leo Caselli on Dec. 20 received glowing remarks from Ouray County commissioners during his annual performance review, earning 97 out o...

January 3, 2024

Main

Factors behind the fire: What drove its spread?

Experts: Age-old forests, climate change, extreme drought created prime conditions for Gold Mountain Fire

By Chart Riggall

August 26, 2026

In the summer of 1879, the largest wildfire in Colorado history at the time tore through 26,000 acres of rugged forest about eight miles south of Silverton and presaged a vast shift in its landscape. ...

News

Tax districts approved for proposed project

Metro districts would fund improvements for possible 19-acre mixed-use Ridgway development

By James Hanlon

August 26, 2026

The Ridgway Town Council approved creating four metropolitan districts at its Aug. 12 meeting for a proposed residential and commercial development on 19 acres in north Ridgway. The development, Alpen...

News

Officials push Trump for disaster declaration

Polis: Federal funding needed to help pay for $17M in damages from Gold Mountain, Aspen Acres fires

By Chart Riggall

August 26, 2026

Federal, state and local officials pushed this week for President Donald Trump to issue a disaster declaration for the Gold Mountain and Aspen Acres fires that would open the door to additional federa...

Feature

New principal brings international experience

Michael Flaim named interim leader of Ouray preK-8 students

By James Hanlon

August 26, 2026

Michael Flaim, an educator who taught economics and social studies at international schools for nearly 20 years, has started as Ouray School’s interim preK-8 principal for the 2026-2027 school year. T...

News

Construction to control flooding begins

Work focuses on removing debris, building berms, barriers; project set to finish by Sept. 20

By James Hanlon

August 26, 2026

Crews from Haynes Excavation began work last week to repair and protect areas prone to flooding and debris flows beneath the Gold Mountain Fire burn scar. The $2.8 million Emergency Watershed Protect ...

Daniel Schmidt daniel@ouraynews.com

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines