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Walk into Sally Jo Ocasio’s The Vintage Vault in Ridgway, and you will see a wide array of fun, ageless treasures both retro and modern. Just give it ...

April 24, 2024

News

Local schools cancel contract with state school-work program

A program helping students with disabilities transition into the workforce has been canceled in Ouray and Ridgway after there weren't enough participa...

March 20, 2024

Feature

Ridgway Wrench pedals to new location

After seven years at 380 Sherman St., across from Hartwell Park in Ridgway, Nate Miller is moving Ridgway Wrench to the industrial park at 621 N. Cora...

February 28, 2024

Feature

CERTIFIABLY MOUTHWATERING

With USDA certification in hand, Ouray Meat & Cheese Market eyes expansion, national market Tony Schmidt’s bratwurst, made from his grandfather’s ...

February 28, 2024

News

County asks public for evacuation plan input

Ouray County is asking residents to take an online survey to help create an up-to-date, effective evacuation plan for the entire county. The county is...

February 21, 2024

Feature

FIFTY YEARS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

The Ouray Mountain Rescue Team celebrates 50 years of rescue service this coming summer, and while the organization once had to take out a short-term ...

February 14, 2024

Feature

BOOSTING OURAY’S WINTER ECONOMY, ONE GLASS AT A TIME

Winter Wine Festival returns to Wright Opera House Feb. 17 A little more than a year ago, four community members and business leaders sat by the firep...

February 7, 2024

News

Crews working to fill 1950s-era well along U.S. 550

Reclamation part of orphaned and abandoned well program

By Chart Riggall

September 4, 2026

It’s not what you think. A towering steel drill rig that’s been perched along the side of U.S. Highway 550 in recent weeks isn’t probing for gas, or oil, or even a route to the Far East. The operation...

Main, News...

Trump declares disaster for Gold Mountain, Aspen Acres fires

By Chart Riggall

September 4, 2026

President Donald Trump has signed off on a major disaster declaration for the Gold Mountain and Aspen Acres fires that unlocks millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency relief funds f...

Main, News...

Hickenlooper hopeful for fire disaster order

Senator tours flood-damaged areas, surveys planned fire mitigation efforts

By By Chart Riggall chart@ouraynews.com

September 2, 2026

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper said Friday he was optimistic the Trump administration will declare the Gold Mountain Fire a federal disaster, arguing Congress “wouldn’t settle for” the White House withho...

Main, News...

County employees remain on paid leave

EMS paramedic, deputy emergency manager sent home days after fire started

By By James Hanlon james@ouraynews.com

September 2, 2026

Ouray County has had two emergency-related employees on paid administrative leave since the early days of the Gold Mountain Fire. A third employee, Road and Bridge Superintendent Ty Barger, was placed...

News

Businesses share struggles with senator

'You guys are in crisis,' Hickenlooper tells proprietors wrestling with aftermath of Gold Mountain Fire

By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com

September 2, 2026

Ouray County business owners bent the ear of U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper on Friday, sharing stories of declining profits and mass cancellations in the wake of the Gold Mountain Fire in the hopes the D...

Ellen Metrick Special to the Plaindealer

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines