Author - News

Columns, Opinion

Join us Friday for film, talk about local news inspiration, challenges

I still can’t believe we own a newspaper. It feels silly to type that sentence. We’re almost seven years into being the caretakers of this community i...

November 12, 2025

News

County court judge suspended after reports of misconduct

A Seventh Judicial District county court judge has been suspended from his job by the Colorado Supreme Court after the state judicial commission inves...

November 12, 2025

News

Ouray School Board candidate profile: Phylis Fagrelius

Phylis Fagrelius has learned an important lesson, living in Ouray for the past 37 years. “The more you give, the more you get back,” she said. It’s so...

October 15, 2025

News

Ouray School Board candidate profile: Andrea Calhoon Meruelo

It wasn’t long after Andrea Calhoon Meruelo graduated from Ouray School in 1999 that she realized she received a pretty stellar education at the tiny ...

October 15, 2025

News

Ouray School Board candidate profile: Tony Schmidt

Tony Schmidt remembers how Ouray School used to feel like it was the center of the community. When he was a kid, he saw community members coming to th...

October 15, 2025

News

Man arrested in Ouray by immigration enforcement officers

Federal immigration officials detained at least one person in Ouray this morning, according to eyewitness reports which have been confirmed by the Our...

August 7, 2025

Columns, Opinion

No fake AI here — just humans doing their best

I read with interest a summer reading list published earlier this year in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and made a note to check out Andy Weir's new book...

July 23, 2025

Columns, Opinion

An unforeseeable delay with your Plaindealer

Dear Readers, If you’re reading this message in the e-edition of the newspaper, great. That means you probably got your paper when you wanted to read ...

July 16, 2025

Columns, Opinion

A patriotic way to celebrate the Fourth

"Are you the newspaper? Are we gonna be in the paper?" These are questions I hear when people see me taking photos at parades. I usually shrug my shou...

July 9, 2025

Columns, Opinion

Please join us Saturday for film, journalism talk

When filmmaker Heather Courtney set out to make a film about rural America, she decided to do it through the lens of a local newspaper. She visited a ...

June 25, 2025

Main, News...

A visit with Mr. and Mrs. Claus

December 10, 2025

Main, News...

Vehicle problems toss wrench at sheriff

Maintenance costs pile up as agency wrestles with delays in replacing patrol cars

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 10, 2025

Gio Mendoza’s coworkers thought he was missing for more than an hour. Emergency dispatchers were scrambling to get in touch with him. They had no idea the Ouray County sheriff’s investigator was stran...

Main, News...

Resident: Tax money should fund ‘creatives’

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 10, 2025

A Ridgway woman is proposing the town give "creative" residents a monthly, unconditional cash payment to encourage them to stay living and working in town. Ridgway resident Tia Mihelarakis proposed a ...

News

Commissioner opposes change to cost-savings policy

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 10, 2025

Ouray County Commissioner Lynn Padgett voted against a minor change to the county's new cost-savings policy, citing unclear language as the reason she canceled her attendance at a statewide conference...

News

County OKs budget, will diminish savings

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

December 10, 2025

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the county's disaster fund balance heading into 2026. Ouray County commissioners approved the county's 2026 budget during their regul...

Erin McIntyre

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines