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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

News

Police investigating fireworks shot at homes

Police are searching for suspects who shot a barrage of fireworks onto homes on Sunday night, sparking fires in the southern part of Ouray. The explos...

June 17, 2025

Feature, Main, News

MURAL IN BLOOM

Artist Yulia Avgustinovich works on the mural she was commissioned to paint on the southeast side of the Space to Create building in Ridgway on Monday...

June 12, 2025

Main, News...

Ute dancers perform at film fest

October 22, 2025

Main, News...

Board makes offer on top job

On same day commissioners pick Peace Corps director, interim manager resigns

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

October 22, 2025

Ouray County’s new county manager will travel from Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico, for the job, if he accepts the position. Ouray County commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to offer the county’s to...

Main, News...

Federal shutdown threatens food assistance program

By By Lia Salvatierra and Erin McIntyre lia@ouraynews.com erin@ouraynews.com

October 22, 2025

Food assistance for low-income residents in Ouray County will likely be cut off at the end of the month due to the federal government shutdown, leaving an estimated 170 households with less money and ...

Main, News...

Woman’s body found in mine shaft

By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com

October 22, 2025

A Ridgway woman who was reported missing Monday night was found dead in a deep, water-filled mine shaft on Red Mountain Pass. Rescuers found Jennifer Nelson, 54, early Tuesday morning after accidental...

News

City OKs purchase of new police vehicles

Interim police chief sought five hybrid SUVs to replace aging fleet; council authorizes three

By Mike Wiggins and Deb Hurley Brobst mike@ouraynews.com

October 22, 2025

The Ouray City Council approved the purchase of three new police vehicles Monday night, allowing the police department to start rotating in new patrol cars for an aging fleet that hasn’t been replaced...

Erin McIntyre

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines