Author - News

Obituaries

Nancy Schroeder Liggett, 79, passed away on June 10, 2022, in Louisville, Colo. Nancy Anne Schroeder was the oldest child of Walter and Leora (Coleman...

June 30, 2022

News

NEWS BRIEFS

Ouray man injured in head-on crash A Ouray man was among three people seriously injured in a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 550 between Ridgway and...

June 30, 2022

News

CALENDAR & EVENTS

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Every Friday and Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and every Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. at St. Daniel’s Church, 614 Fifth St., Ouray....

June 30, 2022

News

POLICE LOG

The following is an excerpt of cases handled by the Ouray Police Department from June 20-28: JUNE 20 Officer responded to an animal problem in the 700...

June 30, 2022

News

AROUND THE REGION

GUNNISON The Gunnison County commissioners gave a nod of approval for the Gunnison Country Food Pantry’s Food for Life expansion project, chipping in ...

June 30, 2022

HOLIDAY WEEKEND CALENDAR

[tecnavia_gallery slug='holiday-weekend-calendar-gallery' view='carousel']THURSDAY, JUNE 30 LIVE MUSIC: Mountain Air Music Series presents Band of Hea...

June 30, 2022

MILKING IT FOR ALL IT’S WORTH

The Wick family of Ridgway navigates the Uncompahgre River on Saturday in their homemade craft constructed of 164 oat milk cartons, during the Ridgway...

June 30, 2022

Opinion

CLARIFICATION

A story in the June 23-29 Plaindealer should have said Ouray County Assessor Susie Mayfield left the Republican Party after being told she could not s...

June 30, 2022

Opinion

LOOKING BACK

50 YEARS AGO June 29, 1972 - Mark Higgs, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Higgs of Fordyce, Arkansas, fell about 275 feet to his death, down the steep can...

June 30, 2022

Ballot measure should be narrowly defined

Dear Editor: The obvious simple solution to the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office’s long response times across the county and lack of back-up is funding n...

June 23, 2022

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...

News Staff

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines