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The emergency response to the Gold Mountain Fire has been sudden and information is changing from day to day. Here are some answers to questions we ha...

July 1, 2026

News

Ridgway, Ouray athletes well-represented at state track competition

It’s a roughly five-hour, 300-mile trek from the San Juans to Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood. But for a group of Ouray County student-athletes, ...

May 13, 2026

News

Plaindealer earns 11 awards in four-state contest

The Ouray County Plaindealer took home 11 awards last weekend from the four-state Society of Professional Journalists' Top of the Rockies' Excellence ...

April 29, 2026

News

Ouray man killed in highway accident

A 34-year-old Ouray man died in a two-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 550 south of Ridgway Monday night Alixzander Thomsen was driving the Dodge Cara...

April 8, 2026

News

Judge allows access to civil case filed nearly a year ago

A district court judge has opened public access to court records for a civil case against the former Ouray police chief, after it proceeded for almost...

April 1, 2026

Feature

Wine Fest returns to Ouray

The fourth annual Ouray Winter Wine Festival just happens to fall on Valentine's Day this year. And that means not only will there be wine — there wil...

February 11, 2026

News

Judge to decide whether to unseal civil case

A district court judge will decide whether to unseal records in a civil lawsuit that was filed nine months ago against the former Ouray police chief a...

February 4, 2026

Main, News...

Firefighters gain ground on Gold Mountain Fire

Sheriff allows some evacuees to return home; blaze shifts away from populated areas

By By Mike Wiggins, Erin McIntyre and Deb Hurley Brobst mike@ouraynews.com erin@ouraynews.com

July 8, 2026

Residents forced to flee the Gold Mountain Fire north of Ouray nearly two weeks ago returned to charred landscapes but fully intact homes Wednesday, an indication that authorities believe the threat h...

Main, News...

Despite fire, downsized Fourth celebration marches on

By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com

July 8, 2026

A scaled-back Fourth of July celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States and 150th birthday of Ouray attracted thousands to the city, despite the cancellation of fireworks, water fights and...

News

First fire, then floods? Leaders start planning for next potential emergency

By Deb Hurley Brobst Special to the Plaindealer

July 8, 2026

Even though the Gold Mountain Fire is still burning, Ouray County officials are already thinking about flash flood risks in the burn scar as Colorado moves into monsoon season. “This is a predictable ...

News

Water providers ask customers to pull back

Ridgway enacts mandatory irrigation restrictions

By Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntyre mike@ouraynews.com erin@ouraynews.com

July 8, 2026

Water managers in Ouray County are asking residents to curtail water use and avoid putting more demand on their distribution systems in light of the Gold Mountain Fire and ongoing tinder-dry condition...

News

Looking Back

50 Years Ago

July 8, 2026

July 7, 1966 Charges have been filed in Ouray County Court against three Ouray youths for violation of state statutes in climbing over a fence at the municipal swimming pool last Friday and breaking b...

Plaindealer Staff Report Plaindealer@ouraynews.com

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines