When does a mining camp truly become a town? It happens legally with official documents of incorporation. It occurs economically when businesses arrive to support the mining interests. Its culture beg...

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 small-town weekly in the Texas panhandle, the Cana...

For six lovely days, June 2-7, our San Juan earth was cool and wet. Local peaks regained their winter white. Ouray days averaged 65 degrees, 11 degrees below the new normal June average, 76. Nights av...

The Plaindealer just celebrated its 148th birthday. Personally, I don't think it looks a day over 99. Still, from time to time, we need to show the paper some love and spruce it up. That's why we've b...

The newspaper you’re reading is mailed to nearly 900 post office boxes and street addresses in more than 40 states every week and sent to more than 1,300 email addresses. Once in a while, a mailed new...

A longtime goal for the Ridgway High School girls’ soccer program was to make it to the second round of the state playoffs, travel to the Front Range to take on one of the top seeds and put up a compe...

Ouray County, along with much of far western Colorado and other Southwestern states, is now in severe drought status, according to NOAA’s U.S. West Drought Monitor, released Tuesday, May 20. More worr...

In high school track and field, athletes are limited to competing in four events. It’s a way to ensure competitive balance, limit wear and tear on athletes and — in the case of the Ridgway girls' team...

It is time to begin planning our explorations into the San Juan Mountains again. Be certain to include another trek on Last Dollar Road, connecting Ridgway and Telluride over a 21-mile, unpaved, breat...

After a 4-0 victory over Bayfield on Monday, the Ridgway High School girls' soccer team clinched a record of .500 or better for the eighth time in the past decade. Throw out a season lost to the COVID...

It’s probably no coincidence that the Ridgway High School girls’ soccer team has heated up on the field as temperatures have warmed up outside. In the sunshine, practices can focus much more on team p...

April, a notorious trickster of a month, has lived up to its reputation this year. Fine hot spells, not-so-good freezing temperatures, ample snow and, unfortunately, a continuing drought. It’s been a ...

It can be difficult for a coach not to oversee every aspect of an athlete’s training or competition during a given season. It’s also rough to juggle scheduling conflicts when an athlete competes in mu...

Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. I've been thinking about that quote from C.S. Lewis a lot lately, because I'm concerned about secret activities in the city of Ouray t...

Mining entrepreneurs founded the town of Silverton in 1874. With the discovery of silver, gold and zinc, it was a boomtown with prospectors, suppliers and builders arriving daily for adventure, riches...

Editor's note: The Plaindealer is trying something new – publishing a sports column with information about local high school sports during the seasons for those sports. We don't have the resources to ...

Spring has sprung: Baby birds chirp riotously in birdhouses, leftover snow vanishes under an ascending sun, crocus and forsythia flutter in the March wind. This first month of spring 2025 has been two...

Sunshine Week, which started Sunday, is an annual celebration of Americans’ right to know what government is doing. This year, there is far more to be concerned about than to celebrate, both nationall...

The legend of Butch Cassidy, one of the West's most enduring outlaws, has roots firmly planted in the rugged terrain of Colorado's Western Slope. Before he became a notorious bank robber and leader of...

Two weeks ago, following the first of two meltingly wet 8-inch February snowstorms, the grape hyacinths, daffodils and tulips decided it was time to shake off winter. Their deep green foliage was a re...