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Colorado’s rocky road to statehood
Columns, Feature...
Colorado’s rocky road to statehood
By Carolyn Snowbarger 
September 9, 2026
Last month Colorado celebrated its 150th anniversary of statehood. Many of us assume that statehood was inevitable for this place we love. However, the 17-year quest was met with significant resistanc...
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Fall sports gear up at Ouray, Ridgway schools
Columns, Feature...
PREP ROUNDUP
Fall sports gear up at Ouray, Ridgway schools
By By Bernie Pearce Special to the Plaindealer 
September 9, 2026
Fall is in the air, and so are volleyballs arcing over the net for remarkable rallies and soccer balls rocketing into the net for breath-taking goals. Fleet feet are crisply hitting the street to conq...
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2026 Labor Day parade and rodeo
Feature
2026 Labor Day parade and rodeo
September 9, 2026
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Calendar & Events
Calendar & Events, Feature...
Calendar & Events
Sept. 10-24, 2026
September 9, 2026
Thursday, September 10 Youth Garden Club Harvest Day, for ages 8-18, 3:30-4:30 p.m. at the Ridgway Public Library, 320 Charles St. Live music: Jolie Holland, showtime is 7 p.m. at the Sherbino Theater...
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New principal brings international experience
Feature
New principal brings international experience
Michael Flaim named interim leader of Ouray preK-8 students
By James Hanlon 
August 26, 2026
Michael Flaim, an educator who taught economics and social studies at international schools for nearly 20 years, has started as Ouray School’s interim preK-8 principal for the 2026-2027 school year. T...
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Monsoon flooding as old as Ouray itself
Columns, Feature...
Monsoon flooding as old as Ouray itself
By Karen Risch 
August 26, 2026
Situated on debris fans created by Portland and Cascade creeks, Ouray lies in a 5,000-foot deep rock bowl drained by five major creeks emptying into the Uncompahgre River. It’s not surprising that for...
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Meet Ouray County’s new teachers
Feature
Meet Ouray County’s new teachers
August 26, 2026
Editor’s note: We have continued the tradition of including Q&A profiles of new teachers in the Ridgway and Ouray school districts in the newspaper this year, to help introduce these new leaders to th...
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Good For You!
Feature
Good For You!
August 26, 2026
The “Good For You!” page is a place for reader-submitted photos illustrating community, celebrations and more. Want to submit a photo for publication? Here are some guidelines for submissions: - This ...
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With help of Ouray volleyball coach, player enthusiasm spikes on court
Feature
PREP ROUNDUP
With help of Ouray volleyball coach, player enthusiasm spikes on court
By By Bernie Pearce Special to the Plaindealer 
August 26, 2026
Four seasons ago when Brian McDowell came on the scene to assume the head coaching reins of Ouray High School volleyball, he was called to resurrect a program that had fallen on hard times. Limited su...
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Ouray shop rocks on, 60 years later
Feature
Ouray shop rocks on, 60 years later
Columbine Mineral Shop looks much like it did when it opened in 1966, offering one-of-a-kind souvenirs
By By James Hanlon james@ouraynews.com 
August 26, 2026
“Rocks” says a simple sign extending over the sidewalk on Ouray’s Main Street, adorned with a columbine flower. Inside, long narrow displays invite customers to explore toward the back, receding into ...
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Calendar & Events
Calendar & Events, Feature...
Calendar & Events
Aug. 27–Sept. 10, 2026
August 26, 2026
Thursday, August 27 43rd Annual San Juan Chamber Music Festival evening salon concert at private home, 5 p.m. Location provided after ticket purchase. Visit ocpag.org for schedule and tickets. "Flight...
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Chamber music fest returns to San Juans
Feature
Chamber music fest returns to San Juans
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
August 19, 2026
World-renowned concert pianist Max Levinson and the Ulysses String Quartet return to Ouray County next week for the Ouray County Performing Arts Guild's 43rd annual San Juan Chamber Music Festival. Th...
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Calendar & Events
Calendar & Events, Feature...
Calendar & Events
Aug. 20-Sept. 2, 2026
August 19, 2026
Thursday, August 20 Community book club, noon-1 p.m. at the Ridgway Public Library. Bring lunch and discuss "Whistler" by Ann Patchett. Friday, August 21 Historic True Grit Walking Tour, 3 p.m., free....
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County fair carries on
Feature
County fair carries on
Fire doesn't stop 4-H kids from showing their animals this week
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
August 12, 2026
The night the Gold Mountain Fire started, the Cornell family anxiously watched the fire spreading toward their fenced livestock, the billowing smoke filling the canyon. They decided to load up their h...
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‘She has taught me so much about bravery’
Feature
‘She has taught me so much about bravery’
'Edie,' a one-woman show about a gay civil rights activist, plays in Ouray Friday
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
August 12, 2026
The way Jessica Toltzis sees it, Edie Windsor chose bravery: A gay civil rights campaigner who sued the United States government in her 80s for the right to allow same-sex marriage — and won. If Winds...
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Calendar & Events
Calendar & Events, Feature...
Calendar & Events
Aug. 13-27, 2026
August 12, 2026
Thursday, August 13 Ouray County Republican Women meeting, 6 p.m. at 6085 County Road 23 in Ridgway. Contact Patty Blackford at 970-318-8891 for details. Friday, August 14 Ouray County Fair at the Our...
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Good For You!
Feature
Good For You!
August 5, 2026
Send us your celebrations! The “Good For You!” page is a place for reader-submitted photos illustrating community, celebrations and more. Want to submit a photo for publication? Here are some guidelin...
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Calendar & Events
Calendar & Events, Feature...
Calendar & Events
Aug. 6-19, 2026
August 5, 2026
Thursday, August 6 Ridgway Farmers Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in Hartwell Park – on Thursday this week due to Ridgway Rendezvous. Youth Garden Club for ages 8-18, "Other Undergrounders" root vegetables, f...
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Feature
Ridgway-area homes featured on Home Trust tour
By Plaindealer Staff Report Plaindealer@ouraynews.com 
July 29, 2026
An eclectic mix of Ridgway-area houses are on the Home Trust of Ouray County's tour this weekend, with homeowners opening their homes to participants to help raise funds for affordable housing. This y...
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Feature
Equal parts romantic comedy, moral conflict, ‘Love’s Labors Lost’ takes stage in Ouray
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
July 29, 2026
Forty years after he wrote his senior thesis about “Love’s Labors Lost,” one of William Shakespeare’s seldom-seen, early comedies still resonates with John Kissingford. As a student at Princeton Unive...
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Editor Picks
A barrel of fun on Labor Day
Main
A barrel of fun on Labor Day
September 9, 2026
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Main, News...
Water restrictions exception, not rule
Colorado is on track for its warmest year ever. Source flows are diminishing or at historic lows. So why has only one water provider in Ouray County ordered cutbacks this summer?
By By Chart Riggall chart@ouraynews.com 
September 9, 2026
In the early days of summer, it remained a matter of some debate where the drought of 2026 ranked in the annals of long, hot Colorado summers. For Cary Denison, Ouray County’s representative on the Co...
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Main
Trump declares disaster for fire
By By Chart Riggall chart@ouraynews.com 
September 9, 2026
Move frees up federal relief money President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for the Gold Mountain and Aspen Acres fires, unlocking millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Manageme...
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Crews working to plug old water well
News
Crews working to plug old water well
Operation part of state program to reclaim abandoned sites
By By Chart Riggall chart@ouraynews.com 
September 9, 2026
It’s not what you think. A towering steel drill 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 is ...
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News
Parking enforcement nixes popular highway camping spot
By By James Hanlon james@ouraynews.com 
September 9, 2026
Officials cite concerns about safety, health at Tuffy's Corner A highway pullout popular for overnight camper parking north of Ouray has been empty in recent weeks since ‘no camping’ signs were instal...
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Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines

Ouray County Plaindealer
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Ridgway, Colorado 81432
970-325-4412

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