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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Hurd mistakenly assigns blame for shutdown
October 22, 2025
Dear Editor: I just received Representative Hurd's Third Congressional District "newsletter." He starts off with: “ As week two of the Democrat-forced shutdown comes to an end, I want to provide a qui...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Ridgway post office locked a paid box
October 8, 2025
Dear Editor: I read with interest the reporting from Lia Salvatierra in the Sept. 25 edition regarding the Postal Service probe of locked boxes in Ridgway and wondered who alerted her to the matter. I...
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Letters
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Why the delay in hiring Ouray police chief?
September 24, 2025
Dear Editor: I attended a Ouray City Council meeting some time ago when the interim police chief, Daric Harvey, came up. I've followed with great interest the progress — or lack of — since then. Offic...
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Letters
Thankfully, reservoir came without coal mine
September 24, 2025
Dear Editor: The historical commentary provided in Carolyn Snowbarger's column in the Sept. 11 edition of the Plaindealer left out the most interesting details, specifically the great, award-winning j...
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Letters
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
New policy a disservice to postal customers
September 24, 2025
Dear Editor: I want to draw attention to a new – and deeply unfriendly – policy at the Ridgway Post Office. By law, the U.S. Postal Service is obligated to deliver mail. In Ridgway and Ouray, that dut...
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Letters
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Cimarron Athletic Field allows present to honor past
September 24, 2025
Dear Editor: Kudos to the numerous entities and individuals for bringing the vision of the Cimarron Athletic Facility into the sharp focus of reality. Since soccer athletes are inherently heady, goal-...
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Letters
A need for more volunteers
September 24, 2025
Dear Editor: I would like to give kudos and thanks to Ouray County Emergency Medical Services for their event on Saturday, “Fun Ways Not to Die." I learned many valuable tips — and met some cool peopl...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Article about Space to Create too negative
September 10, 2025
Dear Editor: The origin and theory behind the Space To Create movement is tied to the common phenomenon where creative individuals, looking for affordable and functional space, move into semi-industri...
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Letters, Opinion...
When things go wrong, help is quick to arrive
September 10, 2025
Dear Editor: While I was taking a walk in Fellin Park a couple of weeks ago, I was bitten by an off-leash, unvaccinated dog. Sometimes unfortunate things do happen. The dog's owner was responsive to t...
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Letters, Opinion...
Weiser for governor
September 10, 2025
Dear Editor: My wife and I support Attorney General Phil Weiser for governor of Colorado. He recently came to Ouray County to speak to citizens about his visions if he's elected governor. The affair w...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Thanks, first responders
Thanks, first responders
September 10, 2025
Dear Editor: My most sincere thanks to the Ouray Volunteer Fire Department, Ouray County EMS, the Ouray Police Department and all responders to the numerous calls you have been responding to this summ...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Let it be known: Care must come before cuts
By Dear Editor: 
September 3, 2025
I just watched (well, when I first wrote this) the president of the U.S. meet with seven key European leaders, along with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. They were obsequiously complimentary and the U....
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Letters, Opinion...
Highway near Billy Creek can be improved
By Dear Editor: 
September 3, 2025
The article regarding all the accidents on U.S. Highway 550 left the impression that little could be done. That is probably true on the section south of Ouray where there isn’t room for a guardrail. B...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Don’t allow U.S. 550 to become like ‘Killer 82’
By Dear Editor: 
September 3, 2025
Whether local or visitor, commuter or sightseer, we are all affected by the tragic fatalities, devastating injuries and, yes, even the miraculous walkaways associated with this summer’s rash of vehicu...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Honor Labor Day, remember working families
By Dear Editor: 
September 3, 2025
Each year, our community gathers to celebrate Labor Day — a holiday meant to honor the sacrifices and victories of working people in America. But as I watched this year’s parade, I couldn’t help but n...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
County shouldn’t use public land to meet needs
By Dear Editor: 
September 3, 2025
I'm disappointed to read in the Aug. 28 Ouray County Plaindealer that Ouray County commissioners Lynn Padgett and Jake Niece even considered a Bureau of Land Management parcel for its medical services...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
We must thwart this attack on democracy
August 27, 2025
Dear Editor: Ouray County residents, like Americans everywhere, are realizing the cold and seemingly intentional cruelty of Donald Trump’s relentless quest to dismantle our government and replace it w...
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Letters, Opinion...
Public safety headed in the right direction
August 27, 2025
Dear Editor: I am so pleased to see the direction public safety issues are going in the city of Ouray as well as Ouray County after some difficult times. Michelle Metteer is a treasure as your new adm...
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Letters
Time to lower the speed limit on U.S. 550
August 20, 2025
Dear Editor: Hardly a week goes by without another fatal accident on U.S. Highway 550, it seems. Or am I just imagining things? Winter or summer, events conspire, someone dies and the road is closed f...
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Letters
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Revisiting postal history
August 20, 2025
Dear Editor: I read with interest Ms. Snowbarger’s column, “The West’s Unsung Heroes? Post Offices” in the Aug. 7, 2025, issue of the Plaindealer. Postal history, particularly that of Ouray County and...
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Editor Picks
News
Nine vying to fill two openings on Ouray City Council
Council will use ranked choice voting to select councilors
By Mike Wiggins 
January 2, 2026
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect council applicant Ashley Hineline's recent job change. The three-member Ouray City Council will have plenty of options to choose from when it deci...
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Years after acquittal, man gets prison in second case
News
TOP STORIES OF THE YEAR: BRIAN SCRANTON CONVICTED OF SEX ASSAULT
Years after acquittal, man gets prison in second case
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
December 31, 2025
Editor’s note: This story contains details about a sex assault case. Ten years after he was first arrested for alleged sex assault in Ouray County, a Ridgway man was convicted in another sex assault c...
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County endures year of resignations, infighting
News
TOP STORIES OF THE YEAR: TUMULT WITHIN TOP RANKS OF COUNTY
County endures year of resignations, infighting
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
December 31, 2025
Ouray County government weathered a year of turmoil and transition in 2025, and ended the year hopeful that its new top leader would bring a fresh perspective and stability. County commissioners ended...
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After tear down and rebuild, agency again faces upheaval
News
TOP STORIES OF THE YEAR: POLICE TURMOIL CONTINUES
After tear down and rebuild, agency again faces upheaval
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
December 31, 2025
After more than a year of turmoil that consumed 2024 and bled over into the first quarter of 2025, the Ouray Police Department underwent a complete tear down and transition under an interim police chi...
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Looking Back
Looking Back, Opinion...
Looking Back
By Compiled from the files of The Ouray County Herald, The Ridgway Sun, and The Ouray County Plaindealer 
December 31, 2025
60 Years Ago December 30, 1965 What can we expect to happen to our pocketbook in 1966? Here are some clues gleaned from the 43rd Annual National Agricultural Outlook Conference held in Washington D.C....
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