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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Dear Editor: I wonder if you know … I wonder if you know that the car you are recklessly and illegally passing has a new driver with a permit or just got their driver's license … Or maybe it's an elde...

Dear Editor: What is going on with the arena at the Ouray County Fairgrounds? We went there back on the Fourth of July to do some ground work with our horses and introduce a novice rider to horsemansh...

Dear Editor: To those who use our trails and any of our beautiful outdoors: Please take everything with you when you are finished hiking, biking or whatever activity you may have been doing! That incl...

Dear Editor: Our congressman, Jeff Hurd, is not looking out for the average citizen in his district. He pretended to be concerned about the huge cuts to Medicaid but it did not stop him from voting in...

Dear Editor: I just don’t get Congressman Jeff Hurd. He says his decisions are always based on what’s best for our district. But then he votes for Trump’s big budget bill that slashes funding for heal...

Thank you, Mike and Erin at the Plaindealer, for screening such an excellent documentary, “For the Record,” on June 28 at the Wright Opera House. The entire time we were watching the film, we were thi...

This is an important update on the state of the big, ugly bill that was passed last week by a 218-214 margin in the House of Representatives. Yes, our 3rd Congressional District representative, Jeff H...

Dear Editor: We were out camping last weekend and received a call from a tenant in our Main Street commercial building. She was upset about the new sign that went up in front of our building. It block...

Dear Editor: I write in support of Karen Risch's column last week about staffing at the National Weather Service office in Grand Junction. Federal budget cuts have inhibited efforts to restaff the off...

Dear Editor: Congratulations to the residents for your success at preserving Swiss Village Mobile Home Park! Your perseverance paid off. Thank you to Jay and Jackie, civic-minded people all along, who...

Dear Editor: Congressman Hurd has thankfully come on board to oppose the sale of public lands, which are vitally important to the citizens of Colorado. Hunters, fishermen, hikers, mountain bikers, dir...

Dear Editor: After returning from out of town and seeing the new, hideous signs on Main Street, my initial thought was that our town has lost its integrity. The signs are out of scale—too large, too l...

Dear Editor: I am disappointed in the new directional signs in the center of Ouray. Initially, I was surprised by the high cost of these signs, but assumed that the expense would result in aesthetical...