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Popular trail needs new steward
Main, News...
Popular trail needs new steward
Uncompahgre Riverway Trail founder, longtime volunteer ready to step down
By James Hanlon 
September 23, 2026
Chip Marlow, the man who spearheaded the construction of the Uncompahgre Riverway Trail from Ridgway to Ridgway State Park, has maintained the multiuse path largely by himself for many years. Now 80 y...
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Main, News...
‘Super El Niño’ won’t be savior for West Slope
Officials: Warming Pacific temps may bring more snow but won't wipe out drought or fill reservoirs
By Chart Riggall 
September 23, 2026
GRAND JUNCTION — Amid a stream of bad news for Western Slope water stakeholders last week, Russ Schumacher had the pleasure of opening the sluice. Nearly on the far side of the state’s worst drought y...
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Judge to hotel: End workforce housing
Main, News...
Judge to hotel: End workforce housing
Injunction prohibits MTN Lodge from housing resort construction workers
By James Hanlon 
September 23, 2026
A district court judge has ordered Ridgway's largest hotel to stop housing construction workers who are building a new Four Seasons in Mountain Village. In a preliminary injunction filed Sept. 16, the...
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Investigators close case on mine shaft death
Main, News...
Investigators close case on mine shaft death
Nearly a year later, authorities conclude Ridgway resident Jennifer Nelson accidentally drowned
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
September 23, 2026
Eleven months after rescue volunteers found Jennifer Nelson's body in a water-filled mine shaft on Red Mountain Pass, investigators are left wondering what her final moments looked like. Their case, w...
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County: Layoffs likely
Main, News...
County: Layoffs likely
Commissioners, administrators warn of job cuts to close $1.5 million gap; staff criticizes leaders for not addressing problem earlier
By James Hanlon 
September 16, 2026
Ouray County will likely need to lay off employees to make up a projected $1.5 million gap between requested expenses and revenue next year, county officials warned at a budget workshop on Sept. 9. Th...
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Main, News...
Disaster tax not ‘backfill’ for fire costs, leaders say
By Chart Riggall 
September 16, 2026
In the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s declaration of the Gold Mountain Fire as a major federal disaster, Ouray County commissioners say the potential influx of additional federal funds doesn't ...
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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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Trump declares disaster for Gold Mountain, Aspen Acres fires
Main, News...
Trump declares disaster for Gold Mountain, Aspen Acres fires
By Chart Riggall 
September 4, 2026
President Donald Trump has signed off on a major disaster declaration for the Gold Mountain and Aspen Acres fires that unlocks millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency relief funds f...
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Hickenlooper hopeful for fire disaster order
Main, News...
Hickenlooper hopeful for fire disaster order
Senator tours flood-damaged areas, surveys planned fire mitigation efforts
By By Chart Riggall chart@ouraynews.com 
September 2, 2026
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper said Friday he was optimistic the Trump administration will declare the Gold Mountain Fire a federal disaster, arguing Congress “wouldn’t settle for” the White House withho...
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Main, News...
County employees remain on paid leave
EMS paramedic, deputy emergency manager sent home days after fire started
By By James Hanlon james@ouraynews.com 
September 2, 2026
Ouray County has had two emergency-related employees on paid administrative leave since the early days of the Gold Mountain Fire. A third employee, Road and Bridge Superintendent Ty Barger, was placed...
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Factors behind the fire: What drove its spread?
Main
Factors behind the fire: What drove its spread?
Experts: Age-old forests, climate change, extreme drought created prime conditions for Gold Mountain Fire
By Chart Riggall 
August 26, 2026
In the summer of 1879, the largest wildfire in Colorado history at the time tore through 26,000 acres of rugged forest about eight miles south of Silverton and presaged a vast shift in its landscape. ...
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Best feathers forward
Main
Best feathers forward
August 19, 2026
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Main, News...
Police admin assistant resigns, blasts city
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
August 19, 2026
The Ouray Police Department's administrative assistant has resigned, leaving the office with one remaining employee assigned to desk duty. The resignation comes just after the city's response to a civ...
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‘Pinched on every front’
Main, News...
‘Pinched on every front’
Historic drought, wildfires, high feed prices strain local ranchers
By Chart Riggall 
August 12, 2026
One breezy afternoon in mid-July, Mike Potter's phone started making all kinds of noise. “It goes, beep, beep, beep, beep!” shouted the Ridgway rancher, brandishing his flip phone from the pocket of h...
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Flood work could begin within week
Main, News...
Flood work could begin within week
By Chart Riggall 
August 12, 2026
Ouray County officials said Tuesday that flood mitigation work below the Gold Mountain Fire’s burn scar could begin as soon as next week, while warning that storms in the coming days could trigger fur...
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Flood ravages homes
Main, News...
Flood ravages homes
County deems trio of Ponderosa Village properties uninhabitable, as residents fear more debris flows imminent
By Erin McIntyre, Chart Riggall and Mike Wiggins 
August 5, 2026
When the fire raged above them on the mountain, the evacuated residents of Ponderosa Village hoped for rain. They wished for anything to help the firefighters get control of the blaze so it wouldn't b...
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Main, News...
County floats disaster relief sales tax
By Chart Riggall 
August 5, 2026
Draft ballot language proposes half-cent tax, with revenue split between county, city, town Ouray County commissioners are in talks to put a half-penny sales tax increase question to voters this fall ...
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Several homes damaged, 17 people rescued from flooding
Main, News...
Several homes damaged, 17 people rescued from flooding
By Mike Wiggins 
July 30, 2026
At least 17 people were rescued from flooding and debris flows in the Cutler Creek area between Ridgway and Ouray on Wednesday night, authorities said this morning. At least three homes in Ponderosa V...
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Editor Picks
City ready to cut losses with building
News
City ready to cut losses with building
More than a year after purchase, council tells staff to sell empty Sixth Avenue property for reduced price
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
September 23, 2026
When the two-story building across the street from Ouray City Hall went up for sale last spring, Ouray city leaders scrambled to buy it, envisioning a top-tobottom renovation culminating in a new, lar...
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News
Board recommends denial of Pleasant Valley subdivision for teacher housing donation
By James Hanlon 
September 23, 2026
An attempted act of generosity began to fall apart when the Ouray County Planning Commission recommended Ouray County commissioners deny a request to subdivide a parcel of land in Pleasant Valley that...
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News
Ouray to evaluate cost of fixing bathhouse
Contractor will be paid $85K to assess facility condition
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
September 23, 2026
The city of Ouray will spend up to $85,000 to evaluate the condition of the Ouray Hot Springs Pool bathhouse and determine what it would cost to remodel the facility. A divided Ouray City Council info...
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News
County widens search for more disaster aid
Feds den y grant request to protect public infrastructure
By Chart Riggall 
September 23, 2026
Ouray County officials must renew their search for additional disaster aid after the federal government dashed their hopes for another significant potential funding source this week. Despite previousl...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
With inflated spending, commissioners break faith of voters, staff
By J Gary Dunn 
September 23, 2026
Dear Editor: It is not surprising that Ouray County finds itself in a financial bind because of profligate spending. The pandemic greatly increased visitation to Ouray County and sales tax revenue has...
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First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines

Ouray County Plaindealer
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Ridgway, Colorado 81432
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