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Bill drafted to cede reservoir
Main, News...
Bill drafted to cede reservoir
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
July 30, 2025
Federal lawmakers are working on legislation to transfer Crystal Reservoir to the city of Ouray. The city received a draft of incomplete, boilerplate legislation last month that would grant it ownersh...
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Perfect swarm forms near state park
Main, News...
Perfect swarm forms near state park
Skipped spring mosquito treatment triggers complaints about pests
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
July 30, 2025
Complaints about increased mosquito activity near Ridgway State Park have prompted officials to ask what happened with preventative treatments, which usually happen in the spring and curb the populati...
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Town wins condemnation case
Main, News...
Town wins condemnation case
Judge: Ridgway proved trail 'serves a legitimate public purpose,' will pay property owner $45,000
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
July 30, 2025
The town of Ridgway will be allowed to condemn private property to build a trail from the River Park subdivision to Ridgway Secondary School. According to an order from Seventh Judicial Chief District...
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‘It just took off very quickly’
Main, News...
WILDFIRE DEVASTATES BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON
‘It just took off very quickly’
Hot, dry conditions preceded blaze, as park closure set to deliver financial hit
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
July 23, 2025
BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON — Campgrounds filled with families just a matter of days before are surrounded by a web of spidery, blackened trees. Bare branches create windows between campsites where a...
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Ceremony ushers in new Ouray police era
Main, News...
Ceremony ushers in new Ouray police era
Audience greets trio of new officers with standing ovations, as chief emphasizes 'mindset of service'
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
July 23, 2025
Five months ago, tension and resentment filled the meeting room inside the Ouray Community Center. Frustrated Ouray police officers lashed out at city leaders during a work session for a perceived lac...
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Crews start to gain ground on South Rim Fire
Main, News...
Crews start to gain ground on South Rim Fire
By Lia Salvatierra 
July 18, 2025
BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON – Firefighters finally began to gain ground Friday on the South Rim Fire burning in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, though a timeline for reopening the par...
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Hunting down the ghosts
Main, News...
Hunting down the ghosts
Veterans services officer finds and assists those who served with benefits, problems
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
July 16, 2025
During his time as a bus driver in Telluride, Mikael Madsen encountered many of his fellow veterans struggling to survive a Western Slope winter. At the time, Madsen was what he calls a military ghost...
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Wildfires surge across region
Main, News...
Wildfires surge across region
Brief monsoon could bring relief — or lightning — before dry spell returns
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
July 16, 2025
Four lightning-sparked wildfires that had scorched more than 20,000 acres in southwestern Colorado as of Wednesday continue to churn through tinder-dry terrain, as hundreds of firefighters struggle to...
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Signs of trouble in Ouray
Main, News...
Signs of trouble in Ouray
City halts production after public backlash over size, appearance of wayfinding signs
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
July 9, 2025
Ouray business owners and residents threw up a symbolic stop sign in front of the city council on Monday, urging city leaders to pause or altogether abandon plans to install dozens of new wayfinding s...
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Go Fourth and celebrate
Main, News...
Go Fourth and celebrate
July 9, 2025
The crowd cheers as a fire department tanker truck sprays the wet side of the street during the July 4 parade in Ouray. Ouray Tourism and Destination Marketing Director Kailey Rhoten said cellular dat...
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Main, News...
County scrambles to pay for road repairs from rockfall
Leaders pull from multiple sources to cover $300,000 tab, look to replenish emergency fund
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
July 9, 2025
Ouray County is scraping together money to pay for emergency repairs on County Road 361 while looking for ways to replenish its emergency fund in anticipation of other disasters. During a work session...
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Get into the groove
Main, News...
Get into the groove
July 2, 2025
Carrie Ann Mund, left, dances with Tawnya Schiebel during the Mariachi de San Jose band’s performance in Ridgway’s Hartwell Park on June 29. The band performed as part of the fifth annual Fete de la M...
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Main, News...
Leaders object to public lands sale
Conservationists, ranchers, elected officials decry bill, though battle over federal property may return
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
July 2, 2025
Recent federal proposals to sell or develop Ouray County’s public lands would harm the county’s economy, identity and culture of ranching and public recreation, according to county officials and other...
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Main, News...
Sex assault trial moved to Montrose
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
July 2, 2025
A judge has ordered the trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 2023 to be moved from Ouray to Montrose. Seventh Judicial Chief District Judge Cory Jackson approved the tri...
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Ridgway schools dial up phone ban
Main, News...
Ridgway schools dial up phone ban
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
June 25, 2025
Ouray also aims to update tech policy for kids, staff Hallways and classrooms at Ridgway Secondary School will more closely resemble decades past this fall — without a cellphone in sight. During a Jun...
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Main, News...
Town clamps down on water usage
As supplies dry up, Ridgway stops watering parks, urges residents to conserve
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
June 25, 2025
Ridgway town leaders are cracking down on water use, fearing limited supplies won't last the summer if they don't convince residents to curb their watering habits now. The town announced Wednesday mor...
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Saving Swiss Village
Main, News...
AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRESERVED
Saving Swiss Village
Collaboration to buy Ouray mobile home park could serve as model elsewhere in Colorado, as residents celebrate with applause, tears
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
June 23, 2025
It took an attorney willing to work for free and hop on a midnight phone call in the middle of her vacation. It took two couples who had never met before performing remarkable acts of generosity and h...
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Main, News...
Fireworks shot at homes
Council enacts blanket ban as police look for truck
By By Mike Wiggins, Erin McIntyre and Deb Hurley Brobst mike@ouraynews.com erin@ouraynews.com deb.hurley.brobst@gmail.com 
June 18, 2025
Ouray city leaders moved swiftly this week to ban all personal fireworks in the city, days after homes near Lee’s Ski Hill were shot with a barrage of pyrotechnics on Sunday night that ignited multipl...
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MURAL IN BLOOM
Feature, Main...
MURAL IN BLOOM
By Erin McIntyre 
June 12, 2025
Artist Yulia Avgustinovich works on the mural she was commissioned to paint on the southeast side of the Space to Create building in Ridgway on Monday. Avgustinovich, who has been a professional mural...
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Prison ordered in sex assault
Main, News...
Prison ordered in sex assault
Judge: Crime shows 'true character' of Ridgway man alternately commended, castigated
By Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntyre mike@ouraynews.com erin@ouraynews.com 
June 11, 2025
A judge has sentenced a Ridgway man to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a 28-year-old woman in 2023 after he claimed he was drunk and thought she was his wife. Brian Scranton, 49, hugged ...
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Editor Picks
News briefs
Ouray County included in potential wolf release area, county’s $50,000 Swiss Village contribution pending deed restrictions 
By LIA SALVATIERRA 
July 30, 2025
Ouray County included in potential wolf release area Ouray County could be selected for the state's next site for wolf reintroduction, according to an update from Colorado Parks and Wildlife given to ...
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Price drops for water system rebuild
News
Price drops for water system rebuild
Construction to begin in August
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
July 30, 2025
Construction for Ridgway’s new water diversion system is scheduled to begin in August at a much lower cost than expected. During a special town council meeting on July 24, councilors approved a constr...
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News
City taps local businesses for additional park signs
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
July 30, 2025
Ouray city leaders insisted in May they wanted to hire local businesses to design, fabricate and install signs at the entrance to two city parks. They followed through on that plan last week. City cou...
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Feature
‘Merchant of Venice’ takes stage in Ouray this weekend
By Plaindealer Staff Report Plaindealer@ouraynews.com 
July 30, 2025
Ye olde bard returns to the stage this weekend in Ouray, with "The Merchant of Venice" brought to the Wright Opera House by UpstART Theater. This summer's traditional production of William Shakespeare...
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A disappointingly dry start to monsoon season
Columns, Opinion...
A disappointingly dry start to monsoon season
By Karen Risch 
July 30, 2025
Ouray gardeners, like their counterparts across the Four Corners states, count on the Southwest Monsoon from July to September. In the city of Ouray it brings over 30% (7.31 inches) of our average ann...
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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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Ridgway CO 81432

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