Even small places deserve good journalism. We’ve said that from the moment we took on the job as the latest in a long line of caretakers here at this 143-year-old newspaper. Bringing another reporter ...

Hundreds of Ouray County residents have filed for unemployment benefits in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as the economy has all but shut down. A total of 339 people in the county filed for job...

The new coronavirus has dealt significant financial blows to most Ouray County businesses, keeping tourists, the lifeblood of the local economy, at bay and forcing shops and restaurants to severely cu...

Local businesses have had to get creative to maintain their income streams in this time of restrictions on travel and public gatherings. One local business has found an outside-the-box idea that fills...

Restrictions that have strangled Colorado’s economy for the last six weeks are slowly being loosened, and lodgers are itching to open their doors to cooped-up tourists. But state tourism officials bel...

Ouray County Attorney Carol Viner told county commissioners on Tuesday they need to discuss how to start having in-person meetings again. "These meetings are not legal and proper," Viner said of the v...

The Ouray School Board revealed the names of the three finalists for the district’s vacant superintendent and principal position at a meeting April 27. The finalists are Tod Lokey, principal of Bayfie...

Ride the Rockies canceled for 2020 Ouray County won’t have more than 2,000 cyclists coming through this summer, as Ride the Rockies’ 2020 event has been canceled. Event officials emailed local authori...

Voters will decide June 30 whether to remove Ouray County Sheriff Lance FitzGerald from office and, if so, who they would like to become the new sheriff in the county's first recall election in histor...

Ridgway School District is cautiously examining its budget, anticipating cuts to state funding as a result of coronavirus and the statewide economy. The information on how drastic the cuts may be will...

For the last couple of weeks, the mannequin in the window of Mountain Fever Shirts & Gifts has sported attire befitting the season: fleece jacket, ski cap, sunglasses - and a polka-dot face mask. "Don...

Just because the statewide "stay at home" order expired on Sunday doesn't mean it's a free-for-all. That was the message from officials this week as the state transitioned to a less-restrictive "safer...

The Ouray City Council has agreed to slash more than $2 million from the city’s budget this year, a deep cut triggered by revenue losses that will affect every department. City councilors unanimously ...

The kennel was eerily silent, the floor gleaming. The boisterous cacophony that usually greets guests was absent. It was quiet, just like the empty streets, the empty schools, the near-empty town. Bu...

The state has issued a detailed protocol with its newest health order introducing a "safer at home" transition from the previous "stay-at-home" order. Gov. Jared Polis' order still says Coloradans sho...

ABOUT THIS PROJECT When the coronavirus pandemic hit, a coalition of Colorado journalists already had been talking about how to better serve the public by collaborating and sharing stories. The urgen...

Local businesses are navigating layers of health orders from the state and county regarding when and how they can reopen, as the governor's statewide stay-at-home order expires today. While some categ...

Ouray County won't have more than 2,000 cyclists coming through this summer, as Ride the Rockies' 2020 event has been canceled. Event officials emailed local authorities earlier this week to let them ...

Ouray County will lift two public health orders requiring the closure of bars, restaurants and non-essential personal services and limiting mass gatherings, but will keep restrictions in place for sec...

By Samantha Tisdel Wright Special to the Plaindealer   "Go away." It's a tough message to send out into the world, for a community hard-wired to woo tourists to stay and play. But ever since March 20,...