The utility companies that power and heat Ouray County homes and business have put a freeze on disconnecting customers who may be struggling to pay their bills and are working with them on payment pla...

Ouray County has delayed a decision on whether to proceed with plowing high-country roads, after considering a request to postpone clearing snow from routes popular with off-road enthusiasts. Commissi...

Ridgway Secondary School Athletic Director Tony Erickson submitted his letter of resignation to the Ridgway School Board last month. Erickson told the Plaindealer the decision was difficult because he...

SILVERTON San Juan County officials on April 3 tightened the public health order prohibiting visi tors and restricting residents' activities as concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic mounted. The new ord...

The city of Ouray is closing in on hiring a search firm to look for its next city administrator. City councilors unanimously agreed during an April 8 special meeting to enter into contract negotiation...

Students in Ouray County won’t be returning to school in-person for the remainder of the school year. Leaders of both Ouray and Ridgway school districts made the announcement they would continue to su...

When Gay Leachman put her first batch of nine cotton face masks in a box by her house, she was surprised to find they were gone the same day. The massage therapist and Ridgway resident began making m...

Justin Perry is very clear: The way things have been done recently at the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office is unacceptable. And he believes his track record at the Ouray Police Department makes him the b...

Undersheriff Ted Wolfe has announced he is running for sheriff in the recall election to replace Sheriff Lance FitzGerald. With 36 years of law enforcement under his belt — 20 of those in the place th...

In these bleak times of canceled classes, a scuttled prom and uncertainty around high school graduation, social distancing has led to inevitable feelings of isolation. But Weehawken dance and theater ...

        Inside the door of St. Daniel’s Catholic Church, a table of palm fronds sits in the middle of the aisle between pews. The fronds have dried slightly since last Sunday, Palm Sunday, when Father...

Pews packed with worshippers and chapels filled with song have been replaced by single devotees dotting empty sanctuaries and families huddling around computer screens. Instead of warm embraces and fi...

Erin Eddy didn’t feel that bad, really, at first. And he didn’t have the symptoms qualifying him for a coronavirus test when he first checked with the doctor’s office. But he knows he has it now. Eddy...

Inside the door of St. Daniel’s Catholic Church, a table of palm fronds sits in the middle of the aisle between pews. The fronds have dried slightly since last Sunday, Palm Sunday, when Father Nat pu...

Ouray County reported its first COVID-19 death on Wednesday — an 81-year-old man who was the second confirmed local case. Authorities were still investigating the source of the man's contagion when he...

Mountain Medical has announced it has another confirmed case of COVID-19 here in Ouray County – a man in his 70s. The man was tested more than a week ago on March 30, according to clinic staff. As of ...

This was supposed to be a column celebrating our one-year anniversary owning the Plaindealer. A year ago, Mike and I sold the house we remodeled in Grand Junction, I gave away my backyard flock of chi...

Story updated at 2:30 p.m.: Ouray Brewery owner Erin Eddy announced this afternoon he tested positive for COVID-19. Eddy is the first Ouray County resident to test positive for the virus. His positive...

Ouray city officials have severed ties with the Ouray Tourism Office, saying the shutdowns triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic will leave them without the money needed to market the city to visitors an...

Ouray County's former undersheriff, who was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly propositioning a teenager for sex, has received a 1-year unsupervised probation sentence in a plea deal. Richard Herm...