By Olivia Exstrum, Special to the Plaindealer oliviaexstrum@gmail.com One summer a couple years ago, Leslie Chang let out a huge sigh of relief. Chang, an author and journalist, had just arrived in Co...

The following is an excerpt of cases the Ouray Police Department handled from Aug. 6 to Aug. 13, 2019. Aug. 6 Officer responded to the Police Department for someone wanting to report a restraining ord...

CITY OF OURAY The city of Ouray has its new administrator. Now it's looking for a police chief. With former Police Chief Justin Perry taking the reins as the city's CEO in June, there's a vacancy at t...

CITY OF OURAY A year after financial trouble delayed the purchase of the Jeep for the annual raffle, the Ouray Tourism Office is struggling to get the popular event off the ground again this summer, a...

The Town of Ridgway will re-examine its water rate structure and charges for overages, at the direction of the town council after meeting with business owners in a workshop Tuesday night. Turmoil over...

  There may be plenty of competition for three seats on the Ouray City Council in the coming months. Residents interested in running for mayor and one of the two council seats can now pick up nominati...

OURAY COUNTY A local grants fund that awards more than $3.4 million annually in western Colorado is encouraging Ouray County nonprofit organizations to apply for funding. The Western Colorado Communit...

  The sheer majesty of Yankee Boy Basin is what captured Steve Traudt's heart more than 40 years ago, when he passed through Ouray and happened to join a Jeep trip. That was back in 1975, and he stil...

By Mary Menz, Special to the Plaindealer April showers bring May flowers to many places, but abundant snowpack and regular rain make the wildflowers in Ouray County’s high elevations burst in a profu...

Just weeks before the beginning of school, Ridgway School District Facility and Transportation Director Shane Ayer resigned from his position but appears to have changed his mind after submitting that...

  The owners of a storage unit business between Ridgway and Ouray will get another chance to make their case for expansion to county commissioners. Red Cliff Storage owner Lynn Emery Olin has until Oc...

WESTERN COLORADO U.S. Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are again warning campers of bear activity on the Western Slope, this time in campgrounds on Grand Mesa southeast of Gran...

COLORADO Colorado Parks and Wildlife is offering all active-duty military and veterans free entrance to all 41 Colorado state parks during the entire month of August, including Ridgway State Park. Fre...

  If Dawn Glanc has her way, hikers enjoying Mother Nature along the city’s Perimeter Trail will have more places to answer when nature calls. The Ouray city councilor is pushing for the installation ...

A popular, long-established restaurant along the main drag through Ridgway will close next week, and plans are already in the works to fill the space. An employee of Oriental Chinese Restaurant, 565 S...

OURAY COUNTY Ouray County residents who attended a town hall meeting on proposed wildfire mitigation rules were receptive to those regulations. The meeting on Aug. 6 included a presentation on wildfir...

OURAY COUNTY Chase Nicholson of Ouray caught 571 smallmouth bass and won the top prize of $5,000 for the most fish caught in the Colorado Parks and Wildlife tournament at Ridgway Reservoir. Anglers wh...

  Ouray County’s rural population will be harder to count in next year’s Census than areas with home mail delivery, U.S. Census Bureau representatives said last week in a planning meeting. During the ...

Ouray County DirecTV customers will be able to watch their favorite CBS shows again starting today, as an agreement between the network and the cable provider reached early Thursday ends a blackout of...

Forest and wildlife officials are alerting the public to increased black bear activity in and around Blue Lakes in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness they say is caused by campers improperly storing and di...