STORIES OF THE YEAR: NO. 4 After tasting the sweetness of reaching the state playoffs three years in a row, only to chase it with the bitterness of losing in the first or second round each time, the R...

STORIES OF THE YEAR: NO. 7 The Revenue-Virginius Mine moved closer to reopening for commercial production in 2019, as its new owners added employees and announced plans to move the company’s headquart...

STORIES OF THE YEAR: NO. 3 Local governments experienced turnover at the highest levels in 2019, as all three Ouray County law enforcement agencies received new leaders and Ouray and Ridgway hired new...

STORIES OF THE YEAR: NO. 8 A roller coaster of 2019 for the Ouray Tourism Office began with the organization celebrating an infusion of additional funding and ended with the nonprofit heading into 202...

STORIES OF THE YEAR: NO. 6 After surveys of constituents indicated Ouray County residents were in support of a proposed tax measure to fund a series of roads maintenance projects, voters rejected the ...

The Mountain Medical Center in Ridgway has provided critical medical care for Western Slope residents for more than 20 years. Now, the future of healthcare in Ouray County might be in jeopardy, as the...

STORIES OF THE YEAR: NO. 10 In 2019, the Ouray County Plaindealer was sold to new owners, the latest in its 142-year history. Alan Todd and Beecher Threatt, who owned 550 Publishing, sold the newspape...

  Former Ouray Building Inspector Dave Doherty abruptly quit his job this fall after learning his position would be reduced from full-time to part-time next year. Emails obtained by the Plaindealer un...

  County officials debriefed during a work session last week about the response to the Cow Creek Fire in October, to discuss what went well and what could be improved the next time a similar incident ...

STATE OF COLORADO week plugging numbers into a proposed new school finance formula, squinting at a projection of a computer model to determine “whose cheese got moved.” The phrase — borrowed from the ...

By Carolina Brown & Mike Wiggins For the Ouray Ice Park, whose existence depends upon sufficient water and temperatures consistently cold enough to cultivate and sustain the blue-hued walls of frozen ...

A story in the Dec. 19-25 edition about a potential change in the Ouray City Council meeting calendar in 2020 should have said councilors plan to meet on the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m., not ...

TOWN OF RIDGWAY To those strolling through Hartwell Park or picking up their mail at the post office at the moment it goes off, the siren atop the Ridgway Volunteer Fire Department can be an ear-split...

  Commissioners and staff wrapped up their last regular meeting of the year on Dec. 17 by renewing contracts, agreements and memorandums of understanding for the upcoming year. Most of the county's ag...

SILVERTON - The San Juan County Board of Commissioners, in a unanimous vote on Friday the 13th, approved a $5.2 million budget that pretty much holds the line on expenses. "Most offices and department...

  As a commanding officer for a sheriff’s office staffed by 300 sworn deputies just outside the Washington, D.C., beltway, there was too much opportunity for Jeff Wood to experience the worst in peopl...

  Ouray County has an updated code for development in Colona, after the county commissioners and the planning commission approved a citizen-initiated request to update building requirements. Craig Jac...

  A district attorney from Durango will handle Ouray County Sheriff Lance FitzGerald’s case, at the request of the neighboring 7th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. The special prosecutor, Christia...

  A one-person committee is threatening to recall Ouray City Councilor Ethan Funk if he doesn’t resign, claiming the newly sworn-in council — not the previous council — should have had the opportunity...

  Ridgway School District’s population will remain flat for the foreseeable future, as long as affordable housing remains out of reach for young families wishing to remain or move to the area. That wa...