Sometimes, I journal to process major life events. I’ve lived in a lot of places worth journaling about and my latest move is no exception. I’ve been in Ouray for six weeks now and I’m struck by the s...

Dear Editor: I opened the letter received last Wednesday and was a bit confused as to the intent, since the photos leading the letter are of the True Grit and several businesses that no longer exist i...

Dear Editor: I am writing in response to Jeff Lindberg’s letter in the Aug. 27 edition. My husband and I live in Ouray County primarily because we love to hike. We have lived here for eight years, but...

Dear Editor: This letter pertains to an article by Chart Riggall in the Aug. 27 edition. I thought it was an excellent article on the history of fire in the San Juans, etc. However, there was, in my o...

Dear Editor: It was the wind. I read with great interest the in-depth article by Chart Riggall in the Aug. 27 edition of the Ouray County Plaindealer. He cited the history of our forests and the reaso...

Dear Editor: The July 23 guest column by Sue Dreamweaver Spielman was excellent and brings up so many issues that we regular backcountry users experience. I have been recreating in this area since 197...

Dear Editor: I would like to acknowledge the excellent service I received from Damon Todd, Ouray County clerk and recorder. I had a question/complaint about the online vehicle license renewal system. ...

Dear Editor: I agree with the recent proposal by Ouray County to fund a rainy-day account for use in seemingly annual “emergencies” such as the rockfall last year on County Road 361, the cleanup from ...

“Hey Landfill, you malignant festering heap of methane-spewing, planet-warming garbage, Recycle and Compost just ate your leftover lunch!” This summer’s concert series was Ridgway’s first ever zero- w...

Dear Editor: We were getting ready for bed the evening of June 27 when our power went out. Shortly after we received the evacuation alert on our phone. At this point we were unaware of the fire. We lo...

Two weeks ago, the southwest monsoon arrived, bringing relief to these parched landscapes and their residents. Most afternoons since then, Ouray has had measurable rain. But the condition of these mou...

I'm not a Jeep enthusiast or an off-highway vehicle user, but I am a hiker and photographer who cares deeply about our high-country environment. After recent discussions at county commissioners' meeti...

Dear Editor: A word of gratitude: These last days since the Gold Mountain Fire started on June 27 have been hard for us, individually and as a community. During times of strife and difficulty a wise m...

Dear Editor: Thank you is a simple phrase most of us use every day. However, now "thank you" just doesn’t seem adequate for our firefighters and first responders. Thank you for saving our town, our ho...

Dear Editor: On the evening of June 27 my wife, Lori, and I evacuated our home in unincorporated Ouray County and drove to Montrose due to the Gold Mountain Fire. All afternoon we watched from my fron...

Dear Editor: I would like to clarify some points made in the Plaindealer's article, “Following outcry, Ouray seeks gym solutions," from the July 9 edition. First, it was “acknowledged that the city di...

By some stroke of luck or simple habit of missing the moment, I’ve had a knack for dodging disasters around here. A decade ago, I rolled into Silverton for a seasonal job nearly a year after the Gold ...

Dear Editor: While I appreciate the prairie dog problem at the Ouray County Fairgrounds getting attention, it’s a short-sighted view. There are plenty more prairie dogs that will migrate and repopulat...

Dear Editor: I recently wrote to the Ouray City Council asking them to consider an alternative to our traditional Fourth of July fireworks display this year given the significant wildfire risk we are ...

Ouray County remains in serious drought, as it was last month. Most of Colorado’s mountains are in extreme/ exceptional drought; the northern San Juans remain in the severe category. (U.S. Drought Mon...