News of gold and silver discoveries brought fortune-seekers to the northern San Juan Mountains in the late 1800s. After the Silver Crash of 1893, gold took over as the primary mineral produced high ab...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: To try and solve Don Carlton’s question about the old signage on the historic barn near Telluride, I did some investigating on my own. In my opinion, I believe the wo...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: I was very pleased to see that the 2024 spending bill keeping the government open included over $1 million for our Corbett Creek Bridge installation. Replacing the b...

Dear Editor: I lived and worked in nine different states during my long life. I enjoyed living in all those places, but Ridgway, Colorado, tops them all! The scenery is spectacular and Ridgway, Ouray ...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: Writing this with a heartache I’ve rarely felt, I want to share that Ridgway lost one of its brightest stars this past week. Communities are rarely blessed with peopl...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: As a full-time resident of Ridgway’s community, I would like to second and thank Jake Niece for expressing frankly his opinions regarding the sexual assault case incl...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: In the Feb. 22-28 edition of the newspaper, the Plaindealer reported that Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood questioned the credibility of the woman claiming she was raped ...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: Ouray County is in the midst of two sexual assault cases, and I’ve heard a lot of: “trust the judicial process.” I feel a sense of hopelessness with lost faith in the...

Dear Editor: I feel fortunate to have a true news hound, who will not be intimidated, reporting for our local newspaper. Securing public records through open records requests is key to understanding w...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: Many of us drive past Cedar Hill Cemetery and are oblivious to the amount of damage caused by flooding, drought and the shortage of maintenance and upkeep plaguing t...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: On Feb. 21 and 22, the Grand Mesa Uncompaghre and Gunnison National Forest held the final stage of the public engagement for the revised forest plan (known as the obj...

The ominous note came in an envelope with an advertising bill. Instead of payment, the sender included the message on personalized stationery, the kind of notepad one would use for a grocery list or a...

Irony is the juxtaposition of one conceptual proposition with a directly contrary reality, like a “vegetarian butcher” or something that’s “seriously funny.” Or the swift enactment — during Sunshine W...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: Here we are again, this time with two rape cases at the same time and a second appearance by a prior defendant in Ouray County. It is encouraging that the Colorado Bu...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: On Dec. 18, 2003, the Ouray Ranger District published a press release announcing the purchase of an 806-acre parcel of mining claim in the Ironton valley. The second ...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: The letter published in the Feb. 22-28 edition under the headline “The perpetuation of rape culture,” by Robyn Cascade, mischaracterized a statement of mine made in a...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: My wife Kathy and I recently attended a listening session at the Burro in Ridgway hosted by Ouray Commissioner Lynn Padgett. The place was packed with over 30 people ...

OURAY COUNTY 50 YEARS AGO March 7, 1974 - Deep snow and cold have placed Ouray County deer and elk under severe stress this winter, according to Jim Olterman, wildlife conservation officer at Ridgway....

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: Your recent article on fire insurance (Feb. 8-14 edition) will be a surprise to some, but more than anything it is a reminder that insurance companies are in business...

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: I want to offer an apology to Bob Kelly in response to his letter in the Feb. 15-21 edition. As the author of MEND’s letter to the editor, I never meant to insult the...