50 YEARS AGO October 28, 1971 - The 10 percent drop in school enrollment this term is costing the Ouray School District R-1 about $12,000 in state aid under the 1969 School Foundation Act. In addition...

Sandy has gone to Indiana to visit our family. She left Hobo the cat and me here to look after things. What the heck was she thinkin’?! That's kinda like leavin’ a rabbit to guard a head of lettuce! I...

50 YEARS AGO October 21, 1971 - Word was received late Wednesday this week that the dam proposed at Ridgway will not go in there, which will come as welcome news to many in this area who have opposed ...

50 YEARS AGO October 7, 1971 - Two escapes from the Roubideau Honor Camp at Delta, one considered dangerous, were captured in Ouray at 11 a.m. last Friday by officers from the camp, the Ouray and Mont...

Dear Editor: Join me in voting yes for 4A (MLO) and 4B (BOND) to preserve excellence in our local schools. The State of Colorado has taken more than $5.3 million from the Ridgway School District’s rev...

50 YEARS AGO September 30, 1971 - Kitchen Korner with Betty Goddard High Altitude Kitchen Tested Recipes: Hello Friends; You should step into my kitchen, the aroma is simply wonderful. Why? Because I ...

Much of this really glorious, golden September has been hot and dry; thankfully though, this week’s cooler and wetter. By Tuesday morning, the 28th, day temperatures averaged 75.2 degrees (the new nor...

Dear Editor: On Nov. 2, Ouray voters will be asked to pass a 15% excise tax on short-term rentals, but the ballot language is not very specific. It states that the tax is to “use the proceeds to fund ...

Dear Editor: According to the May, 2021 Notice of Valuation from the county assessor’s office my property taxes due in 2022 went up approximately 15% (if the mill levy remains the same). The revenue f...

Dear Editor: The Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest released its draft forest plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement on Aug. 13, which opened the 90-day comment period. The forest ...

Dear Editor: I would like to redress the political cartoon published in last week’s Opinion section. In the era through which we are currently passing; one of constitutional fragility fraught with pol...

Dear Editor: I would like to encourage the Ridgway community to join me in voting for 4A and 4B—two questions on the upcoming ballot proposed by the Ridgway School District (RSD). The two initiatives ...

Ridgway, our little mountain town, is known for many things – our San Juan Mountains, the home of the Grammy, and a vibrant art community. Our town’s history is equally broad – ranching, trains, and m...

Dolgio Nergui came to Colorado with a goal of becoming a ski bum, but she instead joined a community where she found a desire to help others in the outdoors. Dolgio is originally from Mongolia and cam...

I was raised in a small, dairy city called Chino in California. There were cows around — you could surely smell their presence, especially on a warm morning. (That is a column for another day.) The da...

It’s been a smoky, unusually hot, but relatively moist summer in Ouray. Luckily for us, though, we have experienced nothing remotely like the climate disasters (horrific megafires, record-smashing hig...

In 1983 and 1984, I trained a cutting horse named Sonitas Joy. We won $320,000 in a year and a half. Her owner decided to retire her and breed her. Since she was such an exceptional mare, stallion own...

Warning! This is a history-lite column: some undisputed facts along with a few rumors and legends. Historians and writers agree that Butch Cassidy lived and worked in the mining boomtown Telluride, an...

Decades ago, Trisha Oakland took acting classes at the Sherbino Theater. She was an elementary school student at the time, growing up in Ridgway. Now, as the director of programs for the theater and W...

Thunder rumbles. It’s 78 degrees outside at midday, Ouray’s average July high. This monsoon weather dims the memory of an anomalously warm June (days 4.9 degrees above average, nights 4.3) and July (d...