Dear Editor, We are part of the Ouray County bi-partisan elections team responsible for processing your ballots. We are well-trained, and are required to follow state regulations to make sure every el...

Yes, we mean it. We have a letters policy and we’re sticking to it. Even during election season. Especially during election season. There’s a reason for our policy - we want to be consistent and fair...

There is an older country Western song with a very well-known line in it that advises, “Don’t fence me in.” I believe the point of the song is to convey a need to roam free and choose one’s own path. ...

Dear Editor: In a recent opinion piece, John Mitchell, the chairman of the Ouray County Republican Party, stated that, as his premise, "[t]hus, if people follow the first guideline about isolating whe...

Dear Editor: On behalf of our family, we want to express our sincerest appreciation for the steady and capable leadership Ridgway School District board, superintendent, administration, and faculty hav...

Dear Editor: On Thursday, Sept. 3, a group of four "gal" friends and I embarked on a backcountry hike on an unmaintained, come-and-go pack trail. While returning, one of the gals (Jen) took a fall on ...

5O YEARS AGO September 10, 1970 - The Uncompahgre River was as swift and at as high a flood stage as anyone can remember seeing it, as it tore down the valley Saturday night, ripping out a levee at Po...

Dear Editor: According to the Oxford Dictionary, a fact is known or proved to be true. The truth about events as opposed to interpretation. Connie Wurst's letter to the editor, "Citizens have paid the...

Dear Editor, Now that the kids are all back in school here in Ouray, I have had a moment to sit back and reflect on the happenings since everything shut down nearly six months ago in March. Yes, thing...

SO YEARS AGO September 3, 1970 - The Plaindealer was informed this week of an accident that occurred August 15 in Ouray which was reported to be hit and run. No report was made of the accident in the ...

50 YEARS AGO August 27, 1970 - Ouray will have one-hour parking limits for the same four-block distance on the west side of Main Street as presently exist on the east side. Traffic and parking problem...

I'm a retired horse trainer living in my beloved childhood home town of Ridgway. The national forests are my playground and every day is a holiday. I have a wonderful wife, Sandy, and I've got countle...

This summer, you’ll find the Ouray County Plaindealer is no longer available at one of its previous locations. And that’s because a local business didn’t appreciate being highlighted in a story and to...

The summer of 2020 has placed all of us in a state of “what now.” I go to work every day and at 4 p.m., as I drive back to the ranch, I question, “What now?” In past summers, we were full of “now what...

Dry. Hot. Windy. Summer 2020 crisped this patch of earth - until last week’s monsoon surge. Forests were tinderboxes, trails obscured by fallen trees, wildlife scarce — except in town. Ouray saw only ...

What’s most remarkable about the Gunnison Tunnel? To me, the non-engineer, it is that construction started simultaneously from the east and the west and the tunnels met! But do you remember the old ca...

I can’t remember how old I was, but I must have been really young because it’s the first time I can remember hearing of the Easter bunny. Dad was working for Marie Scott. We lived in a two-story house...

I spent most of my first week in Ouray County walking around wide-eyed, overwhelmed by how stunning it is, unable to believe I could somehow, actually, get to live here. I had an idea of where I was h...

The coronavirus pandemic ensured there were no officially sanctioned city events in Ouray last weekend, but it turns out there were fireworks of a different sort. Plaindealer reporter Liz Teitz took p...

I spent most of my first week in Ouray County walking around wide-eyed, overwhelmed by how stunning it is, unable to believe I could somehow, actually, get to live here. I had an idea of where I was h...