Dear Editor: Not only is a burn pit a good idea, it is a necessity, but not in the way described. Times and codes are changing. The new fire and construction codes will require more area to be cleared...

Dear Editor: Today is a rare day. Snow capped mountains with a cloudless sky are not rare, but when the air is also clear, that is rare, because too often smoke fills the Ouray and Ridgway valleys. Th...

Dear Editor: In none of the large, taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects in the city over the past years — the school, the courthouse complex, the pool, the water plant and the sewer treatment plant...

Wyatt Earp wasn’t born a legend. He was an opportunist, a man with a keen eye for the next horizon and a knack for finding — or perhaps stirring up — chaos wherever he set his boots. While history boo...

Dear Editor: I saved last year’s July 10-16 edition of the Plaindealer because its coverage of the city of Ouray’s Independence Day parade reminded me that it marked the beginning of what would be a y...

Dear Editor: We all know how lucky we are to live in Ouray, but most of us do not know how fortunate we are to have Michelle Metteer as our city administrator. She is a soft-spoken person so I would l...

A newly appointed Ouray city councilor who has attended just half of the board's meetings in person this year has asked fellow councilors to relax rules requiring councilors to attend meetings in pers...

Thanks to warming sun, wet snow showers, spells of shirtsleeve weather, earlier sunrises and later sunsets, meteorological spring (March 1) is upon us. It’s been an a-ha moment these last two weeks as...

Dear Editor: On behalf of the Ouray County Coroner’s Office, I want to express our sincere gratitude to this community for stepping up when it mattered most. Over the past few weeks, our office manage...

Dear Editor: There are many instances where we are told that our children’s behavior is not a reflection of their parenting. As a parent of a sometimes rebellious child, I welcome that sentiment. But ...

Dear Editor: Several months ago, I attempted to contact Rep. Jeff Hurd regarding an issue in Ouray County. Upon calling his office, I was connected to a voicemail that stated the best way to contact h...

In the seven years we've owned the Plaindealer, it has become pretty obvious that we need more resources to help cover stories related to public lands, environmental issues and climate challenges. We ...

Dear Editor: Thank you for alerting the public to the absurd bluff of Mark Kirk. He is threatening to sue the Ouray County commissioners if they don’t adopt a regulation to accommodate the exterminati...

Dear Editor: My wife and I are very proud of all the many improvements that have been made to our little town of Ridgway since we moved here about 10 years ago. We have one suggestion that we feel wou...

The year 2025, Ouray’s hottest year ever recorded, began with a very cold, dry month. January 2025’s mean temperatures were 4.8 degrees below normal both day and night, making it the only below normal...

Dear Editor: I want to commend the Ridgway Town Council for its decision not to move forward with the proposed vehicle idling ordinance and for taking a thoughtful, practical approach to the issue. I ...

60 Years Ago December 30, 1965 What can we expect to happen to our pocketbook in 1966? Here are some clues gleaned from the 43rd Annual National Agricultural Outlook Conference held in Washington D.C....

Dear Editor: With the departure of Interim Police Chief Daric Harvey, Ouray once again faces instability in its police department. Rather than automatically rebuilding the same structure, this feels l...

Dear Editor: As we welcome the winter solstice, and the slow return of the light, I want to share some thoughts for the season, and the year to come. I believe the core values of the season, whatever ...

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Wunderground’s “meteorologists qualify a white Christmas as one with at least an inch of snow on the ground [SOG] on Christmas morning,” (Hayden Marshall and Jonathan Er...