Our rivers are shrinking, populations are rising, and many rural communities are suffering from drought and economic dislocation. Urban water use is declining, despite population growth, and communiti...

We’ve all said it, or at least heard someone say it. It happened to be the day after Christmas and I got to wondering where the saying came from. Purely coincidental, of course. A piece in the New Yor...

TROOPER TIPS One of the things about living in rural parts of Colorado means often having to travel on two lane roads. Where it is sometimes a lot more pleasant than driving on a big highway, it can h...

FROM THE PUBLISHER You might notice the Plaindealer looks a little bit different today. If you’re reading this, it means we’ve successfully upgraded our computer system and designed the paper using a ...

ERIN STADELMAN As I look outside the window today, the snow is falling ever so slightly. It is just enough to cover up the dirt of the driveway and make the vehicles on the highway seem to be moving a...

TROOPER TIPS How often do you ask yourself if you are driving impaired? I know you’re asking why you would ask yourself that if you are not drinking. But are you actually impaired and don’t realize it...

FROM THE PUBLISHER Even small places deserve good journalism. That was one of our mantras when we decided to purchase the Plaindealer. Since the two of us took on the jobs of publishers, editors, repo...

The season of winter is well upon us these days. I do love the snow. It covers up all the stuff you have in your yard that you didn’t have time to put away before the snow came. All the hay meadows ar...

  In the past few months of attending Ridgway Town Council meetings, we’ve had the opportunity to hear robust public discussion on topics ranging from water rate structures to the ethical reasons for ...

FROM THE PUBLISHER Six years ago, a Front Range billionaire delivered $5,000 checks to each of three conservative candidates for the School District 51 Board of Education in Mesa County. The teachers’...

Dear Editor: The nearly 300 miles of roads located within both the unincorporated and incorporated territory of Ouray County are a small but essential transportation network that serves not only the l...

A story on Page 2 of the Aug. 29 edition, “Commissioners consider sunset in tax question,” incorrectly stated the amount by which residential property taxes would increase if a 3.7 mill levy increase ...

From the Ouray County Herald and Ouray County Plaindealer: 50 Years Ago August 14, 1969 - (advertisement) $100 reward for information leading to positive identification of person or persons who: 1. Br...

A story on Page 1 in the Aug. 1-8 edition incorrectly stated new Wright Opera House Executive Director Alyssa Preston is managing the capital campaign for the building. The campaign is being managed b...

TROOPER TIPS According to the meteorologists it is now officially summer. So that means there will be a lot more motorcycles on our roadways. So that is this month’s topic. I was a motor officer for t...

“The hills are alive with the sound of music With songs they have sung for a thousand years The hills fill my heart with the sound of music My heart wants to sing every song it hears”. These are the w...

Shh ... Have you visited your local library lately? If you haven’t, you may want to check out some of the many things you can do there. Besides great books, movies, music, internet, and computer acces...

FROM THE PUBLISHER As new publishers, we find folks want to know where we stand on things. What’s your plan for the newspaper? Are you going to print stories or letters about this or that? Will you wr...

By Karen Risch It’s amazing to observe what grows in Ouray, a city of just a thousand people, living and working at an elevation of 7,500 - 8,400 feet. This hardy town lies in a sloping mountain bowl ...

by Mike Wiggins Lamar Wiggins hated risk. His aversion to it — coupled with his fear of an array of things — defined his life and, by extension, that of his family. A fear of heights meant when we tra...