We all know this year's election is a big one, nationally. But locally, we have one contested race for county commissioner, House District 58 and Senate District 6 races and a bunch of statewide ballo...

Dear Editor: A year ago, I addressed the Ouray City Council regarding the approximate 65% increase in residential property assessments in Ouray County (published in the Plaindealer in July 2023). Base...

Dear Editor: Last July I sent the four questions listed below to the Ouray Board of County Commission candidates Padgett, Niece and Perkovich and also to Commissioner Nauer. Padgett, Niece and Nauer r...

Dear Editor: Recent letters and ads supporting Mr. Perkovich have asked “where did the money go.” The innuendo, of course, is that the current commissioners, and Lynn Padgett in particular, have done ...

Dear Editor: Many years ago before short-term rental regulations, I ran an STR. I self-managed, ensuring HOA guidelines were enforced. Many inquiries were denied because it wasn’t in the neighbor’s be...

Dear Editor: With very little warning, Ridgway has just had its beating heart ripped cruelly from its tiny chest. We lost our patron saint and the poignant reason that many of us felt welcome when we ...

Dear Editor: I thoroughly enjoyed the humorous letter from a Ridgway resident regarding commissioner candidates in Ouray County. I laughed out loud when I read about "our bare-bones county government....

Dear Editor: Lynn Padgett deserves the vote of Ouray County citizens. She is the most experienced commissioner and has a thorough knowledge of the key issues important to those of us who live in Ouray...

Dear Editor: As an unaffiliated voter, previous Democrat, I am voting for Mike Perkovich to become the next county commissioner for District 1. Mike does believe in the “... sanctity of the election p...

“Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling, It’s you, it’s you must go, and I must bide.” The history o...

Dear Editor: I write to commend the editors, reporters and entire staff of the Plaindealer on the many awards the paper received last week from the Colorado Press Association. Your work without a doub...

Dear Editor: I have lived in Ouray County for 25 years. My reasons were probably the same as many of yours: the incredible landscapes and community. I soon learned that this was not a given. There wer...

Dear Editor: As I walked out to Sherman Street Monday morning to watch the Labor Day rodeo parade with my granddaughters, I was shocked to see an endless procession of vehicles bearing enormous Trump ...

Dear Editor: The Democratic National Convention last week was remarkable for its open, optimistic and forward-looking messages. The convention was inclusive, charting a path forward for all Americans,...

Dear Editor: I am writing to endorse Ellen Angeles for the District 3 representative to the State Board of Education. As a former teacher and principal for 32 years, I would like to see Ellen fill thi...

Dear Editor: I want to thank the county road department for the dust control method used this year on County Roads 23 and 17. The new material works very well and seems quite durable. I was somewhat c...

Last Sunday, Ouray’s wet August weather definitively broke the old precipitation record for the month, 5.28 inches, set during the serious flood year of 1982, when both Portland and Cascade Creeks cau...

Dear Editor: The 2024 National Night Out celebration in Ridgway deserved much more coverage than a single photo of a child on a Bump 'n Jump on Page 11 of the Aug. 8 issue, while the tale of two meand...

Dear Editor: My grandson, who lives with me, returned from Florida with COVID and within a week I had it. My form transmuted into something called long-term COVID, which meant I could not taste anythi...

Dear Editor: After reading about the challenges faced by the Ouray Police Department, it sure seems to make sense to me to consolidate the policing in Ouray County under one agency. This would include...