Main, News...
July 15, 2026
Hotshot Jesse Eaves calls it “The Great Race.” At the small tent city ...
News
July 15, 2026
Ouray County intends to hire an employee who can help lead the county’...
News
Grants, donations put nonprofit on brink of acquiring Silver Mountain Mine property
July 15, 2026
Ouray County is much closer to getting a new open space park on the Si...
Main, News...
Accident under investigation; man honored with procession
July 15, 2026
An experienced firefighting pilot who was pulling water from Silver Jack Reservoir to battle the Gold Mountain Fire died Sunday when his helicopter plunged into the reservoir northeast of Ridgway. Nicholas Dale, 56, of Sooke, British Columbia, was found deceased inside the helicopter by members of the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office dive team. A witness called 911 to report the crash at 5:17 p.m....
News
One of three defendants, Whittington admits to giving alcohol to minor
July 15, 2026
A former Ouray County man was sentenced Monday to one year of unsupervised probation for providing alcohol to a then-17-year-old girl who said she was sexually assaulted by two others at the former Ou...
Letters, Opinion...
July 15, 2026
Dear Editor: A word of gratitude: These last days since the Gold Mountain Fire started on June 27 have been hard for us, individually and as a community. During times of strife and difficulty a wise m...
Main, News...
Investigation underway to determine cause of crash at Silver Jack Reservoir
July 13, 2026
Editor's note: This story has been changed to correctly indicate the change in the team overseeing the fire response. The pilot who died when his aircraft went down in Silver Jack Reservoir Sunday was...
News
Body of pilot recovered from crash scene by dive team late Sunday
July 12, 2026
An aircraft fighting the Gold Mountain Fire went down in Silver Jack Reservoir in southwestern Gunnison County on Sunday night and the body of the pilot has been recovered from the crash. One person w...
Main, News...
Sheriff allows some evacuees to return home; blaze shifts away from populated areas
July 8, 2026
Residents forced to flee the Gold Mountain Fire north of Ouray nearly two weeks ago returned to charred landscapes but fully intact homes Wednesday, an indication that authorities believe the threat h...
Main, News...
July 8, 2026
A scaled-back Fourth of July celebration of the 250th birthday of the United States and 150th birthday of Ouray attracted thousands to the city, despite the cancellation of fireworks, water fights and...
News
July 8, 2026
Even though the Gold Mountain Fire is still burning, Ouray County officials are already thinking about flash flood risks in the burn scar as Colorado moves into monsoon season. “This is a predictable ...
News
Ridgway enacts mandatory irrigation restrictions
July 8, 2026
Water managers in Ouray County are asking residents to curtail water use and avoid putting more demand on their distribution systems in light of the Gold Mountain Fire and ongoing tinder-dry condition...
Columns, Feature...
July 15, 2026
If you look east from Ridgway, the view of the Cimarron Range is usually a masterpiece of sharp, clear angles. At the center of it all stands the unmistakable spire of Chimney Rock. Together with its ...
Feature
July 15, 2026
Compiled from the files of: The Ouray County Herald, The Ridgway Sun, and The Ouray County Plaindealer 60 Years Ago July 14, 1966 Reports early this week on the results of four days of mosquito sprayi...
Columns, Feature...
It's nearly over, but you can still catch a green gentian flowering show
July 15, 2026
The green gentian is blooming all over Colorado in the montane zones between 8,000 feet and 12,500 feet in elevation. This event has a special name – a mast bloom – which is a term for when a large nu...
Calendar & Events, Feature...
July 16-23, 2026
July 15, 2026
THURSDAY JULY 16 Ridgway Concert Series: Sam Grisman Project with opener Tanasi, free concert in Hartwell Park, 6 p.m. No dogs or outside alcohol allowed. Community book club, noon-1 p.m. at the Ridgw...
Feature
Celebrating 90 years, Neighbor to Neighbor's 20th anniversary and Ridgway mayor honored with good governance award
July 8, 2026
Editor's note: The caption on the photo of Carl Dismant's birthday has been corrected to include Barry Maclennan's name, instead of Paul Elmont ______________ Neighbor to Neighbor celebrated its 20th ...
Calendar & Events, Feature...
July 9-23, 2026
July 8, 2026
Thursday, July 9 Ridgway Concert Series: Black Uhuru with opener Psylo, free concert in Hartwell Park, 6 p.m. No dogs or outside alcohol allowed. Youth Garden Club: Compost Basics for ages 8-18, from ...
Letters, Opinion...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
July 15, 2026
Dear Editor: Thank you is a simple phrase most of us use every day. However, now "thank you" just doesn’t seem adequate for our firefighters and first responders. Thank you for saving our town, our ho...
Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
July 15, 2026
Dear Editor: On the evening of June 27 my wife, Lori, and I evacuated our home in unincorporated Ouray County and drove to Montrose due to the Gold Mountain Fire. All afternoon we watched from my fron...
Letters, Opinion...
July 15, 2026
Dear Editor: I would like to clarify some points made in the Plaindealer's article, “Following outcry, Ouray seeks gym solutions," from the July 9 edition. First, it was “acknowledged that the city di...
Columns, Opinion...
July 15, 2026
By some stroke of luck or simple habit of missing the moment, I’ve had a knack for dodging disasters around here. A decade ago, I rolled into Silverton for a seasonal job nearly a year after the Gold ...
Obituaries
July 15, 2026
January 12, 1930 – June 15, 2026 Marlin Irvin Zwicky, age 96, passed away peacefully at home on Monday, June 15, 2026. He was born on January 12, 1930, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and graduated from Neenah...
