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Latest News
Main, News...
Vehicle problems toss wrench at sheriff
Maintenance costs pile up as agency wrestles with delays in replacing patrol cars
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
December 10, 2025
Gio Mendoza’s coworkers thought he was missing for more than an hour. ...
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Main, News...
Resident: Tax money should fund ‘creatives’
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
December 10, 2025
A Ridgway woman is proposing the town give "creative" residents a mont...
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News
Commissioner opposes change to cost-savings policy
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
December 10, 2025
Ouray County Commissioner Lynn Padgett voted against a minor change to...
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A visit with Mr. and Mrs. Claus
Main, News...
A visit with Mr. and Mrs. Claus
December 10, 2025
Read More
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News
County OKs budget, will diminish savings
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
December 10, 2025
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the county's disaster fund balance heading into 2026. Ouray County commissioners approved the county's 2026 budget during their regul...
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News
Ouray School Board considers calendar options
Opinions vary on start, end, graduation dates, four-day school week
By Deb Hurley Brobst Special to the Plaindealer 
December 10, 2025
The Ouray School District is looking at calendar options for the next two years, and officials are considering feedback from a survey of parents, staff, students and the community to help its decision...
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News
News
Ridgway finalizes budget for 2026
December 10, 2025
Ridgway is ready to adopt its largest budget ever for 2026, after its council decided how much funding it will grant to 20 community organizations. During a Dec. 3 budget workshop, town councilors agr...
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News
Ranch allowed temporary access to plow County Road 7
December 10, 2025
Ouray County commissioners agreed to grant Wolf Cattle and Land Co. temporary access to plow snow on County Road 7 to complete a wildfire mitigation project. The ranch will receive a right-of-way encr...
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News
Clerk recommends employee replace her
December 10, 2025
Outgoing Ouray County Clerk and Recorder Cristy Lynn has issued a recommendation for her replacement when she leaves her role in January. Lynn sent a letter to county commissioners formally recommendi...
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Ridgway to grow capacity to fight wildland fires
Main, News...
Ridgway to grow capacity to fight wildland fires
Additional staff, engine can enhance skills, create more revenue
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
December 3, 2025
Ridgway’s wildland firefighters have mopped up hotspots in Nevada, fought wildfire on the front lines in California and protected structures at home in Colorado. Since the Ridgway Fire Protection Dist...
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Main, News...
County chops event center operations to aid budget
By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
December 3, 2025
Ouray County is performing triage on its 2026 budget as 2025 revenues are coming in lower than expected, placing even more pressure on the county’s general fund savings. County leaders have been worki...
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New council’s first task: Fill vacancies
News
New council’s first task: Fill vacancies
After soliciting applications, councilors to interview, pick appointments Jan. 5
December 3, 2025
Ouray city leaders swore in a new mayor and city councilor Monday night, then turned their attention to the council’s most pressing issue: Finding and appointing two more councilors to fill out the ra...
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Features coverage
Young Ridgway squad marked by stifling defense
Columns, Feature...
PREP ROUNDUP
Young Ridgway squad marked by stifling defense
By By Matt Meyer Special to the Plaindealer 
December 10, 2025
Certain career milestones set apart high school basketball players, the most well-known being 1,000 points. But on the defensive end, there’s an equivalent figure, with 300 career steals signifying a ...
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Feature
SEASON OF SHARING
Trust for Land Restoration
December 10, 2025
Editor's note: The Ouray County Plaindealer is continuing its tradition of featuring nonprofit organizations based in Ouray County, serving Ouray County in a series of profiles called Season of Sharin...
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Spotlight on the Arts: Marisa Feller and High Alpine Aerial
Feature
Spotlight on the Arts: Marisa Feller and High Alpine Aerial
By By Natasha Hessler Special to the Plaindealer 
December 10, 2025
High Alpine Aerial founder Marisa Feller has a long performance career in aerial arts, but she still remembers how difficult she found her first aerial class. “The next day I was so sore, I could bare...
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Calendar & Events
Calendar & Events, Feature...
Calendar & Events
December 10, 2025
THURSDAY DECEMBER 11 Tech Thursday – Get help with quick tech problems from 4-6 p.m. at the Ridgway Public Library, 300 Charles St. Walk-ins welcome. Miner Distractions improv comedy show featuring Ou...
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Good For You!
Feature
Good For You!
December 10, 2025
The “Good For You!” page is a place for reader-submitted photos illustrating community, celebrations and more. Want to submit a photo for publication? Here are some guidelines for submissions: This pa...
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Spotlight on the Arts: The First Little Free Art Gallery in Ridgway
Feature
Spotlight on the Arts: The First Little Free Art Gallery in Ridgway
By By Ariel Hessler Special to the Plaindealer 
December 3, 2025
Inside Karen and Floyd Day’s home, the walls are covered in art. Both Karen and Floyd are longtime artists, and the walls of their home show the evidence. Large and colorful abstract depicting horses,...
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Editor Picks
News
Slow start to snow season
Wave of storms helps, but snowpack in San Juans well below normal
By Mike Wiggins mike@ouraynews.com 
December 3, 2025
A series of post-Thanksgiving storms delivered desperately needed snow to the moisture-starved San Juans, but snowpack at the start of December remains well below average in Ouray County and the surro...
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News
SEASON OF SHARING
Ridgway Ouray Community Council
December 3, 2025
Editor's note: The Ouray County Plaindealer is continuing its tradition of featuring nonprofit organizations based in Ouray County, serving Ouray County in a series of profiles called Season of Sharin...
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News
Snowpack lagging in San Juans
December 3, 2025
A recent series of storms helped boost the paltry snowpack in the San Juans, but the amount of water in that snowpack in the Gunnison River Basin — known as snow-water equivalent — is still among the ...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
‘Timeout’ for Padgett sends bad message
By Dear Editor: 
December 3, 2025
We don’t put women in timeout; we put children in timeout. When you put a woman in timeout, you are putting her voice in timeout; telling her to go be quiet and that she should be seen and not heard. ...
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Letters, Opinion...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Nauer’s ‘timeout’ idea is a non-starter
By Dear Editor: 
December 3, 2025
Had I not participated in scores of Ouray County Board of County Commissioners' and Planning Commission meetings, that Commissioner Lynn Padgett was elected or appointed to, I may have felt differentl...
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Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines

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Ridgway, Colorado 81432
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