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Ouray County Plaindealer

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195 S Lena St. Unit D
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
970-325-4412

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PO Box 529

Ridgway, CO 81432

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Mike Wiggins, Co-Publisher

mike@ouraynews.com

970-325-4412
970-216-9377

Erin McIntyre, Co-Publisher

erin@ouraynews.com

970-325-4412
970-270-5787

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Helping the helpers: The anatomy of a complex rescue

Main, News...

NEIGHBORS AND HELPERS

Helping the helpers: The anatomy of a complex rescue

Volunteers saved an 11-year-old girl from the bottom of a cliff thanks largely to the skills of Mike Gibbs, who's made a career out of training rescuers

By By Nancy Lofholm Special to the Plaindealer

February 18, 2026

It took Mike Gibbs all of five seconds on that morning in early August to figure out it was time to execute one of the world’s most complicated rope rescues. A car had tumbled 320 feet off the edge of...

Main, News...

Bills to give reservoir to Ouray debut in Congress

Administrator: City can afford repair expenses, which are still unknown

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

February 18, 2026

U.S. House and Senate bills to transfer ownership of Crystal Reservoir from the U.S. Forest Service to the city of Ouray made it to subcommittee hearings in Washington, D.C. last week. Both bills are ...

News

County spurns prairie dog control request

Commissioners say they're unwilling, unable to adopt restrictions; resident withdraws lawsuit threat

By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com

February 18, 2026

Ouray County leaders last week snuffed a resident’s request to require property owners to control prairie dogs, citing a legal inability and unwillingness to do so. At the start of a Feb. 11 work sess...

News

Local Briefs

Ridgway awards visitor services contract to chamber

February 18, 2026

Ridgway will hire the Ridgway Area Chamber of Commerce for $33,824 per year to support town marketing efforts. “RACC expressed confidence in its ability to execute the scope of work, based on many yea...

News

Town approves measures to boost housing affordability

By Deb Hurley Brobst Special to the Plaindealer

February 18, 2026

The Ridgway Town Council approved three measures at its meeting on Feb. 11 to boost affordable housing in the town. Ridgway applying for ADU grant Ridgway is applying for a grant that will allow it to...

Remote-triggered avalanche in San Juan Mountains

First responders receive first COVID-19 vaccines