Letters to the Editor

Clark family grateful for a caring community
Letters to the Editor

Clark family grateful for a caring community

November 2, 2025

Jackson Clark’s family and everyone at Toh-Atin Gallery want to thank the community for the love, compassion and support you have shown us following Jackson’s passing. This is a wonderful…

Support healthy school meals for all
Letters to the Editor

Support healthy school meals for all

November 2, 2025

There are two items on the Nov. 4 ballot – Propositions LL and MM – on which we must all vote ‘yes.’ It is crucial to those Durango children who…

Are the incumbents really nonpartisan?
Letters to the Editor

Are the incumbents really nonpartisan?

November 2, 2025

I am concerned with the legality of the incumbents’ qualifying to be elected to the school board. The editorial, “Keep school board elections focused on students, not politics,” (Herald, Aug.…

Jeff Hurd, remember your oath
Letters to the Editor

Jeff Hurd, remember your oath

November 2, 2025

I want to believe that you, Jeff Hurd, are a moral man and that you are not in total agreement with this regime’s actions, having trained as you did for…

Strong fire districts mean safer communities
Letters to the Editor

Strong fire districts mean safer communities

November 2, 2025

As we turn back the clocks and check smoke alarm batteries, it’s worth remembering that many Colorado fire districts are struggling to meet growing demands with shrinking budgets. Lower property…

Hope Scheppelman made our choice easy
Letters to the Editor

Hope Scheppelman made our choice easy

November 2, 2025

A big thank you to Hope Scheppelman for her column (Herald, Oct. 26) telling us exactly who she is so we can be certain to never vote for her under…

Fix Our Forests Act supports wildfire prevention
Letters to the Editor

Fix Our Forests Act supports wildfire prevention

October 31, 2025

Communities in every corner of the country – especially those in Western Colorado – have felt the heavy consequences of intense wildfire seasons. Bipartisan legislation like the Fix Our Forests…

All athletes deserve a ride
Letters to the Editor

All athletes deserve a ride

October 31, 2025

I am writing as a concerned parent to express my deep disappointment regarding the ongoing lack of transportation for away games across Durango’s middle school athletic programs. This has placed…

The Patriotic Way
Letters to the Editor

The Patriotic Way

October 29, 2025

Ladies and gentlement: in 1960, when I started school in Wichita Falls, it was on the Air Force Base, so I was shielded, what with its being integrated, from much…

Confusing Durango’s Catholic parishes and schools
Letters to the Editor

Confusing Durango’s Catholic parishes and schools

October 29, 2025

The editorial “Compassion in Action,” (Herald, Oct. 26) seems to confuse our Catholic dioceses. While your support of the warming center located at Sacred Heart parish hall is welcome, your…

Renew governance through kindness, not war
Letters to the Editor

Renew governance through kindness, not war

October 29, 2025

As I grieve the thousands of immigrants – and some citizens – languishing in unregulated detention centers after sudden and sometimes violent detentions, I long for one thing: A revolution,…

Southwest Colorado deserves answers on health care
Letters to the Editor

Southwest Colorado deserves answers on health care

October 26, 2025

What does Rep. Hurd think about health care and the government shutdown? Who knows. Hurd certainly does not communicate much on these subjects to his constituents. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget…

No Kings Day uplifts community spirit
Letters to the Editor

No Kings Day uplifts community spirit

October 26, 2025

What is this energy we all sink into when we read the news? There’s so much anxiety followed by anger, depression, confusion and/or numbness. Perhaps the most common experience is…

Messaging furthers politics over protection
Letters to the Editor

Messaging furthers politics over protection

October 26, 2025

Has anyone looked at a USDA Forest Service website recently? Every page contains a banner blaming “Radical Left Democrats” for the government shutdown, and claiming that Donald Trump “has made…

Trump and Putin want the same thing
Letters to the Editor

Trump and Putin want the same thing

October 26, 2025

It’s intuitively obvious to casual observers around our shared planet that Vlad Putin and Donald J. Trump want the same thing: the elimination of the good old USA. Is there…

Rising property values don’t offset losses
Letters to the Editor

Rising property values don’t offset losses

October 26, 2025

After a lifetime in La Plata County, I was sure I had the budget figured out. Property values keep going up, therefore county revenues go up with them, right? Surely…

Outside money, politics don’t belong in Durango
Letters to the Editor

Outside money, politics don’t belong in Durango

October 26, 2025

I received a text on Friday, Oct. 17, which was hilarious, though unintentionally so. “Take Politics out of Classes,” it blasted, as it then went on to parody itself. “Protect…

Hurd’s inaction speaks louder than his words
Letters to the Editor

Hurd’s inaction speaks louder than his words

October 26, 2025

I have written several emails to U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd. Most centered on the extreme abuses of power exercised by this administration, and Hurd’s and his colleagues’ meek acquiescence to…

Vote ‘yes’ to protect county services
Letters to the Editor

Vote ‘yes’ to protect county services

October 26, 2025

Due to cuts in federal expenditure and property tax funding roads, bridges, public buildings, law enforcement, public safety, wildfires, floods, natural disasters, veterans services, seniors services, at-risk children’s services, family…

‘Yes’ on 1A: Sustain vital county services
Letters to the Editor

‘Yes’ on 1A: Sustain vital county services

October 26, 2025

This past weekend was a powerful reminder of how deeply our county government touches our daily lives. When the waters rose, it was La Plata County’s Sheriff’s swift-water rescue teams,…

Shutdowns should hurt lawmakers, not workers
Letters to the Editor

Shutdowns should hurt lawmakers, not workers

October 26, 2025

I liked the cartoon regarding a possible side effect of the government shutdown (Herald, Oct. 17). So, here’s a thought I have offered over the decades whenever there was a…

We all need government to work
Letters to the Editor

We all need government to work

October 26, 2025

To all last-minute voters, we all benefit from the services that our La Plata County departments provide. We all drive back and forth from work, go shopping or get to…

An open letter to Jeff Hurd
Letters to the Editor

An open letter to Jeff Hurd

October 26, 2025

Rep. Hurd, you may have noticed that on Sat., Oct. 18 there were a large number of Americans marching to protest against the policies and practices of the current administration,…

Stegner does not belong on school board
Letters to the Editor

Stegner does not belong on school board

October 26, 2025

I am a long time Durango resident with children of varying ages who have attended public, charter and private schools in Durango. Our local school board elections have once again…

Our medical system treats disease, not people
Letters to the Editor

Our medical system treats disease, not people

October 26, 2025

Before 1910, anyone with minimal education could “practice medicine”; quackery was rampant. The American Medical Association addressed this situation in 1908, commissioning Abraham Flexner to evaluate the poor standard of…

Real Americans defend the vulnerable
Letters to the Editor

Real Americans defend the vulnerable

October 26, 2025

Congratulations to the citizens of Frisco, Colorado, who came to the aid of a business owner being harassed by Trump’s ICE. That is what the real America is all about:…

Reckless riding endangers everyone on the ART
Letters to the Editor

Reckless riding endangers everyone on the ART

October 26, 2025

I have seen a few letters from people complaining about all the e-bike riders on the Animas River Trail, and there certainly is a reason for the letters. There are…

A second chance for DeNier and former inmates
Letters to the Editor

A second chance for DeNier and former inmates

October 24, 2025

I am curious as to why the DeNier building is not being used? What a perfect opportunity for transitioning inmates who desperately need support to get the help and tools…