Letters to the Editor

Replace mascot with beautiful art
Letters to the Editor

Replace mascot with beautiful art

November 7, 2021

With Native American Heritage Month and Thanksgiving this month of November, outside of taking action yesterday, now is the time to finally remove the grotesque statue outside of the Toh-Atin…

The misguided war on critical race theory
Letters to the Editor

The misguided war on critical race theory

November 7, 2021

Critical race theory, a once-obscure academic concept, has recently emerged as a source of contentious debate. Unfortunately, the term is misused and profoundly misunderstood. The right-wing rebranding of CRT is…

Wild horses are truly wild, and native
Letters to the Editor

Wild horses are truly wild, and native

November 6, 2021

Scott Beckstead’s rebuttal (“Americans will always revere wild horses,” Herald, Nov. 3) of Andrew Gulliford’s earlier misinformed screed against wild horses makes some important points about the Bureau of Land…

Unite to pass climate legislation
Letters to the Editor

Unite to pass climate legislation

November 6, 2021

Dick White states that “(u)nity is crucial in fight against deadly threats of extreme heat, cold, storms” (Herald, Oct. 29). I wholeheartedly agree. We must unite in taking the necessary…

Marginalized populations need support in Bayfield
Letters to the Editor

Marginalized populations need support in Bayfield

November 1, 2021

I am writing to encourage the Bayfield School District to include books that represent LGBTQ themes and other marginalized populations into free reading classroom libraries, at all schools at all…

Southwest Colorado has good air quality
Letters to the Editor

Southwest Colorado has good air quality

October 31, 2021

Front-page headline in the Herald on Oct. 22: “Durango experienced 62 elevated ozone days in 2020.” When I read that headline, I’m like wow, that sounds really bad. After reading…

Espero Apartments a good start
Letters to the Editor

Espero Apartments a good start

October 31, 2021

Hurray for Housing Solutions. Opening the Espero Apartments won’t solve all the problems of affordable housing in Durango, but it shows that when people work together, solutions are possible. I…

Centura a far cry from Sisters of Mercy
Letters to the Editor

Centura a far cry from Sisters of Mercy

October 31, 2021

Thank you, Melissa Youssef and colleagues, for initiating a petition to improve health care in Durango at Centura Medical Center. I have, in fact, stopped referring to our regional hospital…

Antisemitism has no place at school board meeting
Letters to the Editor

Antisemitism has no place at school board meeting

October 30, 2021

The crescendo of hateful, divisive and misinformed rhetoric displayed by individuals at recent 9-R school board meetings reached a new high, or rather low on Oct. 26, when an individual…

Please vote in the 9-R school board election
Letters to the Editor

Please vote in the 9-R school board election

October 30, 2021

I’m putting on my parent hat only for this letter. How do you feel about white supremacists? What about those that celebrate the Nazi regime? Should these kind of hateful…

Stolen flags, banner will be replaced
Letters to the Editor

Stolen flags, banner will be replaced

October 30, 2021

As the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango, I was deeply disappointed and saddened the third time in the last month, when our church signage was vandalized. The…

Trick-or-treaters should be safe
Letters to the Editor

Trick-or-treaters should be safe

October 30, 2021

A year or two ago, I was driving into Durango on Halloween night. I was rather bemused by the universal lack of lighting on children’s costumes as I approached what…

Herald treats Christians unfairly
Letters to the Editor

Herald treats Christians unfairly

October 29, 2021

How dare The Durango Herald vilify Christians and especially Christians who are running for school boards in the article regarding school board candidate Richard “Dean” Hill! Your actions are no…

U.S. public education is the gold standard
Letters to the Editor

U.S. public education is the gold standard

October 29, 2021

Public education in the United States is the envy of the world. It is the primary reason our country is so successful. Our system is designed to bring diverse socioeconomic…

An old Durangoan’s 9-R ballot choices
Letters to the Editor

An old Durangoan’s 9-R ballot choices

October 29, 2021

There’s not much I recognize about Durango in this prophesied Kali Yuga daze compared to when I was kid my daughter’s age in the early ’70s. Yet? I certainly can…

Peace in the park vs. fire engines
Letters to the Editor

Peace in the park vs. fire engines

October 28, 2021

How impractical to locate a fire station, which will also include EMT ambulances, police industrial lighting, secured fencing, the unknown noise of chainsaws and engine checks at an already busy…

Book removal at Bayfield school alarming
Letters to the Editor

Book removal at Bayfield school alarming

October 28, 2021

I’m responding to an Oct. 8 story in the Herald about the decision to remove a book from a Bayfield Middle School teacher’s classroom library. Superintendent Kevin Aten made this…

Gulec should value civic, cross-circular education
Letters to the Editor

Gulec should value civic, cross-circular education

October 28, 2021

In the Oct. 13 Herald, Durango School District 9-R board candidate Donna Gulec cautioned against “diverting scarce educational resources away from teaching reading, writing and math, toward making schools into…

School district is not serving students
Letters to the Editor

School district is not serving students

October 27, 2021

Durango School District’s national test scores are below the 30th percentile. Only 31% of 9-R students are at their grade level in math and 50% at their grade level in…

Voters need to know about ‘Building Durango’s Future’
Letters to the Editor

Voters need to know about ‘Building Durango’s Future’

October 27, 2021

I have been reading with great interest about the Durango School District 9-R school board candidates, especially the slate “Building Durango’s Future.” I would like to suggest that those who…

Mercy must provide quality work environment
Letters to the Editor

Mercy must provide quality work environment

October 27, 2021

Thank you for publishing the “Context for petition to improve health care” at Mercy Regional Medical Center (Herald, Oct. 23). Mr. Parker’s Oct. 17 letter to the editor caught my…

Why no reporting about COVID-19 cases at Mercy?
Letters to the Editor

Why no reporting about COVID-19 cases at Mercy?

October 27, 2021

I’m wondering why the Herald isn’t reporting on what’s going on right now at Mercy Regional Medical Center with COVID-19? A fully vaccinated friend of mine with a breakthrough case…

Support public education; vote ‘no’ on Prop. 119
Letters to the Editor

Support public education; vote ‘no’ on Prop. 119

October 26, 2021

Increasing taxes on marijuana to raise money for education may sound like a good idea at first glance. However, before voting yes on Proposition 119, it should be examined closely.…

Trash dumping near river is illegal
Letters to the Editor

Trash dumping near river is illegal

October 26, 2021

I contacted Neighbors in Need Alliance, which according to their webpages has assumed oversight of the Purple Cliffs camp. My message to NINA was: I occasionally fly-fish the Animas River…

Boys & Girls Club makes a difference in kids’ lives
Letters to the Editor

Boys & Girls Club makes a difference in kids’ lives

October 26, 2021

In support of the National Afterschool Alliance’s Oct. 28 “Lights On Afterschool” celebration, I wanted to remind the community that the Boys & Girls Club of La Plata County has…

Democracy at stake in upcoming elections
Letters to the Editor

Democracy at stake in upcoming elections

October 26, 2021

President Joe Biden’s approval rating has slipped, but if all voters understood what’s been going on in this country – that the vast majority of Republicans (1.) promote or play…

Boys & Girls Club a blessing to our community
Letters to the Editor

Boys & Girls Club a blessing to our community

October 25, 2021

As a working parent, I applaud the Boys & Girls Club of La Plata County for its outstanding after-school program. My two boys attend the club each day. The staff…

Wild horses should not be maligned
Letters to the Editor

Wild horses should not be maligned

October 25, 2021

I must object to Andrew Gulliford’s recent article “Scourge of the West” (Herald, Oct. 9) about free roaming horses on public lands in the West and chide the Herald for…

Time for ‘The Chief’ statue to go
Letters to the Editor

Time for ‘The Chief’ statue to go

October 25, 2021

I attended the Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage event, which included a march around town and a stopover at the Toh-Atin statue of “The Chief.” This offensive, racist and triggering…

Vote for Brown, Parmenter, Petersen for 9-R
Letters to the Editor

Vote for Brown, Parmenter, Petersen for 9-R

October 25, 2021

I was glad to see the Herald article about the 9-R school board candidates, as the website for the slate of challengers to Erika Brown, Andrea Parmenter and Richard Petersen…