Opinion
Wendt ‘the change we need’
Harrison Wendt is running for Durango City Council and he’s the change we need. This town has been in the ownership of privilege for too long. A good portion of…
Opinion & Letters to the Editor
Opinion
‘What if bank runs out of money?’
In light of the recent bailout of Silicon Valley Bank, it seems appropriate to review Rule 11 of the game of Monopoly: 11. What if the bank runs out of…
Opinion
Year-round DST ‘failed experiment’
Permanent, year-round daylight saving time is a tried – and failed – experiment. In December 1973, Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act to begin this two-year…
Letters to the Editor
Boebert at school shouldn’t be allowed
RE: Having Lauren Boebert speak to students at Dolores High School. As reported in The Journal and The Durango Herald on March 15, an anonymous source said, “This embattled politician…
Opinion
Boebert should focus on water
Recently, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert criticized our nation for not having enough firearms. She mentioned that our fellow citizens owned 46% of privately owned guns in the world. She continued,…
Opinion
‘RV park could be great benefit’
I think the proposed RV park in Animas Valley could be a great benefit to our area. I have stayed in many RV parks of this type around the country…
Opinion
‘Time to arrest these freeloaders’
It seems very obvious that part of the solution to our “homeless” problem is to make them more accountable for the damage they are incurring on our public properties. Much…
Opinion
‘Need a passionate housing advocate’
I have been a resident of Durango on and off since 1991, and I have watched multiple City Councils struggle to address the lack of affordable housing for decades. In…
Opinion
Hey, what about Three Springs
City officials in Durango seem to de-prioritize Three Springs. Then when they eventually do something out here, like fix the city roads, they seem to see that as enough for…
Opinion
Yazzie, Wendt for Council
Gilda Yazzie and Harrison Wendt are excellent candidates for the two open seats on our City Council. Gilda has considerable experience with housing projects, and a focus on making housing…
Opinion
‘Our workforce deserves better’
Unbelievable. Here we go again: Another million-dollar plus development near town of 16 single-family homes on Rosemary Lane that the developer is yet again allowed to “pay the fee in…
Opinion
Criticism about being ‘woke’
It seems there’s a lot of debate and criticism lately about being “woke.” According to the Oxford languages, the word “woke” is the past (tense) of “wake,” a verb. “Emerge…
Opinion
‘Firearms are not the issue’
I am an unaffiliated voter and of all the anti-2nd Amendment legislative bills introduced this year, HB23-1230 is the worst of them all. Like its sister bills, this one is…
Letters to the Editor
Need workers, trade schools
During my last haircut at a Durango small business, I learned that the owners had trouble finding licensed and certified barbers, and plumbers available to help keep their business open.…
Opinion
Kudos on trauma-informed sentencing
Kudos to District Attorney Christian Champagne and the DA’s office on their progressive stance in a recent domestic violence case. Champagne required the convicted perpetrator to find new employment as…
Opinion
Harrison Wendt ‘a pivotal change’
Harrison Wendt does not stray away from the real. Having experienced life as an Fort Lewis College student, a performing artist and community activist, Harrison is present in so many…
Opinion
‘Gilda Yazzie has my vote’
My longtime friend Gilda Yazzie is running for Durango City Council and has my vote. Gilda’s extensive professional background and bachelor’s degree in business from Fort Lewis College make her…
Opinion
‘Park, walk mile in the mud’
We live down a two-mile dirt road, barely maintained by La Plata County’s Road and Bridge division. That was until we set up a brand-new homestead three years ago. After…
Opinion
Usual subjects are ‘cultural shepherds’
The rank smell of red herring, stuffed into pockets of straw men binging Orwellian Fox News to feed nativist diets, takes little scratching to sniff in recent letters to the…
Guest Columns
Housing solution must include path to homeownership
Robertscca Much of the talk this year, particularly around the City Council election, has involved affordable housing. But there has been a curious shift in the language. The preferred term…
Opinion
Rosemary Lane: ‘What happened?’
On Friday, we learned that 16 new single family homes being built on Rosemary Lane will be priced at $1,035,000 or $1,248,000. When the city planning commission approved the proposal,…
Opinion
‘If Limbaugh, Jones had an offspring’
Finally, many middle-of-the-road and principled conservatives are beginning to see what an utter buffoon Tucker Carlson is. If Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones had an offspring, it would look, talk…
Opinion
‘Mistakes’ about river access
On March 5, in “Flies and Lies,” columnist Don Oliver wrote about river access and private property rights in Colorado. He makes some mistakes in his analysis. He says, “Until…
Opinion
Bayfield BOE ‘decision took courage’
My commendation and support goes to the unanimous decision of the Bayfield School Board to modify the curriculum concerning sex education. This decision took courage. What that school board basically…
Opinion
‘Mea culpa’ on RV park zoning
An “acknowledgement of error” or “apology” are definitions of mea culpa. Yes, I was the one who wrote the letter on Jan. 20, saying the Roberts Resorts RV Park proposal…
Opinion
‘Long for ‘real’ railroad lanterns’
I greatly enjoyed the “flanger” snow-plowing tourist train story. Let’s have more local-train stories, shall we? But hold the train – did I read correctly in the story that crew…
Opinion
‘AR-15 most common gun in U.S.’
House Bill 23-1230 will ban most semiautomatic rifles if passed. It starts off citing statistics regarding gun violence and mass shootings. But none of that matters. The Supreme Court has…
Opinion
Parents’ job: ‘Review rules, processes’
Here’s another take on kids and the Durango School District 9-R. Thirty plus years ago, our son went to kindergarten at Needham Elementary School. When I went to meet him…
Opinion
‘Thank you, Rep. Boebert’ for Syria vote
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida introduced a resolution to remove all U.S. troops from Syria (H.Con. Res.21). Unfortunately, the resolution was defeated 103 (yeas) to 321 (nays). Thank you,…
Opinion
‘Never seen highways neglected so badly’
Anyone else tired of dodging potholes? I realize it’s been a hard winter, but we’ve had hard winters before and I have never seen our highways neglected so badly. I’ve…