Community
When you buy a ticket to the Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs’ Jewels and Jeans Barn Dance, you are buying a night of great country music, dancing and fun with friends. But you are also buying …
Fall in the San Juan Mountains is a perfect time to pursue landscape photography — the topic of the next Pagosa Springs Photography Club meeting, set for Oct. 14.
Community
The Pagosa Springs Photography Club will next meet on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 6:30 p.m., at the Community United Methodist Church, 434 Lewis St. Our program this month is “Landscape …
This week’s Bird of the Week, compliments of the Weminuche Audubon Society and Audubon Rockies, is the Say’s phoebe. This flycatcher will nest on rocky ledges or crevices, in abandoned wells and mine shafts, in tree cavities, holes in banks and under bridges. The feature that these sites have in common, and that often puts the Say’s phoebe in close contact with people, is protection from above, a requirement that is easily satisfied under the eaves of a porch or on rafters in an outbuilding and where we often find them. Say’s phoebes may share the same territories as black phoebes, but their use of different habitat types means they rarely compete for resources. Black phoebes nest near water, and Say’s often live in very dry, sparsely vegetated open areas far from water. Say’s breed further north than any other flycatcher, from central Mexico to the arctic tundra, in an area west of a line that almost divides the United States in two. Say’s phoebes are small, long-tailed birds colored brownish-gray above with a gray breast and cinnamon on the belly. For its size, the head of this bird looks large and sometimes has a peaked shape. Their simple, whistled songs in spring are short, but repeated for several minutes. Like other members of the tyrant flycatcher group, Say’s phoebes eat almost entirely insects, adding spiders, millipedes and berries on occasion. Their most common prey are wild bees and wasps. These birds are often seen perched on fence wire or posts, low shrubs, plants or rocks, watching to dart out and nab an aerial insect or pouncing to grab one from the ground. Like a mountain bluebird or American kestrel, this phoebe will hover low over the ground when aerial insects are scarce. In cold weather, this hunting tactic allows the bird to forage closer to the ground where it is warmer and insects are more active. It is one of the reasons why the Say’s phoebe arrives earlier in spring and stays later in fall than other insect dependent birds. For information on events, visit www.weminucheaudubon.org and www.facebook.com/weminucheaudubon/.
Bird of the Week
Outdoors
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), moderate to heavy rainfall is expected, with rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inces possible across the San Juan Mountains and surrounding valleys. …
Education
The Ruby M. Sisson Memorial Library Foundation and Friends invites you to our first social gathering and membership drive in the newly expanded library. Join us Oct. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the …
Library News
A recent stroll through the library’s magazine aisle stopped me in my tracks.   The August 2026 cover of Atlantic Magazine featured an apocalyptic cover with the headline “The Age of …
Most popular stories
Faith

SpiritFire Inspirational Living Center announces upcoming events

Save the dates for the following activities at the SpiritFire Inspirational Living Center: • Thursday, Oct. 15, 6 p.m.: “The Importance of Higher Self Connection and How It Can Change Your …
Community

Pagosa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to hold Going Deeper Sharing Circle Sunday

The Pagosa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (PUUF) will use the hymn “We Laugh, We Cry,” written by Shelley Denham, in “Singing the Living Tradition Hymnal,” as grounding words for the Going …
Community

A community that supports itself: Friends and Neighbors in Need to host fundraising breakfast/lunch

The campaign is called “Who is Under the Blanket?” and is borrowed from a life-size bronze sculpture by Timothy Schmalz titled “Homeless Jesus.” The sculpture is a visual representation …
Community

San Juan Stargazers aim to hold star party Oct. 10

The San Juan Stargazers may be having a star party on Saturday, Oct. 10. Looking at a weather forecast for Friday, Oct. 9, it shows a bright sunny day, and Sunday, Oct. 11, shows rain for the …
Community

Three actors, one boat and a shark that won’t work: ‘The Shark Is Broken’ to bring the backstage story of ‘Jaws’ to the stage

A broken shark can be a gift to a playwright. When Bruce, the mechanical shark built for “Jaws,” wouldn’t cooperate during filming, the delays left Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard …
Senior News

Indigenous People’s Day: honoring history, culture and community

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an opportunity to recognize and honor the history, culture, traditions and contributions of Indigenous peoples. The day encourages us to learn about the people who …
What Readers Are Saying
Things to Do

What's happening in and around Pagosa Springs

Here's a look at upcoming events in and around Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County. Find more events on our calendar . Thursday, Oct. 8 Ruby’s Writers Guild. 9-11 a.m., Sisson Library. …
Wildfires

Prescribed burn on Eight Mile Mesa canceled

Update: The Eight Mile Prescribed Fire Project on the Pagosa Ranger District has been canceled due to the unit receiving rain yesterday. Fuel moistures are too high for the prescribed fire to be …
McCelvey
Local News

McCelvey sentenced to 12 years in prison

After entering a guilty plea to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault in August related to a fatal 2025 crash, Justin Levi McCelvey, 39, of New Braunfels, Texas, was sentenced to 12 years in the …
Resident Jane Weitzel addresses the Pagosa Springs Town Council during the council’s consideration of a planned development agreement for the proposed Ponderosa Mountain subdivision on Oct. 6.
Government

Town council votes to postpone decision on major subdivision development

On Oct. 6, the Pagosa Springs Town Council decided to continue a decision on a proposed subdivision development being called Ponderosa Mountain by the developers.   A continuance decision …
Government

County planning department operating on limited hours with three positions vacant

The Archuleta County Planning Department is currently operating on limited office hours.   According to the county’s website, the Planning Department’s hours are from noon to 4 p.m. on …
Government

Monthly sales tax collections down for second consecutive month

According to data released by Archuleta County Finance Director Chad Eaton on Oct. 7, sales tax collections in Archuleta County for August were reported to be down 2.85 percent compared to figures …
Government

County extends local disaster declaration

In a special meeting on Oct. 1, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) unanimously opted to extend the county’s declaration of a local disaster related to recent heavy rains and …
Obituaries

Making the community a safer place

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of joining a sold-out crowd of fellow community members for Rise Above Violence’s annual Runway for Rise Recycled Fashion Gala. And, like we are each year, we …
Crews clean up and prepare subgrade for sidewalk, curb and gutter pouring operations after significant rainfall on the 100 block of U.S. 160.
Local News

U.S. 160 reconstruction information

Week of Oct. 12-16 Work activity Note: All work is subject to weather conditions. 1st Street is reduced to one lane alternating in each direction for planned utility work and paving …
Government

Commissioners hear community survey results for comprehensive plan

During a work session on Sept. 22, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) heard a presentation from Director of Development Eva Kruse on the results of a community survey conducted …
Business

Orphan Wells Mitigation Enterprise Board increases industry fee to sustain Colorado orphan-well works

The Orphan Wells Mitigation Enterprise Board approved an increase in Colorado’s annual industry-funded orphan-well mitigation fee to sustain plugging, environmental cleanup and reclamation as the …
Despite the rainy weather, Archuleta County collected nearly 1,200 at a recent tire collection event.
Government

Archuleta County tire collection event a success despite challenging weather

This tire collection event presented some challenging conditions, with heavy rain and muddy conditions throughout the day. Despite the weather, the Archuleta County team worked together to assist …

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Oct 8, 2026

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Obituaries
 Lynn Anthony
Lynn was a man who brought people together. He was loving, energetic, playful and full of life, with a gift for making people feel seen, valued and cared for. He loved people deeply and never seemed …
Joel T. ‘Tom’ Hall
Brig. Gen. (USAF Ret.) Joel T. “Tom” Hall lived a life of service devoted to his country and his family. He passed away quietly in Chandler, Ariz., on June 23, 2026, at the age of 90. Born …
Mary Jo Gwaltney
Mary Jo Gwaltney, born Mary Jo Bottoms, passed away on Sept. 3, 2026, in Pagosa Springs, Colo. She was born on Oct. 18, 1944, in Arkansas, and lived a life marked by kindness, devotion to children …
Mary Jean (Potter) Riethmiller
Mary Jean was born in Susquehanna, Penn., on March 27, 1940, to Kenneth and Jessie Potter. She attended schools in New Milford, Penn., until her senior year before moving with family to Columbus, …
Virginia Catherine Snow
Virginia Catherine Snow (née Lowney), 66, of Pagosa Springs, Colo., passed away on Aug. 9, 2026. Born on Dec. 15, 1959, in Sacramento, Calif., Virginia made her home in Pagosa Springs, where she was …
Kennie May Persson
Kennie May Persson (née Parrott) was born May 2,1948, in Denver, Colo., and passed away in Pagosa Springs, Colo., on Aug. 22, 2026, after a brief illness with Alzheimer’s. She passed peacefully …

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