Opinion

We love highlighting government transparency, and there have been a few situations in particular over the last week we’d like to call attention to.

How it used to be isn’t how it is

I showed up for a scheduled nuclear stress test in Durango with my entourage, my family. We travel as a family to the doctor, dentist and hospital. We have had to change as life has changed. …

No debts are left unpaid

The young teenage boy stands on quivering legs, his palms sticky from sweat as he anticipates the penalty for his crimes. Maybe if he had only committed one, but the list the bailiff will read is …

ICE is eroding the rule of law

“I got lucky,” José told me. “Because they got the wrong person.”  José, 28, who did not give his last name for fear of retribution from U.S. …

Be like them

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.” — Robert Collier.

Leaving this place with dignity

I told my writer friend we need to finish strong. We can’t quit writing. Someone needs our words to give them courage to fulfill their lives. We should be living our days for others, hone our …

Solar panels have more than proven themselves

I’d never heard of “net metering” until my electric bill hit $600 last February. Desperate for a way to reduce utility costs that skyrocket in the winter because we use electric …

This week’s paper features a number of wonderful volunteer opportunities to give back to the community in a variety of ways. There are outdoor citizen science projects, outdoor educational …

Gratitude for the core of our community

Spring and summer guests will soon fill our streets, scurrying in and out of stores and shops. Winter has passed and a new season is about to burst into our little town of Pagosa. We will soon …

Rural Colorado county gets ready for wildfire

When La Plata County in southwestern Colorado needed a director of emergency management in 2021, they found a winner in Shawna Legarza. An experienced firefighter, her career has spanned battling big …

Opinions, they say, are like belly buttons. Everyone has one, but that doesn’t mean they’re useful, and they don’t all look the same.

An email from a friend

I received an email. The subject line read “Emptiness.” I stopped and re-read the first two lines again. Mark Craine told me his precious wife, Wanda, went home to be with Jesus. He …

The joy of nature and everlasting joy

With the arrival of spring and the changing of seasons, we begin to see warmer temperatures and generally more favorable weather. With rising temperatures, many experience an increased desire to be …

When reality weighs you down

  A lot of us feel hopeless today. There’s the return of energy dominance as a federal goal, which places oil, gas and coal extraction above all other uses. There’s the …

Waiting to be reassured

A Monday headline from The Atlantic rose above the rest: “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.”

Over the top, but worth it

Editor’s note: Angel Westen is an eighth-grader at Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS). According to PPOS’s middle school English language arts advisor, Alison Beach, for the first half of the …

In the making: the final brushstroke

I scrambled for something to write about for the next deadline. I’d been in the hospital for four days from this horrible respiratory syncytial virus. Time to pull myself up by the strings …

The weight of a pebble

“The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.”   Blaise Pascal’s quote sheds illumination on the interconnectedness of all life. He precedes this with, “The least …

It’s still the West against itself

Nearly 80 years ago, Bernard DeVoto, the Utah-born writer and historian, wrote an essay titled “The West Against Itself” for Harper’s Magazine. DeVoto summed up the platform …

Stay informed and supportive

The Colorado Department of Transportation’s U.S. 160 reconstruction project is a few short days away, with work anticipated to start Monday, March 24. We hope your patient pants are ready. …

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