Can we wrap our heads around this idea? 1.8 million acres of large-diameter Engelmann spruce, standing in our Colorado forests, slowly decaying?
Category: Opinion/Letters
OPINION: Medicare For All Act of 2021, Liberal Benefits with Conservative Spending
As with our existing Medicare and Medicaid systems, patients would receive health care from their choice of physicians, clinics, hospitals and allied health care professionals…
OPINION: New Federal Policies Land America’s Wild Horses & Burros in the Slaughterhouse
The BLM’s attitude toward wild horses should be judged not by the agency’s soothing words on its websites, but by the photographs and videos taken during the roundups…
EDITORIAL: Log Cabins vs Cargo Containers, Part One
The Town Planning Department had, however, failed to provide sufficient notice for the April 27 public hearing, so the approval hearing has been re-scheduled for the May 25 Planning Commission meeting…
EDITORIAL: Economic Development in Pagosa, Briefly Summarized, Part Three
Some folks prefer to live among trees that have been carefully sculpted into unnatural shapes. I can understand the attraction….
EDITORIAL: Economic Development in Pagosa, Briefly Summarized, Part Two
According to some measures, Archuleta County is a relatively affluent community. We will likely know more about that when the federal government releases the 2020 Census data…
OPINION: Correcting Historical Injustices, While Growing Colorado’s Economy
Despite the headline-grabbing incidents of discrimination on the House floor, we’re busy working to make Colorado a better, more prosperous and more equal place for everyone to live…
EDITORIAL: Pagosa’s ‘Urban Renewal Authority’ Seeking a Fresh Direction?
Tonight, we may hear suggestions from Durango-based SEH on how they can help the Town government and the Urban Renewal Authority can repair its earlier missteps…
EDITORIAL: Economic Development in Pagosa, Briefly Summarized, Part One
During the two-hour meeting — following the election of new Board members and officers — we heard a summary of the organization’s accomplishments…
EDITORIAL: All the News That’s Fit to Share, Part Two
Of the 7,071 daily or weekly newspapers regularly published in the US, nearly all of them — 6,851 — have circulations of less than 50,000…
EDITORIAL: All the News That’s Fit to Share, Part One
But the world has changed, even while newspapers — to outward appearances — have stayed the same…
OPINION: ‘Misty of Meeker’ Shows Need for Wild Horse Protection Laws
It is our hope that this community-based effort might be replicated across the West. But we do want to set some “facts” straight…
HMPRESENTLY: DA…DA…DADA…DADA…DA
In the song, Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane harmonized about hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needing rain…
OPINION: Species Collapse… Wildfires… Ocean Acidification… Is There a Link?
“Ocean acidification is already impacting many ocean species, especially organisms like oysters and corals that make hard shells and skeletons by combining calcium and carbonate from seawater…”
EDITORIAL: The Biggest Problem Facing Pagosa Springs in 2021, Part Twelve
“Mat, to your point, yes. I totally agree… that we definitely want to watch out for the character of the community and our residents here, for sure…”
EDITORIAL: The Biggest Problem Facing Pagosa Springs in 2021, Part Eleven
“I have seen my neighborhood start to deteriorate, with the number of short-term rentals that we have. When a house goes on the market, we’re all saying, ‘Oh, I really hope it’s not going to become another short-term rental’…”
EDITORIAL: The Biggest Problem Facing Pagosa Springs in 2021, Part Ten
We know successful people, perhaps, who bought a house in 2016 for $320,000 and sold it five years later for $599,000. Successful people…
A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW: One Solution to the Vacation Rental Problem
Because of the less-than-conducive to a relaxing vacation atmosphere, renters gave the location very negative reviews online…