I understand the frustration and desire for the Ukraine conflict to end…
Category: Opinion/Letters
EDITORIAL: Recreation vs Shelter, Part Two
This stretch of the San Juan River is mainly owned by private property owners. The Running Iron Ranch is one of very few riverfront parcels owned by the public…
OPINION: America is Burning… But Are the People In Charge Learning?
It’s a plain fact that the evolution of catastrophic abnormal wildfires are the result of our collapsed herbivory…
EDITORIAL: Recreation vs Shelter, Part One
“Early in the year, I visited the 20-acre river access parcel with representatives of the business community, County, and other SJWCD board members…”
READY, FIRE, AIM: Are Russian Trolls More Dangerous than Nipples?
The family-friendly movies we’ve been offered lately make ‘trolls’ appear to be well-meaning, morally-straight individuals…
INTEL FROM THE IVORY TOWER: Restoring America’s Confidence In Our Court System
Earlier last month Jeffrey M. Jones with Gallup Polling concluded that America’s views of the Supreme Court reached a record low…
EDITORIAL: The Well-Meaning Tyranny of Pagosa Tourism, Part Five
“For nearly a decade I was involved in the planning of an annual ‘event’ for the international veterans’ organization to which I belonged…”
EDITORIAL: The Well-Meaning Tyranny of Pagosa Tourism, Part Four
At around the age of four, I fell in love with dinosaurs, and in particular, with Tyrannosaurus Rex…
EDITORIAL: The Well-Meaning Tyranny of Pagosa Tourism, Part Three
“I know many of you are aware that Archuleta County got the award for being the most expensive place to live in Southwest Colorado, in the last ‘livable wage’ update that we did…”
A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW: Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legal Weed, Part Two
One evening we had a conversation with the husband about how that dream was working out. What he said caught us by surprise…
EDITORIAL: The Well-Meaning Tyranny of Pagosa Tourism, Part Two
“I see that you have, on your agenda, a proposal to put $500,000 into a special account for a future events center, that the Tourism Board thinks you should have…”
A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW: Intended and Unintended Consequences of Legal Weed, Part One
Taxes on weed, like liquor and tobacco, are “sumptuary” taxes… sometimes referred to as “sin tax”…
EDITORIAL: The Well-Meaning Tyranny of Pagosa Tourism, Part One
The Tourism Board would very much like to provide tax subsidies to business owners and managers looking to host large corporate retreats or conferences….
EDITORIAL: Marijuana Ain’t What It Used to Be, Part Six
The report authors also produced a “perceived risk” chart for adults aged 26 and older…
EDITORIAL: Reportedly, O’Rourke Media Acquires The Pagosa Springs SUN
The SUN has traditionally been a ‘hyper-local’ publication, for the most part, limiting its news coverage to happenings within Archuleta County…
EDITORIAL: Marijuana Ain’t What It Used to Be, Part Five
“There’s a lot of price compression going on in every state…”
EDITORIAL: Marijuana Ain’t What It Used to Be, Part Four
“It’s a Ponzi scheme. The whole stock market is a Ponzi scheme, but this is one of them. I elected not to do it…”
OPINION: Student Loan Debt… What’s the Next Step?
Two groups are in particular trouble. The first group consists of students who took out loans but never got a degree: some 40% of borrowers…
OPINION: Livestock Grazing has Limitations and Poses a Serious Risk to Wilderness Areas
A collapse of native flora adversely impacts a host of co-evolved species, like deer, small mammals, birds and even pollinators…