100 years ago: “The case of Chavez and Salager proprietors of the Santa Fe Saloon charged with having a gambling room has occupied the county court for the past two days went to jury. They brought a verdict of guilty but recommended clemency.”

75 years ago: “Many are the fishermen who are rubbing aching parts of their anatomy after a weekend of pursuing the elusive trout in its native habitat. Particularly sore are arms and shoulders not from casting flies but from demonstrating just how long was the big one that got away.”

50 years ago: “Improper compaction of the soil and fill around the footing for the west wall of the new city hall building has caused settling of the footing and a subsequent bulge in the brickwork. The brick work will be cut from the side walls, and the footing stabilized before the construction on the wall is allowed to proceed.”

25 years ago: “A Denver District Court jury began deliberations in the case of a Dolores AIDS victim who is suing her doctors and the blood bank that supplied contaminated plasma for her blood transfusion. The case is the first in the nation in which a jury will decide a claim by a victim of acquired immune deficiency syndrome against a blood bank. The woman received the virus in a 1983 blood transfusion at Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez during treatment for an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Most items in this column are taken from Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not have been verified.