100 years ago: “The enrollment in the high school this year now is 240, an increase of 16 pupils over last year.”

75 years ago: “Fire this morning totally destroyed the two-story apartment house owned by Gus Foch in Mancos. Two families narrowly escaped with their lives.”

50 years ago: “Fort Lewis College Pres. John Reed announced receipt by the college of a federal grant for nearly $27,000 under the college work-study program of the Economic Opportunity Act.

25 years ago: “Jim Helmericks with his FAIR (Fresh Air in Restaurants) campaign to ban smoking in any Durango business that sells food, needs only to look to Telluride to see how well such ordinances work. The Telluride ordinance went into effect in December 1987 and was amended by voters in April of 1988 to exempt taverns. ... The most unexpected consequence of the law was that the streets of Telluride became littered with cigarette butts so the town provided large outdoor ashtrays.”

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