Alexander Hise reaches for a pass on Aug. 15. He is one of many athletes on the Durango High School football team looking to make an impact in 2016. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A construction worker with Four Suns Construction out of Aztec checks steel work Aug. 15 on an entryway to the La Plata County Courthouse. The ongoing remodeling project will make way for a federal court in Durango. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
A city of Durango worker prepares to climb down a ladder leading to a large pipe installed in the Crestview Ditch off of Avenida del Sol. There used to be two vertical drops in this area of the ditch; one was 10 to 12 feet down, the second was approximately 16 to 18 feet deep. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Bill Simon, 71, moved in 1987 to his Hermosa home, which abutted a 3-acre patch of old-growth forest, he says. Over the years, however, that plot of woodland, pictured on Aug. 11, on private land has been reduced to less than a quarter-acre, which could be the last remaining old-growth stand in the Animas Valley. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Alder trees grow under a canopy of large cottonwood, ponderosa and cedar trees in an old-growth area on Aug. 11, in Hermosa. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Twelve-year-old Sam Sturm works with Sam Bridgham assembling a Lego creation on a light pole in the parking lot of the Durango Community Recreation Center on Aug. 1. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
An intricate Lego creation by Sam Bridgham on Aug. 1 on a sign pole next to the parking lot of Animas Brewing Co. on East Second Avenue. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Rory Stahl, 10, left, and Dylan Burns, right, try to get the ball past Seb Tripp, 8, while playing soccer during the Aug. 17 opening of the Smith Sports Complex near Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The third-grade Demons, with the Youth American Football League, practice Aug. 17 during the opening of the Smith Sports Complex on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Durango’s Howard Grotts, a 2016 Olympian, recently rides on Rim Trail, a trail he has ridden many years growing up in the area.
The Durango High School Cheer Squad welcomes Durango School District 9-R teachers and staff members Aug. 19, to the convocation kicking off the new year. The event, which is essentially a pep rally to energize staff before the first day of school, had a theme of “Superheroes” and included some friendly interschool competitions, prizes and food. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Terry Sandefur, founder and CEO of Zaparataz, demonstrates his motorized trimming scissors on Aug. 18 during the 2016 SCAPE Showcase and Investor Social in the Ballroom at Fort Lewis College. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Durango High School head football coach David Vogt during practice on Aug. 15, as the Demons build upon a 2015 season in which the it reached the Class 4A quarterfinals. This year, the Demons will compete in 3A. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Gavin Mestas, right, is an electrifying athlete for the Durango Demons, whether he is catching passes, returning kicks or playing in the defensive backfield. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Garrett Tyrrell, left, lifts his star showing the state of California on the back, indicating that he won two free tickets to Los Angeles during the Pack your Bags Contest at Durango-La Plata County Airport on Aug. 20. Karen Kostuch, center, and Brian Gilbert, were finalists. Twenty-six people showed up for the chance of a two-day weekend in the City of Angels. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Lior Azulai, in the persona of Sirius Black from the Harry Potter movies, had hoped he would win two free tickets to Los Angeles during the Pack your Bags Contest at the Durango-La Plata County Airport on Aug. 20. Alas, the prize went to Garrett Tyrell, more of a laid-back surfer dude. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Take a look back at the Durango Herald’s top photos of the week.
