Author - The Durango Herald

A tax for public safety? City council is confusing the issue

By John Ritchey Durango resident Two years ago, the Durango City Council unanimously voted to support the $100 million airport tax. Fortunately, the voters wisely and o...

DATE: Sep 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

We need the Antiquities Act Established in 1906, the act is by no means obsolete

Representative Scott Tipton believes that the Antiquities Act of 1906 is obsolete. In July, I sent him a request to sign on as a co-sponsor to a bill, S.2354, the Antiquities Act...

DATE: Sep 15, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Iran’s gambit in Syria can still be stopped by U.S.

The Trump administration has made clear that its top priority in the Middle East is to thwart Iran’s nuclear and regional ambitions. So why is it so reluctant to lift a finger against Tehran...

DATE: Sep 14, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Thoughts for the very wealthy political donors

If your net worth is south of $25 million, feel free to skip today’s column. I’m writing this as an open letter to a handful of readers, distressed by the general state of our politics and d...

DATE: Sep 11, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Divorced: America and the homeless. Local solutions need to consider reconciliation on fair terms

Panhandlers aggressively accosting befuddled citizens and tourists. Drunken fire hazards stumbling through our precious forests late at night. Scruffy, dusty, downtown bums with coated tongu...

DATE: Sep 8, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Some states too friendly to livestock

It’s probably not a shock to Americans that Nebraska is a “livestock-friendly” state. Real-life cowboys in the mold of Robert Duvall’s “Lonesome Dove” character “Gus” McCrae and Clint Eastwo...

DATE: Sep 7, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Zimmerman: Corporate interests compromise the Interior Department

What if I told you that a multibillion-dollar company decided to trademark the name of one of America’s most prized national parks? And that the company then sued the United Stat...

DATE: Sep 2, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Barker: Old school is not suitable for a community and conference center

9-R won’t serve for a convention center or a combined event center – now is a good time to keep looking, if we remember all the pieces

DATE: Sep 1, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

District 9-R’s finances in best shape since 2008

The Finance Advisory Committee (FAC) is a voluntary independent oversight body which periodically (twice a year) reports to the Board of Education on the health of the district’s financial p...

DATE: Aug 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

‘More Time, More Life’ campaign works for the airport

Like many smaller airports, the Durango-La Plata County Airport – also known by its airport code DRO – provides our community with a critical link to the outside world. It’s an important eco...

DATE: Aug 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Kerr: When I saw the yellow envelope, I saw red

When I saw the yellow envelope, I saw red – and closed my wallet

DATE: Aug 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Stephens: Here’s what really makes America great, governor

Though Bill Clinton was a far better talker than he was an orator, at least one of his sentences should be carved in stone: “There is nothing wrong with America,” he said in his 1993 Inaugur...

DATE: Aug 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns