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Mike Smedley
Position: Staff reporter

County sets it straight with leaning flagpole

What’s with the listing flagpole at the La Plata County Administration Building at East Second Avenue and 11th Street? The flagpole has been that way since the building opened. Does it imply...

Home Depot has open-door exit strategy

On the side door at Home Depot, there’s a big sign that says, “Exit.” However, on the door itself, you’ll see another sign reading “Welcome.” How can you greet people where they’re not suppo...

Forecast corrected to avoid frozen peas, thongs

I was just wondering how we will face the weather as forecast by the Durango Herald. Here’s my screen grab from this morning (Thursday, March 22): While the -48 low tonight seems chilly, on ...

Building lacks charm, bootleggers or Russians

What the heck in tarnation is that building at the corner of Aspen and Plymouth off Florida Road? I suspect we got moonshiners or a Russian troll farm hiding in plain sight. Any reconnaissan...

Jail incident results in arrested development

A recent item from The Durango Herald’s police blotter stated: “At 4:58 p.m., an inmate was being violent at the La Plata County jail. Police made an arrest.” Arresting an arrestee. Interest...

Transparent fee puts the ‘bill’ in sustainability

So I get this flyer in the city utilities bill about “Sustainability in Durango.” It says that “to increase transparency,” there’s now a $2.30 monthly “fee” to fund “sustainability efforts.”...

Support wavers for flag etiquette at Olympics

Maybe I have Olympic amnesia, but is it a long-standing tradition to drape winning U.S. athletes in the American flag or is this a new practice? Not to take anything away from Shaun White’s ...

Object’s sale is a bomb despite lots of passing traffic

I love Durango’s roadside markets. But before making my purchase, I just wanted to check and see if bombs for sale are protected under the Second Amendment? Are there background checks? Also...

Social realism in public art might be unbearable

Bears are featured prominently on the proposed sculptures for the busy U.S. Highway 550/160 median. So if bears are some kind of Durango symbol, why not be ultra-realistic? Why not include s...

Don’t be taken in by the ‘taking out’ of fourth-graders

I was somewhat startled by an emailed newsletter from the San Juans Mountains Association, of which I’m a longtime member. It announced: SJMA “will also soon be taking out some fourth-grader...

Lack of winter weather can’t bring down Snowdown

I noticed our snow shovel had some cracks – the one time I used it this winter. So I visited our friendly Koeger’s Ace Hardware to get a backup shovel. Walking past Rite Aid, I noticed the s...

Debate about presidential photo needs to be reframed

I would like to know why our president and vice president’s pictures are not in our Social Security office. And no, I am not happy about it! It is disrespectful, illegal and unpatriotic! Tha...