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Mike Smedley
Position: Staff reporter

Shrubbery-free paths are the city’s holy grail

This year’s above-average moisture is a welcome change compared with last summer, but it has caused city vegetation to go crazy. Whose responsibility is it to trim bushes and trees encroachi...

Some think ‘Local First’ is a downtown parking policy

Why do downtown business owners and employees park their cars in front of their shops or their restaurants all day, plugging the meter and then complain how slow business is? Don’t these peo...

Store’s sign offers fresh perspective on ‘food’

I noticed this sign at City Market, advertising bags of composted cow manure. Thing is, the placard’s headline reads “Fresh food. Low prices.” While $1.89 is a low price, I’m fairly sure tha...

‘Canning’ with glass is a jarring concept

When I was a kid, we had a large garden and put up veggies. We jarred ketchup, beets, beans, tomatoes, corn and other crops. I just don’t understand why we call this “canning” when it’s “jar...

Auto-attendants aren’t dialed in to modern lingo

In the last couple of days, I’ve noticed something odd when calling businesses. Auto-attendants inform callers to “dial” a particular extension for assistance or to leave a message. Even at ...

Launch raft at fish hatchery? Don’t give it a whirl

At the Durango Fish Hatchery, two new signs were recently put up. The first one forbids overnight parking. Fair enough. But then there’s this curious one prohibiting “vessel launching and ta...

Gold frames on traffic lights have a colorful history

We’ve been noticing the new golden-edged traffic lights hanging over intersections of U.S. Highway 160/550 east and south of town. Besides their improved visibility, what’s new and improved ...

Seniors won’t get in hot water being adults at Trimble

I won two Trimble Hot Springs passes after bowling a strike at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kid’s Sake fundraiser. First and foremost, thanks to Trimble for supporting BBBS and I’m ...

Hunting for lake interloper isn’t a shore thing

Many, many of your constituents are still curious about the fate of the “lost hunter” who “broke into” the entrance trailer at Lake” Nighthorse last fall. Did that poor soul survive his priv...

New intersection takes a turn for the worse

Here’s a photo of the renovated 22nd Street and Main Avenue intersection. Across the intersection is a two-way street, Alamo Drive. If I obey the posted signs, I can only turn left in the le...

Size matters, especially with parking spaces and trucks

Here’s my pet peeve: oversized parked trucks that stick out into the street. Why aren’t these hazardous monstrosities ticketed? You have to drive in the oncoming lane or scrape the entire ri...

Conspiracy theories are all wet about dry creek

The Animas River is rising, the San Juan Basin’s snowpack is 160 percent of normal and the temperatures have been warm. So why is there no water in Junction Creek? Where is all the water fro...