Business & Real Estate – The Durango Herald

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Durango woman opens her third toy store in town

New location caters to kids and families, locals and tourists

DATE: May 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Mantell-Hecathorn Builders completes zero energy ready home in Animas Valley

Mantell-Hecathorn Builders recently completed and certified a custom, zero energy ready home in the Red Rocks subdivision of Animas Valley. This home received a Home Energy Rating System sco...

DATE: May 12, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Businesses to compete at the Battle of the Animas

Mild to Wild will host Battle of the Animas from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. May 25. All tourist businesses are welcome to compete. Teams consist of eight people to one boat. Competitors should me...

DATE: May 11, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Columbine Landscapes hires new designer

Columbine Landscapes hired a new designer, Nicolas Hardy, in April. Over the last 13 years, Hardy has maintained and installed landscapes and managed crews in various parts of California. He...

DATE: May 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Boutique brokerage opens in Durango

Southwest Colorado real estate agent Ashley Blackmore announced her new boutique brokerage, Blackmore Group. Blackmore is 29 and has employed a real estate team of 11 agents, who produced mo...

DATE: May 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Pediatric Partners of the Southwest hires lead nurse

Pediatric Partners of the Southwest has Kristin Discus as PPSW lead nurse. Discus received her nursing degree from Georgia College and State University. In her new position, she will manage...

DATE: May 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Bee Thrifty: Young entrepreneur opens store in downtown Bayfield

Kira Wennerstrom is a confirmed thrift-store junkie. She began working for a local estate sale company when she was just a teenager. In college, she made money by taking thrift-store finds a...

DATE: May 8, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Spirit still prefers bid from Frontier Airlines over JetBlue

Frontier has lower but better offer, Spirit says

DATE: May 2, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Oscar’s Cafe, a mainstay in Durango, is sold after 42 years

New owners are local with experience in restaurant industry

DATE: May 2, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Prices up, inventory down during first quarter of home sales in La Plata County

Houses priced $1 million or more sell at an ‘off the charts rate’

DATE: Apr 26, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

Red Cross Office opens Durango

American Red Cross of Western Colorado announced the opening of an office in Durango at 700 Main Ave. The new office will provide a base of operations for Southwest Colorado employees and vo...

DATE: Apr 26, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Rivergate Physical Therapy welcomes new physical therapist

Rivergate Physical Therapy welcomed Clay Louder to its team of physical therapists. Louder graduated from the University of New Mexico Physical Therapy program in 1997. He has worked in pedi...

DATE: Apr 21, 2022 | CATEGORY: Business

Fort Lewis College football takes on Arizona ChristianFLC drops first game of 2022, 52-12

FLC drops first game of 2022, 52-12

Pride parade and festival

Photos: Family fun at the La Plata County Fair

La Plata County Fair is off and running

La Plata County Fair schedule of eventsThursday8:30 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA breeding swine, market swine. 9 a.m.-8 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public.9 a.m.: Judging open class home economics, horticulture, floriculture, creative arts.9 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA and open class fleeces.9 a.m.: 4-H poultry judging followed by open class.1 p.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA goat show, all classes followed by open class goat.5 p.m.: Fair Royalty speeches and modeling.7 p.m.: Talent contest, patio.7 p.m.: Livestock verification swine, poultry, goat, general project cards due.

Friday9 a.m.-8 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public.9 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA rabbits.10 a.m.: 4-H/FFA breeding beef, beef showmanship.1 p.m.: 4-H/FFA market beef, grand champion and reserve grand champion market beef, champion selection.2 p.m.: Dairy cattle, all classes.3:15 p.m.: Pee wee showmanship.4 p.m.: 4-H/FFA livestock round robin, all-around showmanship.7 p.m.: Asleep at the Wheel concert.7 p.m.: Livestock sale verification rabbit and beef cards due.

Saturday9 a.m.-6:30 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public. 9 a.m.: 4-H dog show.9 a.m.: Judging open class beef all classes.10 a.m.: Rooster crowing contest.10 a.m.: FFA showmanship.11 a.m.: Open class dairy cattle, all classes.12 p.m.: Demolition Derby.12-4 p.m.: Community 4-H barbecue cook off (senior center lawn).2 p.m.: Rabbit costume contest.2 p.m.: Poultry costume contest.5 p.m.: Silver steaks, silver loin and silver chop award presentation.5:45 p.m.: Fair Royalty crowning.6 p.m.: Junior livestock sale pavilion.9 p.m.-midnight: Fair family dance.

Sunday8 a.m.: Cowboy church. 8 a.m.: Carcass animals loaded.9 a.m.- 2 p.m.: Exhibits open to the public.1:30 p.m.: 4-H/FFA Catch-It contest.2-3 p.m.: Payment of premiums. 2-3 p.m.: Exhibits released in all departments. 2-5 p.m.: Booths taken down.2-5 p.m.: Poultry and rabbit exhibits released.2 p.m.: Animals released.Beer garden is open Thursday through Saturday.

La Plata County Fair schedule of events Thursday 8:30 a.m.: Judging 4-H/FFA breeding s...

Patriotic drone show unfolds above Durango’s night skyAbout 1,200 people watched production from city Transit Center

One hundred forty drones took to the skies above Greenmount Cemetery at 10 p.m. sharp Saturday in a glowing and patriotic spectacle featuring vibrant images colored red, white and blue against the black backdrop of night.About 1,200 people gathered Saturday at the Durango Transit Center to watch the city’s premiere drone show produced by Verge Aero after a street dance and band performance by McCurry Trio and Desert Child for Independence Day celebrations.Spectators were treated to drone depictions of the American flag, star patterns, a soaring bald eagle and a homage to the city with drones flying in formation to spell out “Durango” to close out the street dance that started at 6 p.m. Across the valley from Greenmount Cemetery, the headlights of cars shined from Rim Drive near Fort Lewis College where more spectators watched.

Ellen Babers, Durango community events administrator, said the show went well. She heard “Ooh’s” and “ah’s” from the crowd when the drones transitioned from one image to another.She said a segment that consisted of stars rotating at various intervals, shrinking into smaller stars before expanding into the shape of a larger star, appeared to be a crowd favorite.“People really liked the Durango part,” she said. “When it spelled out Durango, people seemed surprised. Like, ‘Oh, this isn’t just a generic show, this is about us.’”Other images included an outline of the continental United States, the letters “USA,” and a spinning globe shape that gave the drone show a 3D feel.

The drones were laid out earlier in the evening in a square grid, with each drone placed 4 feet apart. Peter Smiatek, pilot and designer of the drone show, worked with a crew of about six people, including volunteers. Saturday evening at Greenmount Cemetery where the drones launched and landed, Peter Smiatek, pilot and designer with Verge Aero, and his crew of about six people, including volunteers, had laid all the drones out on the grass in a square grid. Each drone was placed four feet apart. Smiatek synced the drones to a GPS and radio tower in preparation for the evening’s show. Six minutes before takeoff, a deer wandered straight past the drone grid, narrowly avoiding stepping on them.“That could have been a disaster,” Smiatek said as his crew scanned the nearby area with flashlights. No other deer were visible.Two minutes before takeoff, the crew’s portable generator shut off – out of gas.

“We have double secure power,” he said. “The generator fell off two minutes before the show started. It’s like Murphy’s law, anything that could happen will happen. So it’s best to be prepared.”During prep, the crew ran several tests with the drones. The drones shot up 3 to 4 meters, hovered for about one second and then dropped back to their designated grid space on the grass.

Smiatek worked from a makeshift command station where his laptop and transmission tower were perched.“The base station is the heart of the show,” he said. “It’s a computer and it’s a distribution system connected to radios and an antenna. And that’s it, basically. Very flexible and a good system.”Chris Lutts, vice president of sales at Verge Aero, said he thinks Durangoans enjoyed the performance. From Greenmount Cemetery, he could hear the cheers and whistles of the audience at the Durango Transit Center.“The people we’ve been working with have been great,” he said. “Clearly, the city enjoyed it, so that’s awesome. That’s why we do this. It’s no different than any other entertainment, man. You love that feedback. It’s validation that what you’re doing is something that people really like.”cburney@durangoherald.com