Letters to the Editor – The Durango Herald

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No need for ‘lackluster leadership’

In the just completed primary election, Jim Candelaria ran on his record during his current term as commissioner. Given that he only won by 72 votes, it would appear that a significant numbe...

DATE: Jul 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Never silence the chime!

Speaking as a longtime Durango local, I absolutely love the chime and believe it should never be silenced. Keep it going year-round! Steve Underwood Durango ...

DATE: Jul 19, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Need laws to stop ‘being poisoned’

I live next to a hay field near Pastorius Reservoir. Earlier in the year, I was told by my landlord they would be spraying the nearly 2 dozen acres with an herbicide designed to kill weeds b...

DATE: Jul 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

50 years of talk - build garage

Durango’s next step: Build a parking garage! How many parking studies, traffic studies, etc., does it take to persuade the City of Durango that it should seriously consider a parking garage ...

DATE: Jul 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Alternatives’ offered for election deniers

A letter-writer on June 29 lamented the “name-calling” that has labeled people who deny the results of the 2020 election as “election deniers.” So despite the fact that it seems like a prett...

DATE: Jul 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Fees show ‘lack of awareness’

This year, 17 new fees were passed, totaling a staggering $776,832,144. No, your eyes are not playing a trick on you. That number is three-quarters of a billion dollars to be collected over ...

DATE: Jul 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Proud of Boebert’ on 2nd Amendment

I’m proud of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for her unwavering support of our Second Amendment rights. Boebert is correct that it is our constitutional right to keep and bear arms and that rig...

DATE: Jul 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Column ‘ridiculed hockey players’

I was quite perplexed as to why The Durango Herald thought the guest column “Read this before taking up hockey,” written by a basketball coach, was funny while it completely ridiculed hockey...

DATE: Jul 17, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Boebert ‘threat to civil liberties’

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s recent comment, featuring the separation of church and state as junk, is astounding! Doesn’t she realize that women struggled over a century for suffrage? That wom...

DATE: Jul 16, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Let’s get wolf restoration right

Recreational wolf hunting must never happen! Wolves are intelligent, social animals. Pack structures, prey and territorialism combine to regulate wild wolf populations. Science indicates tha...

DATE: Jul 16, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Handouts enabling, not changing lives’

Imagine reading this letter in the back of the newspaper: Dear Abby, This summer I have been inundated with unwelcome guests. They leave trash in my yard and shopping carts they have taken f...

DATE: Jul 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Is ideology overruling common sense?’

Let’s see some of this administration’s achievements that “Biden is better than average,” a headline from an editorial in May. In the handling of Afghanistan, America has lost credibility ab...

DATE: Jul 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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