Los Angeles is a wake-up call for the West – especially Durango

After fierce winds whipped fire out of brush-covered hills on Jan. 7, entire Los Angeles neighborhoods burned down. Within a few days, more than 12,000 homes and businesses had been destroye...

Anger threatens to erupt

DEAR ABBY: I have anger issues that were passed down among the men in my family. My mother is a strong woman and wouldn’t let my father get away with too much, but still, the impact is there...

Empowering women and girls through family planning leads to healthier lives

What if every woman in the world had access to her choice of safe, effective contraception? So far, this is a dream, but two programs are helping this dream come true. In the past, only memb...

Joe Biden: What Americans should remember about Jan. 6

Jan. 6, 2025, s pecial to The Washington Post On this Jan. 6, order will be called. Clerks, staff and members of Congress will gather to certify the results of a free and fair presi...

Filling 2025 with joy, not wasting a single healthy moment

As 2024 comes to an end and 2025 awakens, I find myself rehashing the past events and imagining the future. 2024 was a very difficult year for me as I spent a good chunk of it deeply and chr...

Bumper Sticker of the Month (BSoM)

Thanks for all your submissions. This month’s choice was submitted by Julie Engelken. Please email your favorite bumper stickers to letters@durangoherald.com for a chance to be featured as B...

Stepdaughter’s gift hurts feelings

DEAR ABBY: My stepdaughter “Annie” gave my husband a photo album of his life for his 80th birthday. The album included pictures of his parents and grandparents as well as photos from his fir...

The holidays are out, but the bills are in: Tips to help you save money

The holidays have ended, but one final gift remains. With perfect folds, this package is wrapped in paper as white as the snow blanketing the beautiful San Juan Mountains. You almost hate to...

Taurus the bull and Orion the hunter

Greetings, stargazers. A prominent winter constellation is Taurus, the bull. It is particularly easy to find this month, because Jupiter is right in the middle of it. At magnitude -2.68, Jup...

A day in the life: Behind the scenes of a field trip adventure

Imagine stepping into a snow-covered forest, where every tree whispers stories of resilience, and the crunch of snowshoes underfoot is the only sound breaking the winter silence …and, oh yea...

Utah’s potential land grab: A new fight for the West begins

Utah politicians seek to ignore the U.S. Constitution by claiming 18.5 million acres of your federal public land – most of it administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Utahans have ofte...

Widower badgers late wife’s friends

DEAR ABBY: My friend of 30 years passed away two years ago. Her husband, with whom I had a cordial relationship, has been calling me and other friends of his wife nonstop. He usually calls w...