Columnists - The Durango Herald

Working for public lands that support real people, places and livelihoods

June is Great Outdoors Month – a time when families across the country head outside to enjoy the rivers, mountains and open spaces that define the American West. In Colorado’s 3rd District, ...

DATE: Jun 1, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

It’s time to stop preaching fiscal austerity and start practicing fiscal justice

I am writing as a paraeducator at Riverview Elementary School. I work in the Significant Support Needs program, assisting students with some of the highest needs and modifications requiremen...

DATE: Jun 1, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Divorcee still in love with ex

DEAR ABBY: I have been divorced from my ex-husband, “Cliff,” for a year and a half. My nearly adult children live with me. They rarely see their dad. Our divorce was relatively painless, but...

DATE: Jun 1, 2025 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Friend’s marriage a roller coaster

DEAR ABBY: A man I know has been married for 40 years. His wife gets mad at him for small things and stops talking to him for three to four months at a time. Also, he will make her supper, a...

DATE: May 30, 2025 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

We can’t fix hot or dry, but we can fix dense forests, together

In Western Colorado, we understand how connected everything is: forests to watersheds, snowpack to irrigation, public lands to the economy. And we’ve seen what happens when one part of that ...

DATE: May 30, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Summer 2025: The paradox of joy and suffering

Ah ... summer’s here. It’s time to loosen up our clothing, loosen up our time, lift our hearts, allow for some good and fun times. It seems like in the winter, we are more bound up, in our b...

DATE: May 28, 2025 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

All aboard the Blues Train with Brody Buster

A train car on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge line is the perfect size for a performing one-man band tucked into either end of the car. Roughly about 102 inches or 8.5 feet wide, a sin...

DATE: May 28, 2025 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Boyfriend lets sleeping dogs lie

DEAR ABBY: I am recently divorced after a 37-year marriage. My boyfriend, “Grant,” has been divorced for a long time. He is a lovely man – honest, intelligent, healthy, helpful, neat and a g...

DATE: May 28, 2025 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Lehigh County’s ethical investment, a model for local governments nationwide

When public officials steward our tax dollars, they must uphold both financial responsibility and the values of the community they serve. Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, took that obligation se...

DATE: May 28, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Digital clock operates on Durango Time

Dear Action Line, Can something be done about the digital clock in front of Walk-In Chiropractic? Why is it always running eight to 10 minutes fast? Signed, Tardy Dear Tardy, Has a...

DATE: May 26, 2025 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Daughters have clearly sided with ex

DEAR ABBY: I’ve been divorced for 10 years and have since remarried. I began dating my current wife nine years ago. I have four daughters, ages 24 to 37. Since the divorce, our relationships...

DATE: May 25, 2025 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

The president should know that censoring and whitewashing history never works

In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” To my knowledge no historians were consulted on this sweeping attempt to r...

DATE: May 25, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members wore costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho’s bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the Secret Circus Society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this year’s costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don’ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since its inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this year’s fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unfazed by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns

Working for public lands that support real people, places and livelihoods

It’s time to stop preaching fiscal austerity and start practicing fiscal justice

Divorcee still in love with ex

Friend’s marriage a roller coaster

We can’t fix hot or dry, but we can fix dense forests, together

Summer 2025: The paradox of joy and suffering

All aboard the Blues Train with Brody Buster

Boyfriend lets sleeping dogs lie

Lehigh County’s ethical investment, a model for local governments nationwide

Digital clock operates on Durango Time

Daughters have clearly sided with ex

The president should know that censoring and whitewashing history never works

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