Columnists - The Durango Herald

For growers, it was a glorious year in Southwest Colorado

Come November, I traditionally write the “end of the year” or “season in review” column. I lament on the dry winter, the cold spring, the brutally hot summer and even the sneaky end-of-the-s...

DATE: Nov 2, 2016 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

‘Silent suicide’ raises many questions worth exploring

If a competent elder refuses food, water or essential medical treatment and dies as a direct result, is that death a suicide? When a colleague brought up the topic recently, I rea...

DATE: Nov 2, 2016 | CATEGORY: Coroner's Report

Disposal of our bodies: What to do after we die?

November is the cruelest month. People I loved have died in November, and with Halloween and Dia de los Muertos just past, it seems fitting to think about the macabre and our bodies dying. W...

DATE: Nov 2, 2016 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Fly fishing for tiger trout a win-win

I have been known to cast a fly at most anything. However, the tiger referred to in the title is not a fly fisherman-eating mammal, but a fish, a trout no-less. Until three weeks...

DATE: Nov 2, 2016 | CATEGORY: Flies & Lies

Elections may – or may not – affect tourism

Do national elections affect tourism? As we enter the final days of a very bizarre election year, we were wondering about the before-and-after effects of national elections on tou...

DATE: Nov 1, 2016 | CATEGORY: A Take on Tourism

Neighbors: Purgatory stalwarts inducted in Hall of Fame

By Ann Butler Neighbors Columnist In 1982, Jim “Hoody” Hards hired recent Durango High School graduate Mike McCormack as a lift operator and ticket checker at Purgatory...

DATE: Nov 1, 2016 | CATEGORY: Neighbors

Get your bulbs now to brighten up next spring

Editor’s note: Get Growing, written by the La Plata County Extension Office’s Master Gardener Program, appears during the growing season. It features timely tips and suggestions for your...

DATE: Oct 31, 2016 | CATEGORY: Get Growing

Farewell to The King, and this year’s Clubhouse Porch

I remember as a young boy practicing my golf swing in my grandmother’s backyard using a Wiffle golf ball so not to sail one over the tall trees and into our neighbor’s corn field. I pretende...

DATE: Oct 31, 2016 | CATEGORY: Clubhouse Porch

Fire apparatus an indispensable part of serving community

This month, we’d like to share some information with you about our fire trucks and other vehicles in the Durango Fire & Rescue fleet. Kurt Vonnegut once wrote: “I can think of no...

DATE: Oct 31, 2016 | CATEGORY: Durango Fire's Corner

And the West is History

100 years ago: “Summer colds are serious: C. E. Summers said ‘I got a bottle of Foley’s Honey and Tar, and the very first dose relieved me. By the second dose, I was cured.’” ...

DATE: Oct 31, 2016 | CATEGORY: Art Seen

Water from a stone

I stood at the trailhead, a place I’ve stood countless times over the past 40 years, but this time I looked at the man standing to my left and Goose to my right and then down at my shoes, an...

DATE: Oct 31, 2016 | CATEGORY: Great Adventures of Jenny and Goose

Plastic lovers may solve our waste problem

Bacteria capable of eating plastic were an inevitability. The tiny cells are evolutionary dynamos. Under optimal growing conditions, many bacteria can clone themselves in 20 to ...

DATE: Oct 31, 2016 | CATEGORY: Your Ecological House

Photos: Thousands take to the streets for ‘No Kings’ march and rally in Durango

Photos: Navajo Trail OpenFriday was the first day of the Navajo Trail Open at Hillcrest Golf Club

Friday was the first day of the Navajo Trail Open at Hillcrest Golf Club

Photos: Durango Fire Protection District opens Station 2

Photos: Hundreds gather to honor fallen Bloomfield Police officer Timothy OntiverosA solemn procession stretched for blocks Monday morning along West Apache Street in Farmington – a display of unity, grief and honor for Bloomfield Police Officer Timothy Ontiveros, 32.About 7 a.m., a large contingent of law enforcement, motorcyclists, friends and grieving family prepared to embark on the motorcade to the 9 a.m. service at the Bloomfield High School football stadium to celebrate the life of the officer.