Columnists - The Durango Herald

Office won’t contact correct parent

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have four children, so there are many, many appointments to make and keep. We both have full-time jobs, so we split up the responsibilities by category; I get the...

DATE: Jan 17, 2025 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Keeping our sights on protecting the Dolores River Canyons, our Western heritage, and outdoor recreation economy

This fall, we visited the heart of the Dolores River Canyons in Western Colorado. I biked an old mining road that overlooked the Paradox Valley where Utah’s La Sal Mountains rose above the r...

DATE: Jan 17, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Having fun with Yes, No, Maybe.

Our local schools are fertile grounds for making music. If you think back to your middle or high school days, you likely knew a handful of students who always had an instrument in hand; mayb...

DATE: Jan 15, 2025 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

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...

DATE: Jan 15, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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...

DATE: Jan 14, 2025 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

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...

DATE: Jan 12, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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...

DATE: Jan 12, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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...

DATE: Jan 12, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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...

DATE: Jan 12, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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...

DATE: Jan 12, 2025 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

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...

DATE: Jan 11, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

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...

DATE: Jan 10, 2025 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

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

Office won’t contact correct parent

Keeping our sights on protecting the Dolores River Canyons, our Western heritage, and outdoor recreation economy

Having fun with Yes, No, Maybe.

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

Anger threatens to erupt

Empowering women and girls through family planning leads to healthier lives

Joe Biden: What Americans should remember about Jan. 6

Filling 2025 with joy, not wasting a single healthy moment

Bumper Sticker of the Month (BSoM)

Stepdaughter’s gift hurts feelings

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

Taurus the bull and Orion the hunter

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