Editorials
Letters to the Editor
Let’s celebrate public lands caretakers
Human power, rooted in public lands, is a force. People in our region absolutely hold great value in our public lands. Access to healthy public lands is an inherent self-definition…
Letters to the Editor
For-profit prisons in your portfolio
Publicly traded companies on the New York Stock Exchange and the S&P 600 own and operate for-profit prisons and immigration detention centers in the U.S. The two largest examples are…
Guest Columns
Protecting member value through responsible transparency
As La Plata Electric Association’s elected board of directors, we serve on behalf of the cooperative’s member-owners. Our responsibility is one of governance and fiduciary oversight: setting policy, providing strategic…
Opinion
Ode to Minnesota’s resistance
They came with boots stomping the ground. They came with guns unholstered. They came with force to dominate. With no intent to bolster. The throngs of marchers were strong and…
Opinion
Bennet’s ICE retraining plan won’t work
I recently read Sen. Michael Bennet’s press release regarding his suggestions for ICE. While I applaud a few of them, the idea of retraining ICE agents is fanciful, to put…
Opinion
Oaths and honesty in government
When I was a young boy in school, I believed that when a person swore on a Bible “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,”…
Opinion
ICE actions a stain on Durango
It has been months since a masked ICE agent was filmed putting a 57-year-old mother, Franci Stagi, in a chokehold and throwing her down a hill. While the community stood…
Opinion
A busy month: Public education bills and hard conversations about health care and immigration
It’s been a very busy start to the legislative session, and I look forward to spending an extra day with my family next weekend for Presidents Day. We’ve had a…
Opinion
Seven states, zero solutions: Leadership failure on the Colorado River
As a Coloradan and water engineer with 48 years on the front lines, I am outraged – not merely disappointed – that the seven states renegotiating reservoir operations, shortage criteria…
Opinion
Balancing public safety and individual privacy: A delicate trade-off
During my first year as a city councilor, I’ve come to realize that many decisions we make involve complex trade-offs, particularly concerning taxpayer dollars and the benefits delivered to our…
Letters to the Editor
Student’s perspective on freezing out ICE
As a student at DHS, I walked out of school in protest of ICE in our school, community and country on Friday, Jan. 30, for the Nationwide Shutdown to oppose…
Letters to the Editor
They’re coming for your guns!
For decades, Republican politicians and conservative influencers peddled fear that Democrats were “coming for your guns.” The message was relentless and effective. Many voters believed it, and it shaped elections…
Letters to the Editor
A warning to anti-ICE protesters
To all anti-ICE protesters, please be aware of the possible danger you are putting yourselves into. The people you are demonstrating against could make a mistake. Gerry Schaerer Durango
Letters to the Editor
ICE’s dehumanizing language and intimidation tactics
The demeaning name “Catch of the Day” reveals the dehumanizing nature of Trump’s immigration policies. Likening immigrants to fish one might catch for supper rather than human beings is shocking…
Letters to the Editor
We can stop the puppy mill pipeline
Buying a puppy from a pet store should never mean unknowingly supporting cruelty. Yet many puppies sold in retail stores come from large-scale commercial dog breeders where profit comes before…
Letters to the Editor
Peaceful protests win in Minnesota
After George Floyd was killed by police in broad daylight while being filmed, many Minneapolis residents snapped. They let their outrage get the best of them and their protests turned…
Opinion
Transparency and accountability in member-owned nonprofits
A recent opinion column on nonprofit board governance is timely and important (Herald, Jan. 25). As the column notes, many nonprofit boards hold significant authority, and when transparency is limited,…
Opinion
Our view: Process matters
Housing policy requires data and trust Accessory dwelling units can be a useful tool in Durango’s housing toolbox. Thoughtfully designed infill can limit sprawl, connect housing to existing services, and…
Opinion
Serving rural Southwest Colorado’s unique transportation needs on the CDOT commission
This past July, I was sworn in as the District 8 Transportation commissioner, serving and advocating for transportation needs in Southwest Colorado and the San Luis Valley. The state’s transportation…
Opinion
The shadow president’s dangerous influence
The most dangerous person in Washington today is the shadow president, Stephen Miller. Hitler’s Nazi criminality is OK even though Miller’s Jewish family fled Europe to escape concentration camps and…
Opinion
Colorado’s roadless areas are worth more than minerals and timber
Last fall was my nineteenth season of public lands elk hunting in southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. During eight days I hunted for a total of 63.5 hours (or 7.93…
Letters to the Editor
Minnesota’s federal crackdown: A warning about weaponized power
Believe your eyes and act accordingly. Horrifically, Alex Pretti was shot to death by federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement in Minnesota – a state that does not rank in…
Letters to the Editor
What we can accomplish together
Thank you for the inspiring missive from Scott Perez (Herald, Jan. 23). In his concluding remark, he reminded us, “Working together, we can accomplish anything. A community united cannot be…
Letters to the Editor
It’s time to stop further ICE funding
It’s time to reach across the political spectrum to build a strong response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s extreme, horrifying and oppressive tactics this year. Our Durango community has endured…
Letters to the Editor
When law enforcement becomes lawless
I am horrified by what is happening in a major city in the United States. I am ashamed to be an American. And I am afraid for all of us,…
Letters to the Editor
A question of significance
When I was a little boy in my father’s black three-quarter ton Ford in ‘59, moving across the Mojave at barely fifty, every time we’d stop there among the rocks…