Letters to the Editor

Poem: Home in the Mountains

The smell of the fresh rainy air when you go outside in the morning The bright warm sun glistening through the trees and onto your face The faint sound of…

Poem: The Silverton Train

If you take a trip to Colorado, there is one place worth your while. It’s called Durango, a little town nestled in the Animas canyons and hills And there’s a…

Put pickleball courts by ball fields

My understanding is that the planned construction of outdoor pickleball courts has been approved and that is sweet news. The sour news is that to the best of my knowledge,…

Poem: Uvalde

You’re going to miss your bus today, my little ones. My little ones, you are all cradled in feathers. Their wings will comfort and warm your presence. Your arrival is…

Poem: Earth Mother

The thing we call Life Is so precious, and rare. Let us awaken Like the spring bear! Give Thanks to our Great Creator, Loved ones and Angels who care! Humble…

Poem: Imagine the Sounds

spider walking people talking cat creeping baby sleeping ant chewing coffee brewing snake spitting at-toms splitting clock ticking faucet dripping rooster crowing horn blowing diesel buses nailing trusses flopping fish…

Poem: I Sit in My Room

I sit in my room looking back Back at the memories I hold close So close to my heart and mind Wishing I could be back in those moments Wishing…

Poem: Before Checking Your Device

Before checking your device, Check the news inside. What is the internal weather like when the wind of your breath penetrates your cells? What music plays today in those innermost…

Poem: A Poem (Unrefined)

Not all poems are poetic Or happy or sad Some are just the rantings of an old woman’s mind. . . sweeping away cobwebs so well-defined and yet lost unattended…

Poem: AI In Charge

(Note, this writer asked ChatGPT to, “Write a poem about Artificial Intelligence taking over the world.”) In a world not so far away, Artificial Intelligence came to play. It started…

Boebert ‘wrong about the science’

In her recent guest column, Rep. Boebert claimed the “science is clear” in her argument for her ironically-named “Trust the Science Act” that would permanently delist wolves as an endangered…

‘Just say no to the NRA’

A young black man in Kansas City rang the wrong doorbell. The homeowner was obviously threatened by the very presence of this black youth on his porch. Through the door,…

Editorial cartoon: Broadway bound

‘Push for higher standards’ at hospital

As a local, independent physician, I found the April 16 news story in The Durango Herald report on Centura-Mercy Hospital inappropriately billing Medicare patients for claims that insurance already paid…

‘Slap in the face?’

In response to the letter on April 16 with the headline, “ ‘9 mm handgun’ at Cortez school auction?” where the letter writer says, “It is, in fact, a slap…

Guard pets during satanic gathering

The largest satanic gathering in our nation’s history will be held in Boston on April 27 through April 30. Satanic cults across the country, in every county of every state,…

Gun show ‘right’ after mass shootings?

According to the Gun Violence Archive, by Saturday, there have been 160 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023. Saturday was the 105th day of this year, which means we…

Yes, danger from gas wells

In response to George Sharpe’s recent guest column, he’s wrong that there is not evidence of oil and gas posing danger to people’s health, and the industry doesn’t need further…

On public input: ‘Irony is rich’

Acting against the thoughtful input of 16 former City of Durango mayors, the expressed concerns of the Multimodal and Parks & Recreation Advisory Boards, and numerous local citizens, on Tuesday,…

‘9 mm handgun’ at Cortez school auction?

It has come to our attention that the Lewis-Arriola Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization has a 9 mm handgun as an item to be auctioned off at the annual Hoedown…

Wendt: ‘Durango in good hands’

Over the last four months, I have had the honor of getting to know both Dave Woodruff and Gilda Yazzie. Let me tell you this: Durango is in good hands.…

Poem: Internal Dust

In spring she moves from her old space underground to the stairs curving straight to the attic door. Her path strewn with books, books falling past her and before her,…

‘Boebert: Silent about dead kids’

The GOP has become an entirely performative, own-the-libs clown troupe. I give you our own Congressional sad harlequin, Lauren Boebert. In her time in Congress, she hasn’t sponsored a single…

‘Choice between political parties clear’

On the one hand, Colorado Democrat U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen has recently proposed legislation to understand and stem the import and flow of illicit drugs, such as fentanyl via a…

Focus on ‘suitability’ of gun owners

I read the three letters on gun control on Sunday in The Durango Herald. One letter made a very good point, which encouraged me to think about this issue in…

Consider Russ Andrews for CD3

Carbondale resident Russ Andrews has tossed his hat into the ring as a Republican contender against Lauren Boebert. Andrews is not an “ultra-MAGA” follower. He believes Boebert is a “dividing…

Oppose Boebert’s wolf bill

Over a year ago, local papers welcomed a family of wolves reintroducing themselves in northern Colorado and having pups. Early this year, three were tortured and killed by Wyoming hunters,…

Poem: In The City

See men feeding upon men like so many fevers incubated from concrete. Birds with beaks of filth force through the haze escape. Mind, the Great Mind, and as her lover,…

Poem: Hiking Feet

Toes up, heels down. Toes up, heels down. Dusty ankles left, dusty ankles right. Pesky pebbles, prickly pine needles. Toe stub, heel rub. Frigid wade in mountain creek. Toes down,…

‘Dems inching closer to police state’

The Democrats started the game of “lawfare,” as it came to be called, with the serial indictments of Republican Tom DeLay. Basically, if you get a Democrat prosecutor to empanel…