Guest Columns https://www.durangoherald.com/feeds/guest-columns/ 2026-05-25 05:48:44 -0700 en-us https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/remember-me/ I am Corporal Allen Stall; I am ALL those you will never know, I am those who lived and died far away, because I went where others didn’t go. Yes, you can call me corporal, but that really isn’t quit... 2026-05-25 05:00:00 -0700 c573e682-31f8-4e9c-9bd6-1a5134c3470c https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/dhs-students-bring-community-together-to-build-a-more-resilient-future/ Just a stone’s throw from the too-low-for-April Animas River, more than 100 community members and Durango High School students gathered at the Powerhouse to learn, discuss and ultimately prove that de... 2026-05-22 05:00:00 -0700 6e1a2eec-46de-4ba4-9ed9-a3f2cb1ddcfc https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/durangos-public-lands-need-rep-hurds-voice-and-vote-in-washington/ Drive any direction from downtown Durango, and you find public land within minutes. The San Juan Mountains surround us – the foundation of our economy, our identity and the lives we've built. Each of ... 2026-05-22 05:00:00 -0700 66337fe1-4466-4656-90a6-2b9d2a7beb47 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/hands-on-transplant-science-lesson-gave-students-unforgettable-look-inside-the-human-body/ I held the lungs in my hands, thinking about how apparent the effects of smoking were. That moment stuck with me throughout the day. On April 13, what started as a normal school day turned into a mem... 2026-05-22 05:00:00 -0700 5543aff5-3723-4493-8b82-11a03ddeb671 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/ais-growing-environmental-and-economic-costs-deserve-far-greater-public-attention/ “Water is life. AI and data centers are not.” Artificial Intelligence has become nearly impossible to avoid. If you read or watch the news at all, probably not a day goes by that you don’t hear someth... 2026-05-20 09:04:42 -0700 d26b79ba-579f-4ec9-926f-752f7dfeca8e https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/why-durango-school-district-is-building-three-springs-elementary-despite-enrollment-declines/ I understand why some community members are asking questions about building a new school while the district is discussing enrollment declines and budget challenges. Those are fair questions, and they ... 2026-05-18 05:00:00 -0700 892c383f-081a-49a6-813a-ef41266ac742 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/building-a-rural-health-care-workforce-one-pathway-at-a-time/ When Axis Health System approached the La Plata Economic Development Alliance about the Opportunity NOW grant Axis received to create Healthcare Workforce Pathways, it was because of the Alliance's pr... 2026-05-15 05:00:00 -0700 757c0e65-428a-4bf7-901f-942b5db478ec https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/building-an-affordable-future-how-la-plata-county-is-addressing-housing-costs/ With rising prices at the grocery store and the gas station, the term “affordability” seems to be everywhere. But for many in our community, affordability isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a daily challeng... 2026-05-15 05:00:00 -0700 93059327-af98-4ba7-a655-7d18a95f4591 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/colorado-lawmakers-keep-dodging-debate-over-public-stream-access-rights/ It’s perplexing that preserving legal public stream access remains one of the most untouchable topics in the Colorado legislature. Our state’s constitution boldly proclaims that every natural stream b... 2026-05-15 05:00:00 -0700 a4f0ea83-bdca-400e-9d9c-933cb7574767 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/around-the-moon-once-more-still-cheesy-after-all-these-years/ So, we’ve gone around the moon. That’s nice. Sorry to be less than enthusiastic, but we had six crewed landings on it between 1969 and 1972. Are we supposed to now consider this latest flyby, more tha... 2026-05-13 05:00:00 -0700 4398d01e-53d3-49de-847a-c7451ec79649 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-quiet-war-on-womens-health-and-why-you-should-be-paying-attention/ The League of Women Voters was founded to help newly enfranchised women exercise their hard-won right to vote. Over more than a century, that mission has grown far beyond the ballot box. Today the Lea... 2026-05-11 05:00:00 -0700 0cf98d6e-52f6-4ad8-9fc4-6d76a1a7bafa https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/colorado-budget-passes-but-long-term-fiscal-imbalance-remains-unresolved/ As the Second Regular Session of the 75th Colorado General Assembly winds down, the conversation once again centers on the State’s annual budget. On April 30, the General Assembly finalized next year’... 2026-05-08 05:00:00 -0700 43e04b3b-c444-4f44-8f57-6a0717eba3a7 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-legislative-sessions-final-sprint-votes-signing-ceremonies-and-upcoming-town-halls/ There’s less than a week left in the legislative session, and we’ll be working through the weekend to get bills across the finish line. If you’d like to learn more about our work over the past year, c... 2026-05-08 05:00:00 -0700 707f89fc-7725-4829-ba88-84c79fe170b9 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/searching-for-the-source-of-durangos-kindness-respect-and-everyday-caring/ Durangoans, you’re the nicest, most pragmatic people I can imagine climbing into a lifeboat with. I wondered how that happened. I am by nature both curious and a people-watcher, so I began to notice t... 2026-05-08 05:00:00 -0700 833b7532-9a9c-4287-b566-ca42fd39bf6c https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-west-heads-into-wildfire-season-unprepared-and-understaffed/ The West is staring down a dangerous wildfire year. A dry winter and historically low snowpack have set the stage for a potentially severe 2026 fire season. But the deeper problem is that the nation’s... 2026-05-06 05:00:00 -0700 4689b6ef-03b2-44bc-b356-fb270eff0807 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/cinco-de-mayo-celebrates-stunning-mexican-victory-not-independence-day/ May 5 is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday rooted in Mexican history that has been adopted by millions of Americans, both Latino and non-Latino. The holiday is actually celebrated more in the United States tha... 2026-05-04 04:00:00 -0700 2568844f-2162-446c-bc14-128465eb3851 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/heres-how-trump-can-get-us-out-of-the-mess-in-iran/ The Islamic Republic of Iran and its violent disruptions have hung over my entire career. I took the Foreign Service exam as the regime seized U.S. Embassy hostages in late 1979 and grappled with the ... 2026-05-01 05:00:00 -0700 95372a44-9856-48cc-b73f-46541b19a394 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/delivering-reliable-water-for-tribal-communities-in-the-west/ In parts of the Upper Colorado River Basin, families still live without reliable access to safe drinking water. That’s not a resource problem; it’s a delivery problem. For decades, the federal governm... 2026-05-01 05:00:00 -0700 ddca0e89-29de-4efe-b215-49323ed3966a https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/make-america-healthy-again-is-not-making-america-healthier/ For American families, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s leadership at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is not abstract – it directly affects the safety of children, parents and grandparents. Th... 2026-05-01 05:00:00 -0700 2b60384b-f30e-4024-a80e-a792ca2bb169 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/our-public-lands-are-worth-fighting-for-heres-how-to-defend-them/ The Herald editorial board got it right: Our public lands are “under siege” (Herald, April 17). The threats are real, they are accelerating and here in Southwest Colorado, they feel close to home. But... 2026-04-27 05:00:00 -0700 b43b53ab-eff0-48b1-a504-f65327a3888f https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-pope-bedevils-trump-while-the-rest-of-the-world-watches/ I might have to go back to church. My mother always told me that the Catholic Church was greater than the men running it. But I grew so disillusioned with the men running it while I was covering the s... 2026-04-24 05:00:00 -0700 a44d4ac2-dc7a-46b9-8d7c-dadd8aabecd0 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/on-law-day-attorneys-gather-to-reaffirm-their-oath-to-the-constitution/ May 1 is Law Day. It is a national day of reflection on our judicial system and its contributions, for good or ill, on our freedoms. This year's theme is “The Rule of Law and the American Dream.” The ... 2026-04-24 05:00:00 -0700 bd89bb29-b136-4665-a5cc-08877cae0f79 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/a-closer-look-at-the-data-behind-ihs-sterilization-claims/ According to Google’s AI, when searching “coercive sterilizations,” the following appeared: “Between 1973 and 1976, an estimated 3,406 sterilization procedures were performed on Native American women ... 2026-04-22 02:33:25 -0700 64dd6ccc-48a5-442f-909b-c8cd4adaa88f https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-u-s-has-cheap-power-policy-is-making-it-more-expensive/ America’s strength has long depended on building – farms, factories, power plants and the infrastructure that allows communities to grow. That tradition is now colliding with a different reality: Elec... 2026-04-20 05:00:00 -0700 2d944dcb-c874-4e5a-af2f-ecfb70ce7c27 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/we-are-losing-local-farmland-and-with-it-open-space-and-stability/ “The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” – John F. Kennedy One of the reasons people come here to vacat... 2026-04-17 05:00:00 -0700 f9fcec9e-d57c-48ad-af54-f0c7a8df8e09 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-pope-isnt-trumps-political-rival-hes-gods-messenger/ Last year, Pope Leo XIV questioned whether the “inhuman treatment of immigrants” is consistent with being pro-life. This year, on Easter, he said, “Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose ... 2026-04-17 05:00:00 -0700 06ac12fc-47b8-4fd5-b4af-f129329e6420 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/la-plata-county-commissioners-prepare-for-wildfire-season-right-now/ The La Plata County Commissioners are using this space to issue an urgent call to action to every resident and business in the county. We face one of the most extreme fire seasons in history and prepa... 2026-04-17 05:00:00 -0700 d5aefc9e-13ac-4be1-aa5d-f54b214e5bf8 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/backcountry-turkey-hunting-and-the-roadless-rule-are-both-worth-protecting/ Twenty years ago, I had the privilege of first crossing paths with Durango resident David “Elkheart” Petersen at a public meeting of the Colorado Roadless Areas Review Task Force in Pueblo. David was ... 2026-04-15 05:00:00 -0700 2aefe056-1962-461b-bed8-13a5d43da1c6 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/appeals-court-errs-in-peters-case-but-her-guilt-remains/ Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters hasn’t been exonerated. Colorado’s most infamous election denier is still guilty of a litany of crimes related to tampering with Mesa County voting equipment. But ... 2026-04-13 05:00:00 -0700 c8edc79b-63bc-422f-b24f-f05bf97ce036 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/colorado-budget-cuts-will-hit-schools-medicaid-snap-and-rural-hospitals/ As I’m writing this, the House is hearing the “long bill,” which lays out the entire Colorado budget for the coming year. As many of you know, Colorado is facing a more than $1.5 billion budget defici... 2026-04-10 05:00:00 -0700 ebc051ad-494e-438e-9320-b19b3c231328