Guest Columns https://www.durangoherald.com/feeds/guest-columns/ 2026-05-10 09:45:06 -0700 en-us 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 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/colorados-wolf-restoration-program-is-working-and-worth-protecting/ Colorado’s wolf restoration program has hit a few bumps, but overall has been successful in beginning the restoration of a native species. Wolves are a keystone species whose presence strengthens enti... 2026-04-10 05:00:00 -0700 cdc55e2d-dfa5-438e-8d48-923f485fec58 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-white-house-ai-framework-leaves-rural-america-behind/ The administration released its National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence in March, offering Congress seven legislative priorities meant to establish the United States as the dominant forc... 2026-04-10 05:00:00 -0700 e205dadd-678c-46a9-9197-e7d2be6aef50 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/from-vietnam-draft-luck-to-42-year-old-recruits-smoking-weed/ Men of my age remember distinctly where they were when the draft was televised during the Vietnam War. The war and draft of 18-year-olds consumed our thoughts during that time. I was watching it on TV... 2026-04-08 05:00:00 -0700 f7d7a8a5-7eb2-4c76-abca-9981422b0b7c https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/jail-didnt-reform-me-it-just-taught-me-to-survive-the-system/ Of course I spent a fair amount of time in jail – more than 200 days – and I never reformed from my criminal ways of keeping warm and staying fed. Not a single day I spent there helped, not in any sen... 2026-04-06 05:00:00 -0700 757899d1-bc01-4a8a-9f83-490f42ef76ca https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/democrats-be-warned-trump-knows-your-weak-spots/ Sure, the “No Kings” marches drew millions rightly protesting Donald Trump’s assaults on our democratic institutions. But Democrats must dig deeper and ask how Trump could actually win another term af... 2026-04-03 05:26:00 -0700 97deb09a-a588-410d-93cf-e501433c908b https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/a-peace-president-in-name-only-defined-by-conflict-and-instability/ Donald Trump campaigned as a “peace president,” promising no new wars, stability abroad and prosperity at home – even openly coveting the Nobel Peace Prize. Instead, his record has often produced the ... 2026-04-03 05:00:00 -0700 a0ad3cf4-caaf-4990-994b-0b92738e6378 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/the-farm-bill-should-work-for-the-people-who-actually-produce-our-food/ In Washington, the Farm Bill is often treated like another large piece of legislation to negotiate, debate and delay. In Colorado’s Third District, it is something much more concrete. It is whether a ... 2026-04-03 05:00:00 -0700 a4237773-cc5f-41ad-8096-ccd85defe184 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/southwest-colorado-just-joined-a-bigger-cheaper-cleaner-electric-grid/ The way we power Southwest Colorado just changed, and most people will not notice it right away. On April 1, LPEA joined the Southwest Power Pool, becoming part of a regional electricity market that s... 2026-04-01 05:00:00 -0700 917fe8df-c078-4d9a-949a-f11d0c2f805c https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/passing-the-gavel-reflections-on-service-students-and-showing-up/ In April, I will pass the gavel to one of my fellow councilors, and with that tradition, my time as mayor will come to a close. I won’t be going far. I’ll continue serving on City Council, with my fir... 2026-03-29 05:00:00 -0700 90ce1bad-7cc5-4e66-9799-405f50eb990a https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/my-parents-fled-persecution-the-border-wall-brings-it-home/ I’m a first generation … American. In the months leading up to the official start of World War II in 1939, my Grandfather Benjamin (a jeweler in Vienna) shipped my mother and her two siblings ahead to... 2026-03-29 05:00:00 -0700 f4cf6bd4-ded5-4aab-bd23-cb6bf773900c https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/republicans-see-trouble-ahead-in-iran-war-but-say-little-publicly/ It is not just Democrats in Congress who fear that Donald Trump’s war in Iran is going sideways. After a classified Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, Republican lawmakers on the House Armed Services Com... 2026-03-29 05:00:00 -0700 81573825-d7b9-422c-b2b2-79795429c90a