Opinion & Letters to the Editor

Proper disposal of medicines essential

All medicines will be disposed properly by personnel trained in handling hazardous materials. Sherri Libby Durango

District attorney qualifications matter

Lammons has had five jobs in 21 years as a prosecutor – a lot of movement. He has never been the No. 2 DA in any office, which is a…

Review of federal coal program overdue

When the government last wrote rules for coal mining on public lands, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was on the big screen, cars had no airbags, a gallon of…

Memorial Day ceremonies will honor those who gave lives for freedom

Americans continue to fight in Afghanistan and in Iraq, where it had been expected that they all would be home by now. The Taliban and other extremist groups have proved…

Intersection by the Arc of History should have been a beautiful entrance

But ugly does it best. The medians that received the bland facelift are just across the asphalt from the landscaped, irrigated island that holds the Arc of History. For many…

District attorney forum coming June 9

The candidates are Christian Champagne and Ben Lammons. This is the only contested primary election for offices in La Plata County. There is no Republican candidate for this office. Those…

Superfund cleanup needed downstream

It seems very possible that contaminants and heavy metals could be entering the river there, as well as above Silverton. Shouldn’t any sincere and real efforts to clean up the…

Be wary of pollution at Lake Nighthorse

First is the safety of the public using the lake. A small lake with motorized boats, etc., will need policing as to speed, gasoline residue on the lake, the number…

Denying patients emergency medications

Laws and regulations have not kept up with the evolution of modern medicine, however, and in a recent review of the Controlled Substances Act, the Department of Justice determined that…

Randy Shaw article showed compassion

There are many Randy Shaws across this country, and we can do more to help people in his position. In a society such as ours, people who struggle with substance-abuse…

Monday, honor those who gave their lives

Those we honor on this day will not be back. Whether you agree or disagree with a war, military action or political decision, these are our men and women who…

Odor mitigation at Santa Rita a must

This level of odor mitigation may not carry merit in the design criteria for treatment plants in some communities, but since Durango has chosen to locate picnic and recreational facilities…

Call hotline to handle swarming bees

Unfortunately, bees still seem a little scary to people sometimes. A swarm of honeybees looks like a million bees and sounds even louder. They come pouring out of the hive…

Trump reflects disgust with usual politics

One, even the career Republicans running their own party don’t want him as their choice. Somebody who has their own party afraid of him can’t be all bad, as the…

Lawsuits, ‘bathroom bills’ constitute fearful overreaction to non-issue

This comes after a mirror-image situation in North Carolina where, in response to an anti-discrimination ordinance passed by the city of Charlotte, the state Legislature passed a bill saying that…

Limit type and number of boats on lake

Uniqueness. We have Vallecito and Navajo and McPhee all in easy, motorized reach. We have no other lakes easily accessible to the public that offer a nature-based, non motorized opportunity.…

Congress, media leaving voters wanting

So the perception is once again that the American people are left with a choice of the lesser of two evils. Chasing ratings as opposed to publicizing findings of fact…

Closer ties to Vietnam make could have happened long ago

That reflects an oddity of American history: It seems to take us longer to forgive enemies we do not crush. In World War II, the United States destroyed Japan’s navy,…

Brown not so out of touch on climate

Scientific truth is determined by data. The data showed no global warming for 15 years, during which one-third of all the carbon dioxide emissions by mankind, ever, were made. The…

City calls on public for lake comments

This board is aware of the strong community support for recreation at Lake Nighthorse. Our Parks, Open Space, Trails and Recreation Master Plan correlates with the Department of Interior missions…

Colorado’s Hickenlooper increasingly mentioned as Clinton running mate

Hickenlooper would likely make a good vice president. As the former mayor of a major city and a two-term governor, he is certainly more qualified than many who have held…

Champagne brings integrity, leadership

My confidence in his integrity, leadership and experience has increased during a number of formal and informal encounters. When I needed to learn more about challenges of the transition to…

Was ‘child sex sting’ about terrorism?

The story did not directly say that an advertisement “to lure people in the Four Corners interested in paying for sexual encounters,” was placed by the U.S. Department of Homeland…

Think about the high cost of not voting

Not voting also affects us locally. Take for example the recent La Plata Electric Association election in which many of us had the opportunity to vote for some more progressive…

House vote shows an unusual alliance in opposition to divisive old symbol

The vote was on an amendment to a bill funding the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction projects. The amendment was introduced by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif. It bars…

Greed in Durango?

Lawsuits greedy, but access issue real

The way the guy went about this was inappropriate, but so is denying people access because of their disability. Please don’t blame the disability community or perpetuate negative stereotypes. The…

Lammons the better candidate for D.A.

Lammons favors stringent sentencing requirements for violent offenders. But, according to examples taken directly from the Herald, Champagne’s record appears profoundly bad in his efforts to obtain proper convictions, particularly…

Still time to change plan for sewer plant

As a veteran of 35 years of major engineering projects, I have a few thoughts and questions for the city. First, a few thoughts: It’s generally possible to change directions…

Any options to save quiet on Nighthorse?

I, too, recall those many meetings in early 2011 when it was made abundantly clear to all in the room that excluding power boats from the Lake was not an…