business and finance - The Durango Herald

For 2017, dare to set a big goal for yourself

If we’re friends on Facebook, or in real life, you probably know that I’m currently living in Hawaii. Moving here is part of my Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal to travel for a year. C...

DATE: Dec 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Money Savvy

Walgreens, Rite Aid to shed 865 stores to close $9.4B deal

Walgreens and Rite Aid will sell 865 stores to rival retailer Fred’s for $950 million, potentially removing the final roadblock thwarting a tie up between the nation’s largest and third-larg...

DATE: Dec 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Chef Dennis Morrisroe returns to Seasons Rotisserie & Grill

Chef Dennis Morrisroe returned to Seasons Rotisserie & Grill as executive chef, and Clark Peterson has been promoted to sous chef. Morrisroe is a graduate of the California Culina...

DATE: Dec 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

LPEA hires new accounting clerk

David Genge joined the finance and accounting team at La Plata Electric Association as an accounting clerk. Genge is from Orange County, California, and has degrees in accounting ...

DATE: Dec 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Networking event scheduled at Carver’s

The casual networking event “Coffee at Carver’s Tuesday Talk” is scheduled for 7:45-9 a.m. Jan. 3 at Carver Brewing Co. at 1022 Main Ave. Participants are encouraged to come prepa...

DATE: Dec 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Special events boost Durango train and sister companies

Rail Events the shining star of American Heritage Railways

DATE: Dec 20, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

New home construction dips after surging in October

WASHINGTON – Builders pulled back on constructing homes in November, after ground breakings surged in October to the strongest pace in more than nine years. Housing starts fell 18...

DATE: Dec 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Mortgage rates move higher

Mortgage rates carried on their steady ascent last week, moving higher for the seventh consecutive week. Home loan rates are loosely tied to long-term bond yields, which have been...

DATE: Dec 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Pinterest streamlines planning for home designers, decorators

Erin Treat of Durango travels a lot, which means when she plans a home improvement project, she has little time to sit down with a decorator or peruse vendors. But because of Pin...

DATE: Dec 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

After decades of dads leaned back, a classic chair moves forward

Say goodbye to the dad chair. Today’s recliners are slimmer, smarter and more stylish than ever. Even La-Z-Boy, the 90-year-old brand whose name is as synonymous with classic recl...

DATE: Dec 18, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Colorado agriculture plummets

Income declines to level not seen since 1986

DATE: Dec 17, 2016 | CATEGORY: Local News

Homebuilder confidence at highest level since 2005

U.S. homebuilders’ confidence soared this month to the highest level in 11 years, reflecting heightened expectations of better sales now and well into 2017. The National Associati...

DATE: Dec 16, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members wore costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho’s bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the Secret Circus Society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this year’s costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don’ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since its inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this year’s fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unfazed by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns