business and finance - The Durango Herald

Make your financial success automatic

Most people will tell you a budget is the key to financial success. They’re wrong. Without a system to manage your budget, you are forced to rely on willpower and self-discipline,...

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Money Savvy

Negative online reviews can be positive for businesses

NEW YORK – It is a double-edged cybersword: a negative review of a restaurant or other business, posted for the world to see. Anyone who peruses Yelp!, TripAdvisor, Google and com...

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Economic development chief Ed Morlan retiring

Gov. John Hickenlooper recognizes director’s efforts

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Longtime Purgatory CEO stepping down

Gary Derck, 58, to run his own business

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Whole Health Family Medicine opens

Dr. Dan Schaefer and Karassa Yeomans-Schaefer have opened Whole Health Family Medicine Clinic at 555 Rivergate Lane, Suite B1-102. The clinic offers affordable, personalized famil...

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

PHD Advanced Nutrition opens

PHD Advanced Nutrition has opened in Rivergate Plaza near Animas Surgical Hospital at 555 Rivergate Lane, Suite B1-101. Owner Ashley Lucas is a registered dietition with a doctor...

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Wells Group hires new broker

The Wells Group, 901 Main Ave., welcomes Kyle Roberts to their team as a Broker Associate. Roberts graduated from Durango High School, received a full rodeo scholarship and atten...

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

New counseling practice at Surya Health

Kristi Zink is opening a counseling practice at Surya Health and Wellbeing, 1032 Main Ave. Zink specializes in death, loss and bereavement, as well as guiding patients through li...

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Summit Psychology welcomes Tiffany Rose

Summit Psychology has added Tiffany Rose to its mental health team. Rose is a counseling intern and will offer low-cost counseling services for children, adolescents and adults. ...

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

Florida offers hope for homebuyers squeezed by low supply

House hunters frustrated by a shortage of listings should consider the Sunshine State. While overall U.S. home inventory continued to decline in July on a year-over-year basis, a ...

DATE: Sep 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

U.S. home sales down as inventories plummet

WASHINGTON – Americans retreated from home-buying in August, as a worsening inventory shortage appears to be hurting sales and pushing prices higher. Housing has been a bright spo...

DATE: Sep 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: Business

It’s important to come home to a great landing

During the Parade of Homes weekend, when Durango’s builders and homeowners graciously open their doors to looky-loos from far and wide, I get excited. Why, you ask? Well, quite a...

DATE: Sep 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: On Real Estate

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