Dear Abby - The Durango Herald

Newlywed discovers man’s possessiveness

DEAR ABBY: I have been married three years. The man I married is not the person I fell in love with. After our wedding, he demanded that I take his last name. I am proud of my last name, and...

DATE: Dec 30, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Unhappy wife ponders new life

DEAR ABBY: I have been married to my husband for 12 years. We have had our ups and downs. I was unfaithful at one point, and he left for eight months, but we worked through it all. We are no...

DATE: Dec 30, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Man’s absences now have reason

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend of three years works six days a week with Sundays off. For the last six weeks, my calls have gone unanswered from Saturday evening through Monday morning. He’d provid...

DATE: Dec 26, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Wife’s texts to co-worker viewed as threat

DEAR ABBY: I am a 42-year-old male, married for 19 years with three teenage children. My wife recently decided to return to work after staying home with the kids as a full-time mom. She’s an...

DATE: Dec 23, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

School fails to protect student

DEAR ABBY: My daughter, who is in eighth grade, has slowly come out as lesbian. She enjoys makeup and fashion, but isn’t absolute in presenting in a feminine way. She is an artist and a musi...

DATE: Dec 23, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Woman doesn’t like vibe husband giving off

DEAR ABBY: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I’m sure he’d cheat on me the instant he had the chance. We have been together for 12 years. When we met, he was 24 and I was 31...

DATE: Dec 20, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Man proves to be more crybaby than caregiver

DEAR ABBY: I was just released from the hospital, and I suspect my husband is tapping his foot waiting for me to fix him lunch. He isn’t doing or saying anything overt, like “Get up and make...

DATE: Dec 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Fishing pal is bigger catch

DEAR ABBY: I have been involved with a man I met online. We texted and talked for months before we met. He told me he had a lady friend he goes fishing with. He said she was just a friend. O...

DATE: Dec 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Politics makes office-seeker uneasy

DEAR ABBY: There’s a social club within our retirement community that meets once a month, and I have attended since moving here. During this time, I have brought new ideas and proposed new e...

DATE: Dec 16, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Romance grows in blended family

DEAR ABBY: I have been dating my boyfriend, “George,” for 17 years after our divorces. I have three grown children. He has four – two of whom are still at home. We have never lived together....

DATE: Dec 12, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Childhood friend knows whole truth

DEAR ABBY: Forty years ago, a neighborhood boy fathered a child with a neighborhood girl. “Billy” was 17 at the time, and “Becky” was 14 or 15. Both were friends of mine. They were not a ste...

DATE: Dec 12, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Parents upset by daughter’s love life

DEAR ABBY: Three days before my daughter “Ginger’s” wedding, her fiance called to announce that he could not marry her because she’s bisexual. It’s something he knew about for a year but wai...

DATE: Dec 5, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Photos: Where there's smoke there's firefightersDurango firefighters take advantage of the old River City Hall building for training

Durango firefighters take advantage of the old River City Hall building for training

Photos: Durango plays Montezuma-Cortez in boys, girls high school basketballDurango girls and boys basketball teams defeat Montezuma-Cortez at DHS

Durango girls and boys basketball teams defeat Montezuma-Cortez at DHS

Year in photos: A look back at Southwest Colorado in 2024Each year brings some of the new and some of the old – breaking news and cherished traditions. It is the people, their emotions, different cultures and varied forms of entertainment that make for impactful images. Add to that Southwest Colorado’s gorgeous scenery, abundant wildlife and range of weather events, and you have the makings for stunning photos. We hope you enjoy Photo Editor Jerry McBride’s photos from 2024.

Each year brings some of the new and some of the old – breaking news and cherished traditions. It is...

Montezuma County DA Christian Hatfield charged with DWICharges come 16 weeks after crash near Farmington, New MexicoMontezuma County District Attorney Christian Hatfield was charged Friday with driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs 16 weeks after he crashed his SUV on U.S. Highway 64 outside Bloomfield.The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office charged Hatfield, 59, with petty misdemeanor charge of DWI and an open container in connection to the Aug. 30 single-car crash.The charges come after results from a blood test by the New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory showed alcohol and a drug in Hatfield’s body after the crash.

“The results show that at the time of the blood draw, which was approximately eleven hours after the time of the crash due to medical issues, were 0.05 g/100 ml of Ethanol and 0.04 mg/L of Zolpidem (Ambien). Both Ethanol and Ambien are Central Nervous System Depressants,” the law enforcement report states.Two vials of blood were taken from Hatfield at 1:33 p.m. Aug. 30, which was more than 12 hours after the crash occurred about 1 a.m. Those vials were received by the New Mexico Department of Health Scientific Laboratory at 10:26 a.m. Oct. 11, which was six weeks after the crash, according to records from the lab.An investigation into the blood warrant by The Journal newspaper in Cortez, Colorado, showed that the blood sample sat in a refrigerator at the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office until Oct. 3, because paperwork to send it to the state laboratory was not processed.“I think it’s a non-prosecutable case because of all the errors made by law enforcement,” said Arlon Stoker, a high-profile defense attorney secured by Hatfield to fight the charges.

The charges made by the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office are “based on the observations made by law enforcement officers on scene and the presence of intoxicating drugs and liquors in Christian's blood,” according to the report that was given to The Journal by the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.Amanda Lavin, legal director for NMFOG, assisted The Journal in accessing public records from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office in Aztec. The records had been redacted, leaving out Hatfield’s name and information about the blood warrant filed in San Juan County Magistrate Court.Public records requests by The Journal and the Tri-City Record went unresolved for 14 weeks.The Journal requested body camera footage and lapel camera video on Sept. 3.The Tri-City Record requested any and all warrants, investigative reports and laboratory reports as well as photos, lapel cam videos and dash cam videos on Oct. 23.On Dec. 9, Lavin made the same requests.

The Journal received access to photos and videos in an email on Dec. 19, and Lavin, after making a legal argument for unredacted information, received the full report Dec. 19 and was advised that charges would be forthcoming.The report detailing the crash states that Hatfield was found “unresponsive and barely able to stand” about 1 a.m. Aug. 30 near the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and County Road 5099.Investigators and medics noted a “pungent” odor of alcohol coming from Hatfield, and investigators found “an open 12-ounce can of Mexican Lager with residual liquid inside,” an “empty wine glass,” and a “bottle of Ambien prescribed to Christian,” according to the report.The affidavit for search warrant for blood submitted by sheriff’s deputy Avery Killifer states he had an “opinion that the defendant was driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.” The deputy “placed the defendant under arrest” at the time, but Hatfield was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, because of “extensive injuries.”A summons was issued for Hatfield, and an arraignment is set for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 8 in Aztec Magistrate Court.

Charges come 16 weeks after crash near Farmington, New Mexico