The ominous note came in an envelope with an advertising bill. Instead of payment, the sender included the message on personalized stationery, the kind of notepad one would use for a grocery list or a...

Irony is the juxtaposition of one conceptual proposition with a directly contrary reality, like a “vegetarian butcher” or something that’s “seriously funny.” Or the swift enactment — during Sunshine W...

Animal hides, skins and pelts were in demand worldwide as the 19th century began. Trappers roamed the Rocky Mountains hunting and trapping for decades, but each year brought increasing challenges. By ...

Leap year 2024: An extra day — Feb. 29 — for most of us, a once-in-four years’ birthday for a select few. We can thank the ancient Egyptians for this essential astronomical invention, according to a f...

1873 was a big year for miners in the San Juan Mountains. Two prospectors, Charles McIntyre and Abe Burrows, decided to try their luck at higher elevations and staked several claims. In addition to go...

Last week, Mike and I took a moment for lunch at a local restaurant, sitting in a daze while we began planning the next edition. Thursday is a day of recovery, a day I feel hungover from the exhaustio...

It’s the last week of January and it’s been a strange weather roller coaster of a month. But then, last year was strange, too. Four warm days averaging nearly 40 degrees and little snow on the ground ...

EDITORIAL: FROM THE PUBLISHERS Publishing a small newspaper feels like tiptoeing through a minefield each week. We debate the smallest details to identify potential hazards before taking a step. In th...

Do you own a piece of uranium glass? This green-tinted “Vaseline” glass from the 1930s can be found in flea markets, antique shops, and online. Yes, it is radioactive, and it might be connected to min...

Today is the low point of the sun’s trajectory across the Northern Hemisphere. Sunlight increases tomorrow through June 21, 2024. Twenty-first century Americans celebrate at Christmas, as the ancient ...

Francis (Frank) Carney was born in County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1846. After emigrating to the United States in 1859, he completed schooling in Corning and Watkins, New York. The family moved to New Y...

Meteorological winter begins tomorrow. Never mind that it’s felt like winter the last couple of weeks. Nighttime temperatures recently descended into single digits. Snow lingers on the ground, coverin...

The year 2023 may be remembered for weather and climate whiplash. In Ouray, the first six months were cold, gray and abnormally wet. As the 10th month closes, the city is on track to end the year in d...

What is in a name? If you have assumed that the West End town of Nucla was named for its role in nuclear energy, think again. The community’s name was from the founders’ dream of a cooperative communi...

This year's minimal monsoon made a couple of short appearances this month, but overall just 0.97 inches of rain fell, 48% of the new normal, 2.04 inches. These recent storms sparked dry lightning and ...

On average, birds can see Two or three times more Sharply than humans – David Allen Sibley I always wondered why birds always seem to notice me before I see them. I would be birding and just when I sp...

As you read this, the first day of meteorological autumn arrives Friday, Sept. 1. Not that the weather will change drastically, but these last few cool mornings and evenings have certainly felt differ...

Readers, we owe you an apology. We knew the transition to a new website and a change in our e-edition delivery system and format might be a little bumpy. But I promise we did not know it would be so r...

During the last half of the 19th century, prospectors found gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc in the northern San Juan Mountains. The news spread quickly, and thousands more came to this region. How...