Opinion Columns - The Durango Herald

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On the ubiquitous rhetoric of, and short step between, hatred and murder

I am writing this on Sept. 11, 2025. Twenty-four years ago today, this country was attacked by radicalized terrorists. For a while, as we worked through the recovery, shock and grief, we sto...

A budgetary crisis: What happened during the Colorado Legislature’s Special Session

This has been a difficult week for Colorado – and for our country. As political violence becomes more common, we must remain firm in our commitment to democratic values. The ache of gun viol...

DATE: Sep 14, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

To keep ‘thousand points of light’ shining, the nonprofit sector should consolidate

The leaders of nonprofit organizations should consider merging with their peers. The cascade of federal money supporting the nonprofit sector is decreasing and it appears unlikely to increas...

DATE: Sep 14, 2025 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Do simple things well, to mow or not, and other retirement musings

To mow or not to mow. That is the question. Whether ’tis nobler to cultivate green, weed free space or to xeriscape. Here in dry Southwest Colorado, I have felt some guilt for still having a...

DATE: Sep 12, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Students lose when districts ignore teachers’ previous degrees

Durango School District’s pay scale may discourage teachers with advanced degrees and undermine student success

DATE: Sep 10, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

A better deal for students, employers and communities

For too long, we’ve treated “going to college” as if it were the same thing as “getting an education.” But that’s like saying “putting food in your mouth” is the same as “good nutrition.” It...

DATE: Sep 7, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

America is abandoning its most powerful defense against disease

For more than two centuries, vaccines have been humanity’s most effective shield against viral disease. In 1800, Boston physicians began using Edward Jenner’s smallpox inoculation; by 1809, ...

DATE: Sep 7, 2025 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

‘Always gotta be better than the other fellow!’: Work hard and love thy neighbor

Still a newcomer, I continue to marvel at Durango – the people, the place – and sometimes ask myself why it is so unique. I gained an insight into that question recently. The evening began p...

DATE: Sep 7, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

A note on history: How the Roberts Supreme Court is undermining Democracy

Some may dismiss me as Chicken Little, but for two decades the Roberts Court has steadily eroded America’s democratic institutions. The Roberts Court has gutted key protections of the Voting...

DATE: Sep 5, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

The push is on to strip big trees from our national forests

It didn’t get much notice, but President Donald Trump has turbocharged logging on public lands in ways that are likely to increase dangerous wildfire. Inside the “Big Beautiful Bill” that be...

DATE: Sep 3, 2025 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

The county is rightly taking Battery Energy Storage Systems seriously, regulating amid real safety concerns

Last January, a fire ignited in a California battery energy storage system (BESS), the world’s largest, spewing black billowing clouds of toxic chemicals and, when extinguishment was hampere...

DATE: Aug 31, 2025 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

New REI will impact local outdoor stores and challenge Durango’s independent businesses and spirit

Now that REI has opened its store (Herald , Aug. 24), I wanted to offer a different perspective than what has been represented in the Herald’s coverage of this issue, especially the edito...

DATE: Aug 31, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion