Author: Durango Herald Editorial Board
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Durango Herald: Time to serve vets in ways they want
With Veterans Day on Friday, who do you think of when you hear the word veteran? Your son, neighbor, your wife or grandpa? To meet a local group of vets means being in a room with mostly men north of age 70. On Sunday, we joined vets for the least expensive – and quite good…
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Durango Herald: Marking ballots for unopposed candidates matters
In every election, we have candidates running unopposed. Like all candidates, blank ovals outlined in red are next to their names. Certain seats – coroner, assessor, surveyor – are often unopposed. Other seats are, too. Both La Plata and Montezuma counties have unopposed clerk and recorder seats; in La Plata an unopposed sheriff; in Montezuma…
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Durango Herald: Talk of decriminalized fentanyl vote not true
A large part of our work is sorting through election noise and getting to the truth. Here’s what we confirmed. Possessing or using fentanyl is absolutely a crime. Always has been. There was never a vote to decriminalize it. Period. Let’s go back in time to 2019 with state House Bill 19-1263, which had bipartisan…
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Durango Herald: Politics play out on Colorado school board
Actions and votes coming from Colorado’s board of education are so politicized, some members seem to have lost their way. Instead of bettering education for all students, decisions are lined with personal, political agendas. Board members’ political leanings were evident in the recent 4-3 vote, upholding Durango School District 9-R’s ruling to deny Ascent Classical…
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Durango Herald: Elect Weiser to finish AG work
Crime – specifically car thefts – continually comes up in Colorado’s attorney general race, particularly from the Republican side. Democratic incumbent state Attorney General Phil Weiser and Republican challenger John Kellner, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, field the question, how would you reduce crime? But this isn’t the best question. Yes, an attorney general can…
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Durango Herald: Stay the course with Polis
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and Republican challenger Heidi Ganahl seem to be living in two wildly different states. In Polis’ Colorado, the future is bright, steady. Keeping his promise, Polis capped the cost of insulin; provided free, full-day kindergarten and preschool; and offered more than $1 billion in property tax relief for homeowners and businesses.…
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Durango Herald: Need leadership now on homelessness
With today’s deadline to vacate Purple Cliffs, we’re thinking about artist Wendy Abrams’ stirring exhibit, “Invisible Words,” a curation of signs held by unhoused people in Washington, D.C. Abrams intended viewers to see signs in a new light, void of uncomfortable interactions with the people holding them. The signs convey pride and shame, anger and…
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Durango Herald: Citizens Agenda model serves voters over politicians
Election season gives the editorial board a front-row seat in meeting and getting to know candidates, whether it’s in person or on Zoom. The way it usually goes is candidates give us an elevator speech, then we have a field day of questions for them. Like any job interview, sometimes more important than the actual…
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Durango Herald: Honor vets with Camp Hale monument
Camp Hale and the Tenmile Range, which produced the 10th Mountain Division with alpine soldiers who busted through German lines and changed the course of World War II, are in dire need of sturdier protection. Camp Hale is included in the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act, but CORE stalled in Congress, no matter its…
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Durango Herald: Is public best served before, after financial record audits?
Citizens have a right to know what the City of Durango is doing financially. That’s a given. The timely question, though, is whether the public is best served when financial records are released before draft figures are finalized, causing confusion and chaos? Or after an audit when numbers are confirmed? Which numbers are more telling?…