Author: The Herald editorial board

On Aug. 23, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe opened its new charter school, Kwiyagat Community Academy in Towaoc, to kindergarten and first grade students. Kwiyagat means “bear” in the Ute language. The bear is sacred among the Ute people. This is a progressive and hopeful event. For too long, Native children have been denied the…

This past Saturday, Ohana Kuleana Community Garden held an open house that by all reports was well-attended. As you will recall, the garden is facing the possibility that it will be sold by its current owner, Bob Lieb, who was its instigator and has long supported the garden in many ways. City Council heard a…

Since January, as part of our FOCUS 2021 series of editorials, we’ve been addressing the lack of affordable housing and housing for unsheltered people under the banner of “Beyond Our Means,” a reference to the high cost of housing in Durango and La Plata County. But since the new City Council was seated April 20,…

Language reflects the times, and new words, phrases and memes help us understand how our culture is shifting. How to use language to confer respect and inclusion of people unlike oneself can be a challenge. Words used in American culture to refer to people with African ancestry have shifted over the last 60 years from…

Since beginning our FOCUS 2021 series in January, we’ve published numerous editorials addressing the four topical areas we’ve designated as our special focus for this year: Beyond Our Means, about homelessness and affordable housing; Healing the Rift, about trying to get beyond the terrible polarization that plagues our country; Common Grounds, about environmental and climate…

It’s hot. Really hot. Some days this week, depending on where you were in the Four Corners, the temperatures exceeded 100 degrees. It’s also dry. Really dry. And hazy. Smoke has been traveling into our area from fires burning as far away as California and southern Arizona, and from at least one wildfire in our…

Within the space of just five weeks, we find ourselves again defending Colorado ranchers and farmers against an irrational political salvo (March 19, “Governor blunders with ‘MeatOut Day’ proclamation”). This time, the issue is a ballot initiative with an appealing title: “Protect Animals from Unnecessary Suffering and Exploitation (PAUSE).” Heck, who doesn’t want to do…

While many Americans may be focused on the $1,400 stimulus checks wending their way toward them, those who will be most impacted in a positive way by the American Rescue Act are actually American families, who will finally have a greater guarantee that they can feed, clothe and shelter their children – at least in…

Colorado is facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis as it attempts to accomplish redistricting for our Congressional and state legislative seats. Until now, the legislative districts have been redrawn after each census to reflect changes in the population by an 11-person commission appointed by the Assembly, governor and state Supreme Court. The congressional districts were redrawn…

“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free.” – Aldo Leopold, “A Sand County Almanac” A naturalist and father of the conservationist movement,…