Columnists - The Journal

Closing birthing center ‘a public health emergency’

Open letter to the Southwest Health System Board of Directors, It was with deep alarm that I learned of SHS’s plan to “temporarily” close the Family Birthing Center at Southwest Memorial Hos...

DATE: Jun 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Wilderness doesn’t need climbing hardware

We humans want the most out of life, so why shouldn’t we push to get more of what we want? That’s what some rock climbers must be thinking. They want to enter designated wilderness in order ...

DATE: Jun 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

War wounds everyone there – but no holiday commemorates

Jim Dyer died in April, but the news of his death and his formal obituary bracketed Memorial Day. That was fitting, for although the former state representative, state senator and Marine did...

DATE: Jun 11, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Caught in complex legal limbo while serving plates on Main Avenue’

The U.S. immigration system facilitates the exploitation of the poor, the traumatized and the displaced. I was recently reminded of this fact when a young migrant from South America walked i...

DATE: Jun 11, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

I can fix most popular sport in world

Unlike the World Series, the World Cup is a truly global event. Soccer (football) is the most popular sport in the world by any measure. So why hasn’t soccer caught on in America like it has...

DATE: Jun 9, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Government doesn’t think consumers know how to drive’

I’ve been a car guy for 70 years, going back to the first AMT model car kit I built when I was 12 years old. Over that period of time, I’ve had customs, sports cars, hot rods, RVs, daily dri...

DATE: Jun 7, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Get real about broadband in rural areas

“Electricity is a modern necessity of life, not a luxury. That necessity ought to be found in every village, in every home, and on every farm in every part of the United States.” – Presiden...

DATE: May 28, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

False comments, social media cause harm

The Montezuma-Cortez Board of Education on May 16 was a meeting held in public, not a public meeting. This distinction means members of the public may comment but board members don’t respond...

DATE: May 24, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Give ‘old-timers,’ ‘legends’ their lifetime Purg passes

Another ski season has come and gone, and to the unsuspecting tourist, everything was business as usual. Stellar, in fact. “Record-breaking” on all fronts to anyone who wasn’t around in the ...

DATE: May 21, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Yin and yang of two separate selves

Yin-Yang is the ancient Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. The yin is represented by the black; the yang by the white. The yin represents the ne...

DATE: May 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Thanks, senator. You must be reading the Herald’

Well, I had no idea that The Durango Herald was so powerful. If you caught my March 10 column with the headline, “Betting, transfer rules make CU ‘Compromise University,’ ” you know I was n...

DATE: May 12, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Need entire team’ for higher-achieving M-CSD

When I showed up here in March 2022, the Montezuma-Cortez School District ranked near the bottom, according to one Colorado Department of Education assessment. Based on scores, CDE put our d...

DATE: May 10, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion