Columnists - The Journal

Our forgotten potato industry

Montezuma County hosted a potato cellar at the edge of Cortez, and farm in the valley

DATE: Jul 31, 2021 | CATEGORY: Looking back

Meet Sid ‘Kid’ Belt, the boxer who built Belt Salvage in Cortez

Local fighter was three-winner against Hall of Fame’s Joe ‘Awful’ Coffee

DATE: Jul 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Looking back

America is getting meaner, on the left and on the right

I went to see my doctor the other day for a COVID-19-delayed physical. Instead of talking about what ails me, he wanted to talk about what ails us. A dystopian country. The Babel of misinfor...

DATE: Jun 30, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Now underway: An American Renaissance

In 1982, economist Mancur Olson set out to explain a paradox. West Germany and Japan endured widespread devastation during World War II, yet in the years after the war both countries experie...

DATE: Jun 23, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Boebert responds to Herald editorial

The Durango Herald editorial board recently published a partisan attack piece falsely accusing me of not focusing on Colorado’s 3rd District. Nothing could be further from the truth. Th...

DATE: Jun 16, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Making Bears Ears whole: The big swap with Utah state lands

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and President Joe Biden are considering the restoration of Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument. Native American tribes and environmental organizations ...

DATE: Jun 12, 2021 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

When it comes to survival, don’t bet against this fish

I love fish – the way they look, the way they fry up, the secret lives they live under the water. And of all the fish in the sea, river or lake, I most prize those that descended from the gr...

DATE: Jun 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Harry Longenbaugh recalls life in the Cortez area in early 1900s

A look back at neighbors and the mysterious Mr. Shumaker

DATE: May 26, 2021 | CATEGORY: Looking back

Vote ’Yes’ on broadband ballot issue to improve service to Cortez area

On June 8 residents of Cortez will be asked to vote on a ballot issue exempting the City of Cortez from Senate Bill 152. SB 152 was passed by the Colorado legislature in 2005 after much lobb...

DATE: May 24, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Area youth vape, smoke at alarming rates

In 2017, Colorado reported higher youth vape use than any other state in the country. In 2019, one in four Colorado youths reported vaping, and in Montezuma County, the numbers were even hig...

DATE: May 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Transportation is a priority for small business, workers

Communities in Southwest Colorado have historically thrived because of the in- and out-of-state tourists that come to enjoy our limitless outdoor recreation opportunities and gorgeous vistas...

DATE: May 12, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Housing prices are over the moon

One hundred and fifteen thousand dollars. That’s what it takes for a down payment to buy an average-priced home in Durango. Then an aspiring homeowner must fork out another $2,900 each month...