Columnists - The Journal

Jeff Kass: Columbine reporter connects the dots between mass shootings

I was one of the first reporters on scene at the Columbine shootings on April 20, 1999. And I covered it continuously, as a local newspaper reporter and eventually as a book author, for 10 y...

DATE: Apr 21, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Jack Turner: Both political parties practice voter suppression

There is great media focus on the Republican-dominated legislatures determined to unfairly reduce, restrict or eliminate likely Democratic Party voters – just look at the Major League Baseba...

DATE: Apr 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Tale of a transferred transfer station: Talking trash in San Juan County, Utah

Talking trash in San Juan County, Utah

DATE: Apr 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's travels

Benjamin Bellorado: Bears Ears murals, rock art, textiles deserve protection

For decades, the iconic archaeological sites of the stunning canyon country of Bears Ears in southeastern Utah have captivated the imaginations of visitors from around the world. While hiki...

DATE: Apr 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

A mosaic, not a melting pot: La Plata County and immigrants

Some bumper stickers read: “Colorado native.” Others offer: “Not native, but I got here as fast as I could.” We are a state of immigrants. Immigrants built the roads and bridges, ...

DATE: Apr 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's travels

Leopold Grasse’s Boot and Harness Shop in Cortez

Leopold Carl Gottfried Grasse (pronounced “Grassy”) and his wife, Augusta (nee Shoneboom) Grasse, came to Cortez about 1909. Both descended from German immigrants and spoke German as well as...

DATE: Apr 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Looking back

Stop eating these foods to protect the trillions of tiny soldiers fighting for your health

“My what?” you may be asking. The microbiome is the vast collection of trillions of bacteria in your digestive system that work together to maintain health. Your microbiome begins...

DATE: Mar 31, 2021 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

Michael Fields: 10 ideas for a GOP “Contract with Colorado”

A week after this last election, I wrote a column saying that Republicans need to develop a “Contract with Colorado” based on conservative policy proposals that 55% or more of voters support...

DATE: Mar 24, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Writers on the Range: An Idaho congressman aims to dump dams

Rep. Mike Simpson is a conservative Republican from Idaho whose concept of wildness in the 1990s was going into the rough at a golf course. He fought higher taxes and remains a strong advoc...

DATE: Mar 23, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Jan and Greg Phillips: How to evaluate health-care reform proposals

Regardless of political leaning, most Americans can agree that the U.S. health care system is problematic. Per capita health care spending is nearly twice as high as that of other wealthy na...

DATE: Mar 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Erin McKay: Vaccine programs working well in Montezuma County

The United States has just reached a dreadful milestone: more than half a million people dead from the coronavirus. And yet Coloradans can feel good about living where they do; our state has...

DATE: Mar 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Dr. Royal W. Calkins, physician, surgeon, legislator and friend of the schools

Dr. Royal W. Calkins was born March 18, 1870, in Wyoming, Iowa. Lorilla Calkins Crowson shared her memories of her father in 1987. “As a boy, he moved with his family to the homes...

DATE: Feb 26, 2021 | CATEGORY: Looking back