Guest Columns - The Journal

Bureaucracy is made up of people we know, and is not all bad

Bureaucracy is an example of a “devil term” in today’s politics. All you have to do is mention the word, and people think of waste, excessive size, barriers to getting things done, impersona...

DATE: Jan 15, 2025 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

A historic anniversary: The Battle of New Orleans

On Jan. 8, we celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, which ended the War of 1812 with the British. That war was not popular at the time, and has been treated negatively by A...

DATE: Jan 8, 2025 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Jimmy Carter seeded Colorado’s renewable energy leadership

Jimmy Carter had an underappreciated role in Colorado’s story. It started in May 1978 when he announced that the Solar Energy Research Institute in Golden would get $100 million in federal f...

DATE: Jan 5, 2025 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

A legacy of conservation: Honoring Aldo Leopold’s land ethic and 30 years of CCALT’s mission

As we mark the 75th anniversary of Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” and approach the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, we find ourse...

DATE: Dec 31, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Charity also means a charity of spirit

Welcome to December 2024, folks. The holiday season is upon us. It is the time of year in most traditions and religions when we turn inward, when we focus on family and friends. The winter h...

DATE: Dec 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Stewart honored to be in service to Southwest Colorado communities

My name is Katie Stewart, and I am your new state representative for House District 59. On the campaign trail, I had the privilege of meeting people across Southwest Colorado, and I’ve found...

DATE: Dec 10, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Democracies are weakened, face failure when citizens do not participate in them

In 1920, a man named David C. Stephenson came up from Texas to Indiana and resurrected the old dogma that sprouted from the outcome of the Civil War. He blasted out the rhetoric of “America ...

DATE: Dec 10, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Let’s scrap the stigma of mental illness

Even though one in five Americans is estimated to suffer from mental health illness, talk about mental health in the rural West remains muted. I’d like to talk about it this Thanksgiving bec...

DATE: Nov 26, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Grateful for your investment in student success, commitment to their future

My career as an educator spans more than three decades. I was a principal in the Montezuma-Cortez School District, in the mid 1990s, when Superintendent Bill Thompson and Business Manager Ji...

DATE: Nov 12, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

McLachlan reflects on eight years of service listening, compromising and understanding

Only 100 Coloradans at any one time have the job I have been honored to hold for the last eight years as a state legislator; I never really thought about that until I started nearing the end...

DATE: Nov 8, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Acidic mine drainage haunts Western rivers

It was summer 2015 when the Animas River in southern Colorado turned such a garish orange-gold that it made national news. The metallic color came from the Gold King Mine, near the town of S...

DATE: Nov 5, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

The seduction of scapegoating

Immigration has risen to the top of the issue list for a clear majority of Americans. For many voters, it is now more important than the economy, inequality, health care, education, housing,...

DATE: Oct 22, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns