Ouray County Plaindealer

Last updated
The Ouray County Plaindealer
TypeWeekly newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s)Mike Wiggins & Erin McIntyre
PublisherMike Wiggins & Erin McIntyre
EditorMike Wiggins & Erin McIntyre
Founded1877
Headquarters1075 Sherman St. Suite 200
Ridgway, Colorado 81427
United States
Circulation 4,500 readers weekly
Website ouraynews.com

The Ouray County Plaindealer is a weekly newspaper based in Ouray, Colorado and owned by 550 Publishing, Inc. It is the newspaper of record for the City of Ouray, Town of Ridgway and Ouray County.

Contents

History

The Plaindealer was founded as the Ouray Times, publishing its first edition June 23, 1877. It published weekly until 1886, when it was renamed the Ouray Budget and ran alternately as a weekly and a daily. In 1888, a new owner changed the name to the Ouray Plaindealer.

The Plaindealer consolidated with rival newspaper San Juan Silverite in 1892, becoming known as the Silverite Plaindealer, which published daily until 1898. It then published weekly until 1901, when it dropped the Silverite part of its name.

In 1922, the Plaindealer again consolidated, this time with another rival, the Ouray Herald, to become the Ouray Herald and Plaindealer. That name stuck until 1939, when it became simply the Ouray County Herald. Finally, in 1969, the Herald was renamed the Ouray County Plaindealer, a name that has been kept since.

Since 1980, the Ridgway Sun and Ouray County Plaindealer were published by the same publishing company. In Oct. 2010, Ouray County Newspapers sold the Sun and the Plaindealer to Alan Todd and Beecher Threatt, publishing as 550 Publishing. In 2011, the Sun was merged into the Plaindealer and is now the Ouray County Plaindealer, the official newspaper of the Town of Ridgway, the City of Ouray and Ouray County. In 2019, the Plaindealer was sold to Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntyre. [1] [2]

In January 2024, the paper published a story alleging a violent sexual assault against a teenaged girl at the home of the Ouray police chief. Press reports indicate that "nearly every copy" of the issue were stolen from news racks all over the county. [3] The paper received some $2,000 in donations, [4] printed and distributed another run. [5] The stolen papers were later recovered. [6]

Awards

The Plaindealer is a frequent winner of Colorado Press Association awards in its class, and in 2007 Publisher David Mullings received the state’s "Service to the First" (Amendment) award. He was recognized for initiating action against the Ouray County Board of County Commissioners that resulted in an open process of selecting planning commissioners, and for enduring sharp and anonymous attacks on the newspaper and his credibility for the challenge.

In 2021, the newspaper's co-publishers Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntyre were jointly honored with the "rising star" award from the Colorado Press Association and with the "Keeper of the Flame" award from the Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouray County, Colorado</span> County in Colorado, United States

Ouray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,874. The county seat is Ouray. Because of its rugged mountain topography, Ouray County is also known as the Switzerland of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouray, Colorado</span> City in Colorado, United States

Ouray is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 898 as of the 2020 census. The Ouray Post Office has the ZIP Code 81427. Located at an elevation of 7,792 feet (2,375 m), Ouray's climate, natural alpine environment, and scenery have earned it the nickname "Switzerland of America".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridgway, Colorado</span> Town in Colorado, United States

The Town of Ridgway is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The town is a former railroad stop on the Uncompahgre River in the northern San Juan Mountains. The town population was 1,183 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouray (Ute leader)</span> Native American leader

Ouray was a Native American chief of the Tabeguache (Uncompahgre) band of the Ute tribe, then located in western Colorado. Because of his leadership ability, Ouray was acknowledged by the United States government as a chief of the Ute and he traveled to Washington, D.C. to negotiate for the welfare of the Utes. Raised in the culturally diverse town of Taos, Ouray learned to speak many languages that helped him in the negotiations, which were complicated by the manipulation of his grief over his five-year-old son, abducted during an attack by the Sioux. Ouray met with Presidents Lincoln, Grant, and Hayes and was called the "man of peace" because he sought to make treaties with settlers and the government.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Hotel (Ouray, Colorado)</span> United States historic place

The Western Hotel opened in 1892. Located on 7th Avenue in Ouray, Colorado, USA, it was built near the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad's Passenger Station. It is one of the few remaining examples of a wood-frame hotel from the 1880s that remain today. The building was purchased by Zeppelin Development in 2021 and underwent major renovations.

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The Ridgway Sun was a weekly newspaper based in Ridgway, Colorado and owned by Ouray County Newspapers. Known as the "Newspaper that refused to die" it was the newspaper of record for Ridgway.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chipeta</span>

Chipeta or White Singing Bird was a Native American leader, and the second wife of Chief Ouray of the Uncompahgre Ute tribe. Born a Kiowa Apache, she was raised by the Utes in what is now Conejos, Colorado. An advisor and confidant of her husband, Chipeta continued as a leader of her people after his death in 1880.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorow (Ute chief)</span>

Colorow was a Ute chief of the Ute Mountain Utes, skilled horseman, and warrior. He was involved in treaty negotiations with the U.S. government. In 1879, he fought during the Meeker Massacre. Eight years later, his family members were attacked during Colorow's War. He was placed in the Jefferson County Hall of Fame in recognition of for the contributions that "he made to our county and, indeed, our state and nation."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guston, Colorado</span> Ghost town in Ouray County, Colorado, United States

Guston is a silver mining ghost town in Ouray County, Colorado, United States, 11 miles (18 km) south of Ouray following the "Million Dollar Highway". Nestled in Champion Gulch, it is located near Red Mountain and the remnants of Red Mountain Town and Ironton. The Silverton Railroad ran from Guston in the Red Mountain Pass to Silverton in San Juan County. The silver mining camp was established in 1883. The Guston post office operated from January 26, 1892, until November 16, 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Ridgway</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

Mount Ridgway is a 13,468-foot-elevation (4,105-meter) mountain summit located in Ouray County of southwest Colorado, United States. It is situated five miles west of the community of Ouray, on land managed by Uncompahgre National Forest. It is part of the Sneffels Range which is a subset of the San Juan Mountains, which in turn is part of the Rocky Mountains. It is west of the Continental Divide, 2.2 miles east-northeast of Mount Sneffels, and 0.95 miles southwest of Whitehouse Mountain, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 3,000 feet above Blaine Basin in one mile.

References

  1. ↑ "New owners of Plaindealer passionate about community journalism | Ouray County Plaindealer" . Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  2. ↑ Colorado journalists leap into entrepreneurship, buy their own newspaper, 9NEWS Denver, Colorado, retrieved 2024-01-20
  3. ↑ Langford, Katie. "Ouray Plaindealer newspapers stolen on day it publishes story with allegations of rape at police chief's house". Denver Post. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Entire Edition Of Newspapers Stolen On Day It Publishes Story About Rape At Police Chief's Home". HuffPost. 2024-01-19. Retrieved 2024-01-20. front-page headline on the January 18-24 edition of the paper in question reads, "Girl: Rapes occurred at chief's house"… outlet is currently accepting tax-deductible donations to produce another run of the paper
  5. ↑ McKinley, Carol (2024-01-19). "Tiny Ouray County newspaper roars, stands ground". Denver Gazette. Retrieved 2024-01-20. "We were able to get another press run done last night and replaced the stolen papers in the racks around Ridgway and Ouray this morning
  6. ↑ "Hundreds of Plaindealer newspapers stolen, then returned". Ouray Plaindealer. 2024-01-19. Retrieved 2024-01-20. Hours after the Plaindealer reported the theft to law enforcement, an individual returned a garbage bag full of newspapers to the Plaindealer office
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