A wildland fire that was reported by The Durango Herald to have occurred in the City of Durango’s Oxbow Preserve actually occurred in an adjacent property owned by by Romad Investments. Originally, the fire was first reported at 2:30 p.m. on April 2nd on the preserve side of Oxbow Park and Preserve. Upon further investigation, it was evident that the fire and its associated spot fires occurred on the north side of the fence that runs along the northern boundary of Oxbow Preserve. The 1.5-acre…

Officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services failed to respond to multiple requests for public records made in late 2020 pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. Specifically, I made requests for records of COVID-19-related reimbursements that were made to Four Corners Health Care Center. Government Information Specialist Lauron Huntley of the CMS did acknowledge this request in writing on January 12, 2021. At the time, a letter of acknowledgement from CMS’s Jeffrey Wallace said that processing the request would take an additional…

An online petition seeks to push Boulder County officials to conduct a pilot study of class 1 electric mountain bike usage on foothills/mountain trails. Jeff Hainline created the petition, he said. Anyone can sign the petition, not just Boulder County residents, said Hainline. Sign the petition at the link below https://www.change.org/Boulder-Class1-eMTB-Study Currently, e-bikes are allowed on some natural surface trails in Jefferson County and on regional connector trails and bike paths in Boulder County, Colorado. They’re also allowed at McDowell Regional Mountain Park in Maricopa…

Defying the grim predictions of medical staff at a neonatal intensive care unit, a baby that was born 7 weeks premature is now happy and healthy celebrating her first year of life. Emery Patterson, the daughter of Kayla and Acie Patterson, was delivered via cesarean surgery on March 25th, 2020. Emery was delivered early after her mom Kayla was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous pregnancy complication that’s characterized by high blood pressure. “I felt like I had a softball in between my stomach and…

Medical discrimination against consumers who refuse to vaccinate and wear masks is the reasonable approach for Durango City Council candidate Frank Lockwood. “I think a more reasonable approach might be simply limiting access to bars restaurants fitness clubs etc. for people who refuse to get a vaccine. This is more self-selecting and still keeps people safe. Also require shop owners to refuse service to the unmasked & unvaccinated. That should just about cover it,” said Frank Lockwood in a Facebook comment.

Suicide deaths increased in La Plata County during the shutdowns to 14 in the year 2020 over the 11 that occurred in 2019. At the same time, La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith reported zero deaths due to COVID-19 in 2020. Two data sets with general cause of death numbers were provided by La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith. The stats from 2020 listed above do not include covid-related deaths that occurred at nursing homes or hospitals, said Smith. Furthermore, the deaths from pneumonia in…



Legal efforts, for many businesses, will be the most viable source of resistance against government mandates that continually use an emergency declaration to justify suppressing their constitutional rights. Holding tyrants accountable in the courtroom takes time and money spent on a team of lawyers. As a means of bolstering the legal efforts of businesses that wish to operate freely without fear of molestation from government thugs, a fundraiser will be held. Specifically, La Plata County Business Alliance is organizing a Valentine’s fundraiser to benefit small…

A misleading table on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) website has several Colorado coroners concerned with how the data set fails to distinguish between deaths from or among COVID-19 cases. Specifically, on the Colorado COVID-19 Data page of the CDPHE’s State Emergency Operations Center website is a misleading table. Titled “cases and deaths by county” is drop-down table with one column for each county, and one column for the number of deaths. Misleading table called out by Grand County Coroner Grand…

A Bayfield man’s overdose death was misreported by San Juan Basin Public Health as being associated with a COVID-19 outbreak, and then it was refuted by a pathologist’s autopsy report nearly a month later. In contrast to a health department web posting, a Durango Herald news article and a Durango Herald obituary for Colton Toliver, was the cause of death listed in the autopsy report. Specifically, the cause of death was listed in the autopsy report as methadone toxicity; the manner of death: an accident.…

A monumental lawsuit was filed by CJ’s Diner, supported by La Plata County Business Alliance, against Colorado’s Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Public Health (CDPHE) and San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) in response to their collective actions against this long and well established community diner. The owners Jerry and Carrie Martinez decided to take action after receiving a cease and desist order from the local health department. In November, the Colorado Department of Health (CDPHE) and San Juan Basin Health (SJBPH) classified…

A Durango doctor falsified the death certificate of a woman by writing that a significant condition that contributed to her death in the nursing home where she was living at was COVID. To the contrary, an autopsy that was done before the death certificate was written clarified that her death was not caused by COVID, but instead by urosepsis, a urinary tract infection that was exacerbated by dementia. Nina Marion Mischker, 97, passed away while she was staying in the dementia unit of Four Corners…



PCR tests that are found positive for COVID-19 are eligible for an add-on reimbursement from Medicare that’s higher than the payment for negative results. This, suggesting the existence of a possibly undisclosed conflict of interest for participating laboratories. “To address potential Medicare program integrity risks, effective with admissions occurring on or after September 1, 2020, claims eligible for the 20 percent increase in the MS-DRG weighting factor will also be required to have a positive COVID-19 laboratory test documented in the patient’s medical record. Positive…

A new BLM travel management plan authorizes the construction of two bikes-only directional trails on Animas City Mountain. At the same time, the travel management plan will now make criminals out of mountain bikers who have been accustomed to riding certain trails adjacent to Overend Mountain Park for more than 20 years. Specifically, the plan prohibits bikes on Skid Ridge, parts of Hogsback Trail and Slime Gulch. In addition to e-bikes being banned there, the plan continues to ban e-bikes from Animas City Mountain, Grandview…

Court action involving CJ’s Diner On Saturday Dec. 5, SJBPH filed in District court for an order to prevent CJ’s Diner from offering indoor dining. The court issued a temporary order to that effect.  The purpose of a temporary order is to stop an action (indoor dining) for a temporary period of time until the case is heard in court. The case was heard in court today, Weds. Dec. 9 and a Preliminary Injunction was issued.   A Preliminary Injunction means the court orders CJs to stop indoor…

A protest against the lockdown and in support our local businesses and sporting events will occur this Friday, December 11, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. starting at Buckley Park.  

As a resident of Durango, I implore you to help end the economic and societal shutdown of Durango immediately. We haven’t had any La Plata County residents die due to CVOID-19, according to data from San Juan Basin Public Health. I am far more concerned with the societal detriment that will be caused by shutting everyone’s work lives and sports activities down that I am with the harm that the virus will cause itself. It is a shame that so many athletic activities in our…