elegraph
Running on empty More bull Resources thin heading into West’s wildfire season
Pump up the volume
Opening the floodgates on summer concert season
In the hot seat
Staffing cuts, strained resources & drought leave West ripe for disaster by David Calkin / Writers on the Range
Trump wants to allow more grazing, reversing years of conservation by Jonathan Thompson / The Land Desk
Concert season hits full stride with festivals, punk rock and more by Stephen Sellers
Rebus redux
Revisiting a classic ahead of Scottish writer’s highly anticipated new release by Jeffrey Mannix
EDITORIALISTA: MISSY VOTEL missy@durangotelegraph.com
CAST: David Feela, Jonathan Thompson, Stephen Sellers, Jeffrey Mannix, Lainie Maxson, Jesse Anderson, Rob Brezsny & Clint Reid
PIT CREW: JENNAYE DERGE jennaye@durangotelegraph.com
STAFF REPORTER: SCOOPS MCGEE telegraph@durangotelegraph.com
The Durango Telegraph publishes every Thursday, come hell, high water, tacky singletrack or mon-
ster powder days. We
On the cover
A spiffy new birdhouse awaits some feathered inhabitants in Durango’s urban forest./ Photo by Missy Votel
Ear to the ground:
“We always worry that the cops will come by due to all the yelling coming from our house.”
– Must be Stanley Cup playoffs time in Colorado
Taking a break
After three years coming to Durango, the Valkyries are taking a breather. This week, organizers of the annual Valkyrie multi-sport relay race announced the 2026 race, slated for September, is cancelled. The race – an ambitious undertaking that entails mountain biking, trail running, road cycling, road running, kayaking, paddle boarding and swimming, oh my – is scheduled to ride again Sept. 18, 2027.
The 2026 Valkyrie Multisport Relay is cancelled for 2026 but race organizers say it will be back for 2027
“(We) have not yet met the threshold of minimum team registrations to continue planning for the 2026 race,” race organizer Erin Hughes wrote in an email. She placed the blame, partly, on uncertainty around the economy from the perspective of participants as well as the organizers.
She said rising costs have also made make subsidizing of the race by organizers untenable for 2026. “The Valkyrie demands investments of personal time and finances by its organizers,” said Hughes, who also works as an ER nurse. She also noted that the race’s management team, which includes her brother, Dan Merkley, of Utah, has recently shrunk by 30%. “Bandwidth, staffing and resources required by the race are not expected to recover in time to organize the 2026 race,” she wrote.
All 2026 registrants will automatically be deferred to the 2027 race at no additional charge, she said. “It just won't feel right to not be with you all this September. But it will be a joyful reunion in 2027!” she wrote.
In the meantime, Hughes put out a plea for more hands on deck. “If you love the race, have a personal connection and feel passionate about seeing the success of this event, please consider applying to become a member of our Board of Directors,” she wrote. “It’s a complicated event and many hands make light work.”
If interested or for more info. email Hughes at: info@valkyrierelay.com.
LaVidaLocal
Walking the blog
Only in England would a village named Cockington exist. My wife and I walked there. It’s located near Torquay (pronounced tor-key) in South Devon, a village that nearly charmed the socks off our feet.
We found our way to that glorious spot, partly because my organic GPS named Pam read an insightful blog – “She walks in England”– and partly out of our shared stubborn desire to stay clear of beachcombers, sun worshippers and dog walkers along Torquay’s crowded beaches, often referred to as “the English Riviera.”
As we stepped down from the railway coach at picturesque Torquay, we ambled toward the station exit, our socks dutifully in place. Before we stepped outside Pam uttered those two famous words “Queen Victoria,” our simple reminder of the queen’s best traveling advice: Always stop at the nearest toilet before heading into unfamiliar territory.
The blog advised Cockington walkers to follow the sidewalk behind the Grand Hotel, cross a bridge and head up the hill, but on the other side of the bridge the road diverged and both ways went uphill. We picked the right one which ended up being the wrong one; it turned into a dead end in someone’s backyard where a fully festooned clothesline waved us back.
We returned to the bridge and headed to the left. At a lamppost we spotted a small sign with an arrow pointing toward Cockington Churchyard, so we continued to follow that line of sight until once again, the road split. Our choice once again turned out to be the wrong one, so we shuffled back to the Y while scratching our heads.
For us, Cockington was less a village and more a hamlet because “to be there or not to be there” had been our quandary. The path we trod did not resemble any rural grassy lane depicted on the blog. The idyllic promise of “lush green forest vibes, (with) no sign or sound of the road” was not our experience. We were on our way but not that way.
When Cockington finally appeared, it gleamed like a jewel. From the promontory overlooking the community we saw thatched cottages, stone walls, hedges and landscaped gardens, as if we’d stepped into a fairy tale from a bygone age. My GPS sighed and our worries dissolved.
One reliable strategy to find our way is for the two of us to just stand on the sidewalk and look pathetically confused until a stranger notices, takes pity and offers advice. We didn’t have to wait long before a couple rescued us. The English are an attentive and generous people. They pointed us to the left, told us to stay to the left until the road stopped climbing where a steep descent heads down into the village.
Propelled by their thrust of certainty, we practically skipped as we climbed, then gradually just plugged along until the hill crested. After stopping to recover our breath we let gravity nudge us toward our destination.
A new grow dome is taking shape in the Tiffany-Arboles area. A community effort, it is meant to improve food security and help residents grow their own food in an area hampered by a short growing season and 30-minute drive to the nearest store.
After a year of delays, Purgatory’s Gelande lift got the green light this week, bringing hope for speedier access to the slopes on busy days. Now if they could just do something about the muddy parking lot …
Colorado is at least somewhat making up for the winter that wasn’t with a series of late-season snow storms, including the most recent, which dumped more than 2 feet on the Front Range. We’re not really sure what season it is anymore, but hey, better late than never.
First stop: a table inside the Weaver’s Cottage Tea Garden. Our feet collectively murmured approval. We ordered poached eggs and raised our two steaming Americanos even before the toast arrived. Next we explored the village as it might have looked when the world was younger. Quaint restored structures simply occupied the historical sites: a metalwork market (once the old forge), the 1947 cricket grounds (originally a medieval deer park), the public house (site of the old sawmill), and the almshouses (rebuilt in 1790 and 1810).
An entrance gate to the county park opened onto 450 acres of arboretum woodlands, gardens, ornamental lakes, farmland, a 17th century manor house, more thatched cottages and an 11th century church – all of it tangled up in hiking and cycling paths. At a cafe we bought ice cream cones to fuel a stroll along the old sunken ditch traditionally referred to as a ha-ha, with a wall on the inner side to keep livestock out of the manicured gardens. Beautiful, not laughable. Returning to the rail station only took us 15 minutes by retracing our steps, ending up in a comfortable seat on the train coach. As the train’s soothing clicketyclack rhythm started churning beneath my feet, I closed my eyes.
In my reverie, I recalled Bilbo Baggins, a character who no doubt dragged his feet even as he emerged from Tolkien’s imagination, clinging to his comfortable and predictable life within the Shire and his hobbit hole. He whispered “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step into the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
If I might add a footnote, the only way to know you’ve been anywhere at all is by getting back again.
– David Feela
SignoftheDownfall:
And speaking of late-season snow, cold snaps have wreaked havoc on the Western Slope, with a deep freeze last month wiping out several fruit crops, including at least one farm’s entire peach harvest. That’s the pits.
An early morning single-vehicle crash outside Bayfield last week took the lives of two Farmington residents, whose 5-year-old daughter was miraculously found alive after spending nearly 30 hours alone in the wreckage. Can’t even …
TV titan Ted Turner, 87, passed away this week. OK, he wasn’t perfect, but at least he had a philanthropic side, buying more than a million acres to set aside as nature preserves. And he started the Cartoon Network, which is more than we can say for today’s media mogul morons.
Pork Fried Twice
This past January, a farmer in the Sichuan province of China tried flying a pig from his farm to the slaughterhouse using an agricultural drone, but it got stuck in a powerline and knocked out power to a nearby village for 10 hours. The farmer blamed poor visibility, but the authorities say the drone was overloaded, so they’re still investigating even though it’s already May, which happens to be the first month since August of ’24 that will have a blue moon. And of course, here in the states, a polar vortex is causing Hell, Mich., to have unseasonably cool weather, which means that you’re reading about pigs flying during a blue moon while hell freezes over. I just wish grandpa was alive to see it.
WritersontheRange
Running on empty
Staffing cuts, strained resources leave West’s wildfire response dangerously thin
by David Calkin
The West is staring down a dangerous wildfire year. A dry winter and historically low snowpack have set the stage for a potentially severe 2026 fire season. But the deeper problem is that the nation’s capacity to respond to wildfire has eroded.
For decades, large wildfires were managed through the Incident Command System, a framework that depends on highly trained teams at the federal, state and local level. These teams coordinate everything from strategy to evacuations and communication with communities.
Today, fewer than 38 of the largest teams, known as “Complex Incident Management Teams,” are expected to be available nationwide, a sharp decline from previous years. But even that number is optimistic, because many incident teams are no longer fully staffed. Personnel shortages have forced teams to share members; obviously those members cannot be deployed to different fires at the same time. On paper, capacity remains. In practice, it does not.
This is not an accident. It is the cumulative result of a decade of declining federal participation in wildfire management, compounded now by recent cuts to non-fire federal personnel. These cuts may seem unrelated to wildfire response, but they strike at its core.
Much of the wildfire system depends on specialists from other roles –hydrologists, biologists, planners – who step into fire assignments when needed. As those positions disappear, so do criticallly experienced responders. What remains is a workforce that’s smaller and increasingly strained. Many of the people still filling these roles are senior employees who, during a busy season, can hit federal pay caps,
effectively eliminating financial incentives to keep working long hours under dangerous conditions. At the same time, there’s deteriorating morale and ongoing administrative upheaval, all caused by staff cuts aimed at reducing the size of the federal workforce. As one fire manager put it bluntly, the only way to cope has been “to care less.”
Against this backdrop, the public is assured that wildfire staffing remains stable. But there has been no comprehensive accounting of how many fire-qualified personnel have been lost through early retirements and deferred resignations, and what could be lost in the new reorganization.
The gap between official assurances and operational reality is growing. This matters. It matters because the system is already under strain. As of April 23 this year, almost 1.8 million acres have burned nationwide, nearly twice as much as the year-to-date average over the previous 10 years. This includes the 640,000-acre Morrill Fire in Nebraska.
Last year, which was a relatively mild fire year, the U.S. Forest Service still spent a record amount on fire suppression – nearly $5 billion.
Why? In part, because of how risk is increasingly avoided. Political and administrative pressure to suppress every fire has changed behavior on the ground. Local decision-makers, aware of
the professional consequences if a fire escapes initial containment, are incentivized to order more resources than they might otherwise need.
The result is the scarcity that will show up in experienced leadership and fully staffed management teams. The remaining Complex Incident Management teams will be stretched thin, sometimes asked to manage multiple fires simultaneously. Fatigue will follow, and with fatigue comes risk – of poor decisions, accidents, or injuries and fatalities among firefighters. Communities will feel it, too.
Incident Management Teams don’t just fight fires; they serve as a lifeline for affected areas. They coordinate evacuations, connect local officials with state and federal agencies and help lay the groundwork for recovery. If those teams are unavailable or overstretched, communities will face greater disruption and slower recoveries.
Whether 2026 becomes a historically severe fire year remains to be seen. But the conditions – environmental and institutional – are aligning in troubling ways. The United States has spent years building one of the most sophisticated wildfire-response systems in the world. That system is now being asked to do more with fewer resources and higher stakes. Wildfire seasons have become longer and more devastating; they are a defining feature of the American landscape.
The question is not whether the fires will come. It is whether we can still respond effectively when they do.
David Calkin is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. Until recently, he was a senior scientist for the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station. He now runs a wildfire consulting business in Missoula, Mont. ■
The Clearwater Fire burns west of Cody, Wyo., in the Shoshone National Forest in July 2024. Whether 2026 becomes a historically severe fire year remains to be seen. But the conditions – environmental and institutional – are aligning in troubling ways./ Inciweb photo
SoapBox
The quiet war on women’s health
The League of Women Voters was founded to help newly enfranchised women exercise their hard-won right to vote. Over more than a century, that mission has grown far beyond the ballot box. Today, the League’s two premier causes include: protecting everyone’s right to vote; and defending women’s right to full, affordable healthcare. It’s that second commitment that compels us to sound the alarm now.
In 1969, President Nixon recognized that unwanted pregnancies were a driver of poverty and signed Title X into law, the first federal program dedicated to family planning and reproductive healthcare. For 50 years, it has been one of America’s quietest success stories, transforming American life.
The numbers are profound. In just 20 of its 50 years, Title X prevented 20 million unintended pregnancies, reported by the Guttmacher Institute
According to the CDC, the teen birth rate – once nearly one in 10 girls – now sits closer to one in a hundred. Title X didn’t just help women plan their fam-
ilies; it lifted families out of poverty, stabilized homes and reduced abortions by the millions. The Guttmacher Institute reports that for every dollar invested, the government saves $7 in Medicaid expenses. Nixon understood this math in 1970, the current administration is moving in the opposite direction.
The administration’s 2026 budget proposes eliminating the Title X program completely – quietly enough that most Americans haven’t noticed. This month, the Department of Health and Human Services released new Title X funding guidelines that represent a stunning reversal of the program’s mission.
The word “contraception” appears exactly once in the entire document –flagged as a concern under “over-medicalization.” IUDs and birth control pills, two of the most effective contraceptive tools available, go entirely unmentioned as priorities.
What fills the void? Fertility awareness methods – essentially period tracking and temperature monitoring –which fail between 12 and 24 % of the time in typical use says the Cleveland Clinic. An IUD fails less than 1% of the
time. The administration is steering federal family planning dollars away from what works and toward what doesn’t. The new guidance mentions family formation promotion (marriage?) and “lifestyle changes” as substitutes for clinical care. This is not health policy. It’s ideology dressed in wellness language.
The funding freezes began in March 2025. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, funding has been withheld from 879 clinics – including public health departments and Federally Qualified Health Centers — across 23 states, potentially cutting off care for up to 834,000 people. This isn’t bureaucratic reshuffling. It’s a policy designed to ensure that fewer low-income women can reliably prevent pregnancy.
Behind every funding cut is a woman without options – and a taxpayer who will foot the bill. Women who can plan their pregnancies are healthier, earn more, are less likely to require public assistance and raise children who thrive. Children have better cognitive development, lower rates of behavioral problems and greater educational achievement. Contraception is not merely a matter of personal freedom – it is a matter of public health, economic stability and basic human dignity. For many women, it treats conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Removing it from the equation doesn’t make their lives more natural. It makes them harder.
Here is the bitterest irony: The Guttmacher research estimates Title X to have prevented more than nine million abortions. By defunding it, the anti-abortion movement will likely cause more unintended pregnancies –and therefore more abortions. The very outcome they claim to oppose.
What’s happening to Title X won’t make headlines the way a Supreme Court ruling does. It will happen through funding guidelines, rule rescissions and quiet regulatory changes – easy to miss until the clinics close and patients have nowhere to go. The broader impact falls on all of us: lost productivity, increased emergency room usage, and unintended pregnancies that directly drive up state and federal Medicaid costs.
Stop this quiet war on women’s health. Make your voices heard.
– Jan Phillips, League of Women Voters La Plata Board Member, Chair of Healthcare
Keeping LPEA on the right track
Elections matter.
The specter of climate disruption and the dramatic reduction in the cost of renewable energy are transforming the world’s energy sector. In the last 20 years, our electric co-op, LPEA, first resisted and then embraced this fundamental energy transition.
After a gradual transition enabled by successive elections of future-oriented board members, LPEA has left the restrictive long-term energy supply contract with Tri-State Transmission and Generation. On April 1, that yielded an immediate decrease in the wholesale cost of electricity paid by our co-op. As a result, our rates stayed stable this year despite widespread inflation in energy prices nationally.
Thanks to the deliberate actions of the LPEA Board, our co-op now has freedom to develop much more
local energy than Tri-State allowed. It also has joined a regional transmission organization that provides flexibility to take advantage of shifting conditions in a more complex energy market. Both these changes will benefit LPEA members for years to come.
The changes result from thoughtful decisions by directors elected by co-op members. In this year’s election, the best candidates to help guide LPEA through the ongoing energy transition are incumbents Nicole Pitcher (Archuleta County) and David Luschen (northeast La Plata County), plus highly qualified newcomer Jennifer Jenkins (Durango).
Please join me in supporting these candidates as they strive to meet Colorado’s and LPEA’s ambitious emissions reductions goals while keeping our rates lower than 70% of other co-ops.
– Dick White, Durango
We’ll print damned near anything
The Telegraph welcomes healthy civil discourse in 750 words or less. Writers must include their (real) name and city/town/state of residence. Personal attacks, hate speech or any other kind of b.s. deemed libelous are not welcome. Please email your profundities to: telegraph@durango telegraph.com A darling, move-in-ready home just minutes from Navajo Lake and within easy walking distance to downtown Ignacio. Bright, wellmaintained residence in a quiet ocation with modern, updated kitchen, two comfortable bedrooms and a clean, refreshed bath.
MLS: 833686
Charming Ignacio Cottage
Views of the Sleeping Ute from inside Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The Trump administration is making a move to put more cattle and sheep on public lands, even on leases that have been “retired,” such as the Flodine and Yellow Jacket allotments. Located within the monument, they are home to countless cultural sites./ Photo by Missy Votel
Make America graze again
Push to put more livestock on public lands threatens years of conservation progress
by Jonathan P. Thompson
When Donald Trump was elected president for the second time, we all knew what was coming to the nation’s public lands. The administration would favor extractive uses by eviscerating environmental protections, rolling back regulations and leasing out as much land as possible while handing out drilling permits like Shriners throwing candy at a parade.
Yet there was one realm where I figured the administration couldn’t bestow any more deregulatory gifts: public lands grazing. It’s not that I thought Trump would clamp down on the destructive practice, it’s just that I figured the status quo was about as permissive as it could get. Past administrations, Democratic and Republican, have generally shied away from updating or reforming public lands grazing policies
out of fear of inflaming the West’s cowboy culture – even if it is based largely on myth.
But Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are intrepidly going where previous administrations did not dare: grazing reform. Though not in the way public lands lovers might have hoped. In fact, they are doing their best to make grazing policy even more lax with a goal of getting more cattle out there to trample public lands.
In March, Burgum and Rollins announced an MOU between the BLM and Forest Service designed to “boost the supply of American born, raised and harvested beef” by cutting “bureaucratic red tape.” The MOU has a goal of “maintaining grazing capacity wherever possible, including no net loss of Animal Unit Months within allotments,” even if those allotments are degraded or
in poor health. In Burgum’s words, one goal is to “preserve America’s ranching heritage for generations to come.” Forgive me for getting anxious whenever I see “heritage” used in conjunction with public lands.
“Today’s signing sends a clear message: the Trump administration is putting America’s farmers and ranchers first,” Rollins said. Which brings up the question of what message the administration was sending in February when Trump signed an executive order to quadruple beef imports from Argentina in an effort to keep Big Macs affordable.
To help it carry out its mission, the BLM has released an interactive map aimed at putting more cattle and sheep back on public lands. The “federal grazing lands potentially available” map shows allotments that have been vacated, often as a result of deals brokered by environmentalists, with the intent of
peddling the tracts to livestock operators. While there’s no guarantee the BLM would lease out all of the vacant tracts, the presence on the map of the ones vacated for environmental purposes is enough to set off alarm bells.
For example, the map includes 10 allotments in the high country around Silverton totaling about 70,000 acres.
In 2023, the National Wildlife Federation paid the Etchart Sheep Ranch to vacate five of these allotments in an effort to give bighorn sheep more breathing room and protect them from diseases transmitted by domestic sheep. The deal was made with the hope that the leases would be retired permanently. Yet the inclusion on the map indicates they could see domestic sheep once again, emphasizing the need for legislation that would make such retirements perpetual.
Also on the map are the Flodine Park
and Yellowjacket allotments in Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. In 2005, a rancher gave up the allotments, north and south of McElmo Canyon, respectively, and sold 4,500 acres of adjacent private land to the BLM to add to the national monument. Both allotments and the private land contain a number of intermittent streams, shallow canyons and cultural sites. They had been grazed relentlessly for decades prior and showed the wear and tear –much of the cryptobiotic soil had been trampled and destroyed and invasive cheat grass had infiltrated the grazed areas. An archaeological assessment conducted later found grazing had damaged dozens of cultural sites in the area.
In 2010, the BLM, which manages the monument, issued a new resource management plan, which allowed for continued grazing but also opened the door to permanently retire vacant grazing allotments if they failed to meet BLM rangeland health standards or if grazing negatively impacted cultural sites. Five of the 28 allotments in the most heavily visited areas – including Sand Canyon –were cancelled but not the Flodine Park and Yellow Jacket allotments, which were in retirement at the time. Instead, the local county commissioners and a group of ranchers pres-
sured the BLM to reauthorize grazing on both allotments – to bring them out of retirement, if you will. The BLM acquiesced, but environmentalists and tribes with roots in the area fought back, forcing the agency to do a more thorough environmental analysis. The opposition was enough to prompt the agency to delay issuing any leases, and the allotments remain in limbo.
Meanwhile, a team of scientists assessed the healing process on the Flodine and Yellow Jacket allotments, which by then had been cow-free for 11 years (though feral horses had grazed there). They compared biocrusts on those allotments to a fenced enclosure that hadn’t seen grazing for 53 years and a plot that was being actively grazed. What they found was both predictable and remarkable: The longer a plot went without cows, the healthier it was.
While the natural landscape can eventually heal itself, livestock’s damage to the cultural landscape is irreversible. BLM surveys identified 266 cultural sites on the two allotments, including 35 with “standing architecture.” At least 43% of those had been damaged by livestock.
Now what’s left may be in danger, too, at least if the new map is any indication. And guess what? Packing these allotments with cattle isn’t going to
San Juan Mountains grazing allotments listed as “potentially available” for leasing on the BLM’s new map. The five parcels closest to Silverton were retired in 2023 to protect bighorn sheep. / Source: BLM
make that steak any cheaper. Only about 1% of American beef is grazed on public lands.
Check out the BLM Grazing availability map here: tinyurl.com/4hta36n5.
The Land Desk is a newsletter from Jonathan P. Thompson, author of “River of Lost Souls,” “Behind the Slickrock Curtain” and “Sagebrush Empire.” To subscribe, go to: www.land desk.org. ■
BetweentheBeats May music madness
From festivals to punk shows, concert season kicks into high gear
by Stephen Sellers
Greetings, dear reader! May is here, and Durango’s music calendar is doing what it does best: swerving between punk shows, dance music, mountains of bluegrass and the floodgates of full-blown festival season opening up. There are three major festivals this month alone at Tico Time, each with talent and production that feels significantly leveled up from last year. Of special note is the addition of the four-day electronic music festival Hydrophonic. Shout out to Austin, Colton, Matti and the rest of the team making it happen! Bottom line, there’s a lot to choose from and not much of an excuse to stay home. So let’s get it going. As always, see you on the dance floor!
• Hydrophonic Festival, Thurs.–Sun., May 7–10, Tico Time River Resort – Tico Time opens the May festival floodgates with Hydrophonic, a brand-new boutique electronic music and arts gathering on our beloved Colorado–New Mexico border. For those of us who have been waiting to see more dance-focused programming in the Four Corners, this feels like a big deal. River, camping, art, house, techno, disco, bass, community and four days of immaculate vibes just south of Durango. This one has the potential to mark a real shift in what festival season can look like around here.
• Skasby, Lo Cash Ninjas, Never Don’ts, Bad Fix, Fri., May 8, 7 p.m., The Swarm at The Hive – The Swarm continues to be one of the most important rooms in town for loud, local and touring guitar-based sounds, and this one looks like a proper Friday night ripper. Bill Skasby, Lo Cash Ninjas, Never Don’ts and Bad Fix should make for a stacked night of punk-adjacent chaos, community and probably a few ringing ears. Support our small rooms, Durango!
• Sunday Record Brunch Club, Sun., May 10, 12 noon, 11th Street Station – Sunday Record Brunch Club at 11th Street Station is a new offering and a perfect low-pressure hang for music heads, brunch fans, vinyl nerds and anyone who wants a softer landing after the weekend. Grab food, post up and let the records do what records do.
• ARSONNICK and Disco Dolly, Fri., May 15, 7 p.m., The Swarm at The Hive – Dance music keeps finding its way into The Swarm, and that feels like something worth mentioning. Following in the footsteps of local legends like DJ Beeso, local DJs ARSONNICK and Disco Dolly step up for another all-ages, sober-space party built around movement, community and keeping the local dance floor alive.
• Tico Time Bluegrass Festival, Fri.–Sun., May 15–17, Tico Time River Resort – And here comes the blue wave, folks. No, not midterms – it’s Tico Time Bluegrass returns for its sixth year with some seriously heavyweight bookings, including Old Crow Medicine Show, Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller & The Keels, Poor Man’s Whiskey, Big Richard, Pixie & The Partygrass Boys, Darrell Scott, Rob Ickes and a deep bench of regional and local favorites. Between the river, the campground picking, the beach-stage energy and a lineup that would make any stringband fan do a double take, this one is a major statement for our little corner of the world.
• Forest Thump and One Heart Orchestra, Fri., May 22, 6 p.m., Buckley Park – Forest Thump and One Heart Orchestra land in Buckley Park for the Iron Horse kickoff and Faceplant Beer release, which is peak Durango-in-May energy. Bikes, beer and tunes? Yes, please. Roll through, celebrate the start of Iron Horse weekend and enjoy some of Durango’s most eclectic musical experiences.
• Dead Floyd, Fri.–Sat., May 22–23, 7 p.m., Animas City Theatre – Dead Floyd returns to Animas City Theatre for a two-night run, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know. This Colorado tribute powerhouse has built a loyal following by blending the songbooks of the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd into one big cosmic jam vehicle. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when “Dark Star” energy meets Live at Pompeii, this is for you, friend.
• Durango Bluegrass Train, Thurs., May 28, 6 p.m., Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad –Bluegrass on the train?! Come on. That’s almost too Durango to be real. This year’s lineup includes some extremely heavyhitting talent, including The Fretliners, Alex Graf Duo featuring Eli Emmitt, Lightweight Travelers, High Country Hustle, Humbletown Duo, and The Brothers Santos.
• Rise and Vibes Festival, Fri.–Sun., May 29–31, Tico Time River Resort – Festival season keeps rolling with Rise and Vibes at Tico Time, bringing Thievery Corporation, Collie Buddz, The Hip Abduction and a whole lot more to the river. These are huge, huge bookings for our area. ■
Old Crow Medicine Show
MurderInk
Revisiting Rankin
‘Saints of the Shadow Bible’ proves why Scottish writer sets the gold standard
by Jeffrey Mannix
Scotsman Ian Rankin is on his game with Little, Brown and Co.’s 2014 release of his “Saints of the Shadow Bible.” There are few crime fiction writers minting this kind of currency, and Rankin has been doing spectacular work in 27 of his tartan noir novels, dating back to 1987 with “Knots & Crosses,” and has since sold more than 35 million copies. In 2022, Rankin received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth for his literary achievements and charity donations.
We’re going back 12 years to capture Rankin’s archetypal police procedural – emulated in flimsier cloth by dozens of aspirants – in preparation for his newest work, “The Heights,” which will be published this coming November by Grand Central Publishing. And we’re seeing an archetype because crime fiction has, in the past number of years, been adopted by literary gentry and aspirants alike for what’s seen as simple step-and-repeat formatting. But these offerings having fallen far below the standards of literary fiction and “Murder Ink” merit.
In “Saints of the Shadow Bible,” Rankin’s Scottish detective John Rebus, now in forced retirement after an indecorous career as Edinburgh’s legendary homicide detective, has insinuated himself back on the force at a lower rank. Nevertheless, he is yet again defying authority and influencing investigations with his patented insight, which is at loggerheads with modern “best practices.”
Rebus has matured into an even more engaging character in retirement, first with 2013’s “Standing in Another Man’s Grave” and then with “Saints of the Shadow Bible.” I don’t know where Rankin found this guy, but Rebus is hands down the most fascinating protagonist in the genre. He’s at once brilliant, modest, seductive and bewitching – the personification of “street cred.” You can’t help but love him.
Rankin is a consummate teller of tall tales, in league with the likes of Henning Mankell, Håkan Nesser, Peter
Lovesey, P.D. James, Adrian McKinty, Carolyn Hart and Stieg Larsson – the masters of language and suspense –and Rebus himself is worthy of a biography. It comes without wonder that Rankin has won an Edgar Award, a Gold Dagger, a Chandler-Fulbright Award and the rarified Diamond Dagger for Career Excellence.
In “Saints,” Rebus finds himself as a fulcrum in a newly reopened homicide case of 30 years ago, botched by an impudent band of Edinburgh policemen calling themselves “The Saints of the Shadow Bible.” Rebus was at the time an initiate in this cabal of veteran detectives, and Malcolm Fox of Internal Affairs is now out to prove that these imperious cops falsified evidence so they could keep the killer of a local thug on the streets and informing.
The murder was committed in the 1980s, before DNA testing, with scant forensics and a police force self-enabled to keep the peace and effect justice as they saw fit. The Saints were ordained with each of five detectives spitting on the book of criminal justice statutes and swearing allegiance to each other no matter the thimblerigging. Their mantra was “My town, my rules.” Most of their humbuggery was in the public good, all of it was effective, and a good deal was from the Shadow Bible and unspeakable.
with authority, especially the parasitic Internal Affairs, he’s wily enough to cozy up to Fox and assist in bringing the two sides together. Coloring outside the lines is OK with Rebus; murder isn’t. And since he can’t prove to Fox that it wasn’t he who set the scam, he uses his cunning to manipulate the Saints to extremes.
“Saints of the Shadow Bible” was released Jan. 14, 2014. Since then, Rankin must have never set foot outside his house or slept more than catnaps. Writing anything, especially fiction, is all-consuming, and Rankin has written 38 novels, five volumes of short stories, a number of stage plays, graphic novels, an opera, essays, numerous articles of literary criticism – an inhuman production. I guess he does leave his desk; he sings in a six-piece band called “Best Picture,” and is quoted saying “I am, of course, a frustrated rock star – I’d much rather be a rock star than a writer. Or own a record shop.”
With Rebus’ sinecure keeping him around the department, Fox gnaws away at him for leads into the nefarious doings of the Saints. Rebus is a good cop, and while he characteristically refuses to cooperate
Find “Saints of the Shadow Bible” at the public library, or ask Maria’s Bookshop to order it if they don’t stock it, and see if they’ll generously give you their customary 15% “Murder Ink” discount with a special order. And tune up on Rankin in anticipation of his November release of “The Heights.”
No one doesn’t not like an Ian Rankin book. ■
Thursday07
Hydrophonic Festival, 4 p.m., Tico Time, Aztec
Watershed Wonders, aquatic insects with Mountain Studies Institute, 5-7 p.m., Santa Rita Park
Baracutanga plays Ska-BQ, 5-7 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
“What to do if Confronted by a Bear, Mountain Lion or Rattlesnake,” presented by Durango Open Space Ranger Tosh Black, 5:30-6:45 p.m., Durango Rec Center, 2700 Main Ave.
Community Story Circle, 6-7:30 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave.
Andrew Schuhmann plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Ben Gibson plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Bluegrass Jam, 6-9 p.m., Durango Beer and Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Open Mic Night, 6-9 p.m., American Legion, 878 E. 2nd Ave.
Dustin Burley plays, 6-9 p.m., 11th St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Powerhouse Trivia Night, 6:30-8:30 p.m., The Powerhouse, 1333 Camino Del Rio
“Into the Woods,” presented by Merely Players, 7-9:30 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
Friday08
Veterans Friday Coffee, 8-10:30 a.m., American Legion, 878 E. 2nd Ave.
BID Coffee & Conversation, 8:30-9:30 a.m., TBK Bank Community Room, 259 W. 9th St.
Manna Plant Sale, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Manna Garden Pavilion, 1100 Avenida Del Sol
Hydrophonic Festival, 12 noon, Tico Time, Aztec
Friday Afternoon Club Market, 3-6 p.m., Breen Community Building, 15300 Hwy 140, Hesperus
Scenic Byways Photography Showcase, opening reception, 4-7 p.m., Durango Welcome Center, 802 Main Ave.
Moving Mountains, Mountain Studies Institute fundraiser, 5-7 p.m., The Powerhouse, 1333 Camino del Rio
Spring Gallery Walk, 5-8 p.m., Downtown Durango and the Smiley Building
Radiographic Photographer by Nick Veasey,
opening reception, 5-8 p.m., Sorrel Sky, 828 Main Ave.
“Light: An Invitational Exhibition,” opening reception, Fri, May 8, 5-9 p.m., Studio & Gallery, 1027 Main Ave.
“How to Publish a Children’s Book,” with local author Brooke Heller, 6-8 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Trivia Fridays, 6-8:30 p.m., Durango Beer & Ice Co, 3000 Main Ave.
Dustin Burley plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Ska Wars with Bill Skasby, Lo Cash Ninjas, Never Dont’s and Bad Fix, 6:30-11 p.m., The Hive/The Swarm, 1175 Camino Del Rio
“Water Music,” presented by Mancos Valley Chorus, 7 p.m., 470 Grand Ave., Mancos
“Into the Woods,” presented by Merely Players, 7-9:30 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
The Pete Giuliani Band plays, 9 p.m., El Rancho Tavern, 975 Main Ave.
Saturday09
Durango Farmers Market on Main, 8 a.m.-12 noon, 900-1100 blocks of Main Ave.
“Working with Wool,” demonstrations, yarn exchange, silent auction, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Animas Valley Grange, 7271 CR 203
Manna Plant Sale, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Manna Garden Pavilion, 1100 Avenida Del Sol
DHS Boys Tennis Fundraiser, 10 a.m.-1p.m., Durango High School tennis courts
Durango Nature Center Opening Day, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Durango Nature Center, 63 CR 310
Spring Swap Meet & Dyno Shoot-Out, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Durango Harley-Davidson, 750 S Camino Del Rio
Hydrophonic Festival, 11 a.m., Tico Time, Aztec
“Navajo Corn: A Cultural Tradition Evolving Through Time,” 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Durango Poetry Open Mic, 12 noon-2 p.m., White Rabbit Books & Curiosities, 128 W. 14th. St.
“Light Over Shadows Day,” awareness and support for mental health and substance use, 12 noon3 p.m., Mental Health Awareness Walk, 1:30 p.m., Rotary Park
“The Bank Robbery That Wasn’t” with local
historian Charles DiFerdinando, 1-2 p.m., Animas Museum, 3065 W. 2nd Ave.
“Dancing with the Durango Stars,” 5:30-11 p.m., Mainstage Theatre at FLC
Matt Lewis plays, 6-8 p.m., EsoTerra Arboretum, 270 CR 303
Adam Swanson Ragtime plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Matt Rupnow plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Karaoke with Kimmy, 6-9 p.m., Durango Beer and Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Ross Douglas plays, 6-9 p.m., Fenceline Cider, 121 Main Ave., Mancos
Raven Narratives, 7 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 E. 2nd Ave.
“Into the Woods,” presented by Merely Players, 7-9:30 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
Big A** Variety Show: Comedy, Drag, Burlesque & Music, 8 p.m., The Subterrain, 900 Main Ave., Ste. F
Petrichor and Helter Smelter play, 8-10 p.m., iAM Music’s Indigo Room, 1315 Main Ave., #207
Sunday10
Durango Flea Market, 7 a.m.-3 p.m., La Plata County Fairgrounds
Veterans Benefit Breakfast, 9-11 a.m., VFW Post 4031, 1550 Main Ave.
Hydrophonic Festival, 12 noon, Tico Time, Aztec
Irish Jam, 12 noon-3 p.m., Durango Beer and Ice Co., 3000 Main Ave.
Silent Sundays with Swanson, 2 p.m., Durango Arts Center, 802 Main Ave.
“Into the Woods,” presented by Merely Players, 2-4:30 p.m., Merely Underground, 789 Tech Center Dr.
“Mother’s Day: Sharing America” San Juan Symphony Chamber Singers, 3 p.m., St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 910 E. 3rd Ave.
Funk Jam Sessions presented by Jimmy’s Music & Supply, 4-6 p.m., 1101 Main Ave.
Matt Lewis plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Blue Moon Ramblers play, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
AskRachel Too much force, not enough fun
Interesting fact: The more new information our brains process, the slower time moves. So really, all this endless “Star Wars’ content should be expanding our sense of time.
Dear Rachel, I decided not to celebrate May the Fourth. I grew up on “Star Wars,” but it’s just getting to be too much. More shows than I can keep up with. It used to be just one part of the toy aisle at Walmart, but now it’s the Mouse House demanding my money at every step. Do I let go of the thing I love or find a way to reclaim it as my own?
– Bum Kenobi
Dear General Grieving, Ah, too much of a good thing. Or, just too much of a thing, good or otherwise. “Star Wars” used to be SPECIAL. We’d skip work and school for a new one. It was an EVENT. Now it’s like getting rich and buying the special candies every week so they stop being special. I’m guessing that’s what it’s like, at least.
– I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Rachel
Dear Rachel,
What is with generations older than me (I’m not that young) and their weird passive
Monday11
Climate Support Group, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
“Environmental Allyship, Frontline Activists from Appalachia and Greater Chaco,” film screenings and panel discussion, 4:30-6:30 p.m., FLC Center of Southwest Studies Lyceum Room
Happy Hour Yoga, 5:30 p.m., Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St.
Women’s Mountain Bike Basics Clinic, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Purgatory Sports Downtown, 2615 Main Ave.
Terry Rickard plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Ben Gibson plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Tuesday12
Cowboy Tuesdays, 12 noon-3 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Celebration of Life for Michael Goldman, 2 p.m., The Powerhouse, 1333 Camino Del Rio
Twin Buttes Tuesday, weekly group mountain bike ride, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Twin Buttes trailhead parking lot
communication? I see this with my parents and the parents of my friends. It’s like they’re all trying not to be a burden, but they end up burdening us with every little decision. Take my mother, I’ll say “I’ll be there to help on Saturday, just tell me what time,” and then she never tells me a time, but says she was waiting for me to tell her one. Does that make sense? What’s to be done?
– Talking to a Wall
Dear Bricked,
There’s literally nothing to be done. It’s like our parents finished raising us and promptly decided, collectively, to check out. But they aren’t going away. We have to do our best to support them, love them and convince them to move into a community for people like them instead of winding up with them in our guest bedrooms.
– Yours in solidarity, Rachel
Dear Rachel, Is it just me or do we all have less time than ever? My coworkers and I are all commiserating over this. But not at the break room, like we used to! We don’t even have time for a donut, we have to talk in passing in the hall. I don’t have time for spring
Rotary Club of Durango presents Music in the Mountains Executive Director Angie Beach, 6-7 p.m., Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave.
“Intro to Nature Journaling,” 6-8 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Tuesday Trivia, 6-8:30 p.m., 11th St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Nathan Schmidt plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Randy Crumbaugh plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
Barbershop Tryouts, every Tues., 6:30 p.m., Christ the King Church, 495 Florida Rd.
Adult Disco Roller Skating, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Chapman Hill Roller Rink
Wednesday13
Weekly Bird Walks, 8-9:30 a.m., Botanical Gardens at Durango Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Ukulele Night, 5-7 p.m., Four Leaves Winery, 528 Main Ave.
Ska Bingo Night, 5-7 p.m., DoubleTree Animas River Lounge, 501 Camino Del Rio
Email Rachel at telegraph@durangotelegraph.com
gardening like I always have. My coworker can’t find time to hike with his dog. My wife is in staff meetings all day. What’s happened?
– Time Suck
Dear Vacuum-Packed, You’re exactly right, and I’m pretty sure I know exactly what’s happened to all our time: “Star Wars.” Used to be we had three movies, six hours and we could get on with our weekends. Now, that had turned into literal months of viewing. The Force “surrounds us and penetrates us,” alright.
– Clocked out, Rachel
“Money Talks,” casual gathering for personal finance, 5:30-7 p.m., 11st St. Station, 1101 Main Ave.
Purg Sports Group Ride, 5-7:30 p.m., Purgatory Sports Downtown, 2615 Main Ave.
“Parade of Projects,” presentation of City capital improvement projects slated for the next five years, 5:307:30 p.m., Durango Public Library, 1900 E. 3rd Ave.
Guys Who Give Quarterly Impact Event, 6-7 p.m., Steamworks Brewing, 801 E. 2nd Ave.
Trivia Night, 6-8 p.m., Zia Cantina, 2977 Main Ave.
Donny Johnson plays, 6-9 p.m., Diamond Belle Saloon, 699 Main Ave.
Chuck Hank plays, 6-9 p.m., Office Spiritorium, 699 Main Ave.
The (Almost) Weekly Comedy Open Mic, 7-8 p.m., American Legion, 878 E. 2nd Ave.
“How Today’s African Fauna Came to Be,” presented by San Juan Basin Archaeological Society, 78:30 p.m., FLC Lyceum Room
Ongoing
“Beauty or Bondage: Exploring Feminism,” art exhibition, thruMay 9, Durango Art Center, 802 E. 2nd
FreeWillAstrology
by Rob Brezsny
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Astronomers depend on instruments to collect the observations that fuel their work, but they don’t spend every night glued to the stars. On overcast nights, they turn to what they have already gathered, digging into past measurements and reworking the data. You’re in a comparable phase, Aries. For now, looking farther out into the glittering world won’t give you anything essential. The guidance you need is folded into what you’ve previously seen, felt and taken in. It’s waiting for you to sort through and understand it on a deeper level.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): When lightning from a cloud hits sand or soil, the current travels down into the ground. It melts material along its path and forms tubular, branching glass structures that can penetrate deep below the surface. I believe that metaphorically similar phenomena will soon happen in your life, Taurus. Sudden insights or electrifying feelings will leave permanent traces in your psyche, creating new pathways for energy and information to flow. These disruptive inspirations and inspiring disruptions will rewire your internal circuitry, creating channels that will enhance your receptivity to future revelations. You’ll be able to absorb clues and hints from life that you weren’t tuned into before.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I invite you to ruminate on death not as the conclusion of physical life, but as a metaphor for discarding what’s stale and outmoded. In that light, what would be the best deaths you could generate during the coming weeks? Use your imagination with verve and vigor as you dream up scenarios in which you purge parts of your life that are not serving your strongest, most vital yearnings. Visualize how much fresh potency that will liberate. (PS: To reiterate: You are NOT in physical danger.)
CANCER (June 21-July 22): What part of you is too tame? Maybe your imagination is politely well-behaved, or maybe your voice edits itself before it dares to say what it really thinks. Can you inspire it to be wilder and freer? Not reckless or destructive, but more honest and experimental? Here’s a suggestion: Go on regular excursions with your wild side, maybe once every two weeks. Follow it as it chooses what to explore and create. This might ultimately teach your tamed self that it’s safe to let primal wisdom help steer you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to quantum physics, particles can become “entangled,” which means they share a single connected quantum state. Observing and measuring one particle reveals information about the other, even if they’re not in close proximity. Einstein called this “spooky action at a distance.” I predict that different parts of your life will also interweave in unlikely ways in coming weeks. Moves you make in one area will produce mysterious effects in others. For example, adjusting your morning routine may boost your creative output. Healing an old alliance could unlock a professional opportunity. Everything will be more intermingled.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Your key power word for now is stretch. Speak it aloud multiple times every day and write it on a card that you put in a place where you will keep seeing it. Also, make a point of physically and spiritually living out these three senses of stretch: 1. to lengthen, widen or expand without snapping or tearing; 2. to unfurl your body to its full reach, boosting circulation and warding off stiffness or cramps; 3. to take on challenging tasks that push you to amplify your abilities and move beyond what you previously believed you could do.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Four oracles for you, Libra: 1. You’re in possession of keys to doors that haven’t been built yet. Tuck those keys away somewhere safe. 2. You’re ready to dream up titles for stories your life hasn’t lived through yet. Write those titles down. 3. You are being granted sneak previews of your future, even though you can’t yet see the bridge that will carry you there. Imprint these glimpses on your memory. 4. You have everything required to grow a more muscular faith that’s grounded in real evidence, not in vague hopes and wishful thinking. Take advantage.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): At the ancient Library of Alexandria, editors did far more than copy manuscripts. They compared multiple versions of important works and produced editions that aimed at definitively reliable texts. Their efforts required active intervention rather than mere reproduction. In the coming weeks, Scorpio, I think it will be fun and transformative for you to make similar adjustments to your own life story. How might your memories of the past need to be corrected and refined? How could you make your personal mythology more accurate and liberating? I invite you to revise and revivify the tales you tell yourself about your magnificent journey from the moment you were born until now.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The speed of light is how fast it travels through a vacuum. When moving through water and other media, though, light’s swiftness decreases. The fastest possible speed in the universe only applies in emptiness. Let’s use this as a metaphor for your life. I suspect you may be frustrated by how incrementally things are moving. But you’re not in a vacuum. Your bright intelligence is traveling through the complex situations that life has brought you. So of course you’re not zipping along with maximum haste. My advice: Be grateful for the slowdowns. Learn all you can about how they are educating and transforming your brilliance.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Cryptographer Claude Shannon (1916–2001) was the father of information theory. His achievements were comparable to those of Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. Here’s one of his secrets: He kept his office filled with juggling equipment, unicycles and mechanical toys, which inspired him to solve abstract problems. His playful tinkering helped inspire breakthroughs that ultimately created the digital age. For him, recreation and innovation happened at the same time. I invite you to try a similar approach. Blend “serious work” with “just messing around.” Be alert for key insights that emerge.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Master calligrapher Yukimi Annand is an Aquarius. She teaches that beautiful letters emerge not just from the hand but from the entire body. Breath, posture, centered weight and quiet mind all flow through the arm to create each stroke. Trying to control the outcome with arduous effort produces rigid, lifeless art. This is an excellent teaching for you. Whatever you’re striving to accomplish, I beg you to refrain from forcing results through grueling, overly laborious exertion. Instead, align your whole being so that graceful outcomes flow naturally from your soulful coherence.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The placebo effect is getting stronger over time. Placebos in drug trials are becoming increasingly effective, to the point where it’s sometimes becoming harder to prove that actual drugs work better than sugar pills. Are we getting better at healing ourselves through belief? That would be a problem for pharmaceutical companies but interesting for the rest of us. Dear Pisces, I believe your placebo response is exceptionally strong right now. In the coming weeks, use it deliberately. Be daring and exuberant in your efforts to heal yourself.
Grea Great gi gifts for or mom moms and grads!
Also everything you need to get your backyard ready for summer entertaning including bistros and patio sets
Deadline for Telegraph classified ads is Tuesday at noon.
Ads are a bargain at 10 cents a character with a $10 minimum.
Prepayment is required via cash, credit card or check. (Sorry, no refunds or substitutions.)
Ads can be submitted by emailing: classifieds@ durangotelegraph.com
Announcements
Adult Roller Skating
Check out the Chapman Hill Rink schedule. We have added adult skating on Tuesday nights 6:30-8:30pm and DJ parties one Saturday each month 8:1510:15pm. Join us for the first Saturday night DJ disco party of the season on Sat., May 16. Durango Roller skaters will be there to help you get rolling! Todd 970799-013
Classes/Workshops
Life Blueprint Workshop
Free 2-hour workshop to gain clarity and intentionally design the next chapter of your life. For those feeling stuck, in transition, or ready for change. Online: May 14, 12–2. In person: May 16, 10–12, Durango Public Library. Register: davealbrechta.com/workshop
Kids Yoga Camp
June 22–26 | 9 AM–3 PM | Elementaryaged kids | A fun + enriching experience! Movement • Mindfulness • Outdoor adventure • Art • Storytelling Anuyoga school.com | 585-613-1981
Cool Under Fire
A workshop (for ages 8-80) treating burnout from stress & anxiety. Learn how to feel centered and keep calm despite daily dumpster fires. VFW 5:30-7:30pm on 5.15.26. Info and tickets online: du rangoaikido.com
Lost/Found
$500 Reward
Lost: Gold wedding ring, in/near Albertsons on May 4th. Text 303.918.1936
ForRent
Sunny 2nd Floor Furnished Studio Apartment Highpoint Tamarron. $1200 /mo. Utilities WiFi TV included. Jacuzzi tub, deck with views. No pets, no smoking. Text 5057282057 mmayer 4823@gmail.com.
Services
Electric Repair
Roof, gutter cleaning, fence, floors, walls, flood damage, mold, heating service.
Child Guidance-Storybook Gardens 970-403-3347
Boiler Service - Water Heater
Serving Durango over 30 years. Brad, 970-759-2869. Master Plbg Lic #179917
ForSale
Reruns Home Furnishings
Furniture, mirrors, lamps, cool artwork and more! Looking to consign smaller pieces. 572 E. 6th Ave. Open Mon.-Sat.
Wanted
Books Wanted at White Rabbit Donate/Trade/Sell 970 259-2213
BodyWork
Your Mom Wants a Massage for Mother's Day! Meg Bush, LMT 970759-0199
Lymphatic Drainage Massage Intentional full body fluid movement. Meg Bush, LMT 970-759-0199
‘Marty Supreme’ Sows constant chaos, is a huge narcissist … he could be president – Lainie Maxson
CommunityService
The Durango Bird Club will host a spring bird count Sun., May 17: durangobirdclub.wixsite.com
New kid on the block?
(Don’t worry – the Telegraph is here for you step by step.)
50% OFF one month of display ads* *1/8th page or larger • Ads start at just $80/week!
Get your business in front of thousands of adoring fans each week to make sure you’r not a one-hit wonder
For details email: missy@durangotelegraph.com
