Last month, The Sopris Sun lost a former board member and a longtime believer in the importance of local journalism. Linda Criswell gave her valuable time, energy and support to The Sopris Sun because she understood that a strong community needs a trusted source of local news. She never hesitated to let us know we […]
Opinion
Posted inColumns
Ice, literacy and the pursuit of happiness
When I was younger, dreaming of a writing future, I knew that building a career in this field can take time. I knew that so well that my ambition was tempered by it. As a pre-teen and a teenager there was this active thought: “I won’t have a book published until I’m in my 40s, […]
Posted inColumns
The View from the Therapy Pool: The truth we never accepted
“We hold these truths to be self-evident.” Not a lot of equivocation there. Thomas Jefferson declared the words that followed could only be refuted by someone with their head in the sand. “All men are created equal.” The man who wrote those words was definitely an enigma. Jefferson, along with 41 of the 56 men […]
Posted inColumns
Letter from Michigan: July 4, 2026
The firecrackers and skyrockets are banging away as I sit in our little cottage writing this. Unlike back home, there is zero chance of a wildfire. Weeks of rain, including showers today, have thoroughly soaked everything. Fireworks are illegal in Michigan, with a few exceptions like July 4, when smaller types are permitted. The big […]
Posted inLetters
Letters – July 9, 2026
Correction: Last week’s article,“‘This administration is burning the rule book,’” stated that there are seven parcels on the Roan Plateau subject to a prospective natural gas lease sale slated for December. There are five parcels within the Roan Plateau Management Area (RPMA) and two with stipulations outside the RPMA. Thank you, Near NewMany thanks to […]
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VOICES Radio Hour: The value of a nugget of hope
By Sumaya Abuhaidar Sumaya Abuhaidar is a spiritual adventurer, writer and artist who finds inspiration in the wilds of Colorado’s mountains. Recently recovered from devastating chronic illness, she shares her story and insights on Substack through prose, poetry and art. Four years ago, I could barely get out of bed. I was so chronically exhausted […]
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Ps & Qs: Everybody’s home
Have you ever been homeless? The closest I came was in my twenties when my boyfriend Bill and I were vagabonds. Traveling from city to city, we would stop on a whim to look for jobs and a place to live. He was a short-order cook, and I worked in record stores: Wax Trax, Zia, […]
Posted inNews
Choosing to remember: A perspective from the borderlands
Editor’s note: The complete audio version of this story is archived at KDNK.org Driving toward El Paso, Texas, I see the border wall for the first time, its stark brown form extending endlessly parallel to Interstate 10.Then, I see the colorful homes of Ciudad Juarez on the other side and I imagine how it would […]
Posted inNews
Raining cats and dogs
A clipped ear on a kitten or a blue line on a puppy’s belly is a signature of compassion, a small mark of sterilization that stands between chaos and care. An unwanted kitten, left to the streets, transforms in a matter of months into a feral tomcat. Because cats can produce litters of up to […]
Posted inOpinion
Letters – July 2, 2026
Independence Day, 2026 Fifty years ago, I remember feeling excitement about America’s bicentennial. Although we had recently watched a president resign over corruption (minor compared to today’s standards, as even Vice President Vance admits!), Americans were generally proud and supportive of each other and our nation. That feeling is missing today, as we have competing […]