Aztec Riverside BMX aims to break ground this October on a two-acre, city-owned lot for a new BMX track, giving local children a home course instead of long drives to Durango or Albuquerque to race. The nonprofit is working with USA BMX to design the track to national standards. Beyond race day, organizers plan a loaner bike fleet, Strider races for the youngest riders and a school partnership teaching children how bikes work through a STEM program.

By Tanner Waite

Watch this story at LNN.News

This story is sponsored by Home2Suites and Sunray Park & Casino.

Table to Farm Compost is a Durango based climate activist business that has been turning food scraps into compost since 2016. Co-owner Monique DiGiorgio was recently named the 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year by Southwest Colorado Rocks for her leadership in growing the company to more than 800 subscribers and achieving the highest level of compost certification in Colorado. The company offers curbside pickup of food scraps and transforms them into high quality compost used by local gardeners and agricultural producers across La Plata County. With Durango's Bonded Landfill at 70% capacity and Durango City Council set to decide on composting requirements this fall, Table to Farm is at the center of an important conversation about how Durango handles its organic waste.

By Sadie Smith

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This story is sponsored by FASTSIGNS Durango, Legacy Financial Advisors and RMW/Tafoya Barrett & Associates. 

And presented by the La Plata County Economic Alliance and the Durango Chamber of Commerce.

The La Plata County Fair runs Wednesday to Sunday, August 5 through 9, at the fairgrounds. Durango Nursery and Supply  is partnering with the La Plata County Humane Society for their Dog Days of Summer Sale through Saturday, August 8. And the Community Concert Hall at the Park wraps up its summer season this Thursday with the Mojo Birds at Buckley Park.

By Sadie Smith

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This story is sponsored by Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and Durango Gelato, Coffee & Tea.

Living in southwest Colorado means the risk of fire and flood is never far from home.

First responders and firefighters are currently fighting the Rio Blanco Fire, located 12 miles south of Pagosa Springs. The lightning-caused fire started on Tuesday, July 28, and as of Thursday evening, it has grown to 781 acres with 0% containment. 

Nearly a year ago, communities just west of town experienced a similar threat: the Oak Fire, fueled by dry conditions, quickly outpaced on-the-ground resources with its extreme behavior. Sixty days later, historic, climate-fueled floods resulted in the third-largest flows on record for the San Juan River. These forests are increasingly defined by cycles of extreme multi-year droughts and wildfires interspersed with catastrophic precipitation in a warmer atmosphere. 

Beyond the Embers, a new short film produced by local filmmaker, Christi Bode, reflects on 2025 events and expresses the continued need for community preparedness before the next natural disaster. The film was produced with support from the San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership, Wolf Creek Ski Area and Best of Pagosa Springs Real Estate.

By Christi Bode

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The Powerhouse Science Center hosts rock band ORA on Wednesday as part of its weekly Community Concert Series. The Durango Brewers Trail Series wraps up on Thursday with the High Trestle Brewing Series Finale at Overend Mountain Park. And the 7th Annual Buckley Park Arts and Crafts Festival closes out the week on Saturday with local artisans and makers.

By Sadie Smith

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This story is sponsored by Dunkin Donuts and the Payroll Department.

Brett Lanier is a born-and-raised Aztec local who was elected city commissioner in 2025 and recently chosen as the city's newest mayor.

Under the city's commission-manager government, Lanier and four fellow commissioners set policy and direct a city manager who handles day-to-day operations. His priorities include strengthening infrastructure and supporting local jobs and businesses to keep the next generation in Aztec. Watch the full interview to hear his vision for Aztec's future.

By Tanner Waite

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This story is sponsored by The Big Idea Makerspace at San Juan College and Boon's Family Thai BBQ.

Fort Lewis College has been selected as one of five rural Colorado colleges to participate in CO-WIL, the Colorado Work-Integrated Learning Consortium. The three-year pilot program connects students with real employer projects inside the classroom, allowing them to earn a minimum $250 stipend while getting academic credit. The state intentionally selected rural colleges first, with the goal of scaling the program statewide if successful. The program will initially support courses in computer information systems, psychology, nutrition and studio art and is expected to get underway in the coming months.

By Sadie Smith

Watch this story at LNN.news

This story is sponsored by Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers and Durango Gelato, Coffee & Tea.

This week, Durango has a free outdoor concert, a boozy peach brunch and tickets on sale for an intimate songwriter festival. The Jon Stickley Trio performs Thursday, July 23, at Buckley Park as part of the Community Concert Hall at the Park free concert series. On Sunday, July 26, Graze Colorado hosts Peaches and Prosecco, a three course boozy brunch celebrating Palisade peach season. And the San Juan Songwriter Festival comes to downtown Durango September 24 through 27, featuring Nashville hitmakers and local songwriters performing across intimate downtown venues. Tickets start at $40.

By Sadie Smith

Watch this story at LNN.news

This story is sponsored by RMW  Tafoya Barrett & Associates and FASTSIGNS Durango.

Analyss Benally grew up in Shiprock on the Navajo Nation and went on to play Division I basketball at San Jose State before launching her professional basketball career in Europe. Today, her nonprofit, AB Five Basketball, brings free camps and clinics to Native youth across the Southwest.

This summer, AB Five returned to Shiprock with volunteer coaches, including former Los Angeles Lakers guard Andre Ingram.

By Tanner Waite

Watch this story at LNN.news

This story is sponsored by Ace Hardware in Farmington and Fitness World.

Durango exists because of a railroad that almost went somewhere else. In this documentary, Jeff Johnson traces the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande in Southwest Colorado — from General William Jackson Palmer's original 1870 push south out of Denver, to the mining boom that pulled the rails toward the San Juans, to the founding of Durango itself in 1881 as a town built by and for the railroad. Jeff follows the line through its boom years serving the Silverton mining district, its near-collapse after the Silver Purchase Act was repealed in 1893, and its unlikely second life as a beloved tourist attraction in the postwar decades. It's a story about how a railroad meant to carry a young civilization toward the future became, in time, our clearest window into the past.

The Power of Place Magazine is a special initiative of the Colorado 150 Southwest organizing committee, featuring 20 articles by professional historians and local writers exploring Southwest Colorado's rich and complex heritage.

By Jeff Johnson

This story is sponsored by Alpine Bank, Sky Ute Casino and Strater Hotel

Watch the full series, Voices of the Past: Southwest Colorado.