Here in Pagosa Springs, a familiar and uncomfortable feeling is settling over the community as a critical school bond measure appears on our mail-in ballots. It’s one thing to expect spin, half-truths, and outright distortions when they come from political advertisers and partisan operatives; we have all become somewhat hardened to that. But it feels profoundly more unpleasant, more personal, when the misleading information seems to be coming from our own neighbors, our own school district, and the folks we see in the grocery store. The issue at hand is Ballot Measure 5A, a request by Archuleta School District to…

On the evening of Saturday, October 10, the Baxter Concert Hall will hold its breath. The lights will dim, the murmur of the audience will fade, and the first notes will rise from the piano—not as a museum piece, not as a faithful copy, but as a living, breathing conversation with a giant. The Kyle Shepherd Xahuri Trio will take the stage to explore the music of Abdullah Ibrahim, the late South African jazz legend whose compositions have echoed through the townships and concert halls of the world for more than half a century. Ibrahim, who passed away in 2024,…