THE INDEPENDENT

What’s fueling high gas prices?

By Kealey Meyer Indy Staff Writer

How the conflict in Ukraine is impacting your commute to campus.

In Durango, you can stroll through downtown and find plenty of donation cash jars in businesses, window paintings, and street art in support of Ukraine. If these elements don’t serve as a large enough reminder of the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, a trip to the gas station might.  The war not only put countless Ukrainian citizens in danger and constant fear but is...

The Powwow Returns

By Tiara Yazzie and Cameron Maroney Indy Staff Writers

PHOTO ESSAY: Two years after a pandemic hiatus, Hozhoni Days is back.

With suitcases in hand and braids in place, people of all ages stood in line at the Whalen Gymnasium on April 1, eager to take in the excitement of The Hozhoni Days PowWow at Fort Lewis College after two years of its absence due to the pandemic. ‘Honoring those who never made it home’ was the theme for the 56th annual powwow at FLC,   in regard to the boarding schools where...

From half-pipe dream to paradise

By Julian Zastrocky Indy Staff Reporter

How two students pushed for a portable park and gave a growing community a place to skate.

A skatepark on campus. That was an idea that FLC Students Lleyton Hull and Joey Borer had when they came to Fort Lewis College in the fall of 2021. “It's a cool college,” Hull said. “But why is there not a skatepark when there are so many skaters?” So, Hull and Borer began to work towards building an on-campus skate park. Step one was to organize themselves as...

Powder to the people

By Mia McCormick Indy Staff Writer

Running Purgatory means all work and snow play. 

How much do we know about what it takes to keep a ski mountain running? What happens after the last chair unloads at 4 p.m.? Purgatory Ski Resort, the closest ski area to Durango, has an array of workers who experience sides of the mountain that the public doesn’t. They are the behind-the-scenes crew, who make sure that the slopes are ready for any rider.    THE TEAM...

Four stars for my four day quarantine

By Mia McCormick Indy Staff Writer

After testing positive for COVID-19, one reporter tells-all about her stay in FLC's COVID hotel

Isolation room 336 smelled like cleaning products and fresh linens the first time I  entered it. When I hurried out the door on my fourth and final day in the COVID hotel, the air that followed me was thick with the odor of soggy, untouched food and unhinged boredom.  I got my positive COVID-19 test results on Jan. 28. A few hours after I got the dreaded email from the health...

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