From a 40 year local:
1. The Herald is NOT a newspaper. They dumped 6-day print and home delivery long ago.
2. Call them a blog, staffed by 20yo’s hoping to make the big time in Denver or wherever.
3. The Herald is still owned by the Ballantine family. They acquired all the others in the area, who had been relying on their printing facilities. When classified ads became a thing of the past, they sold out or folded.
4. The Herald has always been liberal, catering to the “new Durango”, starting 20 years ago. The LPEA board has followed suit and is going green.
5. The Herald is irrelevant. They preach to their choir. Editorials have humor value only.
6. No one I know pays for their web blog. Defeating the paywall is trivial.
7. Conservatives are rare, but we own critical businesses. We are not the pot shops or tourist traps. We freely trade information and such the old-fashioned way, in person, by phone, etc. Not really dinosaurs, we are more like small mammals who will survive.
Hope this clears up some of the previous speculations.
A good and accurate synopsis.