Downtown Lowdown

Music in the Mountains presents ‘Satchmo Scattin’ & Swingin’’

Music is a gift. If presented well, it’s one of the greatest gifts you can receive, and the Music in the Mountains Festival offers musical perfection. Currently underway, this local and annu...

DATE: Jul 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Elder Grown goes back to summer camp

Members of local band Elder Grown are moving on to bigger scenes. They aren’t leaving the band, but they are looking for larger music communities. One of those members is saxophone player Sa...

DATE: Jul 9, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Caitlin Cannon returns to Durango

Singer-songwriter Caitlin Cannon’s move to Music City has been a worthy venture. The one-time Durango resident starting splitting her time between Nashville, Tennessee, and the Southwest in ...

DATE: Jul 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Andy Frasco & The U.N. ‘bring a show’

Andy Frasco has been in the music business most of his life. The Los Angeles native however didn’t start in the biz as a musician, he started on the business side. “Falling in love with the...

DATE: Jun 26, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

GA-20 plays the punky-blues

Every band has different methods for how they create and debut new songs. Some bands may have a member write individually, then bring the work in progress to other band members to add their ...

DATE: Jun 19, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Hotel Draw: Playing music for the sake of playing music

Making music is fun. At least it is for members of local band Hotel Draw. While they don’t perform with the regularity as other local bands, they’ve been one of the sleeper bands at the last...

DATE: Jun 12, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Salt Lake City bluegrass comes to Durango

Many bluegrass bands are born from a bluegrass pick. It’s a story this column has referenced in the past: the “pick” being an informal collection of musicians playing an even less formal con...

DATE: Jun 4, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Taylor Neal, a DIY musician

Music is important. That’s a general statement that many could and would agree with, but for people like Taylor Neal, it’s a belief that resonates down to their core. Yes, it’s something tha...

DATE: May 29, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

The Sadies return to Durango

Canadian surf and garage rock, cosmic-country and punk band The Sadies made their Durango concert debut on Nov. 5, 2013. That night, music lovers of Durango were treated to a solid blast of ...

DATE: May 22, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

100 Year Flood to rock Gazpacho

Local musicians Dyllon Drake and Dugan Frase are stuck with each other. That’s OK with them. Guitar player Drake and drummer Frase met a decade ago, when both were playing in the band Revere...

DATE: May 15, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Paying tribute to Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash is for everybody. An early country star who along with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis put Sam Phillips and Sun Records out of Memphis on the musical map, Cash gr...

DATE: May 8, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Jazz orchestra celebrates art form

The world of music lovers can thank America for jazz. Sure, the U-S of A has kicked down a load of recognizable genres, but arguably the one genre that spread quickly around the world is jaz...

DATE: May 1, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Photos: ‘Mini Takes the States’ tour stops in DurangoHundreds of Mini Cooper vehicles occupy Fort Lewis College on Sunday; Participants began the journey in Albuquerque and will finish in Seattle

Hundreds of Mini Cooper vehicles occupy Fort Lewis College on Sunday; Participants began the journey in Albuquerque and will finish in Seattle

Photos: Boxing returns to DurangoAnimus on the Animas: 1st Annual Durango Boxing Classic at the Durango Main Mall on Saturday

Animus on the Animas: 1st Annual Durango Boxing Classic at the Durango Main Mall on Saturday

Photos and video: Going for the gold by devouring piesContestants try their best to win the Oscar’s Pie Eating Contest on Friday in Durango

Contestants try their best to win the Oscar’s Pie Eating Contest on Friday in Durango

Photo: Fireworks light the sky in DurangoDurango celebrates Independence Day on Thursday night

Durango celebrates Independence Day on Thursday night

Photos: Working with woodLocal craftsman uses wood joinery, rather than nails or screws to construct homes and other structures

Local craftsman uses wood joinery, rather than nails or screws to construct homes and other structures

2024 Fourth of July Parade draws crowd Thursday in downtown Durango

Photos: Downtown Durango hosts Fourth of July ParadeDowntown sidewalks were full for Thursday’s celebration

Downtown sidewalks were full for Thursday’s celebration

Durango Rotary Club, Parks and Recreation department host Independence Day events

Law enforcement conducts active threat training at Park Elementary SchoolResidents may see and hear police activity Thursday and Friday

Law enforcement agencies across Southwest Colorado sent officers to participate in active threat training this week at Park Elementary School in Durango. Those in the neighborhood can expect police vehicles parked on the premises, officers in tactical gear conducting exercises inside and outside the school, and signs advising that training is in progress. The sounds of shouting, airsoft weapons and the popping of a starter pistol will also be audible near the school, said Karla Sluis, spokeswoman for Durango School District 9-R.Sluis said that members of the school district’s safety department have gone door-to-door with flyers notifying residents around Park Elementary School about the training.

Hosted by the Durango Police Department and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, this week’s voluntary training invited officers from law enforcement agencies across a five-county region of Southwest Colorado encompassing La Plata, Archuleta, San Juan, Montezuma and Dolores counties.

La Plata County Sheriff’s Office deputy Mike Latham, lead instructor for this week's training, said Wednesday and the first half of Thursday were mostly preparatory, teaching officers the school’s layout and devising scenarios, whereas the latter half of Thursday and Friday residents should anticipate some noise as active threat scenarios play out.

Latham said active threat training teaches officers proper protocol during active threat scenarios, especially in densely populated areas where they have become increasingly common.Park Elementary School is not the only Durango School District facility law enforcement has conducted active threat training. Latham said schools lend themselves well to this sort of training because, “It gives us all kinds of doors to work on, different rooms, different scenarios we can run. We can pretend it’s a mall with nice big corridors, we can even pretend it’s an outdoor area in the gymnasium.”Latham has participated in active threat training multiple times in the past and described the drills as exhilarating and nerve-wracking. He said one of the training’s main goals is teaching officers how to manage stress and remain calm with lives on the line.

“I take a pulse oximeter in the morning and get a baseline on their heart rates,” Latham said. “And sometimes, just before they’re about to engage a threat, I say ‘Timeout.’ Put it (the oximeter) on there, and their heart rate’s skyrocketed to 140, 150, 160 just in training.”

Latham said throughout his career active threat training has evolved to become safer for officers and fall in line with increasingly professional police standards.“When I first started we were just running into halls and rooms hoping for the best,” Latham said. “Now the tactic is still to get there, still stop the taking of lives, but tactics are much better than they were 20 years ago.”

Residents may see and hear police activity Thursday and Friday

Photos: Flower powerDurango Botanic Gardens holds 11th annual ‘Gardens on Tour’ on Saturday

Durango Botanic Gardens holds 11th annual ‘Gardens on Tour’ on Saturday

Music in the Mountains presents ‘Satchmo Scattin’ & Swingin’’

Elder Grown goes back to summer camp

Caitlin Cannon returns to Durango

Andy Frasco & The U.N. ‘bring a show’

GA-20 plays the punky-blues

Hotel Draw: Playing music for the sake of playing music

Salt Lake City bluegrass comes to Durango

Taylor Neal, a DIY musician

The Sadies return to Durango

100 Year Flood to rock Gazpacho

Paying tribute to Johnny Cash

Jazz orchestra celebrates art form

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