Your morning starts here.

Tom Bartels and Darrin Parmenter from the Garden Guys have provided new tips for Southwest Colorado gardeners as they plan their spring planting.

They advised waiting until mid-May and using drip irrigation (to conserve water) while tuning in to their KSUT podcast every Saturday at noon for more insights.

iAM Music Fest celebrated its 11th annual event in downtown Durango from Apr.

30 to May 3, featuring over 25 artists on eight stages and providing youth with mentorship and scholarship opportunities — a boost for local music education.

In 1996, Beverly Rich and partners saved the 1908 boarding house on Galena Mountain by airlifting supplies up a steep mule trail after heavy snow had damaged most of its roof.

Their preservation project was later memorialized in a documentary celebrating the historic mining legacy above Cunningham Gulch.

Beverly Rich, a lifelong Silverton historian (involved since age 14) recounted the town's boom, bust and rebirth in an April 29 article that explained how Silverton helped shape Durango's foundation and is now evolving into a thriving high-mountain destination.

Conservation efforts have boosted Colorado wildlife, with elk in record numbers, wild turkeys rising from 250 to over 35,000, and bighorn sheep roaming the high country—while gray wolves are returning and local initiatives protect other species.

Retired parks manager Patt Dorsey, who spent 28 years protecting local wildlife, shared her untold story — digging through old biological reports and vintage archives in honor of Colorado's 150th birthday; her work reminds locals that wildlife needs people.

Maria's Literary Foundation is hosting its second annual Read-a-Thon fundraiser from April 10 to April 20 to raise $25,000 for the Reading Room, a free bookshop for Durango youth.

Donations up to $10,000 (matched by the bookshop) will support the project.

A Durango musician launched the nonprofit Durango Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival, which will bring seven leading ragtime and early jazz acts for performances near the historic Strater Hotel and Diamond Bell Saloon.