Pictures document “Big Blue” in 2021 and again in 2023
William Woody
William Woody is a photojournalist based in Colorado, documenting everything Western Slope.
Email: woody.freelance@gmail.com Twitter: @wwoodyCO
Posted inBusiness
Shearing season brings workers from around the world to harvest wool from Colorado sheep
Colorado is consistently one of the Top 5 wool producing states and it takes deft hands with special training for the harvest.
Posted inElection 2022
Lauren Boebert’s reelection prospects unclear as Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District race remains too close to call
Boebert regained the lead over Democratic challenger Adam Frisch on Thursday. The former Aspen city councilman has defied expectations and remains in the race.
Posted inNews, Sports
Hold my pickax: In a battle of the miners, men and women compete to see who’s the best, well, miner
OURAY — Before the million-dollar homes, ski hills and film festivals, Colorado’s high mountain towns were home to the first white settlers who came prospecting for gold, silver, and other precious metals. There is a saying, “if it’s not grown, it’s mined,” referring to all the minerals and metals that are used in our daily […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Environment, News, Politics and Government, Water
Sweet! The Olathe corn harvest finally begins and tender ears will be in Colorado stores this week
PEA GREEN — Dawn is breaking everywhere as the stillness of Sunday morning is interrupted by the sound of ears of corn being ripped from waist-high plants in the ground. An old Ford 350 motor slowly chugs to life as about two dozen migrant workers quietly walk into a field to begin the first day […]
Posted inBusiness, News
Barrels burn all night at Western Slope orchards as farmers try to save crop from spring freeze
OLATHE — It’s 10 minutes after 2 early Thursday morning and Kerry Mattics inspects a thermometer hanging on a deer fence that surrounds his family’s fruit orchard. Twenty-seven degrees. “It’s go time,” he says. “The bottom just fell out.” The mercury had dropped a full three degrees in just a few minutes, as a thin […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, News
Coronavirus canceled Memorial Day ceremonies. But in Montrose a lone trumpeter stepped up to honor the fallen.
MONTROSE — Daniel Pumphrey walked among the decorated graves of fallen warriors Monday morning soaking in the warm Colorado sun, a flat-finished trumpet tucked under his arm. Pumphrey normally plays before a crowd on this day, Memorial Day, yet with people told to stay away because of the ongoing threat of the coronavirus, he prepared to […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, News
Churches as empty as the tomb: Coloradans adapt to celebrate Easter together as coronavirus forces them apart
DELTA — It’s a few minutes before dawn when the first cars pull in, the moon still bright overhead, the ground soft and damp from overnight rains. Snow flurries are visible high over the Grand Mesa to the north. “Good morning,” said guitarist Rob Wolcott, the first person to arrive at the Tru Vu Drive […]
Posted inColoradans, Culture, Environment, News, Outdoors
At 25 years old, Ouray’s ice festival continues to foster — and anchor — the winter sport’s rise
OURAY — At the bottom of a cold crevasse in the Uncompahgre Gorge, where sunlight reaches but only a few minutes a day, the climb to the surface begins. The darkness is broken with the clicking echoes of steel penetrating ice. Slowly a small figure emerges on the icy wall, tethered by a rope. If […]
Posted inPolitics and Government
John Hickenlooper hesitated when asked if Trump committed impeachable offenses. His U.S. Senate rivals pounced.
John Hickenlooper, the leading Democrat in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race, appeared uncertain when asked Sunday whether President Donald Trump has committed an impeachable offense. The question, captured on video by The Colorado Sun, came at a candidate forum in Montrose sponsored by the Colorado Democratic Party, and the former governor’s apparent indifference drew quick criticism […]