Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 2191
The future might be brighter for eastern New Mexico, where solar energy is concerned as solar technology prices continue falling and the renewable energy tax credit remains. The Solar Energy Industries Association reports that solar photovoltaic (PV) prices have fallen by 19 percent over the last year and by 62 percent over the last five years. According to SEIA, there are 112 solar companies in New Mexico with 634 megawatts installed around the state, 253 megawatts in 2016...
PORTALES — New Mexico Game and Fish and state land officials want a Roosevelt County road to remain open for hunters to access. County commissioners and private land owners say the road needs to be closed. Out of the six county roads commissioners are looking to close, only two were contested on Tuesday: North Roosevelt Road AY and 22. “That particular road, if it closed, that would eliminate about 1,120 acres of state land up there,” said Erik Nelson with the state land office. “If you guys are dead set on closing that road,...
PORTALES — Both the defense and the state are prepared for trial in a child molestation case, the prosecutor and defendant told Judge Donna Mowrer on Friday. Rocky Banda, 36, of Amarillo is representing himself in the trial, which is scheduled for March 28-30. Banda was arrested in February 2016 and charged with 24 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child, as well as criminal sexual contact with a child and bribery of a witness. His victim was allegedly molested over several years. Banda has proclaimed his i...
PORTALES — An Albuquerque public defender wants to suppress an alleged rape victim’s identification of his client due to lack of reliable methods for identifying a suspect. However, District Attorney Andrea Reeb claims there is plenty of material evidence linking Roy Brown to the June 2016 crime. Brown, 29, of Portales, is accused of breaking into a woman’s home two miles south of Portales and attacking her as she slept on the couch. He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual penetration, a second-degree felony, along...
Two Roosevelt County departments are in dire need of new vehicles, according to county department heads. While other county departments had minimal needs where vehicles are concerned, the Sheriff's Office and road department are on the verge of being in bad shape where vehicles are concerned, according to Sheriff Malin Parker and Road Superintendent Ricky Lovato. The two department heads gave presentations, sharing their vehicle needs with commissioners at a workshop Tuesday i...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University students from a variety of cultures are out to show Portales what strong women look like. Multi-Cultural Affairs at ENMU is going with the theme “Significant Women in Action,” for Women’s History Month in March, according to Catalina Arana of Hispanic Affairs. Throughout March, the organizations within Multi-Cultural Affairs will host events and presentations highlighting women of different cultures. One of the opening events, slated for Thursday, is a performance featuring “three...
DORA — The state auditor’s office is conducting a special audit on Dora Consolidated Schools after school officials expressed concerns on the 12 findings from the district’s 2015-16 audit report. The school district was flagged by Precision Accounting in Albuquerque for conflicts of interest on supply purchases and for alleged improper bidding practices that totaled $100,000. Justine Freeman, deputy chief of staff for the state auditor’s office, said special audits are conducted “when issues arise in annual audits or when o...
Just like the people who set up businesses there, Portales MainStreet wants to liven up its downtown area, according to Executive Director Sandy Vigil. "Portales MainStreet sees the value of having an attractive downtown," she said. "Our merchants also see the benefits of beautifying the downtown." That's why the organization has once again brought back the Facade Grant Improvement Program, which provides MainStreet with grant money to be able to help three local businesses...
PORTALES — Roosevelt County commissioners debated options for making a county road safer during their Tuesday commission meeting. Commissioners and county officials have debated the fate of Roosevelt Road Q 1/2 for several weeks. Their concerns center on the road’s danger — both to drivers and a family living adjacent to the road — when drivers speed and fail to properly navigate a deep pit in the road. “I’m more worried about the Haleys getting hurt then anybody falling into the bar ditch, in my mind,” County Road Superint...
PORTALES — Roosevelt County commissioners approved publishing a notice of intent to amend an ordinance for a 1999 bond issue Tuesday during their meeting. Roosevelt General Hospital Interim CEO Bo Beames and Erik Harrigan of RBC Capital Markets appealed to commissioners for help with re-financing a 1999 bond in which the county issued 20-year bonds to renovate the hospital with a Sunset Clause included for the bonds. The clause, Harrigan told commissioners, states that the bonds will have reached full maturity on July 1, 2...
PORTALES - Roosevelt County officials joked Tuesday that the county courthouse was the safest place to be, because almost every county deputy from the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office was present for Tuesday's commission meeting. The room applauded the deputies for their service with Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker saying, "It (law enforcement) gets more and more dangerous by the day and less and less appreciated, yet this group of guys I brought here today get up...
Susan Tatum was more than just an excellent attribute to the Clovis and Portales communities, she was someone whose smile could light up a whole room, according to her family. "She was my best friend, and she was an extraordinary mom," said Drew Tatum, her son. "Any bumps in the road, she always helped us through it (he and his brother, Scott). I don't know what I did to deserve a mother like that, but I'm grateful for the 44 years I had with her." Tatum, a long-time...
PORTALES — Roosevelt County commissioners work fast. That’s what accountant Ray Roberts told them at their Tuesday morning commission meeting. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years; I have never had anybody clean up 11 audit findings in one year, and that’s just a tremendous accomplishment,” Roberts told commissioners as he praised County Manager Amber Hamilton and other officials. During her report to commissioners, Hamilton said their packet included a quarterly report on county finances. “Our county’s financial perfo...
PORTALES - The Roosevelt County Detention Center is once again transitioning to new leadership. After only six months with the county, RCDC Administrator Larry Phillips recently gave notice to the county with his last day at the detention center being Friday, according to County Manager Amber Hamilton. Phillips came to the county from the Department of Corrections in Las Lunas at the end of July 2016 after Administrator Mark Gallegos left in February to work for Curry County's...
PORTALES — The trial of a Portales man accused of shooting a police officer has been put on hold to give attorneys a chance to negotiate. Anthony Ortega, 29, was arrested in April following a physical altercation with a Portales police officer in which Ortega allegedly attempted to grab the officer’s gun, causing the weapon to discharge in its holster and shoot the officer in the leg. Ortega was charged with aggravated battery, disarming a peace officer and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer. Ortega’s trial date...
PORTALES — It wasn't the word that made him champion of the Roosevelt County Spelling Bee, but it was the word fifth-grader Garrick Tomlinson kept repeating to his mother over and over again Friday afternoon. "Two," Garrick kept repeating to his mother, Jackie, in astonishment, looking at his two plaques with an elated expression. Garrick and his mother both could hardly believe the 10-year-old was walking away from the regional spelling bee not just as the junior division c...
PORTALES — A former Portales man accused of child molestation says he is innocent and his rights have been violated in the case. Rocky Banda, 36, of Amarillo is representing himself in the trial, which was delayed this week to allow Banda more time to prepare his defense. His trial is now scheduled March 28-30. Banda was arrested in February 2016 and charged with 24 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child, as well as criminal sexual contact with a child and bribery of a witness. His victim was allegedly molested over...
PORTALES — The trial for a former Portales man accused of child molestation has been moved back for the second time at the request of the defendant. Rocky Banda, 36, of Amarillo was arrested in February 2016 and charged with 24 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child, as well as criminal sexual contact with a child and bribery of a witness, for allegedly molesting a female victim over the course of a few years. Banda was set for a two-day trial today and Friday but a...
PORTALES — A Portales woman was arrested Sunday after stealing a Portales Police Department vehicle. Lt. Chris Williams said a call came into police dispatch sometime between 9 and 10 a.m. Sunday reporting that a vehicle with police written on the side of it had crashed into a telephone pole behind a Main Street business. Anastasia Lynn Howell, 40, was arrested for commercial burglary, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to a vehicle. According to a police report, after p...
PORTALES — The Ninth Judicial District Court appealed to Roosevelt County commissioners for help in Tuesday’s commission meeting. Kevin Spears, the Ninth Judicial District Court executive officer, told commissioners on Tuesday that due to the success of the Drug Court Program, the program is outgrowing its office on the third floor of the courthouse. The item was a discussion-only issue. He asked commissioners to consider allowing the program to use a collection of unused offices and a conference room in the courthouse bas...
PORTALES — That smell was no cause for alarm, according to area fire officials. Dozens of Roosevelt County residents, from Portales to Dora and elsewhere, reported gaseous smells on Tuesday night. Portales Fire Chief Gary Nuckols said the odor originated from oil fields in the southern part of the county. “Those were odors coming from the tank batteries from the oil fields,” he said. Not knowing what they smelled, some area residents said they felt alarmed. Wendy Toombs, who lives west of Portales on the Bethel highway, said... Full story
PORTALES— In their Tuesday meeting, Roosevelt County commissioners heard a report on where the Lesser Prairie Chicken stands on possible placement on the endangered species list. Kendell Buzard, the county's representative on the NM/AZ Coalition of Counties board, told commissioners that in September, a few environmental organizations petitioned U.S. Fish and Wildlife to have the Lesser Prairie Chicken re-listed as an endangered species. "So that will start again," said B...
PORTALES — A district judge on Thursday ordered a psychiatric evaluation for a Lubbock teen charged with vehicular homicide. James Baiamonte of Albuquerque told Judge Donna Mowrer that Jerry Nale, 18, had been treated for mental health issues throughout his childhood and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder when he was 15 years old. Nale was arrested in May 2016 on charges of homicide by vehicle, aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and r...
A lot happened in 2016, some of it good and some of it less than fun. I’m sure that goes for most of us in regard to most years of our lives. For me, 2016 entailed a lot of change and transitioning — most of it positive. I got married; I lost staff members/coworkers, I gained them, then I lost some again; my newspaper joined the Clovis newspaper to become one. With the transition of the paper in November, as well as some heavy news both professionally and personally, the last two months of the year were a whirlwind for me....
The latter half of the year proved to be eventful for the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office with Sheriff Malin Parker in the spotlight of scrutiny with multiple lawsuits, threatened litigation and a call for Parker to be removed from office. In October, it was revealed that New Mexico State Police was conducting an investigation on Parker for perjury after defense attorneys with the Law Office of the Public Defender accused Parker of making a false statement on several arrest...
