Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Managing Editor [email protected] The Roosevelt County sheriff has challenged Elida’s mayor to a “fist fight in the middle of the road.” At least that’s the claim made in a lawsuit filed last week by the village south of Portales against Sheriff Malin Parker. The lawsuit claims Parker has interfered with Elida police business on at least three occasions. Most recently, according to the lawsuit: • Elida Police Chief Joe Alford was enforcing a town ordinance related to dogs killing livestock on Sept. 27. • Alford issu...
Matthew Chandler is the Republican candidate for the Ninth Judicial District Court judge in Curry and Roosevelt counties. link Matthew Chandler He currently fills the position, having replaced Judge Stephen Quinn in August 2015. Chandler was an attorney for 14 years, operating a private law firm for 15 months and serving as the Ninth Judicial District Attorney from 2002 to 2014. He was the youngest DA to be elected in New Mexico at 27 years old. Editor’s note: Angelina Baca of...
Angelina Baca is the Democratic candidate for the Ninth Judicial District Court judge in Curry and Roosevelt counties. link Angelina Baca She has been the sole proprietor of the Baca Law Firm in Clovis since 2007, practicing criminal defense, family law, personal injury and social security law. Prior to opening her private practice, she served as the managing attorney of the Clovis Legal Aid office and as an attorney for the New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division. She...
November’s approach is usually bittersweet for me each year. Nov. 13 marks the day one of my closest friends would have turned the same age I will be a short six weeks later. Each year, I’ve thought about how my friend will not be turning 28 years old with me or 30 years old with me or 32, as he would have been this year. Alisa Boswell This year has hit me especially hard, as my brother named his new baby boy after this friend. I look at my beautiful nephew and think that he w...
Editor’s note: Angelina Baca of Clovis is the Democratic challenger to Republican Matthew Chandler, who was appointed last year to be a district judge. Appointed judges must run in the next election cycle to retain their seat. The winner of that election then only faces retention elections to keep his or her seat. Candidates were asked the same questions, with neither candidate receiving questions in advance, and were asked to refrain from criticizing their opponent. M... Full story
Eastern New Mexico Water Authority The following were actions taken at the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority meeting Thursday in Elida: • Board members held an executive session to discuss limited easement matters. • Board members approved a request for an offer and easement agreement. ENMWUA Executive Director Justin Howalt said the easement is for the purchase of some private land owned by Roosevelt County residents Garcia and Rosa Guadalupe. Howalt said it will cost $1,190. Funds will come partially from cap... Full story
STAFF WRITER [email protected] After a challenging two-year process, the Roosevelt County Detention Center has officially been accredited by the New Mexico Association of Counties. The detention center was accredited with a unanimous decision from NMAC board members on Oct. 4, according to Scott Chambers, local government accreditation interim manager with the NMAC, who attended Tuesday’s county commission meeting. “Our biggest decision was it improves the facility and reduces our exposure and liability,” said Count...
Managing Editor Despite my lengthy and busy day Friday, I stopped by the renaming and dedication ceremony for the Natural History Museum, which is now the Dr. Anthony “Tony” Gennaro Natural History Museum. I went the event to show support for the Gennaro legacy. Apparently, everyone else in Portales had the same idea. I couldn’t help but feel that the turnout for the event — the front hallway to the biology building was jam packed with people — was a testament to how beloved Tony was. I was never close to Tony, but he was al... Full story
Managing editor [email protected] Portales is alive with activities this weekend as people celebrate community and university culture. As students put it earlier this week, Eastern New Mexico University’s homecoming is a time for people to come together. Sophomore Carlos Alvidrez referred to it as a “kind of a huge party the entire week.” A week-long party about sums it up. There was a girls’ “powder puff” football game Wednesday night, the homecoming pageant Thursday night, the 11 a.m. parade and 3 p.m. football ga...
Managing editor [email protected] A national trend of clown sightings appears to have made its way to Portales, according to local police officials. Eastern New Mexico University Police Department Chief Brad Mauldin said his department has had seven sightings of people driving or walking in clown masks reported in the last week. Police departments in various states across the east coast — Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York — have had multiple reports of ind... Full story
So, it has finally happened, many people’s worst nightmare has become a reality. “It” has come to life — quite literally. By “It” I am referencing Steven King’s 1986 horror novel in which a clown figure terrorizes children. Alisa Boswell One of my close friends called me Tuesday night very shaken up because someone in a clown mask had chased her friend as she and her friend were walking out of the Eastern New Mexico University liberal arts building after class. When I mentio...
Managing editor [email protected] Roosevelt General Hospital’s administrator plans to leave in January, according to a Friday press release from the hospital. CEO Larry Leaming started at RGH in January 2010 and his last day with the hospital will be Jan. 6, 2017, the release said. Leaming has accepted a position as president and CEO for Estes Park Medical Center in Estes Park, Colorado. Leaming and his wife, Linda, “see this move as an opportunity to move back closer to children and grandchildren in Colorado,” the r...
Managing editor [email protected] Roosevelt General Hospital’s administrator plans to leave in January, according to a Friday press release from the hospital. CEO Larry Leaming started at RGH in January 2010 and his last day with the hospital will be Jan. 6, 2017, the release said. Leaming has accepted a position as president and CEO for Estes Park Medical Center in Estes Park, Colorado. Leaming and his wife, Linda, “see this move as an opportunity to move back closer to children and grandchildren in Colorado,” the r...
Managing editor [email protected] A Portales man accused of murder has had his trial date moved back due to lack of counsel. Roswell public defender Gokul Krishna Sripada appeared in Portales district Thursday afternoon to tell Judge Donna Mowrer that he would not be representing David Smith, 41, who is accused of first-degree murder. In December 2015, Smith allegedly held William Vaughn, 45, of Portales hostage in his home for 24 hours as he assaulted him. Vaughn later died at a Lubbock hospital due to blunt force... Full story
Managing editor [email protected] A Roosevelt County man will spend the next 16 and a half years in prison after reaching a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office. Gustav Henry Jimenez, 33, was involved in a high speed chase when he fled from Roosevelt County sheriff’s deputies in January. The chase ended with Jimenez rolling the vehicle and being airlifted to a Lubbock hospital, along with two juveniles who had also been in the vehicle. Assistant District Attorney Jake Boazman said during a plea con...
Managing editor [email protected] Three Portales men related to a string of 11 drug trafficking arrests in April appeared in district court Monday morning. The Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office conducted several drug trafficking investigations throughout the first three months of the year, arresting multiple individuals in April for various drug trafficking violations. Sheriff Malin Parker said law enforcement will often conduct several narcotics investigations, making all of the arrests for the investigations at once to...
Managing editor [email protected] One year and four graduates later, the Portales Drug Court program has more participants than ever before. Saturday marked the program’s one-year anniversary with four graduations having taken place and another set to happen next month. The program is basically “an outpatient outreach program for criminal offenders who have addictions,” according to District Court Probation Officer Angie Cordova, who runs the program. She said the program, which began with about nine participants at a...
Every family has places where they are broken and have scars. My family has had many scars from alcoholism, cocaine addiction, methamphetamine addiction and more. I have never had issues telling people that I come from a family predisposed to substance abuse, because my family’s scars are beautiful to me. They are a testimony to all they have overcome. Alisa Boswell Yes, substance abuse is a choice, and it is usually a choice that hurts our lives, but there is no pride as s...
Managing editor [email protected] The trial for a Portales man did not go forward on Tuesday as charges were dropped in the case. Chance Plummer, 29, was charged with aggravated battery in January. Assistant District Attorney Jake Boazman said Plummer’s trial, which was set for Tuesday morning, did not go forward, because the charges had been dropped against Plummer. “In speaking with the victim, his memory since the last time we spoke was not the same. He wasn’t able to recall who it was who was involved in the incident...
STAFF WRITER [email protected] A local workers’ rights organization, hoping to spotlight dairy safety issues, remembered the life of Luis Almader on Monday outside the Roosevelt County Courthouse. Almader, 47, was killed in an accident in July while working at J-Lu Dairy in Roosevelt County. The vigil was hosted by Somos Un Pueblo Unido, which calls itself a “statewide immigrant-led civil and worker’s rights organization.” Marina Pina, a community organizer with St...
It’s funny how distinctly specific moments in our lives impact us. When talking to my mom on the phone recently, she told me, “Guess who your dad just recently talked to? Don Anderson.” The Andersons were a fellow Air Force family we knew while stationed in Las Vegas, Nevada. After we moved from Nevada, the contact information for the Andersons changed and we lost touch, not able to find them again until more than 25 years later when my dad was mailed an Air Force direc...
Managing editor [email protected] In a four to one vote, Eastern New Mexico University board of regents chose Witt/Kieffer of Washington, D.C. to aid in the search for a new university president. Current President Steven Gamble will be retiring in August 2017 after more than 15 years with the university. After a meeting last month in which regents debated on whether or not to hire a consultant company to aid in the search for a new president, board members narrowed the choice of five companies who responded to a request...
Managing editor [email protected] District Judge Donna Mowrer on Wednesday denied a request to lower bond for a Portales man facing multiple felony charges. Chance Plummer, 29, was charged with aggravated battery in January, then a short time later was charged with several counts of receiving stolen property. In April, Plummer was one of 11 people arrested by the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office on drug charges. Plummer’s trial in the aggravated battery case is set for Tuesday. Other trials are scheduled for Sept. 29... Full story
Managing editor [email protected] The jury trial for a Portales man accused of assaulting a Portales police officer is set for next week. Anthony Ortega, 28, has a Sept. 16 trial date for the charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, disarming a peace officer (third-degree felonies) and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer (misdemeanor). Ortega was arrested in April after a traffic stop in which Ortega and another man — both with warrants out for their arrests — ran from police. During a physical alterc... Full story
Managing editor [email protected] Eastern New Mexico University is working its way toward being a more energy efficient campus, according to officials. Brandon Travis, director of project development for Bernhard Energy, gave a presentation to ENMU Board of Regent members at a meeting last week. He said there are 20 projects the university could put into place to save energy at a total cost of $4.5 million and an estimated savings of $405,000 per year on utilities. Some projects he mentioned were updating controls in...
