Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Sorted by date Results 26 - 45 of 45
CLOVIS — Their business is entertainment. And the entertainment options in Clovis are growing just in time for summer. An inflatable fitness center, a rock-climbing venue and a mysterious “escape room” have all been added in the city in the past three months — and there are more fun-focused activities on the way. A sampling: Inflatable fun Kimberly Bates is the owner of Kids Go Wild, an inflatable fitness center for children and their parents at 2300 N. Main St. This dream was six years in the making for her after she tri...
PORTALESS — Tears were flowing Saturday night as Miss Las Cruces Taylor Rey, 22, was crowned 2017 Miss New Mexico. Rio Grande's Outstanding Teen Sienna Mascarenas, 16, of Albuquerque, was crowned Miss New Mexico's Outstanding Teen. "I am absolutely ecstatic," Rey said. "I never actually thought this would happen." Rey had competed three times previously, twice for Miss New Mexico and once for Miss New Mexico Outstanding Teen. Previous to the win, however, she took two years o...
PORTALES — The final consensus of the 33rd Annual Heritage Days is that it was way too hot. Temperatures hit 100 degrees and were hurtling towards the predicted 107. But the Roosevelt County Chamber says that despite the heat, the event was a success. "It's not holding anyone back," said Chamber President-elect Noelle Bartl. "(Heritage Days) feels as good as it ever has even with the heat." Chamber employee Victoria Garrett said a lot more people showed than she expected a...
The Annual Plateau Custom Classic is going on its 34th year, inviting over 100 teams to come compete at all hours of the day and night. The softball tournament is set to begin at 6 p.m. June 23 with the last games end around 6 p.m. on June 25. The tournament has seen an average of 115-130 teams registering in past years from all over the area despite a down year of 109 last year. The tournament is double-elimination in all divisions, with championship games set for Sunday....
The Clovis County Chamber is expecting a full house June 23 for the final event of this year's Clovis Music Festival featuring Winger and FireHouse. The Clovis Music Festival is held annually to celebrate the artists that recorded at the Norman Petty Studio such as Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and Ritchie Valens. The festival is generally held in September to align with Holly's birthday but got moved to June 17-25 due to consistent conflicts with home football games. This year it...
The life of the Latino scene in the 1950s is coming to Clovis this June in the form of Ray Anthony, a 30-years running Ritchie Valens impersonator. Anthony is coming along, faux Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison, to celebrate the Clovis Music Festival and the people that recorded in the Norman Petty Recording Studio. Anthony began his career after several audience members told him he looked like Ritchie Valens following the release of the 1987 film "La Bamba." "Everyone knows...
From Elvis Presley to Jimi Hendrix, Prince to John Travolta, Bruno Mars to Justin Timberlake, Johnny Rogers uses his "God given talent" to impersonate anyone. But he admits the love he has for Buddy Holly is different. Rogers, a 32-year impersonating veteran, will be performing the Buddy Holly Tribute at this year's Clovis Music Festival for the fifth time. Rogers has been impersonating ever since he was a kid in Jackson, Tennessee, when he first heard Holly and his life was...
The people of Clovis refuse to let America's favorite pasttime fade away the week of June 19 with Clovis's Draggin' Main. Draggin' Main consists of a car races, a parade, restaurant tours and a whole week of other events to celebrate Clovis' past of dragging cars up and down Main Street. Organizer Gene Porter said they celebrate it to keep their childhood pasttime alive and show today's kids what they used to do. "Instead of Facebook, we dragged Main," said Porter. The event...
We asked some of the original Main Street draggers what they loved about the activity and how it sticks with them to this day. Ronnie Smith remembers the two lanes going both ways on Clovis Main Street. “We would go from First to where the Weinerschnitzel is now and then turn around on 14th,” said Smith. He called Main a “hopping place” remembering all the hot rods and the pretty girls that came with them. Smith would drag Main with a ‘51 Ford, too slow for racing but that did not stop him from joining in the fun. “We never s...
The Clovis High School Class of 1975 is coming to “rock” the Clovis Music Festival and Draggin’ Main. The class, one of three reunions taking place the weekend of June 23, could not wait another five or ten years after their 2015 40th class reunion to meet up again. “We had such an amazing time that we just couldn’t wait to see each other again,” said Marcy Anaya, an organizer of the event. The class is coming together June 23 and 24 to celebrate their collective 60th birthday while the class of 1967 and 1977 celebrate t...
Local hotels are scrambling to guarantee they have enough rooms to accommodate the weekend of June 23 with thousands of people flooding into town for the Plateau Custom Classic Softball Tournament, the Clovis Music Festival and Draggin’ Main. John Murphy, the general manager of Comfort Inn and Super 8, said he has worries about scaring potential guests away with so many people in town at once. “I think when guests from all three entities see how much is going on in Clovis it might shy them away from Clovis,” said Murph...
CLOVIS — Southern slaves were the last to hear of their own freedom in 1865 and now Clovis celebrates that late-notice arrival as Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a celebration of the emancipation proclamation, the document signed by Abraham Lincoln that ended slavery. Clovis is hosting two events: a community fair and barbecue on Saturday, and a series of presenters on June 25. Among health and business booths, the community is invited to eat free food and listen to music Saturday at Potter Park. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. T...
Steve Pearce was just stepping in to take batting practice Wednesday morning when he noticed a man who seemed “a little out of place.” While everyone else at the U.S. House Republican baseball team practice was engaged in their workout or watching the players, Pearce said the man who appeared near the third-base dugout was looking around the field at nothing in particular. And then he raised a rifle and began firing. Authorities said four people were shot in the minutes that followed. The shooter, identified as James Hod...
CLOVIS — Steven Hill wants a weird, funky chicken and a guard dog goose. But the city of Clovis will not let him keep them in the city limits. Hill, a planning and zoning committee member, said he is working toward changes in city ordinances that would allow residents to keep chickens in their backyard. “When I came here I thought, ‘Surely in a little agriculture town like Clovis you can raise a couple of chickens in your back yard,’” said Hill, who transferred to Cannon Air Force Base as a civil engineer eight years ago...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University's board of regents officially said goodbye Saturday to retiring university President Steven Gamble. Gamble received an inscribed Nambe bowl and president emeritus status. "It is quite an honor, thank you," Gamble said. The letter announcing his new emeritus status listed his watchful eye over hundreds of thousands of dollars of construction, his consistent attending of events and many other duties performed by Gamble over his 16 years a...
CLOVIS — City officials are reviewing Clovis’ planning and zoning codes for the first time in 21 years. The mission: Make codes more “flexible,” Zoning Officer and Commissioner Louis Gordon said. “With the old code, we are starting to see a lot of development that we are scrambling to modify our code to accommodate,” he said. The Planning and Zoning Commission is working with contractor Duncan and Associates on a $100,000 re-write that was supposed to be completed in 17 months in a six-step process. P&Z commissione...
The Department of Agriculture is on a mission — teaching regional counties the economic advantages of working as a team rather than individuals. The six- to seven-month program is aimed at combining the strong points of individual counties. The idea is to overcome weaknesses by developing a long-term plan for more economic development. It consists of five four-hour classes in seven categories: tourism, arts and entertainment, broad band and technology, renewable energy, agriculture and agribusiness, health care and social ass...
With audiences sitting in silent respect and American flags blowing in the eastern New Mexico wind, the area marked Memorial Day as high-ranking veterans paid respects to those who served honorable military careers cut short. Audiences gathered at Portales Cemetery and Lawn Haven Memorial Gardens, honoring in some degree those who gave some, but primarily praising the some that gave all. "Those soldiers lay in peace with our nation's flag," said retired Air Force Col. Michael...
Local medical cannabis dispensaries are in demand throughout New Mexico ... but supply cannot keep up. Since Jan. 1, more than 8,000 New Mexicans have gained their medical cannabis cards, records show. Enrollment in the New Mexico Medical Cannabis Program has increased by 84 percent since March of last year. And cannabis sales have risen 91 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the first quarter of last year. But with producers limited to 450 plants per year, they...
PORTALES — Author Connie Willis lectured to accomplished writers and newcomers alike Saturday morning during one of the final events of Eastern New Mexico University's annual Jack Williamson lectureship. Willis has attended, and taught at, the lectureship for close to 20 years. This Saturday her topic was what she called "razzle dazzle," otherwise known as the "money shot" or "eyeball cake." Willis taught five different techniques for making students' writing more memorable a...
