Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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On this date … 1921: The headline across The Portales Valley News read: “Most revolting crime in history of Roosevelt County.” A secondary headline reported a father had shot his son and daughter-in-law dead while they were eating breakfast. The newspaper reported Lewis Hawes was confined in the county jail, “as the result of a family row, facing the gallows as the result of his hasty temper.” When law officers arrived at the death scene six miles south of Portales, Lewis Hawes admitted his deed. “Father and son Clinton had...
The torrential downpour greeting WNBA star Caitlin Clark over comments made during an interview at a Time magazine event have been both amusing and disturbing. Clark, the Indiana Fever star who was recently named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year, expressed her admiration and respect for Black women who have paved the way in female basketball and the importance of promoting diversity as well as diverse voices in the sport. She also expressed hope to utilize her platform t...
It’s the night before Christmas, on the High Plains of Texas, And I ain’t getting a Porsche or even a Lexus. But under the tree in a neatly wrapped box, Is my usual present, skivvies and sox. That’s what I got in my days as a child, Gifts were more useful, not rad and not wild. But that’s what we got, usually something essential, Maybe something from Santa, with some help, providential. With a wee stroke of luck, we all got a toy, Girls prayed for dolls, cap guns for the boy...
Shad Mayfield had to play through pain all year. The reward was his first All-Around World Championship secured Saturday night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nev. Mayfield scored the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association's biggest honor by earning $335,474 over 80 rodeos throughout 2024. He finished just $675 ahead of second-place Coleman Proctor of Oklahoma. Mayfield, primarily a calf roper who has won a PRCA tie-down title and finished second this year, said...
An early morning fire Saturday claimed the lives of three children and left five other people hospitalized, officials said. Firefighters were called to a trailer home on Conestoga Trail south of Clovis at 2:33 a.m. Clovis Fire Department Battalion Chief Chris Elam said the home was “fully involved” when firefighters arrived and the injured were in the yard outside. “It appears everyone was asleep (when the fire began). The children perished inside the residence,” Elam said. Two of the adults were initially in critical conditi...
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I grew up on them. They were the first thing I learned to make in the kitchen. That and a glass of milk. Microwaves hadn’t been invented yet. Playing basketball on a dirt patch in our back yard. That’s where I learned to dribble and shoot with one hand. And football in our front yard. When no one else was around, I’d take the hike from an imaginary center, drop back and throw to the trees, believing that I was the star quarterback in a universe I could only imagine. Those were simpl...
Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is being hailed by many as a hero. There’s something profoundly wrong with that. From the time of Thompson’s murder on a Manhattan street caught in surveillance camera photos, to snippets of Mangione’s alleged movements while on the run, online praise for Mangione has run neck and neck with vitriol for health insurers. Google removed a flood of negative McDonald’s reviews after a fast-food employee in an Altoona, Pa., location reported Mangion...
On this date … 1936: C.V. Steed Undertaking was “serving Clovis since Clovis began,” according to its newspaper advertisement. Anyone needing ambulance service or funeral service could reach Steed at phone number 14. 1954: Fourteen floats were entered in the upcoming Christmas Pageant Parade in downtown Clovis. The parade route was set to begin at West Seventh and Mitchell streets, then proceed down Mitchell to West First, over to Main Street and then to Ninth Street, where it would end. All of the floats were spons...
Shad Mayfield is atop the rodeo world. The Clovis native captured the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association All-Around World Championship Saturday night before 17,227 fans at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. Mayfield, primarily a calf roper, earned $335,474 for the all-around title, edging second-place Coleman Proctor, a steer roper from Pryor, Okla., by just $675. Mayfield also finished second in the PRCA’s final tie-down roping standings, trailing only Riley Webb of Dento...
A fall three days before a Clovis toddler’s death last month was the result of “rough play from his siblings,” a Clovis police report shows. The report also shows the 12-month-old boy and his siblings, ages 3 and 2, were taken from their home by New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department about a year ago. They were returned to their mother on Oct. 23. That was about a month before Calian Skywater was hurt, his mother told police at Plains Regional Medical Center where Calian died after she reported he was not breat...
On this date ... 1906: Portales and railroad officials were looking for those responsible for the theft of the Saturday night mail sack. It had contained about 1,000 letters, officials estimated. The mail sack was located late Sunday afternoon, but only a dozen letters remained inside. "It seems it must have been a deliberate plot to rob the sack and the robbers must have been laying for it," the Portales Times reported on Dec. 15, one week after the heist. "This is shown by...
DALLAS — If Monday night was Mike McCarthy’s worst moment of a bad season — a loss created by a special teams gaffe in a game in which young DeMarvion Overshown suffered another major injury — then things at least improved for him during the week leading up to the Carolina game today. At least he learned Bill Belichick isn’t coming here to replace him in 2025. I thought Belichick coming to fix Jerry’s problems (while becoming a problem of a different sort) was at least remotely possible. More likely was Belichick finishing h...
As an elected official, a community leader and, most importantly, as a parent, I must speak up about this controversial subject. My intention for those reading this editorial is to present this issue as a legitimate concern while also directing the attention to where it truly belongs: the Legislature. It has been brought to my attention that school districts are struggling to adhere and adjust to 2023’s House Bill 207, an expansion of our state’s Human Rights Act. Simply put,...
Over the years, maybe because of the way I grew up or because I chose the Marines as the cornerstone for my working life, I always hope for the best, but plan for the worst. While I hoped we were all going to be home for Christmas, I knew it would be a bad idea to turn in my rain suit and my jungle boots in November. This country is blessed in that we have oceans on either side of us, and borders that have at least amiable colleagues, if not exactly the best of friends...
A Clovis murder suspect accidentally released from a Lea County jail in October is back in custody, Clovis police said Thursday. Alex Zapata, 27, was booked into the Curry County Adult Detention Center at 2:12 p.m. Thursday, online court records show. A police news release issued Thursday stated Zapata was located at 3104 Smith Ave. in Clovis, the home of a “known associate,” Mikyla Sandoval. Agents from the U.S. Marshal Service, Region V Drug Task Force and Clovis police surr...
Clovis police are looking for a suspected killer after he was mistakenly released from a Lea County jail in October. Police on Friday were called to an apartment complex in the 1000 block of North Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for a domestic disturbance. In the process of looking into that, police said they learned Alex Zapata, 27, may have been in the complex. Clovis police had learned the day before that Zapata had been mistakenly released from jail in Hobbs. Assistant...
DALLAS — Steve Sarkisian filed his own complaint Sunday about the College Football Playoff process, adding to the pile around committee members. Frankly, I don’t know why they serve. The perks are snacks and all the football you can watch and talk. Pretty much what I do for a living, and coaches and athletic directors and commissioners don’t take potshots at my credibility. At least not publicly. Anyway, Sarkisian took issue with first-round byes for the four highest-ranked conference champs. First I’ve heard him gripe about...
If you ask me, the election of 2026 is shaping up to look like 2010, at least at the top of New Mexico’s ticket. In 2010, then-Gov. Bill Richardson was being term limited out after two terms in office. His Democratic Party nominated his lieutenant governor, Diane Denish, who became saddled with Richardson’s growing unpopularity at the time. She lost the election to Republican Susana Martinez, who went on to defeat Denish in the general election with 53% of the vote. Look ahead to 2026 and a similar scenario may be sha...
On this date … 1957: Hazel Stone, head of the linens department at Clovis’ C.R. Anthony’s, had been “buying and planning for a wonderful array of practical gifts for your gift shopping.” Chenille bedspreads were $4.99. Quaker lace table cloths ranged from $16.90 to $3.98. Orlon blankets were $10.99. 1961: An ice storm hit much of eastern New Mexico, leaving many rural residents without power for two days. Crews from Farmers Electric were working all hours to restore service to Fort Sumner and multiple farm homes, the Clovi...
A Roosevelt County man involved in a fatal car crash last week is facing additional charges, including vehicular homicide, and may now be asked to wear an ankle monitor as part of the terms of his release. Court records show Fredy Portillo, 31, was released from Roosevelt County Jail on Thursday on a personal recognize bond, charged with leaving the scene of an accident, abuse of a child and driving without a license. An ongoing investigation has since revealed Portillo was driving without headlights and with an open...
Military leaders have instituted a voluntary “operational pause” with their fleet of V-22 Ospreys after an aircraft assigned to Cannon Air Force Base experienced problems last month. “While performing a local training mission, a CV-22 Osprey from Cannon … made a precautionary landing (on Nov. 20) near Melrose Air Force Range,” Maj. Jackie Pienkowski told The News on Monday. Pienkowski, Cannon’s chief of public affairs, said there were four personnel on board, but no injuries occurred and there was no known damage to the aircr...
On this date … 1946: Lloyd Jordan and Don Litchfield had been named captains of the 1947 Clovis High School football team. Coach Bill Gibson made the announcement at the annual football banquet. Also at the banquet, John Fila had been presented the Holmberg Award, symbolic of the most outstanding football player on the squad. The award, given by Wildcat supporter and jewelry store owner A.A. Holmberg, was a 14-carat solid gold miniature football. Attitude, ability and sportsmanship were the primary factors considered in s...
In March, newly installed Social Security chief Martin O'Malley criticized agency "injustices" that "shock our shared sense of equity and good conscience as Americans." He promised to overhaul the Social Security Administration's often heavy-handed efforts to claw back money that millions of recipients - including people who are living in poverty, are elderly, or have disabilities - were allegedly overpaid, as described by a KFF Health News and Cox Media Group investigation...
Tbilisi is the capitol of Georgia. Not where the Atlanta Falcons play, the European country. Along the same line, Bucharest is the capitol of Romania. These countries recently held elections. Both countries’ elected leaders who are not enamored with the European Union and their current leaders are not happy. Georgia has suspended its bid to seek membership in the EU and, as a result, finds the capitol, Tbilisi, in the midst of riots. Current President Salome Zourabichvili, w...
Embezzlement allegations against the Eastern New Mexico University rodeo coach were not heard by a grand jury on Friday as had been scheduled. Albert Flinn, 83, was charged last month with two counts of embezzlement (under $20,000) and one count of cruelty to animals. Prosecutor Quentin Ray and Flinn’s attorney, Tye Harmon of Clovis, both said they are trying to reach an agreement prior to the criminal case going forward. “We canceled the grand jury … Depends on what information Tye has on how we move forward,” Ray stated...
