Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Police responded to Plains Regional Medical Center about 10 p.m. Tuesday regarding a criminal sexual penetration report. Hospital staff told police a 2-year-old girl had been brought to the hospital by her mother who suspected sexual penetration by her boyfriend. The mother told police her daughter said she had pain in her pelvic area and could not sit down due to the pain. When she tried to give her daughter a bath, her daughter became very protective of her pelvic area. The mother said she had also found nude pictures of he...
Cops and Courts A Clovis man ended his trial on sex charges Tuesday by agreeing to plead guilty. Thomas Roybal, 32, will go to prison for three years, District Attorney Brett Carter said. Roybal was on trial for three counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor. Carter said the crimes occurred in November 2002 and involved a female victim under 18 who was a cousin of someone Roybal knew. Carter said that while Deputy District Attorney Andrea Reeb was prosecuting the case before a jury and had presented testimony by the vic... Full story
State officials took control of Buena Vista Nursing Home Thursday afternoon after filing a special court petition to put the facility into receivership, a state cabinet secretary said Thursday evening. While three nursing homes are under investigation, so far Buena Vista is the only one state officials have gone to court to control, according to Michelle Lujan Grisham, secretary of the Aging and Long-Term Services Department. The other nursing homes included in the investigation were in Ruidoso and Albuquerque. Dr. Ali...
Most Clovis streets remained dry Wednesday night, but some areas north of Clovis may received up to 0.15 inches as a storm front passed through about 8 p.m. Another front will pass through this afternoon and is expected to carry rain, according to National Weather Service officials. “The rain developed between Hereford and Clovis and then tracked up to the northeast,” said Robert Slattery, meteorologist with the Amarillo office of the weather service who estimated rainfall totals by radar. “Our radar showed quart...
A Clovis police officer was injured while making an arrest Saturday night and will be off duty for nine to 12 weeks. Officer Robert Denney called dispatchers about 11:15 p.m. Saturday to report he had begun a pursuit after seeing a 2001 Ford Escort driving southbound on Main Street. He reported the vehicle was traveling about 75 mph near Kimberly Street, where the speed limit is 35 mph, reports show. In his report on the incident, a different officer wrote, “Officer Denney continued to pursue the vehicle south as it began t...
Police responded to a gas station in the 1000 block of Mitchell about 1:15 p.m. on May 12 where a clerk said his 1972 Dodge pickup had been burglarized during the workday. The employee said a customer had come in and told him his truck had been moved to a different location. Upon inspection, the clerk said he found his truck had been broken into and a car stereo and $200 worth of CDs had been stolen. The person responsible had broken the dashboard getting the stereo out, he said. • • • A high school teacher called polic... Full story
Schmuck: Will not make trial date while in Iraq. John Schmuck is accused of battery in connection with a Clovis bar fight in November of 2002. He didn’t show up for court in April 2003, he didn’t show up for another court date last week and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. But his supporters say he has a good excuse for missing court — the Marine sergeant is stationed in Iraq in the United States’ war against terror. “I think it is ridiculous — stupid, that’s a better word,” said Schmuck’s father, former Army offic...
Reporter's Notebook The junior ROTC unit at Clovis High School has won a distinguished unit citation, according to Col. Philip Frazee, senior aerospace science instructor at the high school. Frazee received the award May 11 at the Clovis Municipal School Board meeting. “This is the highest award the corps can get,” Frazee said. “It’s a huge achievement from (the students’) standpoint. We were one of only two units in the state to get the distinction.” Frazee said the Clovis unit hasn’t received a distinguished unit citation s...
State officials learned Friday that their team of hired consultants will tour New Mexico’s military bases this week to determine which ones may be in danger of closure. At Friday afternoon’s meeting of the New Mexico Military Base Planning Commission in Portales, representatives of the Whitney, Bradley & Brown defense consulting firm explained how they will evaluate each of New Mexico’s four military bases. The team will come to Cannon this Friday. Retired Lt. Gen. Carl Franklin said his consulting firm has a solid track...
A Cannon Air Force Base pilot dropped two 370-gallon fuel tanks while flying about five miles southwest of the base late Tuesday night. Senior Master Sgt. Stefan Alford, a base spokesman, said no people or livestock were harmed and the plane landed safely. He said the tank release happened due to an unspecified “in-flight emergency” with a F-16 jet from the 522nd Fighter Squadron. Alford said he didn’t know many specific details involving the fuel tank release, which occurred about 11 p.m. “All we can say now is it is unde...
Heavy rainfall hit the area Monday evening, dumping as much as 1.5 inches of rain in areas in Clovis, according to unofficial reports. Muleshoe also received a good dousing of rain, but most surrounding communities received little if any precipitation. “It’s coming down in sheets and sheets,” said John Stevens of Muleshoe about 8 p.m. An hour later the rain had stopped in Muleshoe and he recorded a half inch in his rain gauge. David Gardner of Clovis said his area got about the same rainfall total — 0.6 of an inch — and t... Full story
Reporter's Notebook Clovis Head Start has moved to a larger location and is inviting Clovis residents to an open house on Wednesday. According to staff member Amanda Dawson, the new location at 901 Martin Luther King Blvd. will be able to serve 164 children, compared to 130 at the old facility on 1115 W. 2nd St. Much of that growth comes by adding a program for children 6 weeks to 3 years old, and new services for pregnant teenagers. The program is designed to help prepare children for school and functions much like a...
Local historian Don McAlavy is among the few Clovis residents who remembers what the city was like before an old civilian airstrip west of town became Clovis Army Air Base in June 1942. The airfield started as Portair Field on June 28, 1929, when one of the predecessors of TWA began operations in Clovis. McAlavy said the owners built a large hangar to accommodate the new planes, and designed the roof to be a massive sign for incoming planes. The word “CLOVIS” was spelled out in letters 20 feet high, with the entire word runni... Full story
Clovis resident Len Santi was one of the first airmen to be stationed at Cannon Air Force Base in the 1940s. CNJ staff photo: Eric Kluth. Like many Clovis residents, Len Santi came to town with the Air Force. In fact, he was one of the first 150 people assigned in 1942 by what was then the Army Air Corps to help convert an old civilian airstrip into Clovis Army Air Base. Santi, a New York City native, had just been offered the opportunity to play minor league baseball when he was drafted into the military. After basic...
A group of Clovis police officers have petitioned the city for union recognition. Detective Kirk Roberts, spokesman for the newly formed Clovis Police Officers Association, said the main point of the union isn’t to increase wages but rather to create an organization that could negotiate with the city to improve conditions. “The common thing when you start talking union is people think they are trying to get a big huge raise,” Roberts said. “They could give us a huge, huge raise and it’s not going to solve our problems....
Former top enlisted airman visits Cannon A retired Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force — the top enlisted position in that service — is coming to Cannon Air Force Base this week. According to Airman 1st Class Jared Marquis, Chief Master Sgt. Sam Parrish will meet with junior enlisted personnel, senior enlisted personnel, and Cannon’s top leadership on Tuesday and Wednesday. The position functions as the senior representative of enlisted personnel to the Air Force’s top officers. Parrish was the eighth person to hold th...
Cops and Courts Clovis City Manager Ray Mondragon announced Friday afternoon that the 10th U.S. Circuit Court has rejected an appeal by a former Clovis police officer. According to the city press release, former officer Gilbert Salguero sued the city in federal district court alleging that the city breached his employment contract by terminating him in April 2001 without just cause. The district court granted the city’s motion to dismiss some of the officer’s claims and granted summary judgment to the city on the rem...
When Dr. Ali Ghaffari and his wife moved to Clovis in 1985, starting a facility to help older people was among their goals. “I like helping people,” Ghaffari said. “Me and my wife are both in the medical field; she is a pharmacist, I am a physician. This is our line of work, and basically we don’t know anything else.” After 14 years as owners of Buena Vista Nursing Home in Clovis, the Ghaffaris said they never expected to become the topic of a press conference by Gov. Bill Richardson criticizing their nursing home as an exa...
On most Sundays, Judy Tedrow’s role at Central Christian Church is to serve as youth director. This Sunday — Mothers’ Day — will be different. Judy Tedrow will lead the Sunday service in place of her husband, Pastor Larry Tedrow, and conduct a drama presentation of the role of the Virgin Mary describing her experiences as the mother of Jesus Christ. Tedrow’s presentation will be during the 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning worship service at the church, located at 300 West 14th Street. “I did this last year around Easter at a couple...
Churches from New Mexico and west Texas will be sending members and leaders to First Baptist Church of Texico for the church’s annual Bible conference beginning Sunday. Started 22 years ago, the Texico Annual Bible Conference is free to the public. This year’s conference will bring the pastor of one of New Mexico’s largest churches and a professor at a major Southern Baptist seminary to the four-day series of presentations and Bible lessons. “The conference was started to equip the saints,” said Pastor Rob Hollis of First...
The Clovis Christian Ministerial Alliance decided Thursday morning to bring a man to Clovis who recites the entire Gospel of John from memory as part of a drama presentation. Brad Sherrill, the presenter, is coming on Sept. 18 to Sandia Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque and the Rev. Brad Reeves of Kingswood United Methodist Church said the Clovis association would be able to bring him to Clovis for minimal travel cost if the association arranged to have him in Clovis the next day. The association agreed to have Sherrill...
Clovis hosting state women’s convention The State Women's Convention of the Church of God in Christ is coming to Clovis from May 18- 21. Services will be each night at 7:30 p.m. at the First Church of God in Christ in Clovis at 3400 Vinton St., where Bishop Charles Green is the pastor. For information, contact Mother Lula Kitchen, supervisor of women for the New Mexico Jurisdiction of the denomination, at 434-3221. Country Gospel singer performing Myra Green will present two Country Gospel concerts in Clovis. On Sunday, G...
Rhonda Boswell, of Clovis, bows her head during prayer services during the National Day of Prayer ceremonies Thursday outside the Master’s Center. CNJ staff photo: Eric Kluth. The National Day of Prayer drew nearly 150 people to a Thursday noon prayer rally in the parking lot of the Master’s Christian Center. Even more came at various times during the day to a 24-hour prayer vigil sponsored by 21 local churches. Starting with the very first speaker, the Rev. Steven Brown of the Matt. 25 Hope Center, prayer leaders said the...
A Clovis nursing home could be taken over by the state if regulators prove in court that deficiencies at the facility place its more than 30 residents in “immediate jeopardy.” State regulators called a press conference in Santa Fe Thursday to announce that Buena Vista Nursing Home in Clovis is one of three facilities they cited for improper care following an undercover investigation. However, Buena Vista’s owner said state officials haven’t yet told him what he did wrong and that he first heard of the situation when reporte...
Friday’s rainfall put 2004 into the record book as having one of the wettest Aprils in Clovis history. In fact, rainfall totals so far this year show Clovis previously has seen more moisture in the first four months only one year since records have been kept. “It looks to me like this could be the third or fourth wettest April in your records; it will definitely be in the top five,” said Dave Scheibe with the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque. Through Tuesday, official rainfall numbers in Clovis were 6.81 inche... Full story
