Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS - Months-long issues with a new city payroll system came to a head on Friday the 13th as dozens of employees packed into the Clovis City Hall that morning and said they weren't going home until the issues were resolved. More than a dozen trash trucks and other city vehicles were parked outside the city manager's office as workers convened inside to speak with Justin Howalt, upset they hadn't been paid by midnight Thursday as expected. On Friday morning all but five of...
FARWELL — The man accused of stabbing a woman to death last month in Bovina entered a plea of not guilty on Tuesday in Parmer County Court. Michael Orozco, 41, waived his arraignment appearance and pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, for which he was indicted Aug. 27. Orozco is accused in the Aug. 5 slaying of Erica Sanchez, 30, who was found dead that morning in her residence on the 300 Block of Ave. K in Bovina. Court records show "a protective order was issued on (July 9) in Muleshoe, Texas, against Orozco, with S...
Speaking to a crowd of first-responders and area residents, David Stone asked those gathered to reflect on the 18 years that have passed since the deadly terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Can you believe it's passed that quickly?" said the long-time president of James Polk Stone Community Bank, where the group assembled for the annual remembrance ceremony. "This was not the first attack on America, but it certainly was a terrible one." In nearly two decades following, the...
Speaking to a crowd of first-responders and citizens early Wednesday, David Stone asked those gathered to reflect on the 18 years that have passed since the deadly terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "Can you believe it's passed that quickly?" said the long-time president of Portales' James Polk Stone Community Bank, where the group assembled for the annual remembrance ceremony. "This was not the first attack on America, but it certainly was a terrible one." It is a...
PORTALES — An alternative grading format, touted as more comprehensive and revealing, was approved Monday for implementation among the first- and second-grade students at James Elementary School in Portales. Instead of a single numerical grade per subject on the 0-100 scale, students will receive an evaluation from 1-4 for different aspects of each subject, allowing teachers to emphasize areas that need work and parents to better understand how their child is performing. That’s according to a presentation in Monday eve...
CLOVIS - Working counter-terrorism efforts from a Navy base in Africa and operating a jail in rural New Mexico may not seem to have much in common. But "leadership doesn't change," Mark Gallegos told The News on Tuesday. The Curry County Adult Detention Center's administrator returned last week from almost a year away on military service with the Naval reserves, much of which time he spent with a riverine squadron of small boats out of Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti on the Horn of...
ALBUQUERQUE — The Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office and various local law enforcement agencies took part in an operation last week resulting in 23 arrests of alleged violent offenders with outstanding warrants in Curry, Roosevelt and Socorro counties. According to a release from Attorney General Hector Balderas, Operation Steel Net took place Wednesday and Thursday as the result of months of intelligence gathering, analysis and coordination between district attorneys and law enforcement to track the individuals who...
CLOVIS - The most famous alumni of the Norman and Vi Petty Recording Studios are known world-round, but there are many others who recorded in the now-iconic space or worked with the producing couple. On Saturday, the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce hosted its first alumni event to recollect on the space and people that produced the "Clovis sound" while sharing stories and reminiscing on old times. The years have a way of "goin' faster than a roller coaster," to quote...
SANTA FE — In upholding the murder conviction of a Clovis man, the state’s Supreme Court has abolished the “spousal communication privilege” for subsequent cases. The ruling came in regard to an appeal for David Gutierrez II’s first-degree murder conviction for the shooting death of Jose Valverde, who was found dead April 8, 2002, inside a boxcar in Clovis. The case went cold for 13 years, but Gutierrez was indicted in 2013, tried by a jury in 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment. During trial Gutierrez’s ex-wife off...
CLOVIS — With fresh staples in her skull and stitches in her hand, Savanah Sena said Tuesday that she had been determined to fight the armed men posing as police that broke into her home and place of business the day before. “I was pissed off,” Sena said. “And I was afraid, and I wasn’t going to let them come into my house and injure me and my girlfriend. I wasn’t going to let them get us on our hands and knees and beg. I had to fight.” It had only been two months since Sena started the smoke shop and art gallery, “Dir...
CLOVIS — A wrongful death lawsuit two years in progress against the city of Clovis is scheduled for a five-day jury trial late next summer. Attorney Kimberly Brusuelas told The News in July that her client, Shawnita Jones, was hoping for a resolution before trial. The civil suit was filed in early 2018 in connection with the drowning incident July 4, 2017, at the Hillcrest Park pond where Gevion Lewis and his friends had been playing on the holiday afternoon. Emergency responders pulled Lewis from the waters within minutes o...
CLOVIS — Three suspects in the armed robbery last month of an elderly woman outside a Clovis church were still at large on Tuesday, officials said. Arrest warrants were issued Aug. 21 on Jamie Vega (AKA Jamie Cadena), 36, and Cherry Anaya, 43, on charges of armed robbery, conspiracy, theft of identity, fraud and violations of the Remote Financial Services Act. Officials allege the pair held at gunpoint and robbed the purse from an 88-year old woman who had arrived early for Sunday school Aug. 18 at Parkland Baptist Church. T...
PORTALES - Affording healthcare is one thing, accessing it another. In a visit Wednesday to Roosevelt General Hospital, U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small emphasized the importance of both for constituents in the state's 2nd Congressional District, the largest geographical district in the country served by a Democrat. Access to healthcare Torres Small said, was part of her path to election in 2018. Referring services to larger hospitals out of town still happens, RGH staff agreed...
CLOVIS — Crash reports released last week identified the Clovis police officer who "failed to yield" in an April 14 collision with a civilian vehicle during a motor vehicle pursuit. CPD Sgt. Travis Loomis and two civilians were seen at a hospital for "non-life threatening injuries," according to Capt. Roman Romero. The crash took place late that afternoon, when Loomis was northbound on Gidding Street in a police Ford SUV. The other driver was westbound on Seventh Street in a Chevy Tahoe SUV, records show. Loomis was "...
No serious injuries were reported Thursday when a Western Dairy Transport milk truck collided with a train near the intersection of U.S. 70 and South Roosevelt Road 3. Several train cars were derailed. Officials said the truck driver was treated and released from Roosevelt General Hospital. The accident happened about 4:45 p.m. near the Ready Roast Peanut plant outside Portales. New Mexico State Police Officer Robert Soule said the truck was crossing the tracks when it was...
CLOVIS — It will take roughly $90 million more to complete much of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority’s Interim Ground Water Pipeline, officials said Thursday. How many years that will take is another question, but board members in their regular meeting discussed their hopes for an “accelerated proposal” to securing that funding at federal, state and local levels. In a presentation on the IGWP finance plan, ENMWUA administrator Orlando Ortega said the authority’s “intent is to apply for the maximum amount” of Wate...
CLOVIS — State and local representatives, area farmers and other stakeholders in the Clovis groundwater contamination stemming from Cannon Air Force Base met Tuesday to hear ideas for addressing the issue. The next step is to bring those ideas to the United States Air Force. The center of Tuesday’s meeting, held at the Ingram Room of the Clovis-Carver Public Library, was a presentation by Tom Blaine of King Industries, who was retained for $15,000 to represent Curry Cou...
PORTALES — Elida rancher Greg Smith on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to 18 felony charges and was approved for release on personal recognizance. Smith, 56, was indicted Aug. 8 on racketeering and multiple counts of fraud, embezzlement, issuing a worthless check and attempt to evade tax in connection with his time leading the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Organization from 2015 to 2018. An investigation in the past year from the attorney general’s office alleged Smith had overcharged and uncompensated pageant contestants whi...
CLOVIS — Police last week named suspects in the armed robbery of an elderly woman who was waiting in her church’s parking lot for Sunday school to start. Arrest warrants were issued for Cherry Anaya, 43, and Jamie Vega, 36, both of Clovis, on felony charges of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, unlawful use or theft of an ATM or debit card and theft of identity, according to court records. Each woman is also charged with four counts of petty misdemeanor fraud. Clovis police on Monday had requested public assis...
CLOVIS — School attendance legislation signed this year by the governor came as a surprise and disappointment last week to the 9th Judicial District Attorney, whose office has campaigned over past semesters to meet problem truancy cases with criminal charges. “It just literally took out the whole part about it being referred to the District Attorney office,” Andrea Reeb told The News on Monday. “It repealed the Compulsory School Attendance act, and it took out any option after juvenile probation works with them.” House Bil...
CLOVIS — A woman charged with felony arson for a July 27 structure fire in Portales was apprehended Friday after more than two weeks at large. Patricia Villanueva, 38, of Portales, was booked into the Curry County Adult Detention Center on Friday afternoon and transferred Monday to the Roosevelt County jail on charges of arson, criminal damage to property and probation violation. She remained in custody without bond awaiting an arraignment yet to be scheduled. Fire marshal investigators charged Villanueva, also known as P...
PORTALES — Start drafting your toasts, because Eastern New Mexico University is in the process of obtaining a license to serve liquor for events at select locations on campus. It’s not for selling beer at football games, nor is there a pub or any other dedicated establishment moving into the domain of the Green & Silver. University officials said they mainly wanted to expand the range of places where people around Portales could hold special events where alcohol is served. On campus, that’s currently restricted to funct...
LBUQUERQUE — A Portales man pleaded not guilty yesterday on a federal charge of production of child pornography. Augustin Gallegos, 34, was indicted last month in U.S. District Court on the charge of "production of a visual depiction of a minor engaging sexually explicit conduct" during a period from March 31, 2018 to May 16, 2019, according to court records. The FBI arrested Gallegos Aug. 7 while he was already in custody on related state charges. Gallegos was indicted May 24 in the 9th Judicial District for first-degree fel...
CLOVIS - Far from a starter, chips and salsa took center stage Friday night during the annual contest at the Curry County Fair. Made with a base of core ingredients - tomato, onion, garlic, salt and peppers - 21 entries competed at the fairgrounds' indoor pavilion for cash prizes and coveted salsa chef aprons from the event sponsor of seven years, Leal's Mexican Restaurant. "Everybody has their own style of salsa," said event announcer Jeff Lynn. "Sometimes, as soon as you tak...
PORTALES — Officials do not expect shortages, but all the same they are requesting Portales residents restrict outside water use to only essentials next week while renovation work takes place. A rehabilitation of Johnson Hill Tank West, a project of several months, will involve re-piping and interruption to wellfield flow from Tuesday to Thursday this week, city manager Sammy Standefer told The News. Residents served by that wellfield — including those in Portales and some outside the city — will be instead served by a 6-mil...
