Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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On this date … 1940: Two Kansas women were killed and two more seriously injured when their car crashed into the rear of a parked tractor-trailer rig near Kenna. The truck’s driver, James William Talley of Clovis, said a wheel on his truck had broken the night before. He said he’d parked the truck, put out flares, then caught a ride into Roswell for help. Talley was not present when the crash occurred about 5:30 a.m. 1940: The headline reported across eight columns of the C...
He called me about 5 a.m. that Sunday when Walmart burned. He was awake and working, I needed to be awake and working, too, he said. I wish all cops were like Mike Reeves. I've known him probably 25 years, but never better than in the last 12 months when he was Curry County's sheriff. Not only did he tip me about big news stories, he loved to talk about his days as a photographer with the Clovis News-Journal, I think when he was in high school. More than once he lamented the t...
Bill Allred, Clovis High School's band director through a string of successive state marching championships, is retiring, the school district announced Tuesday. But he's not done teaching. "I'll probably go back east, closer to family, and see if I can get a job," he said. "I'm still passionate for teaching. I still have fire in my belly and I still love making a difference in kids' lives. "I love helping kids and pushing kids and helping them be accountable to reach their...
SANTA FE – The last time Michael Brockett talked with Mike Reeves, the topic was community. “We talked about the Christmas parade,” Brockett said. “He was super excited about our department being a part of it. He was always big on community. That was his thing. He was proud of the Sheriff’s Office and he was proud to lead us.” Reeves, the Curry County sheriff, was found dead in a Santa Fe hotel room Monday morning where he’d gone to attend law enforcement training. He... Full story
On this date … 1940: A 16-year-old boy was in Clovis’ jail waiting for railroad officials to question him about an incident that occurred in Dalhart, Texas. The boy told police he wanted to turn himself in to authorities because he was wanted for escaping parole in Kansas. That was not the case, but police inquiries led to the Dalhart connection. “I don’t know whether it was his conscience bothering him as much as his stomach,” Clovis Police Chief R.M. Witherspoon said. “He wa...
On this date … 1960: The Rosedale Baptist Church — located between Clovis and Grady in Curry County — had completed its annual “food shower” for Portales Baptist Orphans Home. The Rev. and Mrs. Porter Arnold took the food to the home and used the opportunity to visit relatives in Portales. 1966: The New Mexico wing of the Air Force Association held its annual business meeting at Cannon Air Force Base. Speakers included Col. Dick Hale, a former Cannon officer, who told dele...
Clovis’ public schools superintendent has been openly criticizing the state’s proposed plans to make students spend more time in school. Good for her. She should be speaking out. The state’s Public Education Department isn’t so qualified as Clovis Superintendent Renee Russ to say what’s best for Clovis students. Guidelines for Portales school students should be set by Portales schools Superintendent Johnnie Cain. And superintendents – hired and fired by locally elected sch...
Clovis' Rothschild's giraffe, Jael, died of a heart attack, city officials said Monday after reviewing a necropsy performed the morning of the zoo animal's death. The clinical diagnosis states Jael died of an open acute vascular event. Dr. Michael Garner, a veterinarian with Northwest ZooPath, which specializes in pathology of non-domestic species, prepared the report for the Hillcrest Park Zoo. "She had an age-related heart attack," said Stephanie Chavez, the Clovis zoo's...
On this date … 1955: Two Clovis Baptist pastors had announced they were resigning their positions to take other church leadership roles. Rev. Joseph Underwood said he would resign as pastor at First Baptist Church on Jan. 1 to become secretary of the Department of Evangelism for the Baptist Convention of New Mexico. Rev. W.E. King was resigning as pastor at Central Baptist Church to return to Maywood Baptist in Kansas City, where he previously had served. Underwood had been i...
On this date … 1952: Two airmen from Clovis Air Force Base reported seeing a “flying saucer” west of the city limits. They described it as a “full, bright orange, twice as big as a full moon.” The airmen were on their way home about 1:30 a.m. when they spotted the object that varied in shape from a “frying pan to that of a big cigar,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. 1962: A number of local dignitaries were part of a capacity crowd at the dedication of the new chapel at Can...
On this date … 1945: Lila Hedrick had been elected football queen by the Clovis Wildcats squad. She was presented flowers and a football at a coronation ceremony by the team’s co-captains, Jack Lorts and Gail Hungate. Hedrick’s attendants were Sue Bell, Pat Denton, Fran Staubus and Jeanne Boone. 1960: Eastern New Mexico University President Donald Moyer said he planned to ask state legislators for $4.3 million to open a branch junior college in Clovis. Moyer also told state Bo...
On this date … 1899: Evelina Twilla was born in Tennessee. Her family settled in the Field community (west Curry County today) when she was about 8. The pioneer settler wrote about her life’s experiences in 1956, including this tidbit about what teenagers used to do for mischief: “(We) slipped out our mother’s coffee and smoked it,” she wrote. “We smoked cotton leaves, too, after the frost had come.” 1942: With New Mexico and the rest of the nation facing a shortage of f...
On this date … 1925: A Portales man’s friends were mourning his loss following a hunting accident. James L. May, described by newspapers as “prominent,” was found reclining against a tree near Cloudcroft with a bullet through his heart. “The presumption was that a hunter in the distance had seen him move and mistaken him for a deer,” the Clovis newspaper reported. 1930: McCrory Chevrolet, located at 112 E. Grand in Clovis, was promoting the “bigger and better Chevrolet Six...
Jael the Rothschild's giraffe, one of the Clovis zoo's most popular attractions, was found dead in her enclosure on Saturday, city officials said. Jael, 22, was discovered when zoo workers came in at 8 Saturday morning, curator Stephanie Chavez said. There was no obvious sign of trauma. "I think it was just her age," Chavez said. Jael had not been sick, Chavez said. The zoo was closed on Saturday so that a necropsy could be performed that could help determine the cause of deat... Full story
On this date … 1948: Gambles department store had arranged for every Clovis child to write a letter to Santa Claus and receive a hand-written response. A special mailbox in Gambles guaranteed that letters would reach the “dear old gentleman at the North Pole.” 1961: New Barcaloungers had arrived at Home Beautiful Furniture & Carpet Co., just in time for Christmas. No down payment was required and there was no first payment until March 1. The store was at 824 Main in Clovi...
On this date … 1933: Helen Hockenhull of Clovis, daughter of New Mexico Gov. A. W. Hockenhull, had been nominated for queen of the yearbook of Colorado Women’s College in Denver. 1955: A 14-year-old girl, possibly a member of the Black Cat Gang in Clovis, was ordered confined to a girls welfare home in Albuquerque after she was habitually truant from school and her parents were “unable to control her,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. The Black Cat Gang was a “secret...
On this date … 1930: A.B. Castle had sold Red's Café in Portales to J.A. Harleson, who was moving to town from El Centro, Calif. Harleson planned to “manage the café practically in the same manner that was used by Mr. Castle,” the Portales Valley News reported. 1936: A Clovis man died trying to save a child who had fallen into a tank of water at the Santa Fe Railway yards. Lavelle Brown, 7, was saved, but Rito Mendez, 45, slipped in and drowned. The sloped tank, where water se...
The resignation of Curry County's tax assessor was preceded by an investigation into personnel policy violation allegations, records show. Assessor Randa Jesko resigned Oct. 15 with a one-sentence statement that offered no reason for her leaving. Records obtained last week by The Eastern New Mexico News show the county spent more than $14,000 investigating the unspecified allegations. Jesko did not respond to messages seeking comment left on her phone and Facebook messenger....
On this date … 1940: Texico farmer Eddie Hudson, 26, held serial number 158 — the first draft number drawn by the secretary of war. “I think the draft is a good thing and I am for President Roosevelt all the way,” he told a reporter. 1941: New Mexico’s attorney general ruled that all pinball machines were illegal gambling devices. E. P. Chase issued the ruling following a request from Valencia County Sheriff Joseph Tondre. “By the word ‘all,’ I mean all pinball machine...
Last week was one full of high praise for state Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, who announced his retirement at age 75 after 10 terms in office. “I will really miss seeing Stuart in Santa Fe,” said former prosecutor and state Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis. “Whether I was there representing the district attorneys or as a legislator, he was always supportive and helpful when I had issues or questions. “He served our area well and will be missed in the Roundhouse.” Reeb also desc...
In a time of political divide, Stuart Ingle’s legacy as a New Mexico lawmaker may have been his ability to unite. Karl Terry, who has known Ingle through Terry’s career as a longtime journalist and his work as executive director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce, summed it up like this: “Ingle was very well respected on both sides of the aisle in Santa Fe. Republicans and Democrats alike sought (his) counsel,” Terry said in a statement Wednesday after Ingle announc... Full story
On this date … 1954: The city of Clovis declared Oct. 30 would be the lawful time for local Halloween celebrations, since Oct. 31 fell on a Sunday. Mayor O.G. Potter, in a proclamation, said that since Halloween is traditionally devoted to merrymaking, with playful ceremonies and charms, that Saturday would be a better day to celebrate in that “the ceremonies and merrymaking will not conflict with our usual church activities.” 1956: Clovis police were busy responding to multi...
On this date … 1937: Clovis police were on the lookout for two 11-year-old boys from Sudan, Texas, who had run away from home. One was dressed in a khaki suit and black cowboy boots, while the other was wearing striped overalls and a baseball cap. 1940: Rail traffic was moving uninterrupted between Clovis and Lubbock, but cleanup continued a mile west of Muleshoe where 31 train cars derailed two days earlier. Officials said cars loaded with potash, wheat and cotton had been m...
I’ve been a journalist most of my life. So I have run afoul of the authorities several times when it comes to First Amendment issues. I guess the first time I was maybe 10 years old … I was editor of the Stevens Family Gazette. It had a circulation of six – one for me, my mother, my dad and three siblings, created on six hand-written loose leaf notebook pages. It was full of news relevant to its readers. For example, I always interviewed my mother for the supper menu. She k...
I remember the first time I met Jerry Seidenwurm. He told me the saddest baseball story I think I’ve ever heard. Jerry was maybe 10 years old, growing up a Giants fan in New York in the mid-1950s. His dad was drinking buddies with Giants Owner Horace Stoneham. When Jerry learned that his dad knew Stoneham, he made it his mission to speak with the team boss so he could ask him about a dream held by every baseball-obsessed young man: Could he be a batboy for the Giants? S...
