Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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On this date ... 1954: The Texico Farm Bureau met at the school lunchroom to hear a recording of a speech by Agriculture Secretary Ezra Benson. Officials asked that ladies attending bring sandwiches for the refreshment period. 1958: A 12-year-old boy was not seriously injured, but his mother’s 1957 station wagon sustained “considerable damage” when he rolled it in a ditch on North Thomas Street. Eddie Myers, who lived at 217 Redwood, lost control of the vehicle while trave...
On this date ... 1943: Two young women accused of “suspicious actions in suspicious places,” were arrested by Clovis police and railroad officers and sent to a venereal disease clinic for examinations. “This brings the total number arrested since July 23 to 32 and of this number at least 10 were found to be infected,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. City and Army officials spurred the “war on social diseases.” When soldiers were involved, they were taken to their comma...
On this date ... 1937: The Clovis Evening News-Journal reported farmer A.G. Kenyon had a well pumping 90,000 gallons of water an hour. Kenyon, whose crops east of Clovis included peanuts, wheat and sweet potatoes, said his well ran 11 hours a day. 1958: A 37-year-old Clovis woman was fined $25 for discharging a firearm in the city limits. She said she was attempting to bring her husband home after he’d been “gambling all night” in a home at 515 W. First. She said she fired...
The weekend brought news that several hundred Cannon Air Force Base personnel and seven MC-130J aircraft are transferring to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. That’s supposed to happen “in the upcoming fiscal years,” according to a news release from New Mexico’s congressional delegation. But Mayor Mike Morris said the announcement is no reason to worry about Cannon’s future. “(A)ny news that the Air Force is moving a squadron from CAFB is definitely troubling,” Morris said. “Howev...
On this date ... 1940: K.C. Lea had been named director of student aid at Eastern New Mexico College in Portales. Lea, a former Curry County superintendent of schools, was to have “charge of all college efforts to provide work for students needing assistance,” according to college officials. 1946: Eastern New Mexico College in Portales announced it had converted Army barracks into apartments and had room for 100 military veterans and their families. The apartments, for vet...
These song lyrics are the latest dividing line in the culture wars: “Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk “Carjack an old lady at a red light “Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store “… Well, try that in a small town “See how far ya make it down the road,” Jason Aldean sings. Aldean’s critics include rocker Sheryl Crow. “I’m from a small town,” Crow tweeted. “Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence....
On this date ... 1953: Two Clovis men were among prisoners of war on their way home after a truce had been signed in Korea. • Cpl. Dan McKinney was captured by Chinese troops on April 23, 1951. “The Chinese wiped us out that night,” McKinney said when he addressed airmen at Cannon Air Force Base more than 60 years later. “They over-ran us, and to this day I suffer from what’s called survivor’s guilt. Out of 200 (U.S. Army) men, when that night was over there were 26 men aliv...
When the Clovis News-Journal moved into its newly constructed building at 521 Pile in the summer of 1947, it boasted of venetian blinds, concrete floors, asphalt tile floor coverings, acoustical ceilings and air-conditioning. That was the report on the newspaper's front page the day before it hosted a community open house on July 26, 1947. The lot at 521-523 Pile had previously been occupied by the Presbyterian Church, which was established by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa...
On this date ... 1938: Actor/musician Ronny Cox was born in Cloudcroft. He graduated from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales in 1963 with a double major in theater and speech correction. He’s best known as the ill-fated businessman Drew Ballinger, who instigated the dueling banjos sequence in “Deliverance” in 1972. 1950: Tucumcari police “swooped down” on Northside Park to nab three men and three juveniles for gambling. The adults were fined $10 each. The boys were...
Shad Mayfield is one of the best calf ropers in the world. Katherine Ortega was the 38th treasurer of the United States. Norman Petty was largely responsible for some of the best rock and roll music ever produced. But if you’re looking for the most famous celebrity ever to call Clovis-Portales home, that’s probably Ronny Cox. A graduate of Portales High School and Eastern New Mexico University (1963), his movie/TV show credits range from “Deliverance” and “Beverly Hills Cop” t...
One month after Clovis’ mayor accused him of lying about attending a taxpayer-funded training session in Santa Fe, Clovis City Commissioner David Bryant responded to the allegations early Saturday morning. “Yes,” Bryant wrote in a Facebook message to The News, “I attended” the seminar hosted June 5-7 by the New Mexico Municipal League. Bryant also suggested he is looking into legal action regarding the mayor’s accusation. “I’ve contacted legal with the City and outside leg...
Did he or didn’t he? Only David Bryant knows for sure if he attended that Municipal League training last month. Bryant said he did. Clovis Mayor Mike Morris still says he didn’t and he wants Bryant to resign and pay back the city about $650 it spent on sending Bryant to Santa Fe. Bryant’s statement last week was not exactly clear about how much time he spent at the seminar. “I’ve attended every session of the program over my attendance at two separate offerings,” he wrote. ...
On this date ... 1960: Babe Ruth League all-stars from Portales included Stan Lehman, Clois Jeffries, Johnny Hooper and Tinker Wood. The 15 boys selected were scheduled to participate in a district tournament late in the month. 1960: Portales’ Lester Bayless returned home after a lousy weekend to some good news. The bad news began on a Friday morning when he lost $100 in cash, somewhere between First Federal Savings and Loan and Compton’s Store for Men. Bayless hoped his for...
On this date ... 1917: Ray Bauer was born in Portland, Ore. After graduating high school, the baseball slugger was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and he soon found himself playing minor league ball in Clovis. He played eight seasons of professional baseball, interrupted by World War II, and then made Clovis home, marrying Dorothy Dale in 1951. He operated Clovis’ Bauer Auto Supply. Pioneer baseball fans still remember him as Ray “Power” Bauer. He hit 66 home runs in his profes...
Clovis City Commissioner David Bryant has responded to allegations he failed to attend a taxpayer-funded seminar in Santa Fe last month. “(Y)es,” he wrote in a Facebook message to reporter Grant McGee at 4:53 a.m. Saturday, “I attended, as another commissioner pointed out, and yes I’ve attended every session of the program over my attendance at two separate offerings.” Bryant did not immediately respond to questions about his statement as of 8:15 a.m. Saturday. We put our Sund...
Did you know the region’s average high temperature was 95.3 degrees from June 18 through June 30? We exceeded 100 degrees twice in that spell, and hit 90 degrees or more on 12 consecutive days. Those are the numbers recorded at the Agricultural Science Center north of Clovis anyway. Halfway through our weather year, here’s a quiz: What’s the hottest temperature recorded this year at the Clovis ag center? a. 108 b. 103 c. 100 How many times has the temperature reached 100 d...
On this date ... 1946: Portales hosted a veterans rally and barbecue. Republican senatorial candidate Patrick Hurley and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Safford were guest speakers. About 2,000 people turned out. 1950: Most of Roosevelt County was underwater. The Portales Daily News reported the region had gone from “drought to deluge” in 10 days. Boating on “Main Street Canal” was popular following a night of heavy rain. Bennie Zeigenfuss and John Parker launche...
On this date ... 1941: Clovis was preparing for a “black out” air raid drill. Every business owner and household was asked to eliminate all lights when the air raid sirens screamed. The drill was scheduled to begin at 9:29 p.m. on July 19. 1951: A Clovis man, a regular at the city jail for public drunkenness, was arrested for trying to break into a jail cell. The man, 41, had spent the weekend in jail, but was released about noon on a Monday. Then Tuesday night, police sai...
I don’t always fight with public officials. But when I do, it’s usually over public records. This time it started over a bill for public records. I wanted records related to Clovis Mayor Mike Morris’ allegations that Commissioner David Bryant didn’t attend a training seminar in Santa Fe last month as Bryant claimed. The city provided hotel bills and other documents at no charge, but declined to release emails unless I paid them $68.75. I complained about the cost to City At...
On this date ... 1937: Dozens were enjoying the swimming pool at Clovis’ Hillcrest Park as temperatures neared triple digits. The Clovis Evening News-Journal reported the pool was being used by “kiddies and many grownups.” 1937: Dr. Clyn Smith was “pleasantly surprised” when a group of friends from the First Methodist Church honored him on his birthday with a “delightful party and lawn supper,” the newspaper reported. Smith lived at 420 Rencher St. in Clovis. 1950: Heavy r...
The vermin that vandalized the Portales Islamic Center five times last month are probably not our community's high achievers. Statistics show they are not "focused on long-term goals (or) imbued with grit and determination," according to the Dolan Consulting Group, which provides training for police across the country. The research, according to Dolan, shows that most vandals are thrill-seekers, looking for an "emotional rush of the risk, and to lash out at authority. ......
On this date ... 1940: O.M. Williamson, assistant professor of agriculture at Eastern New Mexico College, looked a gift horse in the mouth — and then accepted it on behalf of ENMC. A Clovis business man donated a 9-year-old Percheron stallion to the college, “from which it expects to service a wide area in Eastern New Mexico in need of registered blood among its livestock,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. 1941: Funeral services were held at Charles V. Steed Memorial chape...
Roswell hosted its annual UFO festival this weekend, remembering that strange flying saucer incident in July 1947. So this is a good day to look back at another of our region’s unexplainable extraterrestrial events. Early in the morning of Jan. 21, 1976, a pair of Clovis police officers – Corp. Randy Johnson and Officer Henry Perez – noticed a red, white and blue flashing light moving in the sky as they traveled west in the 400 block of West 14th Street. Police logs show...
On this date ... 1950: A group of Portales businessmen began efforts to hold the first local option liquor election in the city since the repeal of the 18th amendment. Petitioners planned to ask for an election legalizing package stores in the city. It would take 25 years before selling alcohol became legal in Portales. 1951: More than 100 Rotarians, Rotary Anns and guests attended the annual Clovis Rotary Club’s annual ladies’ night banquet at the La Vista. Those in att...
Some of us remember it as the greatest football game ever played. Danny Villanueva was a big part of it. The Dallas Cowboys led the Green Bay Packers, 17-14, in that NFL Championship game of Dec. 31, 1967, that's come to be known as the Ice Bowl. Gametime temperature was 15-below zero. The wind-chill factor was 48-below. One fan died of exposure to those elements. Players and fans suffered frostbite that plagued them the rest of their lives. Villanueva, the Cowboys veteran kic...
