Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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On this date ... 1905: A post office was established at Tolar in Roosevelt County. It closed April 5, 1946, according to a study by L. Keith Payne, less than two years after a train carrying 46 tons of military explosives leveled or caused major damage to nearly every building in town when it blew up. 1916: Portales was preparing for its annual city picnic, with 2,000 people expected to attend. The Clovis Ladies’ Band was scheduled to kick things off with music at 10 a.m., followed by a few short speeches and then more m...
On this date ... 1941: A Wichita Falls teenager was charged with killing two traveling companions and placing their bodies on the train tracks four miles south of Clovis. Officials at first believed J.V. Harden and Arthur William Hall had fallen from the tracks and been run over by the train. Charles Alexander then told authorities that the dead men had been traveling with him and Jess Fuller, but went ahead without them when Alexander and Fuller decided to rest for the night. Alexander, 15, theorized the dead men had...
Clovis Police Chief Roy Rice is facing harsh criticism for his handling of criminal allegations against a former cop. From here, it looks like Rice is not the only one to blame for justice delayed. The trouble began in February 2023 when a burglary suspect told Clovis police investigators she “knew some information about a cop who was providing her with information and drugs,” court records show. Eighteen months later, that Clovis police officer, Frank Careri, was arrested on charges that include drug trafficking and acc...
A former Clovis police officer charged with drug trafficking and as an accessory to residential burglary turned himself in to authorities on Friday. Frank Careri, 34, under criminal investigation since February 2023, was charged July 26. Since he was out of state at the time, prosecutors gave him until Friday to turn himself in. Court records show Careri was booked into the Curry County Detention Center and released on a personal recognizance bond. Careri waived his...
On this date ... 1941: Clovis was about to become the “most important cold storage point” in New Mexico, according to Railways Ice Co., which was constructing cold-storage lockers. Facilities under construction in Clovis would ultimately contain storage for 55 carloads of produce, including butter, eggs, poultry and fresh vegetables, the Clovis News-Journal reported. Nearest comparable cold-storage facilities were in Oklahoma, Denver and El Paso, officials said. 1942: Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing, was hon...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Quentin Ray is district attorney for Curry and Roosevelt counties. Q: Two high-profile crimes have been committed in Clovis over the past year and outside prosecutors have become involved in both. Tell us what you know about the status of the prosecution of the Walmart fire suspect and the man accused of killing two women, shooting a child and kidnapping a baby at Ned Houk Park. A: Both...
On this date ... 1940: More than 6,000 New Mexico farms were being serviced with electricity. “This means that nearly 15% of the farms of the state or about one farm out of seven is now receiving high-line service,” a New Mexico Extension Service spokesman said. 1941: Farmers Electric Cooperative announced plans to string 35 miles of power lines over the next year. “All the new wire will be laid in territory immediately around this area and will be designed to fill up the gaps in the existing coverage,” said project Superin...
On this date ... 1947: The bodies of two Clovis men had been found in the cabin of their chartered plane, which crashed about 20 miles from their destination of Eagle Nest Lake. Jimmie Gressett and John Hardisty, both 21-year-old pilots, were planning to go fishing. Officials said their plane crashed into the side of a narrow canyon near the top of a mountain. 1950: Final plans for the new Portales Hotel were in the hands of the Lambie Construction Co. Orders were being rushed for all materials needed to complete the...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Roy Rice is Clovis' police chief. This email exchange focused on school safety. Q: School starts again in just a few days. How are you feeling about student safety locally? Are the area districts doing all they can to prevent campus violence? A: I feel the schools are doing quite a bit to ensure student safety. I have attended meetings and training sessions for the staff to enlighten them on...
On this date ... 1960: Stroud’s Food Market at 523 S. Ave. C in Portales offered bacon for 49 cents per pound. Cans of peaches were 25 cents, Cokes were six for 29 cents, and 8-inch fruit pies were three for $1. 1960: Clovis dedicated its new Salvation Army building at Second and Axtell streets. Construction cost $24,500 and was funded with private donations locally and through the Salvation Army, the Clovis News-Journal reported. 1968: Dorothy Worrell of Clovis and Lou Hardy of Tulia had won their second straight B...
On this date ... 1951: A pioneer railroad conductor died in the Clovis hospital. Samuel L. Sutter, 69, of 1216 Main, had fallen ill the same afternoon. He came to New Mexico in 1900 to work for the Santa Fe Railway at Las Vegas. He went to work on the Belen cutoff when construction started in 1906 and made his permanent home in Clovis in 1910. He worked 48 years for the Santa Fe until his retirement as a conductor in 1948. 1960: Area softball players were preparing for the weekend Clovis Jaycee Invitational tournament at...
On this date ... 1950: A Seagraves, Texas, man was arrested by Texas Rangers on suspicion of stealing cattle near Texico. Investigators received a tip the Seagraves man may have been involved in multiple area cattle thefts and they soon learned he'd spent time in prison for similar cattle thefts. The suspect was identified as the man who sold a stolen cow and steer to a rancher near Hugoton, Kan. 1956: New Mexico Gov. John Simms was in Clovis to speak to Kiwanis Club members...
Curry County’s jail administrator, the executive director of Portales’ Chamber of Commerce and the deputy director of the Eastern Plains Council of Governments are among 37 applicants for Portales’ vacant city manager position. The city released the applicants’ names last week in response to an Inspection of Public Records Act request from The News. Interim City Manager T.J. Cathey said the position will remain open until “the right person” is found to fill it. The city began accepting applications soon after Sarah Austi...
On this date ... 1946: Brothers Charles and Lee Tosh referred to themselves as mortal enemies of prairie dogs. But the owners of Empy’s Welding and Machine Shop also fancied themselves “humane” in the way they went about eradicating the little burrowers, the Clovis News-Journal reported. “Every opportunity that they get they will go out and try to help the farmer or rancher by ‘knocking off’ some of the animals with guns,” the newspaper reported. “All in all, the brothers have killed thousands of prairie dogs.” Their mo...
On this date ... 1881: Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett killed outlaw William “Billy the Kid” Bonney at Fort Sumner. Fort Sumner resident Jesus Silva was among those witnessing the Kid’s death. “There on the floor, we saw Billy stretched out, face down,” he said. “We turned him over, and when Deluvina (Maxwell, a friend) realized fully it was the Kid, she began to cry bitterly, interspersing with her tears the vilest curses she could bestow on the head of Pat Garrett.” 1910: William Hanna was born in Melrose. The son of a...
On this date ... 1951: Portales was days away from the grand opening of the new Cal Boykin Hotel. A luncheon was set for the upcoming Saturday, with tickets $1.50. A banquet that night would cost $15 per ticket. Eastern New Mexico University coeds were acting as hotel tour guides. 1956: Floyd Golden, president of Eastern New Mexico University, was preparing to leave for an education workshop in Ann Arbor, Mich. The five-day seminar was to be held on the campus of the University of Michigan. 1956: An 8-year-old Clovis boy was...
On this date ... 1930: The Judevine Creamery of Portales shipped its first major order of butter to Los Angeles. A carload containing 25,000 pounds of butter featured a banner on the side proclaiming the contents were manufactured in Roosevelt County. 1941: A. B. Cares of Pep had lost about 25 acres of broom corn to heavy rainfall. Overnight rainfall had measured 3 inches. Cares, described by the Portales Daily News as “one of the best dry land farmers in the country,” said he planned to plant cane or hegaria in the next few...
On this date ... 1930: Willie Chambers of Portales was brought to the Baptist hospital in Clovis by ambulance after he was injured in a gravel pit accident north of Portales. Caliche caved in on top of Chambers, burying him under several tons of dirt, the Clovis Evening News-Journal reported. Chambers was able to keep his head above the slide and called to men working nearby for help. He suffered a double fracture of the hip and other bruises and cuts. 1941: Two cowboys were hospitalized after suffering injuries at the...
On this date ... 1937: Two-hour parking limits on Clovis' Main Street were a day away from being implemented. "Enforcement of the law was expected to be light until proper warning signs have been created," the Clovis Evening News-Journal reported. Signs were being prepared to warn motorists about the time limits, which would be enforced on Main Street between First and Fifth streets and a block east and west of Main. 1937: Jimmy Gamewell, the pro at Clovis' municipal golf course, "declared war on motorists in the vicinity of...
On this date ... 1930: Four Roosevelt County prisoners sawed and dug their way to freedom about 2 a.m. The men — three being held for violating liquor laws and one on a robbery charge — used a hacksaw that had been smuggled into the jail to help with their escape. Two of the men were seen going south down the Santa Fe Railway tracks, according to a witness. At least one of the escapees remained free for more than a year. Henry Jones was captured in December 1931 near Dallas. Bob Kinney was captured Aug. 12 in Plainview. Rep...
On this date ... 1937: Two prisoners in the Clovis jail bet on the heavyweight fight between Joe Louis and Jim Braddock. “... (H)aving no worldly possessions, (they) decided to bet their hair,” the Clovis Evening News-Journal reported. The loser had second thoughts after Louis won the fight, and somehow talked the winner into “buying back” his hair before it could be cut. The price agreed upon was $3.50, apparently an IOU. 1937: Temperatures soared to 100 degrees in Clovis. It marked the first time since May 19 the city sa...
The village of Ruidoso and "a good portion of Lincoln County" were evacuated Monday and Tuesday as wind-whipped wildfires damaged hundreds of homes and businesses throughout the resort region. "... Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs, and Lincoln County (are in) full evacuation mode. Please stay out of the area, and do not attempt to get back into the Village. There are no open roads into Ruidoso, and the New Mexico State Police will have roadblocks at all entry points and they will not...
On this date ... 1945: Opal Jackson of the Fitzhugh Addition in Clovis received a telegram reporting the death of her husband, Pvt. James D. Jackson, on May 11 on the Okinawa Island in Japan. Jackson had previously been reported missing in action. The private had lived in Clovis and the Grier community all of his life, the Clovis News-Journal reported. He was 26 and survived by his wife, his mother, and two children. 1951: Clovis police, led by Chief John Droke, staged a surprise raid at the home of Ethel Jones, who lived...
On this date ... 1946: Clovis’ city jail was faced with “overflow” after a busy weekend resulted in 17 arrests. Charges included fighting, public drunkenness, carrying a concealed weapon, operating a gambling house, vagrancy and indecent exposure. All 17 were expected to have their cases heard over the next two days. 1951: Clovis police were called back into action after two consecutive days with zero calls for service. Weekend activity included a domestic disturbance and a minor traffic accident. 1966: Eight Roosevelt Count...
On this date ... 1950: About 1,100 fans came out to Bell Park and were treated to a 6-3 victory by the hometown Clovis Pioneers over Pampa, Texas, in a West Texas-New Mexico League baseball game. Left-hander Tom Gallagher improved to 2-2 on the season, holding the Oilers hitless into the sixth inning and allowing just three hits overall. Gallagher finished with an 11-13 record and a 6.02 earned run average in his final season of professional baseball, according to baseballreference.com . 1951: Gov. Edwin Mechem, in the area...
