Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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One of Clovis' more iconic buildings caught fire – again – on Wednesday and it's been reduced to rubble. The "castle house" at 1220 Mitchell was reported on fire about 1:30 p.m. and was quickly destroyed by the blaze. Police on the scene said arson was the likely cause. "Someone" started the fire, Clovis Fire Chief Mike Nolen said, since the building has been empty for years and it had no working utilities. "We've had three or four previous fires in it," Nolen said. "Transient...
On this date ... 1937: A man accused of shooting a federal agent near Gallup was arrested "because his stirrups were shorter than cowboys use," the Clovis Evening News-Journal reported. Guy Osborne was attempting to "disguise himself as a cowboy and ride past members of a posse searching for him," the paper reported. The Evening News-Journal reported Osborne was known to Clovis police because of a recent investigation related to a car theft. 1937: Officials with Hotel Clovis announced Bob Sandusky and his orchestra would be...
Tuesday’s primary election had few contested races across Curry and Roosevelt counties, and voters mostly stayed home. A few numbers of interest: • Statewide voter turnout was at 23%, according to numbers released by the Secretary of State’s Office. In the 2020 primary (COVID year), that number was 42%. About 34% of the state’s registered voters came out for the 2016 New Mexico primary. • In Curry County, fewer than 15% of the 18,731 registered voters cast primary ballots on Tuesday. That’s compared to 34% in 2020 and 29...
On this date ... 1935: Clovis celebrated its first Pioneer Days with a parade that stretched two miles. About 15,000 people came out to watch. A parade highlight included a lion from Clovis’ zoo, which was “securely caged,” the Clovis Evening-News Journal reported. 1949: The Clovis News-Journal reported the annual Pioneer Days parade was attended by “the largest crowd ever.” The parade “marched south from 7th street on Mitchell, east on 1st to Main, and then north to 12th street before breaking up,” the newspaper rep...
On this date ... 1941: Eastern New Mexico College President Donald W. MacKay had resigned, officials announced. No reason for the resignation was reported. MacKay was not available for comment since he was out of town on vacation. MacKay had been the college's only president since its opening in 1934. College officials said they were attempting to interest former New Mexico State College President H.L. Kent in the ENMC job. Instead, Floyd Golden became the college's second president, holding the position for 18 years. 1968:...
On this date ... 1941: Two vehicles had been washed away and railroad tracks at Friona were impassable due to flood waters. “Following on the heels of a cloudburst early Wednesday night, water covered many major highways ... and finished the job of earlier rains in completely washing away the Clovis-Grady highway bridge approach over Frio, 20 miles north (of Clovis),” the Clovis News-Journal reported. No injuries had been reported. Record rainfall totals across the region were set in 1941 and stand today. Clovis recorded 44...
On this date ... 1937: A "brief but brisk downpour" increased Clovis' rainfall total to 2.43 inches for the year, the Clovis Evening News-Journal reported. Rainfall to date was "near average" for the previous 25 years of record keeping, the newspaper reported. While Clovis measured .15 inches of rain this evening, other communities fared better. Grady recorded an inch of rain, while the Melrose area saw a half inch. 1946: A nationwide railroad strike had ended after about 48 hours. Union workers had agreed to return to work...
On this date ... 1941: Law officers across eastern New Mexico and west Texas were patrolling highways in search of a lone bandit who robbed the First National Bank in Levelland, Texas. The man got away with $20,533, officials said, locking employees in the bank’s vault. Witnesses said the robber had two pistols and escaped in a Ford pickup. A nearby farmer’s son confessed to the robbery a few days later and all but $78 was found, most of it buried under a seed bin on his family’s property. 1942: The “suddenly announc...
Heroes. Not victims. That’s how Laura Robinson hopes the community will remember her daughter Harley Cisneros and lifelong friend Taryn Allen. Cisneros and Allen, both 23 of Texico, were killed May 3 at Ned Houk Park by a man police say they did not know. Alek Collins, 26, of Houston is charged with two counts of murder, abuse of a child and kidnapping in connection with the violence, which left Sofia Mae Cisneros, 5, critically injured and Eleia Maria Torres, 10 months, missi...
On this date ... 1903: Famed buffalo hunter George Causey, suffering from chronic pain after being thrown by a mustang a year earlier, shot himself in the head with a pistol at his home near Kenna. The Handbook of Texas reports Causey was responsible for killing 40,000 buffalo from 1874 to 1882, including the last herd on the Llano Estacado, near Seminole, Texas. The village of Causey in Roosevelt County is named for brothers George and John Causey because their lives “influenced and symbolized American exploration and s...
On this date ... 1946: The Christian Science Reading Room, at 105 W. Fourth in Clovis, was open daily from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. except Sundays and holidays. The First Church of Christ Scientist was inviting the public, and especially service men, to use the reading room “where the Bible, and all authorized Christian Science literature may be read, borrowed or purchased.” 1950: Portales police had arrested a man who claimed he molested a 7-year-old girl in a city park. But officials had been unable to locate a victim. Sheriff J.N...
The 5-year-old girl shot and critically injured May 3 at Ned Houk Park has made “significant progress” over the past few days, an attorney representing her family said. “The family is asking for continued prayers for her recovery,” said Matt Chandler, speaking on behalf of the family of Harley Cisneros. Cisneros and her friend, Taryn Allen, both 23 of Texico, were found dead in the park from gunshot wounds. Cisneros’ oldest daughter, unnamed at the family’s request, was also shot and taken to a Lubbock hospital, authorities...
On this date ... 1911: Homer Jones did not shoot his business partner at Taiban as authorities had alleged. Jones’ innocence was declared by Edward Gardner, the man Jones was alleged to have shot. Police arrested Jones because his boot tracks were found near the scene of Gardner’s shooting. But when Gardner recovered from his wound enough to talk to authorities, he told them he and Jones were the best of friends and had never had a cross word. Gardner said Jones’ arrest was “an outrage,” the Roosevelt County Herald reported....
Law enforcement authorities early Monday arrested a man accused of shooting and killing two 23-year-old Texico women, shooting a 5-year-old in the head and kidnapping a 10-month old baby on May 3 at Ned Houk Park. The News has pieced together a timeline of events based on public documents and police interviews: May 1-2 Alek Collins, 26, of Manvel, Texas, drives a rented vehicle – a maroon Honda sedan -- from the Allen, Texas, area through the Texas Panhandle, arriving in Clovis around 8:30 p.m. on May 1. He spends that e...
The man arrested Monday for killing two Texico women had called the FBI last October and threatened to “murder a bunch of children” if they didn’t help find his missing daughter. The FBI made contact with Alek Isaiah Collins and he was placed in a mental facility at that time. Collins told agents he “does not want to kill people” but felt the threat was the only way “in getting the FBI to assist him.” The information is included in an affidavit for arrest warrant filed in 9th...
On this date ... 1941: Clovis city commissioners reminded residents that bicycles were not allowed on sidewalks. The fine for violating the city ordinance was $1 to $10 and commissioners warned violators would be hauled into court. 1942: A Bovina farmer had witnessed the enlistment of three of his sons into the U.S. Coast Guard. Earl Bates and J. R. Bates of Clovis and R. L. Bates of Friona had enlisted in Amarillo after resigning from their civilian jobs. Earl was a teacher in the Eugene Field school in Clovis. J. R. worked...
The missing baby whose mother was shot to death at Ned Houk Park on Friday was located Monday morning in Abilene, Texas, and a suspect was taken into custody. Eleia Maria Torres, 10 months old, was “taken to a local area hospital as a precautionary measure,” police said in a news release. Abilene Police spokesman Rick Tomlin said the suspect is Alek Isaiah Collins, 26, who is from Manvel, Texas, a Houston suburb. “He has no ties to any of the people in the homicides or the i...
Two Texico women were found dead at Ned Houk Park on Friday afternoon, a 5-year-old girl found with them was being treated for critical injuries and authorities were looking for a 10-month-old girl believed to have been with the victims. Police said they believe the women's killer abducted the infant but said they had no suspects on Saturday morning. Police Lt. Steven Wright in a news release identified the deceased women as Samantha Cisneros, 23, and Taryn Allen, 23. New Mexi...
On this date ... 1941: “Old Sol” burst through to give the region its first sunshine in 14 days, the Clovis News-Journal reported. Spring rains began April 22 and this was the first cloudless morning since, according to the newspaper. The year’s rainfall total was at 8.31 inches — just 2 inches shy of the total for all of 1940. 1945: White Auto Store held its grand opening at 115 SW State St. in Portales. J.B. Morrow was owner/manager of the auto parts and home appliance store. 1955: The Elida Tigers were celebrating their r...
On this date ... 1941: J.J. Steele, co-owner of the Hart Ranch southwest of Melrose, had sold about 800 2-year-old steers to a buyer in Dexter, Kan. The purchase price was reported at $60,000. 1955: Portales Valley Mills workers discovered the company safe had been cracked the night before while three employees worked in an adjoining warehouse. Employees noticed a strange car in the parking lot, but hadn’t noticed anything out of place. The thieves took $70. 1957: Ernest Marsh, known to his many friends in Clovis as ...
On this date ... 1881: Billy the Kid escaped from the Lincoln County jail, where he was being held and awaiting execution for the 1878 shooting death of Sheriff William Brady. The website aboutbillythekid.com reports the Kid saw his opportunity to get away about noon. One of his guards had taken other prisoners to lunch at a nearby hotel. The Kid convinced his only remaining guard to let him visit the outhouse. While details vary about what happened next, all agree the Kid killed both guards a few minutes later. “The t...
On this date ... 1946: Margaret Moore, who lived at 323 Prince St., was preparing to celebrate her 25th year as a registered nurse in Clovis. The Clovis News-Journal reported “Maggie” had worn out 240 uniforms in her career. Nursing had kept her so busy that she “never had time for courtship and marriage,” reporter Kathryn Bomar wrote. 1950: Clovis Police Chief George Ray was dismissed by the Clovis City Commission. The action came in the wake of dismissal of a radio operator who allegedly had been drinking before reporti...
On this date ... 1951: Two Clovis teenagers had suffered broken legs when they were hit by a taxi cab while crossing West Grand at Rencher Street. Joe Lujan and Robert Lucero told police they thought they could easily cross before the car — three-quarters of a block away — reached them. The taxi driver said he was traveling 25 mph. He was cited for out-of-date vehicle inspections. 1955: Roosevelt County Sheriff P. F. Turner reported three dogs killed 30 chickens in a hen house at the western edge of Portales. Farm owner Jim...
On this date ... 1951: A Hereford family was asking Clovis-area residents to be on the lookout for their cocker spaniel named Blondie, last seen headed in the direction of home from Fort Sumner. Blondie and her family were visiting Fort Sumner when the dog “decided she didn’t like it” and started east, the Clovis News-Journal reported. 1956: Law officers were on the lookout for 15 prized bantam chickens stolen from a locked chicken house at 1312 E. 10th in Clovis. The victims included 13 hens and two roosters, offic...
The fire that destroyed the Portales Hampton Farms peanut processing plant on Monday was initially reported as “a fire outside of the building that is not large at this time.” Minutes later, with sustained winds near 40 mph and gusts near 60 mph, Portales firefighters found “fire in several different areas of the commercial structure and outside the building,” according to a Portales Fire Department news release. It took five hours, 27 fire trucks and 34 firefighters from six...
