Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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PORTALES — Jurors were met with contentious opening arguments on the first day of the trial of a Portales man accused of rape. Roy Brown, 29, faces multiple charges, including two counts of criminal sexual penetration resulting in great bodily harm. Deputy District Attorney Brian Stover started by outlining June 15, 2016, a day which he said ended with Brown forcibly entering a woman’s home south of Portales and sexually assaulting her as she slept. Brown’s attorney, Craig Acorn, told jurors the victim described her attac...
PORTALES — The final preparations were made Friday before the trial of a Portales man accused of sexual assault. Roy Brown, 29, is accused of breaking into a woman’s home two miles south of Portales in June 2016 and attacking her as she slept. His trial begins 9 a.m. Monday. Judge Donna Mowrer responded to a motion by Brown’s attorney Gokul Krishna Sripada by ordering a state witness — a sexual assault nurse who examined the woman — not to testify as to the cause of her injuries. Sripada asked that the witness not testify as...
PORTALES —Suicide thrives in silence. That’s why a local organization is looking for actors in a play called “Saying Hello to Goodbye.” Jim Lee is a member of Project Sunrise — a group of Clovis and Portales residents dedicated to recognizing “the very real issue of youth suicide” — and the play’s writer. The production is meant to engage young people in a discussion about suicide, Lee said. “Saying Hello to Goodbye” centers around a small cast — three adults, three high school students, and a grief counselor — who find th...
PORTALES — Even the fair needs water. Steve and Janet Mattfeldt, owners of Sun Valley Rides, which provided the Roosevelt County Fair with rides last month, made a $2,500 donation to the cause. The Mattfeldts presented the check to the county fair board, which passed it along to the Portales Water Department at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. Fair Board President Wayne McAlister said the money was to show the Mattfeldts’ appreciation of city workers’ quick response to a water-line break near the fairgrounds on Aug. 26...
PORTALES — Roosevelt County Commissioners on Tuesday were asked to consider commissioning a security officer in the Roosevelt County Courthouse. The discussion came about from a letter by 9th Judicial District Court Chief Judge Drew Tatum stating that bailiffs in Roosevelt County would no longer be responsible for security during court hearings. Sheriff Malin Parker said commissioning a court officer (a cost of between $50,000 and $55,000 to the county) would give that person the power to take individuals into custody and s...
On Monday, we celebrate work. On Labor Day weekend, we asked area residents to tell us about their best jobs ... and their worst. • Portales resident Ricardo Salazar said he misses the benefits of working at Dairy Farmers of America, which included “401(k), vision, dental. You got all that good stuff.” Additionally, the job only required him to work two weeks out of the month. While the shifts were 12 hours long, he still recalls his time there fondly. • As a teacher at Brown Early Childhood Center, Stacy Gossett of Portale...
Eastern New Mexico is preparing to send some neighborly love to Texas as it struggles through a disaster this week. Hurricane Harvey has destroyed property, displaced more than a million residents, and killed over 35 people so far. While the tropical storm is now moving east into Louisiana, Texas faces a long road to recovery, and organizations in Portales and Clovis want to help. The Clovis and Portales fire departments have partnered to gather donations that will be sent to Houston early next week. The most needed items,...
CLOVIS — People deal with tragedy in a variety of ways, but for several members of Kingswood United Methodist Church, help from a higher power was needed. After two people were killed and four were injured in a shooting at the Clovis-Carver Public Library Monday afternoon, the congregation gathered that evening to surrender their troubles to God. "There is nothing to be said that makes sense of what has happened. It is hard for us, as human beings, to see the full b...
PORTALES — A break in a water line that left most of Portales without running water for over 12 hours Saturday isn't the first of its kind, according to city officials. The break, which originated in a 24-inch water line off of Lime Street, was reported at 5 p.m. Saturday and repaired 8 a.m. Sunday, according to City Manager Sammy Standefer. The line has broken roughly five times in the last five years, Standefer said, attributing improper installation to the constant p...
Results are in and Eastern New Mexico schools with good grades outnumber those with bad grades 2-to-1. It’s reason to celebrate, according to New Mexico Public Education Department Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski. “We need to spend more time celebrating them and less time worrying that the number of F schools in Albuquerque went from 11 percent to 34 percent, and that they have two schools that have six straight Fs in Albuquerque,” Ruszkowski said. The grades issued last week by PED were averaged from three years of data....
PORTALES — A fire substation intended to increase public safety should be in Portales by 2019, according to city officials. City Manager Sammy Standefer said the city’s goal is to go to bid for the construction of the substation by the beginning of 2018, after which “we would assume it would take a year or so to complete the project.” The city applied in mid-August for a loan application of $1 million with the New Mexico Finance Authority to help pay for the roughly $1.3 million project, Standefer said. “Right now, we’ll wait...
PORTALES — They come every year from across New Mexico and beyond to share their delectable treats with Roosevelt County. That's right: The Roosevelt County Fair has come again, and with it, food vendors both new to the event and familiar. Junebug's sells corn dogs, fried macaroni and cheese, and several other goodies of the battered and deep-fried variety. Owner Kat Kenney, who has traveled from Oklahoma City for five years to vend at the fair, has found funnel cakes and f...
PORTALES — Whether reminiscing about romance, personal triumph, or friendships, attendees at the Roosevelt County Fair's Pioneer Luncheon had much to talk about. Longtime residents and former locals alike gathered in the Jake Lopez Community Center Thursday morning to celebrate a love for Portales. Three couples were honored as "pioneer of the year" — Jim and Helen Warnica, Billy and Jo Ann Hays, and Gaynelle and Leroy Thomas — for their long-standing service to the community....
PORTALES — For many participants in the home arts portion of the Roosevelt County Fair, winning takes second place. The most important part of the competition, some said Wednesday, is to keep the fair running, so that future generations have a chance to participate. Warren Funk of Portales has been entering leather belts, horseshoe art, and homemade furniture for five years. He won eight first-place ribbons this year. Funk said he creates mainly to keep himself busy, but a...
PORTALES — The Portales City Council at its Tuesday night meeting approved an application to the New Mexico Finance Authority for a $1 million loan to help build Portales’ fire substation. The loan will allow the NMFA to pay for the construction directly out of the city’s fire fund, according to City Clerk Joan Martinez-Terry. Also at Tuesday’s meeting: • A resolution supporting the memorandum of understanding between Portales MainStreet and the City of Portales was approved by councilors. The resolution was forgotten...
PORTALES — The Roosevelt County Commission will be asked to consider declaring recent floods a disaster at its meeting at 9 a.m. today in the Roosevelt County Courthouse. Estimated repairs necessary for county roads damaged by flooding earlier this month exceed $3 million, according to County Manager Amber Hamilton. Declaring a disaster could potentially provide funding from the state to assist with the damage, which Hamilton said could take nearly two years. Rehabilitation of roads affected by the storms will be a top p...
Higher education in eastern New Mexico is getting back in session, and local institutions will be extending the welcome mat to incoming freshman this week. Eastern New Mexico University’s new-student orientation, Dawg Days, is scheduled Saturday through Monday, and will help familiarize students with the campus, other students, and the surrounding community, according to Co-director Briana Pintor. Clovis Community College’s orientation is scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. today in the Town Hall Auditorium, according to Rec...
PORTALES — Two projects were moved to the top of Portales’ state funding wishlist for the purpose of visibility, according to city council members at a Friday public hearing. A drainage study for Portales and the new Portales Fire Department substation were moved to positions four and five, respectively, on the city’s 2019 Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan “just so that when people look at it, they can see it’s not that we don’t feel those are top priorities,” said City Councilor Jessica Smith. The drainage stud...
PORTALES — Road rehabilitation is climbing the priority list in Roosevelt County. The item is ranked fourth on the county’s draft of an Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan, County Manager Amber Hamilton said at a public hearing Friday at the Roosevelt County Courthouse. The draft will be submitted to the state Department of Finance and Administration to show major projects for the next five years and vie for funding. “At this point, we are in excess of 50 miles of county roads that have been damaged or destroyed, and w...
Constant storms in eastern New Mexico since August have destroyed property and county roads, and Clovis and Portales officials report they are also making city road improvements difficult. Repairs to Kilgore Avenue from U.S. 70 to Third Street in Portales were expected to last until Aug. 31, but according to Public Works Director John DeSha, rains have pushed the $30,000 project's completion to the end of September. "We had to virtually shut down the project for several days...
MELROSE — The weekend looks to be fully booked as Melrose prepares for its annual summer celebration. Old Timers Day began in 1954 “to get people together,” according to Melrose Chamber of Commerce President Vicky Smith, and will get under way once again tonight. The festivities will begin at 7 tonight at the Melrose P.E. Complex with a music festival, which brings performers from Melrose and beyond, according to organizer Ronny Fouts. “They come from around Clovis, Tucumcari, Portales and Melrose. It’s primarily country w...
PORTALES — The Portales City Council discussed the inclusion of an upcoming city project on its improvement wishlist at its Tuesday meeting. During a presentation of the city’s Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan, Mayor Sharon King noted that the city’s planned fire department substation was lower on the priority list than last year. City Manager Sammy Standefer — who presented the list as an informational item — explained the substation will likely already be funded by the city, and including it on the ICIP may slow...
PORTALES — Estimated repairs needed for county roads after storms in Roosevelt County last week exceed $3 million, according to County Manager Amber Hamilton. A series of recent rains, including a large-scale storm Aug. 3, has severely damaged up to 50 miles of road and prompted the county to consider declaring a disaster, said Hamilton. “We met with the officials from the state response and recovery bureau yesterday. There were two individuals on-site with us, and we spent the afternoon touring the area,” she said. “So far,...
PORTALES — A draft of Portales’ improvements wishlist is scheduled to be presented at today’s city council meeting at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Building. The Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan for 2019-2023 has been compiled by staff and a committee of council members, and will be presented to the council before receiving recommendations at a public hearing at 2 p.m. Friday, according to City Clerk Joan Martinez-Terry. The plan will then be brought before the council for approval at its Aug. 22 meeting. The purpose of th...
PORTALES — A Portales staple will celebrate 80 years of building relationships within the community on Aug. 19. Auto parts retailer and tire shop C&S, Inc. will be celebrating its anniversary by inviting the community to the store from noon to 4 p.m., according to April Rutter, operations manager and granddaughter of founder Wayne Stratton. “We are going to be serving hot dogs and hamburgers. We are going to have a bouncy house and a slide and a dunking booth,” she said. Rutter added that employees will be in the dunking boot...
