Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Heavy rains, high winds and hail rocked Roosevelt County on Thursday night, destroying property and damaging roads. Winds reached 60 mph, the National Weather Service reported, and parts of the county received up to 1.67 inches of moisture. Julie Rooney's property in south Roosevelt County was among the hardest hit. "Everything just went white because of the amount of hail that was hitting the house. When it stopped briefly, we looked out and our bird barn was missing, our she...
DORA — The findings of a June audit of Dora Consolidated Schools will be the subject of a criminal investigation, according to an investigator for the district attorney. Ninth Judicial District Attorney Criminal Investigator Dan Aguilar told citizens at a Tuesday community meeting the office is determining whether it or the New Mexico Attorney General will lead the investigation. "Just from what this audit says, there's hundreds of thousands of dollars just from the recycle c...
Heavy rainfall this week has some Roosevelt and Curry County farmers feeling optimistic about their harvests. Some parts of the region reported nearly 5 inches of rain in the past two days. That moisture will likely raise Roosevelt County farmer Rick Ledbetter's cotton yields, which he said average about 1,300 pounds yearly. "The cotton looks good. This rain storm that just came through helped, and I think we're looking at - if we don't get any storms that tear anything up -...
A parade that crosses state lines, class reunions, barbecue from the Rotary Club, music in the park, and a feeling of unity could mean only one thing: The return of Border Town Days. The 52nd annual event kicked off with a parade in Texico on Saturday morning, crossing the border into Farwell and culminating in a craft fair and outdoor concert at Farwell's city park. With Farwell band The Shilling Girls providing a musical backdrop, Joann Walker of Fort Worth explained what...
In the military, you follow orders ... whether you like them or not. Portales veteran Mike Woolley said he feels bad for transgender people who may lose their careers if they’re banned from serving in the United States armed forces, but he said the president’s orders must be upheld. “When you take an oath, your oath says that you’re going to obey the Constitution of the United States and you’re gonna obey the orders of the president, and that president is allowed to make those decisions,” Woolley said. “If you don’t want to...
Farwell and Texico’s premier annual event means fun and fellowship for all, its residents proclaim. Border Town Days is returning for its 52nd year on Saturday. It starts with a parade at the park in Texico at 10 a.m. (MDT) and will culminate in live entertainment, crafts and food until mid-afternoon at Farwell’s city park outside the courthouse. “It’s our way of kind of showing off our community and having fun together,” event chairman Rob Pomper said. City workers were busy sprucing up the park in Farwell on Thursday,...
PORTALES — Roosevelt County’s budget for the 2017-2018 fiscal year is estimated to see a 1.26 percent increase in revenue and a 2.44 percent decrease in expenditures, said County Manager Amber Hamilton. Hamilton, who presented the budget at a Thursday Roosevelt County Commission meeting, attributed the decrease in expenditures to several factors, including accreditation the Roosevelt County Detention Center received in January. The accreditation shows that RCDC staff follow jail policy and procedure, and lowers the fac...
PORTALES — Finance Director Marilyn Rapp informed the Portales City Council of several key changes to the city’s final 2017-2018 budget at its meeting Tuesday night. The city’s fire fund was increased by $48,505 from the state, raising the final amount to $208,505. The fire fund’s non-capital equipment budget also increased by $48,505 per Portales Fire Department Chief Gary Nuckols’ request, according to Rapp. “He likes to have that money budgeted, so he can spend it,” she said. Another $115,000 was added to the budget for a...
PORTALES — A motion to review conditions of release for a Portales man accused of rape has been denied. 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. He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual penetration, both second-degree felonies, along with felony charges of aggravated burglary, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and a misdemeanor charge of aggravated battery. In an order granting a motion by the Ninth Judicial District A...
PORTALES — A district court judge said she will make a decision by Thursday on whether to reduce bond for a rape suspect. Judge Donna Mowrer heard testimony on Tuesday as part of a continuation from a Friday hearing. Roy Brown is in the Roosevelt County Detention Center on $50,000 bond. Craig Acorn, attorney for Brown, 29, argued his client “has all these ties to the community. There’s no reason to think that he’s going to do anything but join with his attorney and defend this case, as we’ve been doing vigorously from the...
PORTALES — A petition seeking the recall of Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker was stopped by a district court judge Tuesday. The petition, submitted by Portales attorney Eric Dixon on behalf of criminal defendants Cody Banister and Armando Pena, as well as the mother of a woman killed in a car chase involving police, was denied in a hearing in the Roosevelt County Courthouse. The hearing gave Dixon a chance to prove that Parker intentionally made false statements regarding the reliability of an informant who led to the a...
PORTALES - The prosecution and defense went through a plethora of witnesses Friday afternoon at the Roosevelt County Courthouse to review conditions of release for a man accused of rape. Roy Brown, 29, of Portales, is accused of breaking into a woman's home two miles south of Portales in June 2016 and attacking her as she slept. He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual penetration, both second-degree felonies, along with felony charges of aggravated burglary and...
In the first month of a resolution allowing certain New Mexico defendants to be released from detention centers without bail, eastern New Mexico residents displayed mixed feelings. Senate Joint Resolution 1 took effect July 1, and is aimed at “assuring that non-dangerous low-risk defendants are not jailed while awaiting trial solely because they cannot buy a bail bond,” as well as expediting pretrial detention of “clearly dangerous felons,” according to a press release by the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts....
PORTALES — The Portales Municipal School District's school resource officer has learned some lessons of his own while acting as teacher and counselor for students. Going into his second year in the position, Sgt. Eric Muller already feels like a part of the district. "They brought me in and made me a part of the schools. The kids are great," he said. Muller wasn't initially sure he would like the position, but as he began interacting with children from Brown Early Childhood C...
PORTALES — An attempt by the state to address concerns about a large dip in Portales has seemingly created another issue. The crevice on the intersection of Fir and North Avenue I was constructed in April by the New Mexico Department of Transportation after the NMDOT received complaints of standing water, according to NMDOT Public Relations Officer Manon Arnett. Portales Public Works Director John DeSha said the dip was meant to drain water from Fir, which becomes New M...
PORTALES — An eastern New Mexico organization that connects sexual assault survivors to resources just hit a growth spurt. Arise Sexual Assault Services, a branch of Roosevelt General Hospital, moved Monday to the previous site of Victory Life Church at 801 W. 18th St. from its location at 1412 S. Ave. O and, according to Director Leigh Ana Eugene, provides increased anonymity for survivors. "At our old facility, we had the one entrance, so anyone coming in would be meeting p...
PORTALES — Nearly a month of repairs is coming to one of Portales’ main thoroughfares, but the city’s public works director said inconveniences will be minimal. A road repair project is anticipated to begin on July 24 on North Kilgore Avenue between U.S. 70 and Third Street. Public Works Director John DeSha said he anticipates it will end on Aug. 31. The repairs — estimated to cost the city $30,000 — will address what DeSha called “alligatoring,” in which asphalt begins to dry and crack. “We’re gonna put down one kind of...
PORTALES — Portales’ airport will soon be getting a $431,890 economic boost from the federal government. The grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, announced Friday by U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich in a press release, will pay for the construction of two 12,000 gallon fuel tanks. The tanks will be used to store fuel, which can then be sold to pilots as an additional source of revenue for the city, according to the press release. “This funding will enable the Portales airport to purchase its own fuel...
PORTALES — A hearing has been scheduled for July 25 to determine whether a petition may be circulated seeking the recall of Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker. The petition would claim “Malin Parker has a policy, custom and routine of retaliating against any individual(s) ... who oppose him and his policies,” records show. “(He) is a danger to the public and should be removed from office as soon as possible ...” Portales attorney Eric Dixon represents criminal defendants Cody Banister and Armando Pena who claim they have...
PORTALES - When Dana Pergeson heard her smoke alarm late Thursday morning, she assumed it just needed a change of batteries. But when she got up to check, she found a small fire in the bedroom of her West Spruce Street home. In the time it took her to grab a bucket of water to extinguish it, the flames had spread to envelop the living room. "She came out and hollered for my dad, and then she grabbed a mattress, threw it out, and grabbed the water hose, but it was too much,"...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority Executive Director Justin Howalt said Tuesday the authority received no Water Trust Board funding for the 2017 fiscal year. “On the state level, as you know, there was obviously a special session a couple of months ago, and as part of that special session,” he said at a Portales City Council meeting Tuesday, “part of the bill to shore up the general fund eliminated Water Trust Board funding for FY 17.” The Water Trust Board is a public entity that makes recommendations for...
PORTALES — Members of the Portales Municipal Schools Board of Education on Tuesday tightened requirements for junior high and high school students to attend honors and dual credit classes. Superintendent Johnnie Cain expressed a need to “increase the rigor across the district,” and he recommended limiting advanced classes to students with a score of four or five on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test. “A four is what the state considers to be proficient right now, and within two years,...
PORTALES - Proposed additions and revisions to two New Mexico Department of Agriculture ordinances were heard Thursday afternoon, with one receiving resounding support from a New Mexico dairy organization. Hearing officer Charles Greene presided over the two hearings in the McAllister Room at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds, the first of which was a reworking of the fee structure for the organic certification program. The program, which certifies produce as organic through...
Thousands around eastern New Mexico celebrated Independence Day on Tuesday. Here's how they did it: A day for each other Though a ton of fireworks and grilled delights are important, Portales couple Chrisstopher Brown and Rachael Keeney consider the most essential ingredient of the Fourth of July to be each other. "I think family's really important to spend all holidays with, not just the Fourth," Brown said. The holiday is a prime opportunity to be around people one normally...
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE — For Col. Stewart Hammons, this is a homecoming. The new commander of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base was stationed here from 2008-2012, when he worked as the director of operations for the 318th Special Operations Squadron and as the commander of the 3rd Special Operations Squadron. His positions, however, were not the only meaningful experience he had in his first stay at Cannon. He also met his wife, Keara. "My wife and I w...
