Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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For more than 35 years, Varetta Shankle Heidelberg and her husband Levi raised a family and operated a ministry out of their home in Altadena, Calif. Their "Heidelberg Inn" was among an estimated 50,000-plus homes and businesses in the Los Angeles area lost to the wildfires that began Jan. 7. Varetta Shankle is likely a familiar name to longtime Clovis residents. The 1976 Clovis High graduate, a professional saxophonist and musician, was crowned the 12th Miss Black America in...
Justin Nutt is founder and chief executive officer of Nurstead Mental Health & Consulting Services, a behavioral health training and provider agency. He is easy to spot as it seems he is always wearing a florid Hawaiian-style shirt. "I have 118 of them," Nutt said. Nutt shared a bit of his life with The News: Q: Where were you born? Tell us about that place. A: I was born actually in Kansas City, Mo., but I don't claim that, because I grew up in Olathe, Kan. I spent a lot of...
Portales High School students had a goal of collecting 11,000 cans of food for the community at the end of 2024. Mission accomplished. The students and contributors came up with 12,462 cans, according to Superintendent Sharon Rowley. The announcement of the food collection was part of the business at Monday’s regular Portales School Board meeting. School Board President Inez Rodriguez was honored for her award from the New Mexico School Board Association. Rodriguez was honored as “Board Member of the Year” by the state...
With a unanimous vote on a consent agenda, Clovis city commissioners Thursday greenlighted a new city ordinance allowing cannabis shops to remain open later. Once the ordinance goes into effect, cannabis businesses can stay open to 10 p.m., two hours later than currently. The retailers can continue to open at 9 a.m. and they can still operate daily. When the ordinance was introduced at the Commission’s Dec. 19 meeting, Clovis Police Chief Roy Rice said officers in his administration did not oppose extending the hours. After t...
And the people cried, “Brrrrrrr.” An Arctic air mass moved across eastern New Mexico this weekend, bringing the season’s coldest temperatures. “High temperatures in Curry and Roosevelt counties may struggle to break the freezing mark. Temperatures in northeast New Mexico will range from sub zero to the teens,” said Carter Greulich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. No snow accumulation is expected this week, but Greulich said the Clovis/Portales area will see “teens to single digits with...
Curry County Commissioner Brad Bender is the new chair for the Curry County Commission in a unanimous vote Tuesday in the commission's first meeting of 2025. Bender moves into the seat after former commissioner Robert Thornton stepped down at the end of his term Dec. 31. Commissioners went on to choose Commissioner Dusty Leatherwood as vice chair. Tuesday's session was the first regular commission meeting for District 5 Commissioner Kyle Cain, elected to the position last...
An education program for detainees is getting stronger acknowledgement from state courts this year. Staff at the Curry County Adult Detention Center have positive comments about the center’s Edovo education program. “It’s a wonderful program. It gives the population the opportunity for growth and development,” CCADC Administrator Joe Alaniz said Monday. “There’s a lot of self help programs like anger management and re-entry back into society.” According to the Curry County website, Edovo works to help the detention cen...
The Florida Panhandle is far away from us in eastern New Mexico, but some folks around here have been there. It’s one of the places The Lady of The House grew up. She gets Facebook posts from her sister who still lives there. “Lots of those Man o’ War jellyfish coming ashore. A sign it’s winter at the beach,” she said one day last week. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen these jellyfish. It’s called a Portuguese Man o’ War. It has this bubble that allows it to float along on the sea surface. It has long tentacles that hang unde...
Area events surrounding the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend start Saturday. “I’m really excited this year,” said Constance Williams, vice chair of the Clovis MLK Jr. Commission. “I think our focus of ‘Non-violence seeks to win friendship and Understanding.’ is timely. It’s based on Dr. King’s second principal, he had six of them. Given all the stuff happening in our community, we need to live it.” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently appointed Williams, a Clovis resident, as vice chair to the state MLK Jr. Commission as wel...
Portales’ water system could use installation of modern automatic water meters. That was the top recommendation from an Albuquerque engineering firm on a study of the city’s water system presented to Portales City Council on Tuesday. The city’s mayor and city councilors were present as Graham Chapman and Ezra Crumley from Wilson & Company of Albuquerque presented the study. “They are talking about AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) water meters,” Portales City Manager Chris Moyer told The News. “One of the benefits is...
Clovis Community College's Nohemi Lara-Miller had an international upbringing. Born in Mexico's "Estado Grande" or "Grand State," Chihuahua, Miller said she grew up in two different countries, The Republic of Mexico and the United States. "Most of my memories are from when we moved to the U.S. permanently. I started kindergarten in El Paso, but then we moved back to Mexico. When we returned to the U.S., my parents bought their home in Chaparral, New Mexico, where I lived most...
The Roosevelt County Commission on Tuesday re-appointed Tina Dixon as the board’s chair and Roy Lee Criswell as vice chair. The action came as the session began, a meeting that lasted three hours, long compared to the commission’s usual sessions. The meeting was the first of 2025 and the first for recently elected Fabian Muñoz from Commission District 1 and former county Sheriff Malin Parker from Commission District 2. Commissioners handled a number of routine matters: They heard a presentation on constituent services from Co...
Crime, immigration and economic development are all likely high priorities for lawmakers when the 57th Legislature opens a 60-day run on Jan. 21. All five legislators who represent the region on Tuesday attended the Clovis-Curry County Economic Development's Legislative Breakfast at the Chamber of Commerce offices. Clovis' Raymond Mondragon, with the Eastern Plains Council of Governments, opened the event reviewing some changes in the Legislature this year. • Last year's e...
There’s this woman on Facebook who spends her time making little videos of herself without makeup and with makeup. Her no-makeup visage is so radically different from her made-up face with fake teeth that I really wonder if it’s the same person. I mean, I suppose it is because she’s not selling anything. It’s just some of the stuff one sees on the internet. My mom had fake teeth to hide the place where her own two front teeth used to be. Mom had a great sense of humor, so I don’t think she’d mind if I tell a tale at her expe...
It's something to see. That's how Clovis High basketball coach Corey Pickett describes the new mural at the entrance to Rock Staubus Gym. "That mural turned out pretty good. It pops when you walk in here. You want to look at it," Pickett said Monday. Joe Strickland, Clovis schools' deputy superintendent, explained how it came to be. "The mural was designed by a committee that was spearheaded by Mandy Carpenter, executive director of Talent Management for CMS. Staff and...
Nathan Hecht spent his law career representing "the little guy." That's how Clovis attorney Mike Garrett always saw him at least. "Nathan cared for the little man. He completely reformed the law in Texas for the people in need," Garrett said last week, remembering the 1967 Clovis High graduate who retired last month after a decade as chief justice of the Texas' Supreme Court. He'd served on the state's Supreme Court since 1988. "He was a most conservative justice," Garrett...
Clovis City commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a restaurant beer and wine license for a downtown Clovis eatery. The La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant on the northeast corner of the intersection of Fifth and Main streets downtown is the licensee. La Fiesta owner Jesus Vallejo Gonzales thanked commissioners for their approval. The unanimous vote was 7-0. Commissioner Juan Garza was not present for the session. In other business, commissioners presented awards to two city...
If it has an internal combustion engine, Hayden Williams has probably been a parts man or salesman for it: Tractors, other farm equipment, cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, side-by-sides. His work is what brought him from Plainview, Texas, to eastern New Mexico a few years ago. The News sat down with Williams on New Year’s eve in his office on East First St. Q: Tell us about where you were born, where’ve you been? A: I was born in Plainview, Texas. I moved to Woodward, Okla., then back to Plainview. I ended up living in Por...
The Clovis hospital’s first baby of 2025 is a boy, born at 8:53 a.m. Thursday. Brandon Rashard Holmes Jr. was born to Marla Arrington and Brandon Rashard Holmes Sr. of Clovis. He was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 9.5 ounces. “He’s the smallest baby I’ve had. We were expecting him Dec. 24 and when he didn’t arrive we thought he’d be at least 9 pounds,” Arrington said. Arrington, from Columbus, Ga., is an E4 with the U. S. Air Force, stationed at Cannon Air Force Bas...
A humanitarian. Community oriented. A gift from God. That's how area residents remember Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president who died Sunday at age 100. Democratic Party of Curry County Chair Jamaal Williams remembers Carter's post-presidency work. "The Habitat for Humanity, his work and dedication. I think as an ex-president he was one of the few I've seen to use his power to help regular Americans," Williams said. "He was actually out there doing it himself with his hands."...
I once had a mannequin named Ted. Just a petrified, barefoot, one-handed dude who sat in my living room when I lived in Roswell. Ted was a gift from someone I’ll just call “The San Patricio Artist.” The San Patricio Artist did mannequin art. One weird work of the artist was mannequin arms sticking out of the ground in the garden. Many called it “creepy.” I just thought it artistic, but weird. I decided to put Ted out on my front porch sitting in a rocking chair, with his hand raised in greeting. Days later as I got out of my...
Ask Herman Chavez for his favorite dish and he'll tell you it's Puerto Rican-style rice and beans with pork chops. "It was my grandmother's recipe," Chavez said. "It's the seasoning, sofrito, a custom blend of seasonings. They use it in everything. And the rice is so good, they cook it with chickpeas," Chavez added. Chavez told The News more about his life in a Thursday interview. Q: Where were you born? What do you remember about growing up? A: I was born in Far Rockaway, Que...
Roosevelt County commissioners on Monday voted to raise the salaries of some of the county’s elected officials and their deputies starting with the offices’ new terms. The vote was 3-1. Commissioners Dennis Lopez, Paul Grider and Roy Lee Criswell voted for the 7% raise. Commission Chair Tina Dixon voted against it. Commissioner Rodney Savage was absent from the special session. “I am concerned about how these raises can be sustained,” Dixon said during the measure’s discussion. The salary for the county clerk and the count...
With Christmas here I’ve pondered some of the ancient memories floating through my head about this time of year. Like the time when I was itty bitty, our family packed up our luggage, left our New York City home (yes, I used to live in New York City) and headed south for Christmas at my dad’s parents’ home in the mountains of Virginia. It seemed like everyone was there: Our family, Uncle Bud, his wife and kids including Cousin Dave and his smelly feet, our grandparents and Aunt Maude and her big voice. What I remember was a...
Clovis cannabis consumers may soon be allowed to shop later for the product. Clovis City Commission on Thursday tentatively approved a plan for extended hours cannabis businesses can stay open – from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The retailers can continue to open at 9 a.m. and they can still operate daily, assuming the change introduced Thursday is formally adopted at the city’s next meeting in January. Commissioners approved the new hours by a 7-1 vote with Debbie Zamora opposed and Helen Casaus absent. Alex Stalker, manager of Clo...
