Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Democrats and Republicans in Roosevelt County have set up headquarters in advance of the November election while their compatriots in Curry County are handling politicking on an individual basis. According to a news release from the Roosevelt County Democratic Party, the days and hours of their headquarters, the red caboose at 604 E. Second St., Portales, have been extended. Starting today headquarters will be open every other Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. then 12:30 p.m. to 2:30...
I had an encounter with a new arrival to the High Plains the other day, someone who moved here from the Washington, D.C., area. The meeting jogged loose memories from when I lived in a rural part of that area, about 40 years ago. I remembered a radio station where I used to work, tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I wondered what some of my co-workers were up to here in the 21st century. I looked up Filomena (name’s changed). There she was, here in the future, chief executive officer of a li’l ol’ DC area compa...
The biggest winners at this year's Curry County Fair, which wrapped up Saturday, may have been the new Livestock Pavilion and the Clovis High School student who sold his goat for what may have been a record price. Curry County Fairgrounds and Events Center General Manager K. C. Messick said Monday preliminary estimated attendance numbers showed just over 27,000 attendees. As for gate and carnival revenues, Messick said those are still being compiled. "The new Livestock...
More than 400 members of the New Mexico Municipal League met at Clovis' Civic Center for three days last week for their 67th annual conference. Clovis Assistant City Manager Claire Burroughes reported participants attended meetings for mayors and council/commission members, clerks and finance officers, police chiefs, judges and court clerks, librarians, for environmental quality and more. Burroughes was appointed president of the state's City Management Association for a...
Tuesday’s regular session of the Curry County Commission was dominated by a discussion between commissioners and Curry County Assessor Sam Kelley over the continued raising of property taxes in the county. The back-and-forth was spurred by a scheduled presentation by Kelley. “The State Tax and Revenue Department has a statistical analysis on each county. I was reporting on what percentage Curry County was at, where Curry County ranked in percentage of market value taxed,” Kelley explained after the meeting. Once a prope...
Bobby Sandoval always knew how to make things happen. That's according to longtime friend David Briseño, outreach director at Clovis' La Casa Family Health Center. "I've known Bobby since I moved to Clovis in 1990. He was a mentor and a friend," Briseño said last week. "What inspired me the most about Bobby was he knew how to navigate the system and get things done." Sandoval, the longtime city and county commissioner who died Monday at age 87, had been getting things done i...
The grandchildren are growing up. My how time flies. This was recently evidenced by a grandchild signing up for driver’s ed classes. The news catapulted me back in time to those days when I was learning how to drive over 50 years ago. Was it that long ago? It was that long ago. I hear things are different here in the future. The classes, the driving, it’s all handled differently than way back when. I hear there are fees and such, at least where grandchild lives. Back in the early ’70s you just signed up for the course and t...
Clovis City Commission on Thursday gave the OK to work on the city's Aquatics Center roof and Wellness Center heating/ventilation and air conditioning system, a project with a price tag of almost $1.851 million. According to details in the meeting's agenda packet, the cost of the roof replacement will be $1.825 million. The cost for the HVAC repair and replacement will be $25,825. The roof and HVAC system were both damaged during 2023 hailstorms. The Parks and Recreation...
New Clovis Community College President Jonathan Fuentes told trustees Wednesday that he made "the right move" to come to CCC. Fuentes noted he has "been here one month and I have enjoyed meeting people." "My whole family knows this is the right move for us," Fuentes said. All five trustees were present for the meeting, which was a session for routine business. Sandra Taylor-Sawyer and Dom Chairez of the Small Business Development Center gave the SBDC's annual report to the tru...
Free blood testing for PFAS contamination will be administered in September and October in a program spearheaded by the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Department of Health. Preliminary details were revealed by state representatives at Thursday's monthly meeting of the Curry County Health Council. Kate Cardenas of the Environment Department and Heidi Krapfl of the Department of Heath called the blood testing an inter-agency project for people in an area...
There aren’t too many “art cars” around these parts. What’s an art car? Well, there was that time a Roswell pal saw an “art car” when he visited me in Bisbee, Ariz., back in the ’90s. This particular one had all kinds of dolls glued all over it: Cabbage Patch kids, Kewpie dolls, run of the mill dolls, Barbies & Kens, Betsy Wetsy, GI Joe … all stuck to the car. “What the hell was that?” he practically yelled as he watched the vehicle trundle down the road. “Art car, town’s full of ’em,” I said. “This is a weird place you...
Directors of New Mexico Counties on Friday heard of the intergovernmental workings in the development of the Regional Behavioral Health Facility to be built in Clovis. Curry County Manager Lance Pyle told board members that work on the RBHF may begin late next year at the 18-acre site on West 21st Street near Clovis' Plains Regional Medical Center. "That's an optimistic timeline," Pyle said. Pyle said the development is a partnership between Curry, Roosevelt, De Baca, Quay...
Curry County commissioners on Tuesday approved a $60 million budget for fiscal year 2024-2025. The figure represents about a $5.5 million reduction from fiscal year 2023-2024’s budget of $65.538 million. In presenting the budget to commissioners, County Manager Lance Pyle said the county’s projected revenue for the upcoming fiscal year is $26.192 million. “The rest of the approximately $33.9 million in revenue comes from federal and state monies such as grants, fire funds, road funds, special programs and such,” Pyle said af...
A new trial early next year has been set for Mary and Sandi Taylor of Portales who were convicted in 2019 for reckless child abuse after they left two toddlers in a hot car in 2017. One of the girls in their care – 22-month-old Maliyah Jones -- died, while the other -- 23-month-old Aubri Loya -- suffered serious injury before recovering. The mother-daughter daycare operators were sentenced to 30-year-plus prison terms. But on appeal, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in March they both would receive new trials. According t...
A Clovis woman locked up since January in connection with an August 2023 shooting death was ordered to be released Monday on monitored house arrest. And the case against Alexandra Romero, 30, took a bizarre turn as court proceedings revealed she had a connection with former Clovis Police Officer Frank Careri who was charged Friday with drug trafficking. Romero last year was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the slaying of Javier Jimenez. That charge was upgraded to...
I thought about the Block Captain the other day, chuckling as I pushed my lawn mower past the harvester ant colony in my yard. The Block Captain has since “gone on to glory” since he reigned supreme over my old neighborhood on the north side of Clovis. I don’t know if every neighborhood has a Block Captain, someone who watches over the neighborhood to make sure everyone is acting right, and there are no shenanigans going on. The Block Captain could often be seen sitting with his bride in front of his duplex, having a smoke...
Witness’ stories contradict, but a 16-year-old boy is being held in connection with Monday’s shooting death of Demariay Singleton, 18, in a Portales residence. Officials said the youth is charged with involuntary manslaughter, unlawful possession of a handgun by a person under the age of 19, negligent use of a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence. Portales police were called to the 300 block of South Avenue E about 10:20 p.m. Sunday in reference to a gunshot victim, according to a news release from Chief Chris Williams....
Kaylynn Belew was in Denver recently for events related to the Daniels Scholarship Program. She is among about 20 New Mexico graduating seniors this year awarded the honor. She said one interesting aspect of the event was attending an etiquette class. "We learned when you put your knife down on your plate, face the blade toward yourself. It's a historical rule; if you faced your blade toward someone else, it was perceived as a threat to them," Belew said. The News caught up to...
Clovis City Commissioners Thursday approved the largest budget on record for the city, $110.035 million for fiscal year 2024-25. "This is the largest one I've ever worked on," Clovis City Clerk Leighann Melancon said before Thursday's regular session of Clovis City Commission. Melancon told commissioners the first budget she worked on was for fiscal year 1997-98 for $25 million. The budget, which must be in to Department of Finance & Administration officials in Santa Fe by Wed...
The Clovis Municipal School Board approved proceeding with the district’s proposed Career & Technical Education curriculum. “We will begin the curriculum this August,” Leigh Morris, CMS Director of Curriculum and Assessment said after the meeting held on Tuesday. After regular session, Board President Cindy Osburn texted her thoughts regarding the new curriculum. “I like that CTE provides opportunities for students to acquire specific skills in high school that prepares them to go directly to work upon graduation,” Osburn wr...
I had to go to Roswell for a fancy eye appointment. I always wanted to be a traveler. It didn’t work out as well as I’d dreamed so I listen to travelers’ tales from other travelers, shoot the breeze with folks lots of times. Talking to some of the staff I learned some commuted from Albuquerque to Roswell to work there, and some of the Roswell folks working there had to go to Albuquerque from time to time. They had something in common: They didn’t like the vast emptiness between Roswell and Vaughn. “There’s nothing out...
Tate Turnbough spent a portion of his youth on a farm in Curry County. "I can definitely put the plow in the ground and run a combine all day, but my farming skills are nonexistent compared to my late grandfather Dean Campbell. He was the best farmer God ever created, and I'd bet the farm on that," Turnbough said. Turnbough shared a bit about his life recently with The News. Q: You started out as a Curry Countian. A: I am from north of Clovis. I was raised on my grandparents'...
A clear bag policy is now in effect at the Curry County Events Center. Commissioners on Tuesday approved a recommendation by Events Center General Manager K. C. Messick to implement the policy as a new security measure. "It's previously been handled on an event by event basis. The new policy would be for 'scanned ticket' events," Messick said to commissioners. The new policy generally limits the clear bag size to 12 inches by 12 inches. "There will be some exceptions such as m...
I saw an old friend in the grocery store the other day. My old pal was on the superette shelf. Spam. But the stuff wasn’t 99 cents a can anymore. Somehow Spam had risen to the ranks of being “high dollar,” about $4 a can. I ate Spam when I was a kid. I had cans of it stacked up in a kitchen cabinet during my groovy bachelor days. I mean the cost was just right. I’d fry up some Spam slices, get them nice and brown, whip up a box of macaroni and cheese, and bada-bing! A meal fit for a king. But when I started hanging around...
Col. Robert Johnston is the new commander of Cannon Air Force Base. Johnston takes over from Col. Jeremy Bergin. Johnston assumed the post Monday at a change of command ceremony presided over by Lt. Gen. Michel Conley, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command. Johnston is plenty familiar with Cannon. He “was a squadron commander here from 2018-2020 at the 9th Special Operations Squadron, and prior to that he was the operations officer at the 9th SOS as well from 2...
