Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Family is important to Veronica Cordova. So is her area supervisory job with New Mexico Bank & Trust and her position on the Portales City Council. She shared bits of her life with The News. Q: How did you come to Portales? A: I have been here my whole life, born and raised. Q: Tell us about your family. A: I am married to my husband Adolpho. Most people know him as Fofo. We have four kids: Daniel and his fiancée Marissa, Victoria, Mario and his wife Kiersten and our...
Monday marks three weeks since the catastrophic fire at the Hampton Farms peanut processing plant in Portales. The remains of the building continued to smolder into the weekend. “The remainder of the estimated six million tons of peanuts is burning in a warehouse that is structurally unsafe for personnel to enter to extinguish,” Portales Fire Chief and Interim City Manager T.J. Cathey wrote in an email Thursday. Cathey noted the building and its contents are damaged and there is nothing left to save. “Therefore the best...
Water levels in the city of Portales storage tanks had increased to 25.9 feet on Friday – still 3.6 feet below the April 26 levels, but up from the 25-foot measurement recorded Monday. City officials expressed concerns about water levels after they dropped 4 feet a few days after relaxing some of the water conservation standards that had been in place since last summer. Interim City Manager T. J. Cathey has said if water levels drop below 18 feet, the city will reinstitute its Stage 3 conservation plan, which prohibits m...
I interviewed some Clovis Community Band folks before their recent concert. I marveled at their enthusiasm and drive in getting together, playing their instruments, practicing and stuff. I played clarinet in the junior high band back when I was a kid. I joined the band because my mom told me to. “You have to do something,” she told me back then. I couldn’t dribble a basketball, my Phys Ed coach taught me how to catch a football, but I frequently ran the wrong direction. I liked baseball, but I was kind of disheartened when th...
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of Q&As featuring candidates in contested races for the June 4 primary. Early voting begins Tuesday at the county courthouse. In the Curry County Commission race for District 4, incumbent Seth Martin will face challenger Jamie Widner. Both are Republicans. No Democrats are running. Seth Martin Q: Why do you want another term as county commissioner? A: As a commissioner, four more years would give the opportunity to see many of the projects through to the end and continue to serve C...
The Clovis Municipal Schools Facilities Master Plan will go into effect as planned after school board members approved it by a 5-0 vote Tuesday. Approval means the closure of Cameo Elementary School in May 2025, consolidating the system's dual language program to La Casita school (this August), changing Lockwood Elementary to an early childhood center (this August), moving the Freshman Academy to the Clovis High School Campus (August 2025), creating an I-Academy at the former...
A Portales Water Advisory Board member is calling Monday’s City Council meeting “a procedural train wreck.” Mike Davidson, who also serves on the city’s Public Works committee, said Council members did not follow their own drought contingency plan among other issues when they voted 4-3 to relax water restrictions, moving from the “Stage 3” plan to a scaled-back version of “Stage 2.” “They wanted to move to Stage 2 yet not follow those restrictions (either),” he wrote in a letter to The News. “The mayor pro-tem, who opposed...
When Corey Pickett says he's a sculptor, a picture may pop up in one's mind of the man working in stone, wood, metal and such. But Pickett's works are in textiles and upholstery materials, and he creates firearms. The News learned more about Pickett's art and his life in a Thursday conversation. Q: You were born in Georgia. What do you remember about that area? A: I was born in Brunswick, Ga. I remember water on the coast, a slow pace of life and just freedom to explore my...
The books listed below are now available for checkout at the Clovis-Carver Public Library. The library is open to the public, but patrons can still visit the online catalog at cloviscarverpl.booksys.net/opac/ccpl or call 575-769-7840 to request a specific item for curbside pickup. “How to Kiss Your Grumpy Boss” by Jenny Proctor. When one of THE Hawthorne brothers hires me to be his virtual assistant, I do everything I can to keep him firmly in the work zone. But even if I do have a crush, I can’t catch real feelings for a...
The Clovis Walmart held a "grand reopening" Friday, nearly eight months after an alleged arsonist caused $42 million in damages. An estimated 450 people turned out for the event, including Walmart store personnel, Clovis-Curry County Chamber of Commerce ambassadors, Clovis police, fire and emergence-response personnel and area residents. Walmart store Manager Johnny Barajas thanked the community for all the help after the catastrophe and during the rebuilding. Walmart was...
The annual Clovis Music Festival produced "lots of positive feedback on social media" and "those who came out had a great time," according to Robyn Snowberger, who helped organize the event. "We had people who were there for all three nights," said Ernie Kos, executive director of the Clovis-Curry County Chamber of Commerce. "There were a lot of out of towners in their RVs. There were people from Albuquerque, Roswell, Las Cruces, Lubbock and Amarillo." One of Saturday night's...
Curry County commissioners on Tuesday heard budget requests from county departments for the upcoming fiscal year. County Road Department Superintendent Walon Jones put in requests for a number of items including: • $84,000 for an open covered storage structure. • $340,980 for two semi-trucks. • $99,795 for an equipment trailer. • $102,098 for a tractor. Facilities Maintenance Supervisor Tyler Kelly requested funds for piping and toilet replacement in the District Attorney’s office, HVAC system repairs, floor scrubbers...
Curry County commissioners recently voted to replace a road department tractor that had been totaled in a fire. It brought back a memory from some years ago when I was mildly reprimanded for putting out a fire on a piece of heavy equipment I was operating. That’s right, the foreman wanted me to let it burn. I had a job working for a company that went around with heavy equipment tearing down trees, ripping up the land and such in advance of creating housing subdivisions. I wanted the job because it got me outside, out of an o...
Portales City Council members on Monday voted 4-3 to ease water restrictions for residents. The change means residents living at odd-numbered addresses may water their lawns for 30 minutes between 9 p.m. Mondays and 7 a.m. Tuesdays. Those living at even-numbered addresses may water their lawns for 30 minutes between 9 p.m. Thursdays and 7 a.m. Fridays, officials said. The Council had previously prohibited all lawn watering under what it called Stage 3 restrictions. The Stage 2 restrictions adopted Monday still mean no one...
Jonathan Fuentes, presently vice president of academic partnerships at Odessa College in Odessa, Texas, on Thursday was named president of Clovis Community College. The action came after a 20 minute executive session by the CCC Board of Trustees. Trustees also voted for board Chair Lora Harlan to enter into contract negotiations with Fuentes. Fuentes is expected to take the office July 1. He is the college's sixth president. Fuentes appeared before the board via internet...
Jessica O'Hare strives to "live through my actions, put in the work, and show people my intentions through the way I conduct business and maintain relationships." The News caught up to her Thursday at Ashley Furniture where she is director of operations. Q: Where were you born? What do you remember about that place? A: I was born on Beale Air Force Base in California (about 40 miles north of Sacramento). I don't remember a lot about the base or local area, except that it only...
The Eastern New Mexico Board of Regents on Friday publicly approved the contract that had been awarded university Chancellor James Johnston early this year. Regents in January said they had approved an extension and pay increase for Johnston, but no public vote had taken place, a violation of the state’s Open Meetings Act. At Friday’s regents meeting, Regent Lance Pyle introduced a motion for a public vote on Johnston’s contract. “Although there was no vote in the (January) executive session … I move to publicly ratify th...
The Clovis Community Band is giving a free concert at 3 p.m. today at Clovis Community College’s Town Hall. So what is this group? What’s their story? The band’s present director, Steve Baldock, said the band was founded in 1978 by Norvil Howell. “(This was) after his extensive and impactful career as the Clovis High School band director and later as the (Clovis Municipal Schools) music coordinator,” Baldock wrote in an email. Baldock went on to note the community band “provided a means for CHS alumni to unite again to pe...
The Hampton Farms peanut shelling facility in Portales, destroyed by fire on Monday, will be rebuilt, said Hampton Farms Vice President R.P. Watson. "We'd like to be prepared to handle and mill the 2025 peanut crop in October (2025)," Watson said. He said the fire caused an estimated $20 million in damages. Watson, from Hampton Farms corporate headquarters in Severn, N.C., was on the scene in Portales last week. He said one Hampton Farms worker was injured in the blaze. "He wa...
With recent incidents of earthquakes in the New York City area and in Taiwan I got to thinking about earthquakes in my life. Ever since somewhere along life’s pathway someone told me that if you’re looking out over open fields during an earthquake you see the land quiver like a big lake on a choppy day, I’ve wanted to see that. But while I’ve been in a few earthquakes I’ve never actually gotten to appreciate that I was in one. Case in point, the 3-point-something quake that hit Roanoke, Va., around 1968. My grandpare...
The annual Clovis Music Festival kicks off a three-night run Thursday with a “Spectacular” show. That’s what it’s called: the Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular. “Pink Floyd music is off the charts. Nobody has ever duplicated them. The show name is probably exactly what it’s going to be -- spectacular,” said Robyn Snowberger, chair of the festival’s executive board. Snowberger said all three nights feature acts for the entire family. The Laser Spectacular begins at 7 p.m. Thursday. Micky and The Motorcars open for Kip Moore start...
Steve Baldock will be directing the Clovis Community Band next Sunday as he's been doing for years. The free concert is set for 3 p.m. at Clovis Community College's Town Hall. The theme is "Afternoon at the Movies." If you listen to Baldock's story of his life it's apparent music has been important to him since he was young. Baldock talked with The News Tuesday about his life and times. Q: Where were you born? And what brought you to Clovis? A: I was born in Dumas, Texas. My...
No announcement was made concerning a new president for Clovis Community College at the conclusion of Wednesday’s regular meeting of the college’s Board of Trustees. “The board is looking forward to making an announcement on the new president for Clovis Community College in the not too distant future,” Board Chair Lora Harlan told The News after the session. Robin Jones is CCC’s interim president. Jones has been interim president in the wake of the resignation of Charles Nwankwo last year; she plans on retiring July 1. F...
A plane crashed a little after 4 p.m. Monday at Portales Municipal Airport, but no injuries were reported. According to a news release from Portales Fire Chief T.J. Cathey, the Portales Fire Department responded to the scene with five units. Cathey said the three people in the plane are from Texas. “They had stopped at the Portales airport to refuel,” Cathey told The News Wednesday. Cathey had no additional information on the identity of the pilot or passengers. “I just know they weren’t from here, they were headed home,...
Concerns have been raised by the overseers of Clovis’ Norman Petty Studios over the use of the Petty name and other points by the Clovis-Curry County Chamber of Commerce. “It has come time to draw a line in the sand. I’m writing to let you (and others) know that we are not working with the Chamber and do not approve of the actions they are taking in association with our intellectual property and items,” Greg Walker wrote in a letter to Clovis City Manager Justin Howalt that was obtained by The News. Walker is managin...
