Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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I see the little black dress dangling from a hanger in my daughter’s closet. I see the shimmering rhinestones making an elegant pattern across the otherwise bare back. I close my eyes and sense memories it will hold: Memories of prom ... Laura’s senior-year prom. On Saturday night, my hita goes to her senior prom. It’s only one in a handful of emotional events signaling the end of Laura’s high school days and a newfound freedom that expectantly will come as she and my niece, Crystal, cross these milestones. I’ve been thin... Full story
Armed with trashbags, gloves, fluorescent-colored vests, and in many cases, donuts, dozens of Portales citizens were up early on Saturday morning to help clean up the town during the eighth annual Great American Clean-Up. Approximately 17 organizations showed up with crews to pick up litter along the Clovis and Roswell highways, around town and in city parks. As Leroy Thomas helped more than a dozen Portales Rotary Club members pick up trash along U.S. 70, filling up a trailer bed full of bags in the process, he said, “It i... Full story
Post offices around the country will be postmarking income tax returns up until midnight on Tuesday, helping last-minute filers make the April 15 federal tax filing deadline. “We won’t be open until that time, but we’ll make sure that anything dropped into our mail drop until midnight gets postmarked. We’ll check the maildrop at midnight,” said Portales Postmaster Leanne Johnson. Meanwhile, around town, tax preparers are urging people to get those income tax returns filed as soon as possible, and with good reason. Besides t... Full story
Post offices around the country will be postmarking income tax returns up until midnight on Tuesday night, helping last-minute filers make the April 15 federal tax filing deadline. “We won’t be open until that time, but we’ll make sure that anything dropped into our mail drop until midnight gets postmarked. We’ll check the maildrop at midnight,” said Portales Postmaster Leanne Johnson. Meanwhile, around town, tax preparers are urging people to get those income tax returns filed as soon as possible, and with good reason. B...
Here’s another great reason to countdown to April 15. Besides it being Tax Day on Tuesday — whoopie — and Mom’s birthday — hooray — it’s also the day Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the United States. This will be his first visit to the U.S. as pope, and it will be the first papal visit to the U.S. since his predecessor, our beloved Pope John Paul II, came in 1999. Next week will also mark the first papal visit to this country since Sept. 11, 2001. What does the Pope’s historic visit mean for Catholi...
It wasn’t like reefer madness in the 1960s, when officials tried to scare people away from using drugs. This was the real deal. That’s what Jennifer Lockwood, a licensed mental health counselor with Mental Health Resources in Portales said on Thursday night after watching, “Crystal Darkness,” a 30-minute, commercial-free documentary about methamphetamine, which aired statewide following the evening news. “This was not a scare tactic. This was just enough to get people talking,” Lockwood said. “Because the thing about it is t... Full story
It was the real thing this time! A 24-inch water main rupture flooded some downtown streets in Portales on Monday, making it look like it had rained. But when residents awoke on Wednesday morning to water-filled streets, it was the result of an unexpected downpour. And it was the city’s first and only rainfall for the year, adding up to a mere, but much-welcomed quarter of an inch of rain. On Wednesday afternoon, Shannon Hearn of the KENW-TV Broadcast Center, which tracks local rainfall, said that the center recorded 0.25 o...
As visitors drive to or through the village of Floyd a sign reads: “Welcome to Floyd. Home of the Floyd Broncos and home of the Floyd Lion’s Club Country Jamboree.” Now villagers can add home of the Class 1A state champion cheerleaders, to their... Full story
Name that radio station. That’s the name of a contest under way to name the student-run radio station at Eastern New Mexico which recently learned that it’s previous name, KZIA, is already taken. The still unnamed radio station can be heard via the school’s intranet from anywhere on the ENMU campus. Wednesday is the deadline for the station naming contest which may feature a four-letter combination of call letters or a two-word phrase, such as “The Place” or “The Wave.” According to Christopher Stasheff, an associate pro...
The case of a home invasion this past week in which an elderly woman was brutally beaten has many residents uneasy and remembering two other seemingly-recent high profile incidents of violence against senior citizens. Although three suspects were arrested on Tuesday for the assault and battery against an 82-year-old woman, Jo Ann Vickers, fears and worries remain. Capt. Lonnie Berry of the Portales Police Department said he has been flooded with calls and concerns, and on Thursday, the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office...
Pride in Portales. That’s the motto for the eighth annual Great American Clean-Up and that’s what Amy Franz hopes will motivate people to come out on Saturday, pick up a trash bag and help clean up the town. “Pride in Portales. I really want that to stick in people’s brain. If we all take pride in it, we will take care of our community,” said Franz, the public relations and Clean & Beautiful coordinator for the City of Portales. Franz hopes the event, which drew about 300 people last year, will draw just as much, if not mo... Full story
When my daughter Laura was a toddler, she would say, “When I grow up, I’m going to smoke cigarettes and do income taxes like grandma!” Laura would sit on the couch next to Mom, with one of Mom’s calculators in hand, and wearing play reading glasses, she would scribble on an income tax form while Mom worked on actual income tax returns. Laura doesn’t smoke, thankfully, and she hasn’t learned how to do income taxes yet. I never expected to do income taxes for other people either, let alone for myself. Mom was always the...
When my daughter Laura was a toddler, she would say, “When I grow up, I’m going to smoke cigarettes and do income taxes like grandma!” Laura would sit on the couch next to Mom, with one of Mom’s calculators in hand, and wearing play reading glasses, she would scribble on an income tax form while Mom worked on actual income tax returns. Laura doesn’t smoke, thankfully, and she hasn’t learned how to do income taxes yet. I never expected to do income taxes for other people either, let alone for myself. Mom was always the... Full story
Freedom New Mexico: Helena Rodriguez (Left to right) Dolly Salas of Portales, Rosemary Nance of Clovis and Jodi Fulton of Portales sample some food made during Kitchen Creations Cooking School for Diabetics and Their Families at ENMU in Portales. Janelle Newberry of Portales doesn’t have diabetes, but her 3-year-old grandson does, and that’s one reason she’s attending the Kitchen Creations Cooking School for Diabetics and Their Families. Newberry said she has to stop and consciously think about what to make when she cooks...
Flying books. Slamming doors. A thumping heart. A chair that rocks by itself. A floating skeleton. These are just some of the special effects in Dora High School’s drama production, “The Beating Heart.” The free, one-night only performance is a historical gothic story which fine arts teacher and drama director, Nancy Jones, describes as “Scary in the traditional sense.” The play is set in the deep South during the Civil War and revolves around a photograph of a young woman as a college history major travels to the woman’s l...
In a former life, I was a restaurant critic. Yum! Sounds like an appetizing job, right? Well, this was not always the case. I eventually discovered that one man’s chicken is another man’s tuna. What I really mean is, one reporter’s good restaurant experience one day can be one editor’s bad restaurant experience on another day. You get the idea! This seemingly easy job was not always as easy, or tasty, as it sounds. For one thing, we only printed the restaurant reviews of the restaurants we liked. I still got paid for eating...
Norma Rey Vazquez de Houdek does not advocate gun control. That is a political issue. She says she is concerned about the people issue. New Mexico ranks fourth in the nation for teen suicides, losing one person a day. “When we live in a state that is so diverse, like New Mexico, guns are a part of our culture, especially with hunting,” said Vazquez de Houdek, a youth suicide prevention coordinator with the New Mexico Department of Health. “I do not advocate gun control. What I say is, ‘If you own a gun, most adolesc...
PORTALES — Norma Rey Vazquez de Houdek does not advocate gun control. That is a political issue. She is concerned about the people issue. New Mexico ranks fourth in the nation for teen suicides, losing one person a day. “When we live in a state that is so diverse, like New Mexico, guns are a part of our culture, especially with hunting,” said Vazquez de Houdek, a youth suicide prevention coordinator with the New Mexico Department of Health. “I do not advocate gun control. What I say is, ‘If you own a gun, most adolesc... Full story
In a former life, I was a restaurant critic. Yum! Sounds like an appetizing job, right? Well, this was not always the case. I eventually discovered that one man’s chicken is another man’s tuna. What I really mean is, one reporter’s good restaurant experience one day can be one editor’s bad restaurant experience on another day. You get the idea! This seemingly easy job was not always as easy, or tasty, as it sounds. For one thing, we only printed the restaurant reviews of the restaurants we liked. I still got paid for eating... Full story
Not even a tornado could keep people away from the annual Floyd Country Jamboree last year, but attendance was noticeably down in 2007 when twisters struck Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties on March 23. Last year’s jamboree ran from March 21-25, with the tornadoes striking on the Friday night of the jamboree. The 58th annual Floyd Country Jamboree kicks off on Thursday with a slate of 23 acts, comprised mostly of returning performers, but with a few new ones as well. Dave Nash will be the returning master of ceremonies. T...
On this Easter Sunday, messages of hope, courage and faith will reign as Christians fill up church pews to celebrate what they believe is one of the most transforming events in recorded times — the reported resurrection of Jesus Christ more than 2,000 years ago. The following are snippets of what a few local pastors will share with their congregations during their special Easter sermons: First Baptist Church, Dave McFadden, pastor McFadden’s sermon is entitled, “Responses to the Resurrection.” During the churc...
Margaret Waters doesn’t just read history. She re-enacts it and brings it alive, as she did on Thursday at the Portales Public Library when she presented her one-woman impersonation of “Ma’am Jones of the Pecos.” Barbara Culp Jones, better known as Ma’am Jones, was a pioneer woman from the mid- and late 1800s who epitomizes the diverse and demanding roles played by all pioneer woman of the time. She experienced, first-hand, the Lincoln County War, cattle rustling and other dangers on the open ranges of eastern New Mexico. ...
Planning ahead has helped an Eastern New Mexico University student and professor beat high airfare this spring break. For other students, high gas prices aren’t enough to keep them home, but many are carpooling. Spring break has finally arrived. All local students, from elementary and high school to college-age, will enjoy a week vacation from the books beginning on Monday. Spring Break runs from March 24-28, with school bells scheduled to ring again on March 31. For many, spring break will be a time of fun in the sun. For o...
This afternoon, an Eastern New Mexico University student, Daniela Garcia, will leave for Roswell, where she and her family will then drive to Chimayo, joining thousands of other pilgrims in the famous Good Friday pilgrimage. Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the world flock to the small Northern New Mexico town of Chimayo and faithfully walk a trek, with the Sangre de Cristo mountains as a backdrop. The trek ends at El Santuario, the site of a historic church built almost 200 years ago that is said to... Full story
Maypole has been a proud tradition at Portales High School for 79 years. But what to do with those pastel-colored, “Gone With the Wind” style dresses which just hang in the closet after the winding? And what to do with those glitzy prom dresses that also only get worn for one big night? The Portales High School Student Council sponsored its first Prom and Maypole Dress Exchange at the PHS Cafeteria on Wednesday night. Although turnout was light, Vicki Huber, the PHS student body president, hopes the dress exchange will bec...
