Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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The spirit of Christmas is in giving rather than receiving. I must confess though, that being on the receiving end has made for some memorable Christmas gifts. Like many parents, Mom and Dad liked to surprise us girls with special toys. But after peeking into Mom’s stash of yet-to-be-wrapped gifts one year, the real surprise came when a Honeyhill Bunch dollhouse that I thought was destined for someone else ended up being mine. Imagine my joy when I ripped open the wrapping paper and saw that cute dollhouse, which had been t...
I get carried away with Christmas spirit. My daughter Laura rolls her eyes, calls me a Christmas freak and blushes in embarrassment when I pull up to her work with waving Santas on my car. Yes, I like Christmas. No, I love Christmas. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year, I mean, once I get my tree and decorations up, get all of my final exams out of the way and get my Christmas cards in the mail. I get a little loco with Christmas spirits, I mean yuletide drunkenness. Amidst all of this decked out craziness, though... Full story
Mom called to tell me recently that Dad found an old set of my car keys. Judging by her description, they didn’t sound familiar. She handed them to me a few days later, though, and memories reawakened. “Here!” Mom handed me a set of rusty keys held on to a familiar black power lock box with worn out buttons, buttons that were notably fewer in number than my current car power lock device. The old car had power locks, but not power windows, unless you count the arm muscle required near the end of this car’s life as one had to m...
Mom called to tell me recently that Dad found an old set of my car keys. Judging by her description, they didn’t sound familiar. She handed them to me a few days later, though, and memories reawakened. “Here!” Mom handed me a set of rusty keys held on to a familiar black power lock box with worn out buttons, buttons that were notably fewer in number than my current car power lock device. The old car had power locks, but not power windows, unless you count the arm muscle required near the end of this car’s life as one had to m...
Have you ever thought, “There ought to be a law against that?” Like when people follow you too closely in their shopping carts at Wal-Mart or when they raise Pittsburgh Steelers flags here in Cowboys Country? There are no laws against being stupid or annoying, unless you count excessive telemarketing, in which case you have to go through the trouble of subscribing to a “Do Not Call List” to avoid, but which, as I have found, telemarketers can still get around. Maybe that is a good thing, though. Afterall, many of us, myself...
Have you ever thought, “There ought to be a law against that?” Like when people follow you too closely in their shopping carts at Wal-Mart or when they raise Pittsburgh Steelers flags here in Cowboys Country? There are no laws against being stupid or annoying, unless you count excessive telemarketing, in which case you have to go through the trouble of subscribing to a “Do Not Call List” to avoid, but which, as I have found, telemarketers can still get around. Maybe that is a good thing, though. Afterall, many of us, myself... Full story
The Thanksgiving turkey has turned into the day-after-Thanksgiving-green-chile-turkey-enchiladas. Yum! But just because we’re feasting on leftovers today doesn’t mean I’m offering leftover thanks from yesterday. Thanksgiving should continue, or at least it should begin anew, and be a year-round process. This is not gobbledygook. I truly intend to give constant thanks to The Man Upstairs. What I thought was a year of frustrations has turned out to be a year of blessings in disguise and a year of answered prayers. He alway... Full story
The Thanksgiving turkey has turned into the day-after-Thanksgiving-green-chile-turkey-enchiladas. Yum! But just because we’re feasting on leftovers today doesn’t mean I’m offering leftover thanks from yesterday. Thanksgiving should continue, or at least it should begin anew, and be a year-round process. This is not gobbledygook. I truly intend to give constant thanks to The Man Upstairs. What I thought was a year of frustrations has turned out to be a year of blessings in disguise and a year of answered prayers. He alway...
With the holidays upon us and with the outrageous cost of gasoline expected to get even more pocket-heavy, here are some tips to help save gas. As Americans, our response to possible resource shortages has been typical with these latest gasoline hikes, which are at unbelievable $3.15 a gallon. We’ve continued on with business as usual. It’s starting to really hit where it hurts, though, and if you’re like me, you’re rethinking those late-night trips to the store to satisfy snack-food cravings and you’re coming up with craz... Full story
Didn’t think the Writer’s Guild of America strike in Hollywood would affect you? Well, in support of my fellow writers, who I’m sure are likewise grossly underpaid and underappreciated for their sarcasm and — occasionally intellectually profound words of wisdom — this local columnist is joining them on the picket line. Consequently, or perhaps fortunately, you readers in Newspaper Land will have to read column reprints until my editors and I work out an agreement for higher pay, royalties for Internet postings and a cut of...
I’m going on strike. Didn’t think the Writer’s Guild of America strike in Hollywood would affect you? Well, in support of my fellow writers, who I’m sure are likewise grossly underpaid and underappreciated for their sarcasm and — occasionally intellectually profound words of wisdom — this local columnist is joining them on the picket line. Consequently, or perhaps fortunately, you readers in Newspaper Land will have to read column reprints until my editors and I work out an agreement for higher pay, royalties for Internet po...
It’s a little hard saying goodbye to the 505. On the surface, it’s just a three-digit area code for our Land of Entrapment, I mean Land of Enchantment. But the 505 is also a mentality. This area code change is literally going to split our state in half, if politicians haven’t already done that. What next? People may start thinking our fair New Mexico is not even one of the 50 states. When our new area code, 575, starts taking full effect a year from now, some people will probably be pushing “1” before it, thinking it’s an i...
It’s a little hard saying goodbye to the 505. On the surface, it’s just a three-digit area code for our Land of Entrapment, I mean Land of Enchantment. But the 505 is also a mentality. This area code change is literally going to split our state in half, if politicians haven’t already done that. What next? People may start thinking our fair New Mexico is not even one of the 50 states. When our new area code, 575, takes full effect a year from now, some people will probably be pushing “1” before it, thinking it’s an internat... Full story
The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE — The Albuquerque Journal and the Clovis News Journal took daily newspaper general excellence honors Saturday in the New Mexico Press Association contest. The Rio Grande Sun and the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle won general excellence awards for weekly papers. The Clovis News Journal collected 17 awards. Including honorable mentions, Freedom New Mexico claimed 31 awards between its three publications — the Clovis News Journal, the Portales News-Tribune and the Quay County Sun — and Front...
Staff and wire reports ALBUQUERQUE — The Albuquerque Journal and the Clovis News Journal took daily newspaper general excellence honors Saturday in the New Mexico Press Association contest. The Rio Grande Sun and the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle won general excellence awards for weekly papers. The Portales News-Tribune collected eight awards. Including honorable mentions, Freedom New Mexico won 31 awards between its three publications — the News-Tribune, the Clovis News Journal and the Quay County Sun — and Fronteras, its free...
Diet commercials used to start in January, after people gained five pounds from holiday binging. Now they begin before the Thanksgiving turkey. Maybe they should run before Halloween. That’s when sweets appear in bulk. Halloween is like the pre-holiday kick-off, but there are no fat busters screaming over the television to just say no to tempting chunks of chocolate. Even bite-sized candy bars have gotten smaller, but the catch is more people seem to be giving them out these days, and in greater quantities. It’s like tho... Full story
Diet commercials used to start in January, after people gained five pounds from holiday binging. Now they begin before the Thanksgiving turkey. Maybe they should run before Halloween. That’s when sweets appear in bulk. Halloween is like the pre-holiday kick-off, but there are no fat busters screaming over the television to just say no to tempting chunks of chocolate. Even bite-sized candy bars have gotten smaller, but the catch is more people seem to be giving them out these days, and in greater quantities. It’s like tho...
I remember when a new priest, Father Juan Montoya, came to Portales in the 1980s. At the end of his first Mass he said, “Now let’s go home and do some gringo house cleaning!” I’m not exactly sure what he meant by that. I think he meant some deep spring cleaning. Anyway, his words came to my mind last Saturday when I woke up and announced to my daughter Laura that it was cleaning day. Our place was overdue for some serious sweeping, mopping, scrubbing and vacuuming. Call it pre-holiday cleaning. Naturally, Laura grumble...
I remember when a new priest, Father Juan Montoya, came to Portales in the 1980s. At the end of his first Mass he said, “Now let’s go home and do some gringo house cleaning!” I’m not exactly sure what he meant by that. I think he meant some deep spring cleaning. Anyway, his words came to my mind last Saturday when I woke up and announced to my daughter Laura that it was cleaning day. Our place was overdue for some serious sweeping, mopping, scrubbing and vacuuming. Call it pre-holiday cleaning. Naturally, Laura grumble...
I’ve heard both sides of the Confederate flag debate, once as a student participating in an online intercultural communication class discussion, and last summer, as an instructor teaching an Upward Bound class in multicultural history. In both debates, the overwhelming consensus was the Confederate flag is more divisive and is more commonly associated with past racism and slavery than it is, as some supporters of the flag say, a symbol of Southern pride or even as a pop symbol of rebellion. This flag has more negative than p...
I’ve heard both sides of the Confederate flag debate, once as a student participating in an online intercultural communication class discussion, and last summer, as an instructor teaching an Upward Bound class in multicultural history. In both debates, the overwhelming consensus was the Confederate flag is more divisive and is more commonly associated with past racism and slavery than it is, as some supporters of the flag say, a symbol of Southern pride or even as a pop symbol of rebellion. This flag has more negative than p...
I was a little saddened to hear that Father Benedict Begin passed away on Sept. 27. At first the name didn’t ring a bell, but then I thought “Father Ben.” Father Ben had been one of my favorite priests, only I didn’t realize it back then, when he was pastor of St. Helen’s Catholic Church in the 1970s and 1980s. I probably went a couple of decades without even thinking about Father Ben after he left Portales. The timing of his death was somewhat coincidental, though, because Father Ben’s name has come up a couple of times re...
I was a little saddened to hear that Father Benedict Begin passed away on Sept. 27. At first the name didn’t ring a bell, but then I thought “Father Ben.” Father Ben had been one of my favorite priests, only I didn’t realize it back then, when he was pastor of St. Helen’s Catholic Church in the 1970s and 1980s. I probably went a couple of decades without even thinking about Father Ben after he left Portales. The timing of his death was somewhat coincidental, though, because Father Ben’s name has come up a couple of times re...
No one has come right out and said it, but I know my daughter is a commodity right now. An economic good. A product. Something of value. Maybe even a commission to someone. My daughter Laura is a high school senior this year and Uncle Sam is just one of the many people standing in line trying to recruit her. Add to that many colleges and universities, and I’m expecting the credit card companies to start bidding for their piece of the pie, too. Laura went to a college fair last week at Eastern New Mexico University, where r...
No one has come right out and said it, but I know my daughter is a commodity right now. An economic good. A product. Something of value. Maybe even a commission to someone. My daughter Laura is a high school senior this year and Uncle Sam is just one of the many people standing in line trying to recruit her. Add to that many colleges and universities, and I’m expecting the credit card companies to start bidding for their piece of the pie, too. Laura went to a college fair last week at Eastern New Mexico University, where r...
