Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS - Curry County commissioners took little action on Tuesday, but weighed in on a number of issues it wants state lawmakers to consider. The resolutions express the commission's positions, but have no force of law. One bill county commissioners oppose: House Bill 26, which would lower fees for public records requests from $1 per page to 10 cents per page. "We sometimes get requests for emails dating back for six months on a particular subject or video footage, etc., and...
CLOVIS - At Clovis High School, there's no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen. Students from the CHS ProStart class, which teaches students the basics of cooking, will travel to Albuquerque on Monday to take part in the annual New Mexico ProStart Invitational, a statewide cooking and restaurant management competition for high schoolers. "It tests their skills and it shows their determination, their teamwork, just so many different things," teacher Diane Chapman said...
PORTALES — The Eastern New Mexico University board of regents is once again fully staffed as Curry County Manager Lance Pyle and ENMU student Joseph Gergel III were among the nine appointments to higher education boards across the state announced Thursday by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. Prior to his appointment, Pyle, a 2004 ENMU graduate, served as the treasurer for the ENMU Alumni Association, a position he will now be resigning from, he told The News. “I am very excited and humbled of the appointment by Gov. Lujan Gri...
CLOVIS - The Clovis Municipal Schools Board of Education formally approved several aspects of its search for the district's next superintendent during Tuesday's meeting. According to the timeline approved by the board, the district will advertise the position in March, choose finalists by April 10, interview finalists by April 13 and then select the new superintendent on April 23, with a projected cost of $9,550, not including advertising. "This is very fast paced, a little bi...
PORTALES - Dozens of high school students were punching and hitting each other on the Eastern New Mexico University campus on Friday. But don't worry. It wasn't part of an underground fight club. The violence was pretend, part of the 64th annual high school drama festival, which drew a little over 400 students from all around the state to take part in the student-sponsored event that provides critiques, workshops, audition and scholarship opportunities for high school drama...
CLOVIS — Curry County’s newest district 1 commissioner will be a familiar face. Robert Sandoval was appointed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to fill the vacancy on Monday. Sandoval was a county commissioner for eight years, from 2006 to 2014, when he was term-limited from running again. He was also appointed to the Clovis City Commission in 2003 following the death of Robert Moreno and served until his retirement in 2016, winning three re-election bids. “The Governor believes Robert O. Sandoval had the best credentials out o...
PORTALES — The month before it is set to open, the Portales City Council approved a commercial application for the Best Western Plus located at 223 W. Second Street, also known as the Portales Inn. Public Works Director John DeSha said council approval is required for businesses expected to use more than 100,000 gallons of water a month. Based on other hotels’ water use in the community, the Portales Inn is expected to use about 125,000 to 135,000 gallons a month. Councilor Jim Lucero on Thursday asked about the timing of...
CLOVIS -While there were seven action items on the agenda for Tuesday's Curry County Commission meeting, an item on Thursday's Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority agenda dominated much of the discussion at the three-hour meeting. ENMWUA Executive Director Orlando Ortega and Clovis Mayor David Lansford, chairman of the authority, detailed a $15,000 contract with King Industries to address the water contamination issues near Cannon Air Force Base. The issue will be...
CLOVIS — While the longest shutdown in the history of the federal government ended late last month, its effects are still being felt by the Eastern Plains Council of Governments. EPCOG Executive Director Sandy Chancey told the board at its meeting on Wednesday that the closing of its rental property sale to J.L. Gray Co. was delayed due to the shutdown. Chancey said the projected closing date was Dec. 31 but was delayed because the company is utilizing federal funds for the purchase and was in the middle of the loan a...
SANTA FE — With the 60-day legislative session reaching its midpoint, legislators from eastern New Mexico last week reflected on the fast and furious pace and huge number of bills introduced. “I’m a freshman legislator, but I’ve been at the Roundhouse for 15 years straight and I’ve worked here a lot and it is enormously faster and more contentious than previous years,” said Jack Chatfield, R-Mosquero. According to Chatfield, the reason behind the rapid pace is simple. “We have money,” he said. Speaking of money, Rep. Ran...
PORTALES - The Portales Municipal Schools Board of Education approved a pair of grants totaling over $150,000 during Monday's meeting. Rick Segovia, director of federal programs, said the nearly $57,000 annual rural low income grant will go towards tutoring, summer school, credit recovery and other programs at the junior high and high school. The board also approved a $100,000 grant from the Gay Su Pinnell Education Foundation to go towards the district's literacy program,...
Earlier this month when the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee debated House Bill 31, one of several proposals to raise the state’s minimum wage being considered during the current legislative session, dozens of people from the restaurant industry took to Santa Fe to oppose the bill. A similar sentiment is felt in eastern New Mexico as several restaurant owners told The News that proposals to raise the minimum wage would devastate small businesses and restaurants, especially in rural parts of the state, t...
PORTALES — Mike Cone, chairman of the Roosevelt Soil and Water Conservation District, provided an update on the organization’s efforts during Tuesday’s Portales City Council meeting. Cone detailed the state entity’s shade balls project, small weighted plastic balls placed in livestock water tanks to counteract evaporation. He said measurements show that over a three-year span, 40,000 gallons of water could be saved on a 20-foot livestock tank by utilizing shade balls. Besides saving water, Cone said the shade balls also li...
CLOVIS — For the second time in three meetings, the Curry County Commission on Friday took action on a resolution related to bills being considered by the Legislature. The most recent act opposes several bills that would increase regulation on private gun transactions. While there have been several firearm-related measures taken up by the Legislature this session, the unanimously approved resolution 2019-15 specifically mentions the identical House Bill 8 and Senate Bill 8, which would establish a misdemeanor offense for n...
TEXICO — Both funding questions on the Texico Municipal Schools special election conducted via mail ballot were approved by Curry and Roosevelt County voters on Tuesday by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Officials said 1,036 ballots were sent out across both counties, with a final tally of 262 ballots cast, or 25.3 percent, which is considerably higher than the previous Texico Schools tax election in 2013 when just 3.8 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. The $2 million in general obligation bonds were approved 194-59 and the...
PORTALES — The Roosevelt County Commission took its first step toward negotiating a new shared services agreement with the city of Portales on Tuesday, selecting the commission’s vice chair Matthew Hunton to join County Manager Amber Hamilton in those negotiations. Last month the Portales City Council unanimously voted to terminate the existing joint powers agreement between the two municipalities covering the Portales Police Department’s use of a county-owned building, necessitating Tuesday’s selection by the commiss...
CLOVIS — You can add Clovis Christian Schools to the list of area schools that will have a new superintendent when students return to class in the fall. Superintendent Ladona Clayton confirmed to The News on Monday that she will be leaving the position at the end of the school year. “I believe I fulfilled my calling here at Clovis Christian Schools,” Clayton said. “It’s 10 years and I think that’s the best way I can state it ... It’s just time for me to seek a new direction, but I’m absolutely happy with the school.” Clayto...
CLOVIS - The Clovis Municipal Schools Board of Education will select the district's next superintendent on April 16, according to a timeline approved at Monday's special meeting. The board met for 40 minutes in an executive session before announcing its timeline to find a successor to Superintendent Jody Balch, who announced at the board's Jan. 22 meeting that he would be retiring at the end of the school year. In a motion made by member Shawn Hamilton, the board will contact...
Across the state of New Mexico and the entire country, several factors have brought down the number of high school and college students looking to enter the field of education. It’s created a nationwide teacher shortage that is affecting local school districts, especially Clovis Municipal Schools. According to the 2018 New Mexico Educator Vacancy Report prepared in October by the New Mexico State University College of Education Southwest Outreach Academic Research Lab: There were 33 percent fewer students completing educator...
Most of eastern New Mexico's NFL rooting interest was eliminated a few weeks ago in the second round of the playoffs when the Dallas Cowboys lost to the Los Angeles Rams. But when the Super Bowl between the Rams and the New England Patriots kicks off tonight, Dennis Maes of Clovis and Zac Harmon of Portales will be rooting for their favorite football team since childhood. Maes, 28, is a Rams fan. Born and raised in Clovis, Maes told The News on Friday that he probably would...
CLOVIS - With a sparkle in the air, hundreds of Clovis and Curry County business owners, elected officials and residents celebrated the work of chamber of commerce in 2018 during the organization's annual banquet on Friday at the Clovis Civic Center. The event's theme followed the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce's theme for 2018, #ClovisSparkle, and nearly a dozen people and business were recognized for the ways they make Clovis shine. Gail Tarson, the outgoing...
Some farmers and ranchers in eastern New Mexico are concerned about a bill being considered in the Legislature which would prohibit coyote killing contests, citing the effect on the coyote population and thus their businesses. Opponents to Senate Bill 76 say coyote contests, generally multi-day events designed to kill large numbers of coyotes by offering rewards or prizes, are a necessary method to control the population of the predatory animal. Farmer and rancher Eva Woods, wife of Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview), told The...
With the calendar set to switch over to February, several area schools have events planned to celebrate Black History Month, starting with a kick-off at 11:30 on Friday at Eastern New Mexico University’s Campus Union Building (CUB). Damieanus Ochola, coordinator for African American Affairs at ENMU, said the university’s kick-off event is meant to raise awareness for all of the other activities scheduled for February, which begin on Feb. 6 with “Swahili Time.” Scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Sandia room in the CUB, Ochola,...
Two of eastern New Mexico’s higher education institutions have been recognized as Military Friendly schools for the 2019-20 school year. Clovis Community College received a gold award in the small community college category while Eastern New Mexico University earned designated status as a small public school. CCC President Becky Rowley said the college has received an award from the group over the past several years. “We’re really pleased and we’re going to continue to provide that high level of service,” Rowley said. Jef...
CLOVIS - Cowboy clothing and cell phones sound like their from two very different eras, but one Clovis business will be recignized for succesfully combining the two for close to a decade. El Caporal Western Wear, LLC will be one of 18 businesses around the state recognized on Monday at the 20th annual New Mexico Small Business Development Center Network Star Client Reception in Santa Fe. Dominique Chairez, assistant director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at...
