Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS — As Clovis MainStreet’s Food Truck Friday has proved to be a popular option for Clovis residents over the last few months, the city’s parks and recreation committee wants a little less light on the subject. Members of the Parks, Beautification and Recreation Committee on Monday approved what would be a joint grant application to put shade structures on the county-owned lot on the 800 block of Mitchell Street. City Manager Justin Howalt said the $50,000 grant from Outdoor Recreation Trails would require a 50% match...
CLOVIS — Curry County’s financial advisor told commissioners Tuesday morning not much has changed regarding the county’s investment portfolio. Everything else, on the other hand ... Rob Burpo addressed commissioners for roughly 30 minutes on a variety of impacts they can expect to see over the next few years, with the nation still in the COVID-19 pandemic and a swath of federal stimulus measures and private industry dealing with labor and materials shortages. Burpo said when you go to your local Applebee’s or Chili’s, the per...
CLOVIS - With a fist bump to greet everybody and slightly crossed fingers, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan updated Clovis and Curry County leaders Monday on what a $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill could mean going forward. In an hour-long meeting at the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce, New Mexico's junior senator said the House of Representatives was still debating the measure, which passed the Senate last week on a 69-30 vote. Both chambers would have to hammer out...
CLOVIS - The sights and the sounds of the Curry County Fair were back, right up to the carnival lights and the rainstorms that seem to RSVP for mid-August at the county fairgrounds. The staple was back as well Friday in the Curry County Events Center, as county youth saw their year of raising animals pay off at the junior livestock sale. The 2021 sale, when all was said and done, raised $390,000 between 89 animals who made their way in and out of the show pen on the east side...
CLOVIS — Clovis Community College trustees signed off Thursday on the latest step of an Enterprise Resource Planning and Student Information System between five New Mexico colleges CCC President Charles Nwankwo characterized as the future of higher education. Following a lengthy description from various partners and the Collaborative for Higher Education Shared Services (CHESS) nonprofit set up for the process, trustees unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between CCC, Central New Mexico Community College, S...
PORTALES - Thursday's groundbreaking of the latest Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System phase had the elements of any other groundbreaking, with the speeches, the shovels and the hardhats that serve only as decoration. But the palpable feeling in Portales, the next stop on the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority, was that the event was more of a family reunion. The latest phase in the Interim Groundwater Project, Finished Water 3A, will begin the roughly 16-mile trek...
CLOVIS — In a lengthy special board meeting, the Clovis Municipal Schools Board of Education took a stand on the importance of local control in the aftermath of more than a year of directives from the Public Education Department. But it did not take the step of opposing those directives as the school year approaches. By a 4-0 vote Friday, board members approved a resolution stating opposition to one-size-fits-all approaches by the state, while supporting local decision-making authority and opposing “executive action that res...
PORTALES — After plenty of haggling and some striking of clauses, the Roosevelt County Commission approved its ordinance dealing with cannabis manufacturing, sale and consumption. The ordinance, approved during a two-hour meeting Tuesday, only covers the unincorporated parts of the county. Any cannabis manufacture, sale and consumption within Portales city limits falls to the Portales City Council and the ordinance it will discuss in its Aug. 24 meeting. The News covered the meeting virtually. According to the ordinance: ...
SANTA FE — The Public Education Commission on Wednesday suspended the five board members for Floyd Municipal Schools for voting to disregard COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming school year. The department also reinstated Superintendent Damon Terry, stating in its release Terry refused to carry out the board’s wishes. The board placed Terry on paid administrative leave Monday night. Board President Leon Nall told The News the board did not have a disagreement with Terry and placed him on leave to protect him. Suspended alo...
PORTALES — The Portales City Council approved introduction of an ordinance setting parameters for cannabis manufacture, sale and consumption, but it’s anticipate the final ordinance may be a little less restrictive than what was presented Tuesday night. Councilors will look over the ordinance and determine if any changes are needed prior to a vote for final approval at the Aug. 24 meeting. City officials have stressed the importance of having the ordinance in effect before the state opens up the application process Sept. 1....
CLOVIS — Curry County Commissioners took nearly two hours Friday looking at ways it could govern the production, sale and consumption of recreational cannabis in the county’s unincorporated areas. And the one thing that was obvious at the end, with the state’s guidelines still pending, is that plenty is still unknown. “It’s going to be a learning process for all of us,” Commissioner Robert Sandoval said. “We’re going to have to grow (our knowledge) as we go.” The News covered the session virtually. County Attorney Steve Do...
FLOYD — The Floyd School Board didn't change its mind about implementing state-mandated COVID-19 mandates Monday night, and it doesn't plan on going anywhere after declining to follow them. With an audience encouraging them to hold firm, board members declined to reverse their July 26 votes to make face coverings, social distancing and other COVID protocols optional at Floyd Municipal Schools. Instead, the board unanimously voted to place Superintendent Damon Terry on paid a...
CLOVIS — With encouragement from Mayor Mike Morris to be “the extra eyes and ears” for law enforcement, Clovis city officials restarted an effort for neighborhood watch programs Monday night. The town hall, which was covered virtually by The News, went about 20 minutes. Morris began the town hall by noting Clovis wasn’t without its problems, its citizens support law enforcement and neighbors look out for each other. A neighborhood watch program, he said, aligns those traits. Morris was confident many Clovis residents already...
CLOVIS - Community leaders on Wednesday celebrated the launch of the community's new brand, slogan and a promotion they hope will make Clovis a place where everybody knows your name. The Clovis Industrial Development Corporation and Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce played host Wednesday to a launch of the city's new brand, based on the slogan of, "heartfelt connections. endless horizons" Also announced Wednesday was the "hello! my name is ..." campaign, which will...
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., during a multi-day tour through the state, paid a visit Wednesday to New Mexico State University's Agricultural Science Center just outside of Clovis. Heinrich spoke with The News following the tour. Q: What are your immediate takeaways from the center tour? A: That we are just now starting to use agriculture as an additional tool, particularly as a climate tool. For years, we've been focused on energy. But land use and agriculture,...
CLOVIS — Based on the crowd at the Baxter-Curren Senior Center’s Thursday board and business meeting, it’s safe to say the center was missed during the year-plus shutdown forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the center’s first meeting of any type since the pandemic began, board members addressed a crowd of nearly 75 people with optimism for the months ahead and a picture of how the private-owned center would function when a new city senior center at Hillcrest Park opens sometime next year. Board President Jeff Greene led the...
PORTALES - The city of Portales has various awards, but it gave out one of its rarer ones Tuesday night to longtime City Clerk JoAnn Martinez-Terry. Mayor Pro Team Mike Miller presented Martinez-Terry with a 40-year service pin, marking her start date in 1981 - before two current councilors were born. Miller said he wasn't sure what the city would do without Martinez-Terry. "I'm sure you'd do fine," Martinez-Terry responded jokingly. She added the time with the city has been...
PORTALES — Wade Fraze addressed Roosevelt County commissioners Tuesday morning in a meeting room that was limited to a few other citizens, commissioners and county employees. And that was exactly the problem. Fraze, a teacher at Portales High School, came to the podium on behalf of a group of citizens requesting the commission move its 9 a.m. meetings to 6 p.m. The News covered the meeting virtually. Fraze said 9 a.m. meetings aren’t realistic for those who want to take part in the process, whether that’s attending or runni...
PORTALES - Tony Hoops knows taking the athletic director position at Eastern New Mexico University would be a difficult job, in some ways different and some ways similar to the rebuilding job he took on at alma mater Bethel College five years ago. But he recalled the feeling when Bethel finished dead last in the 2016 Kansas College Athletic Conference Commissioner's Cup standings with 38.5 points, 101 behind first place Friends University. And that made this year, when Bethel...
CLOVIS — In its third and final meeting, the Clovis Charter Review Committee put forth three changes that could be coming to a ballot near you. The advisory committee closed out its Tuesday evening meeting by approving three recommendations to the Clovis City Commission: • Eliminate a section limiting municipal officials to two elected terms. The section is unenforceable due to a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling calling term limits an improper election requirement for municipal offices. • Edit the charter to remove any refer...
If there's a silver lining to be found in a delay of Smoke on the Water to Saturday, it's that eastern New Mexico essentially gets to treat the next seven days as Independence Week. After a year off due to the pandemic, Portales will celebrate Independence Day tonight with a 9:30 p.m. fireworks show at the City Softball Complex on Industrial Drive. Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry said the show should be about 15 minutes, and he advises...
CLOVIS — In what certainly felt like a no-brainer based on the weather outside, Curry County commissioners decided against extending a ban on specific fireworks ahead of the July 4 weekend. The commission, citing drought conditions, in its June 1 meeting enacted the fireworks ban, with the knowledge they’d discuss the matter again at the Tuesday meeting. By the time commissioners arrived to the meeting, they were greeted with rain in three of the last four days and predictions of more rain throughout the week. County Fir...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University should expect to know its new athletic director in the next few days, Chancellor Patrice Caldwell told ENMU regents during their Saturday afternoon meeting. Entering the Saturday meeting, the college had brought three of its four candidates onto the campus. The fourth, Bethel College Athletic Director Tony Hoops, will have two Wednesday morning public events — an 8:30 a.m. meet-and-greet at Courthouse Cafe, followed by a 9:30 a.m. public Q&A at Greyhound Arena Room 7. Candidates who...
CLOVIS - Nobody said, "This is why we can't have nice things." But the sentiment was more than palpable during a discussion of public bathrooms at Clovis' various parks Monday night. The frustrating topic of bathroom vandalism took center stage during a lengthy Parks, Recreation and Beautification meeting at Roy Walker Recreation Center, with Parks and Recreation Director Russell Hooper telling committee members the problem is constant. The more features a bathroom has, like l...
PORTALES - Nate Davis has a simple philosophy for every aspect of college athletics. "Be a good teammate," said Davis, senior associate athletic director at Pittsburg State Wednesday morning on the Eastern New Mexico University campus. Davis is seeking to be the top teammate as one of four candidates for the college's vacant athletic director position. Davis was the second to go through the on-campus interview process. The university last week interviewed former University of...
