Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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On Sunday, I went to Lubbock and visited seven businesses. I felt safe at all of them, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, but I got my share of security theater. For those unfamiliar, that’s performing a clear gesture so people feel secure while doing nothing to accomplish meaningful security. Example: Two different stores put me in a 50-yard line with 6-foot markings to separate me from other customers, then made me walk by them when the next register opened. I thought about that Monday, when I photographed the A...
PORTALES - High school football brings with it plenty of nail biters, and plenty of three-touchdown victories. Fans at Greyhound Stadium saw both Friday night, as Portales topped Moriarty in one of the closest 21-0 victories imaginable. The visiting Pintos, coming off a 2-9 campaign in 2019, hardly looked the part and actually posted advantages of 202-198 in yardage and 11-9 in first downs. But Moriarty went 0-for-3 in the red zone, while the Rams went 1-for-1 and got a...
CLOVIS — Mayor Mike Morris volunteered to be the city’s potential representative on a steering committee for a land trust, and received a unanimous vote from the Clovis City Commission during an hourlong meeting Thursday night. The land trust is intended to help local entities navigate through a Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative effort at Cannon Air Force Base. The REPI program, offered by the Department of Defense, would in this case use federal dollars to incentivize landowners to convert water rights for...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico softball coach Kira Zeiter is admittedly all over the place in the days leading up to a season many people weren’t sure would happen, and fewer people thought would happen on Greyhound Softball Field. But here the Greyhounds are, hoping to built off of a promising albeit short second season under Zeiter. “The whole team is very excited,” Zeiter said. “It’s been about a year since we’ve been able to play a game. That anticipation has been growing.” It’s been less than a calendar year, but it feel...
CLOVIS — Curry County will have a steering committee to establish a land trust. Who exactly is on that trust is to be determined. County commissioners voted Tuesday to create a five-member board, comprised of two commissioners, a member of the Central Curry Soil and Water Conservation District member and two at-large members. The committee was set in motion at the commission’s meeting last Thursday, when it pressed forward on an engagement letter with Colorado attorney Peter Nichols to aid the county in land trust cre...
CLOVIS - Home at last. Sort of. The Curry County Commission, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began last March, met in person at its commission chambers on Tuesday. The three-hour meeting was not without its hiccups, but nothing that happened gave commissioners any concern they made the wrong decision. "I want to thank Lance (Pyle, county manager) for getting this going," Commissioner Chet Spear said. "The way it went today, I don't see why we couldn't continue...
CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission agreed in November to pair with the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority on hiring Colorado attorney Peter Nichols to help set up a land trust. Little has transpired since then, and the commission decided Thursday to rescind that agreement and create its own engagement letter for Nichols, which will include an in-person workshop to cover land trust goals and requirements. Commission Chairman Robert Thornton and Commissioner Chet Spear said there’s been talk of water conservation and...
CLOVIS — The Curry Commission took a stand on a pair of bills moving through the New Mexico Legislature Thursday, opposing a civil action measure and approving one on capital outlay. By a 5-0 vote at its Thursday meeting, the commission approved a resolution opposing House Bill 4, which creates a state civil rights act and prohibits a public body, or those acting on the public body’s behalf, from using qualified immunity as a defense of alleged act violations. According to the resolution, the county finds the original bil...
CLOVIS — Following a 90-minute executive session, the Clovis school board on Tuesday night voted to keep Superintendent Renee Russ at the helm through the 2022-23 school year with a one-year contract extension. The extension will keep Russ’ current salary of $159,120 in place, but board members said a future increase could happen provided other district employees receive them. Also, the board allowed Russ to carry over 30 days of leave, commensurate with other 12-month employees of the district. Board members voted 4-0 on...
CLOVIS — More than seven miles of pipeline, signed, sealed and delivered. That was the report from Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority Administrator Orlando Ortega, who reported he signed the certificate of completion Wednesday for the authority’s Finished Water 2 project. “This has been a good project,” Ortega said during the authority’s Thursday meeting at the Clovis-Carver Public Library, “with good people that guaranteed its success.” The project is part of the authority’s interim groundwater project, a pipe...
CLOVIS — A series of delays, both man-made and nature-driven, have slowed work for the city’s shooting range at Ned Houk Park. But City Manager Justin Howalt is optimistic the project won’t finish too long after its original projection of May’s end. Howalt told the Parks, Recreation and Beautification Committee on Monday evening that work was focused on clearing land for the facility’s roadway, main building and house for trap/skeet shooting. The two recent delays, Howalt said, have come from last week’s winter weather and...
PORTALES — Despite a pandemic-forced change in how it was conducted, Eastern New Mexico University reported a mostly clean audit for the previous fiscal year, as presented to its board of regents Friday morning. Vice President of Business Affairs Scott Smart, along with Audrey Jaramillo and Scott Eliason of Jaramillo Accounting Group, went over the recently completed audit before regents accepted it on a 3-0 vote. “Our financial condition remains relatively unchanged and our reserves continue to be healthy,” Smart said....
There was a mixture of confidence and relief across three local school districts Tuesday night, as voters passed bond measures in a series of three all-mail elections. Voters in Curry and Roosevelt counties approved bond or mil levy questions in all-mail elections that concluded Tuesday evening for the Clovis, Portales and Floyd school districts. Tax rates will not change for voters in any school district. Clovis’ election had a pair of questions. The first question to renew $10 million in bonds, last renewed in 2017, p...
CLOVIS - Defeated in their October effort to seek industrial revenue bonds through the city, a group of developers for a hotel in north Clovis made a second pitch Thursday with more favorable terms to the city. But the devil was in the deal, not the details, as the commission again rejected a temporary tax abatement for the Xenia project by a 5-2 vote. The project, when complete, will add 149 hotel rooms to the city and create 28 jobs. Chase Gentry, executive director of the...
CLOVIS - Megan Palla, and four other longtime community staples, were asked Thursday night why she would want to join the Clovis City Commission and fill its vacant District 4 position. "I'm a firm believer in the adage 'to whom much is given, much is expected,'" Palla said. "Clovis gave me my first home, Clovis gave me my first real job out of college, and Clovis has helped raise my family. This city has given much to me, and this is me giving back." The commission gave...
Snow, record cold and power outages left most eastern New Mexico and Texas Panhandle residents huddling at home early this week. Most schools closed Tuesday due to a mix of difficult weather conditions on the roads and controlled power outages in the morning. Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves said the challenges with most winter storms are inclement weather damaging power lines and transformers, but this week's difficulties are more fundamental. "What happened this (Tuesday)... Full story
CLOVIS - Eastern New Mexico was no exception to the smack of winter weather felt across the country over the weekend. Area snowfall totals from the weekend, according to the National Weather Service's Albuquerque office, were between 1.5 and 4 inches, with drifts reported up to four feet. The powder may stick around for the next few days, with a cold start to the week. The Clovis Municipal Airport reported a Monday morning low of minus-11. "The previous low was 0 degrees, we... Full story
CLOVIS - As Clovis High transitioned to hybrid learning for the first time this school year, Principal Jay Brady was asked the No. 1 school function he took for granted before COVID-safe protocols changed so many operations. "Lunch and breakfast," Brady said without hesitation Friday morning at his office, right after making morning announcements to the small group of students getting their first taste of CHS in-person learning. Beginning this week, the district is starting...
CLOVIS - Cold night. Warm hearts. In a parallel to the way COVID-19 has upended everyday life, Thursday's bout of nasty weather created a less than ideal night for an outdoor ceremony at Plains Regional Medical Center. But thanks to a few program alterations, and the PRMC employees' willingness to spend a few 25-degree minutes outside, a community parade was held to honor all those employees have done through nearly a year of the pandemic. The Clovis/Curry County Chamber of...
PORTALES - Monday night was like any other night in recent memory, but it sort of felt like Christmas Eve for the Portales school board. The board met in regular session Monday, the day before in-school learning began for all grades throughout the Portales school system. Since a state-mandated three-week spring break last March, students have largely been learning in remote settings. They'll still do so at least two days a week, with two separate in-person cohorts and a third...
Daniel Segars was always interested in fitness, even going back to his time as a three-sport athlete at Clovis High School. Suffice to say the 1999 CHS grad's interests have paid dividends. Segars, now a Seattle-area resident, co-owns Fitness Blender with his wife Kelli. The two struck a friendship as gym coworkers, got married a year after they started dating and became business partners as well. Their YouTube channel has grown in its 10-plus years to 6.5 million subscribers,...
Area legislators addressed Wednesday’s Clovis-Portales legislative breakfast with stories aplenty on just how strange it was to be in a legislative session where only legislators and staff were on site and everybody else was participating via electronic means. Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, said every arrival to a room feels like you’re the last person to find out the meeting was canceled. “Inside the building, it’s like a ghost town,” Rep. Randal Crowder, R-Clovis, said. “I can walk all the way through the hallway, ou...
CLOVIS — City commissioners on Thursday approved a name change from Clovis Municipal Airport to Clovis Regional Airport. Airport Director James Harris said the airport was already operating as a regional airport, with no other commercial flights offered within 100 miles, and the name would help drive more business to the airport. Commissioners voted 7-0 with Commissioner Helen Casaus making an offhand remark about possible flights to Dallas. Harris said staff was working on it, with Howalt noting an asterisk is needed because...
A team looking to establish legendary status will cross paths today with a team full of players who have reached that status already - albeit in a different place. In an unpredictable season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are some very familiar faces. The Kansas City Chiefs, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are looking for their second-consecutive championship. Standing in their way are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with quarterback Tom Brady making his 10th Super Bowl...
CLOVIS — Facing a 10-year renewal of a gross receipts tax to offset costs for the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System, Clovis City Commissioners on Thursday decided a little flexibility was a good tool to navigate unknown waters. The commission, by a 7-0 vote, renewed a 0.25% gross receipts tax first implemented in 2011, but added a qualifier that money acquired through the tax could go toward “other city of Clovis water projects.” The original tax was implemented with the caveat that money must go to the ENMRWS — better...
