Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS - Alijah Jasper was scheduled to come into the world Jan. 4 through a C-section delivery at Plains Regional Medical Center. He had other plans, and instead arrived at 8:51 a.m. Friday as PRMC's first baby of 2021. Alijah, who weighed 6 pounds, 2.9 ounces and measured 19'3/4" at birth, is the first male child in the family of Andrew and Beverly Jasper of Logan. He joins his 2-year-old sister Azariah and 12-year-old twin sisters Aailyah and April. The couple knew a boy...
CLOVIS — The year 2020 was going to be one to remember for Curry County, with excitement about for what officials called the 100th Curry County Fair in August. Nobody will forget 2020 anytime soon, but the fair would have to wait until 2021 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that touched nearly every aspect of daily life. The county said farewell to its commission chairman and its treasurer, both term limited, and will see new faces in those positions starting this week. Ben McDaniel will be replaced on the commission by James R...
CLOVIS — While COVID-19 may have limited the trials to some extent, there was no shortage of crime in 2020. Many court cases scheduled for 2020 were pushed to 2021 due to a pause on new jury trials as COVID-19 infection worsened around the state. A review of The News coverage of crime in the area includes the following reports: • A jury trial is scheduled in August for two men accused in the slaying of a Muleshoe woman in Roosevelt County. Court records show Jaime Edgmon, 41, was killed in the morning hours of Oct. 13 aft...
CLOVIS - Face masks and social distancing weren't the only changes Clovis residents saw in 2020. They also experienced city government without longtime Mayor David Lansford who stepped down after eight years and a total of 20 years between two stints in the position. In his first time seeking elected office, insurance agency owner Mike Morris claimed the five-way mayoral race on March 3, full of optimism with no way to anticipate what his first year in office could hold. By...
Without the accolade of being the area's first female Eagle Scout, Megan Scruggs probably would have been under Clovis' radar. And the 18-year-old would have been fine with that. This is the Scruggs family's second time at Cannon Air Force Base, with other stops including Portugal, California, Alabama and England. The transitions never took a toll on Megan's education because she has always been homeschooled, and being in a place where she knows few people isn't a problem....
SANTA FE — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday announced New Mexicans are eligible for free, at-home COVID-19 saliva tests, with results returned within 24-48 hours of receipt of the sample. The tests are available to residents at learn.vaultheath.com/nm, regardless of whether the resident has had COVID-19 symptoms or close contacts with COVID-positive individuals. “We need more New Mexicans to get tested,” Lujan Grisham said in a news release. “We’ve worked hard every single day this year to make testing f...
CLOVIS — Clovis school board members celebrated some of the district’s top musicians, and prepared for a special election that is now less than two months away. The Curry County Clerk’s Office will conduct the all-mail election, with ballots due at the office by 7 p.m. Feb. 16. Ballots will be mailed to all registered voters in the school district starting Jan. 19, with voters asked to approve a $10 million general obligation bond and a capital improvements tax. The funds would go towards renovations at Barry Eleme...
CLOVIS - It's been a fall with plenty of unfortunate firsts, particularly for the Clovis High football team. There have been practices, but no first scrimmages, no first games, no first district tests as the Wildcats and the rest of prep New Mexico sports are delayed to the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Wildcat program did have an historic pair of firsts Wednesday, with Chance Harris and Jaden Phillips becoming the first Clovis players to sign during the...
CLOVIS — A sense of optimism and a spirit of cooperation marked a Thursday morning look at the upcoming New Mexico legislative session, with state and federal elected officials joining the Eastern Plains Council of Government’s virtual forum. The one-hour forum featured a pair of legislators and both Congressional representatives for the multi-county area EPCOG serves, and started with representatives-elect Yvette Herrell from the Second District and Teresa Leger Fernandez from the Third. Both signaled they looked for...
CLOVIS — Thursday night turned into quite an expensive one for the City of Clovis, with commissioners begrudgingly acknowleding it was just par for the course. With commissioners noting they’ve invested too much into Colonial Park Golf Course to stop now, they unanimously approved $1.32 million to replace the back nine irrigation system. The current system, first installed in the 1970s, is at or near the end of its useful life, City Manager Justin Howalt said. He noted 200 breaks in the last year, leading to expenditures of...
CLOVIS — In happier years, the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce finds its most important work comes in promoting businesses and hosting events for residents and visitors alike. In what nobody would term a happy year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chamber Executive Director Ernie Kos said the chamber may have done some of its most crucial and rewarding work ever in helping keep businesses afloat. Kos provided somewhat of a denouement during Thursday’s Clovis City Commission meeting with the second round of CARES Act gra...
CLOVIS — The Clovis City Commission spent the early stretch of its Thursday meeting saying a heartfelt farewell to three employees totaling nearly half a century in city service, and said a proud hello to Clovis’ newest world rodeo champion. “For those of you that have maybe been under a rock for the last week,” Mayor Mike Morris said of guest Shad Mayfield, “he accomplished something most athletes only dream of. He has risen to the level of world champion in his sport. It's truly a bright spot in our community, in 2020, to k...
PORTALES — Staff at Portales Municipal Schools is getting set to encourage voters to keep a bond in place that would provide $7 million over four years for various projects. Superintendent Johnnie Cain discussed the Feb. 16 all-mail election, and said a pamphlet of the various projects the $7 million would fund should be distributed later this month. The Roosevelt County Clerk’s Office will handle the election, with the district covering the approximate $12,000 cost. Ballots will be mailed to the district’s registered voter...
CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission's lone meeting of December was a long one, stretching four hours from Tuesday morning into the afternoon. It was also an emotional one, with commissioners saying farewell to outgoing Chairman Ben McDaniel. Tuesday marked the final scheduled meeting in McDaniel's eight years aboard the commission. McDaniel was term limited, and will be succeeded by James Ridling in January. Commissioner Chet Spear led a surprise presentation in honor of McDaniel, with a plaque that would be presented l...
PORTALES — For the moment, at least, Eastern New Mexico University regents received a bit of good news for the 2021-22 school year and voted unanimously Friday to keep tuition and fee rates unchanged for the upcoming school year. Vice President of Business Affairs Scott Smart had told regents in their Nov. 13 meeting he anticipated bringing a request to raise tuition and fees by 5% in the face of declining enrollment and state funding. But in Friday's virtual meeting, Smart said a recent Legislative Finance Council meeting i...
CLOVIS - Charles Wood flew for his enjoyment for nearly half a century as a model airplane enthusiast. And he flew for his country with 20 years in the Air Force. The former, he could discuss for hours on end at the Main Street hobby shop he owned for years. The latter, good luck getting a word out of him. "He never embellished," friend Michael Braun said of Wood's two tours in Vietnam. "You really had to work at it to get him to talk about it. He wasn't like some of the...
SANTA FE — State officials provided an update on COVID-19 vaccinations and promising numbers on reduced spread of the virus, but encouraged continued adherence to public health orders and common-sense COVID-safe protocols. During a virtual update Thursday afternoon by the governor’s office, the state reported 1,791 new cases of COVID-19, including 24 in Curry County and eight in Roosevelt County. The state also reported 23 new deaths, including a male in his 70s from Curry County and a male in his 80s from Roosevelt Cou...
CLOVIS — Jack Muse of Clovis believes one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and 14 months ago sought a business license to turn that belief into a material repurposing business on a lot he owns on the 2800 block of Prince Street. City officials, after a query into the property and its zoning laws, instead sent a cease and desist letter in January and proffered an agreement for Muse to sell the materials with a deadline that the COVID-19 pandemic has repeatedly shifted. The city’s planning and zoning commission ratified t...
CLOVIS - On Nov. 29, in a small bedroom of a Clovis apartment complex, Tchicaya Williams' life suddenly ended. On Saturday in that same room, she was celebrated as a mother, daughter, cousin, niece and friend like no other. A crowd that swelled to 40-plus at times gathered in and out of the apartment of Franzes Williams, the mother of Tchicaya, with sadness and helplessness. But the overwhelming feeling was happiness to be with each other and remember the 38-plus years "Caya"...
CLOVIS - It's Red Kettle time again in Clovis, as the Salvation Army has again started its annual fundraiser at high-traffic locations and online. Lt. Miguel Ibarra of the Clovis Salvation Army said the fundraising effort, like just about everything, is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on mass gatherings. "We are kind of at standby," Ibarra said. "We have restrictions, and we've put it on hold a couple of weeks (from our normal start)." Ibarra began setting...
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE - Thursday morning will see Alaxey Germanovich honored with the Air Force Cross, the second highest honor Air Force personnel can receive, and there will no doubt be talk of the staff sergeant rising to the occasion in a 2017 conflict in Afghanistan. But that's not what happens, Germanovich said during a Monday press briefing arranged by the Air Force. "Nobody rises to the occasion," Germanovich told a Zoom meeting of media. "You fall back to your...
CLOVIS — In a lengthy Clovis City Commission meeting Thursday, the lengthiest portion went to an update from the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority. Authority Chair David Lansford spoke for nearly 30 minutes about the authority's recent efforts, including cooperation with Curry County to secure the services of Colorado attorney Peter Nichols to develop a local land trust. The trust, Lansford said, would help local entities in a potential Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative application. The Department o...
CLOVIS — Tchicaya Williams, friends and family members said, always tried to make everybody happy, and she was at one of her life’s happiest points when she was killed Sunday night. Williams, 38, died of an apparent gunshot wound while she was in her Clovis apartment in the 1500 block of Echols Avenue. Police and family members declined to discuss details of the shooting, though Williams’ cousin, Teola Haskins, said Williams was not the intended target. Clovis Police Chief Doug Ford said Tuesday morning the depar...
PORTALES — The Eastern New Mexico University regents didn’t waste time Monday during a special meeting, taking just six minutes from open to close on an architect selection. Regents voted 4-0 Monday in a virtual meeting — Terry Othick, Lance Pyle, Dan Patterson and Joseph Gergel — to accept Dekker/Perich/Sabatini as the architect for the university’s renovation of the Roosevelt Science Hall. The regents had voted 3-2 against the same move three Fridays ago. Regents raised no issues with the firm, but voiced disappoin...
SANTA FE — The state will relax some of its public health restrictions on Wednesday, but details of a county based COVID-19 risk system show reopening will be a slow process. The office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced its first phase of reopening following a two-week period that closed non-essential business and severely limited the capacity for businesses that were open. Beginning Wednesday, counties will enter one of three zones for COVID-19 risk levels. Green, yellow and red levels depend on whether a county h...
