Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS — Apply early. And, possibly down the road, apply often. Officials from the city of Clovis, Clovis Community College's Small Business Development Center and the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce spoke Monday to detail what will be the first round of applications for more than $4 million the city received in CARES Act funding for small business continuity grants. “Our local businesses are strong and resilient,” Clovis Mayor Mike Morris said. “That being said, we're hopeful and I'm hopeful these continuity grants...
CLOVIS — How detail-oriented were the back-to-school plans Clovis has had to prepare for its phased return to in-person classes beginning Monday? Answer: Superintendent Renee Russ took an intermission for questions halfway through her report on re-entry efforts during the Tuesday virtual board of education meeting. The district, beginning Monday, will offer hybrid education for fifth grade and lower in three cohorts: • Cohort A, in person Monday and Tuesday and online the rest of the week • Cohort B, in person Thursday and F...
PORTALES — The Eastern New Mexico Board of Regents agreed bringing student-athletes back onto campus would provide benefits for the student-athletes and improve their chances to compete against Lone Star Conference foes that already have their athletes back in school facilities. But they tabled a proposal from Greyhound Club President Charles Bennett to do just that, believing too many students would be left on the sidelines and that the decision didn’t belong in their court. Athletic Director Matt Billings told regents dur...
PORTALES - The Eastern New Mexico University Board of Regents met just 15 minutes in closed session Friday to discuss the path to selecting a new Portales campus president and chancellor for its three-campus system. The path ended at Patrice Caldwell, who was named to the position after holding the interim title since April. By a 5-0 vote, regents also extended her contract to June 30, 2022. "We are so thankful you have agreed to continue your position with the university,"...
PORTALES — The Eastern New Mexico University Board of Regents met just 15 minutes in closed session Friday to discuss the path to selecting a permanent Portales campus president and chancellor for its three-campus system. The path ended at Patrice Caldwell, who was named to the position after holding the interim title since April. By a 5-0 vote, regents also extended her contract to June 30, 2022. “We are so thankful you have agreed to continue your position with the uni...
CLOVIS — Curry County on Monday became the first local entity out of the gate with small business grants from its pool of $150 million in statewide assistance made available through the federal CARES Act. Curry County received $322,163 in small business grants, which it plans to distribute through the Curry County CARES Continuity Grant. The grants will be capped at $10,000 for small businesses and non-profits within Curry County, and will cover: • Rent or scheduled mortgage payments • Insurance • Utilities • Marketing...
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court, in a 3-1 decision, ordered a pair of former Portales daycare owners be granted release from prison pending an appeal on their 2019 convictions. Sandi and Mary Taylor, former owners of the Taylor Tots Daycare, were sentenced to 30 and 36 years, respectively, for reckless child abuse. The charges were in connection to the death of 22-month-old Maliyah Jones and injuries to then 23-month-old Aubri Loya. Prosecutors believe the two girls were left in a hot car for approximately two h...
PORTALES — A virtual bond hearing Wednesday for a pair of former daycare owners appealing their 2019 conviction was largely outlined last week by the New Mexico Supreme Court. However, some changes were made for Sandi and Mary Taylor, over objections of the family of a child who died in July 2017 after being left in a hot car nearly three hours while under the Taylor Tots daycare service. Maliyah Jones, 22 months, died as a result of injuries suffered. Aubri Loya, then 23 months, was seriously injured. The Taylors were g... Full story
PORTALES — Three years ago, Eastern New Mexico University set a fall enrollment record at 6,027, and the following year came close to another at 6,015. This year, with the university going online for the fall semester out of COVID-19 pandemic concerns, the numbers have taken an unsurprising drop. Patrice Caldwell, interim chancellor for ENMU’s three-campus system and president of the Portales campus, told The News the Portales enrollment is at 5,260 — down 7.5% from the 2019 enrollment of 5,694. Caldwell noted in an email...
PORTALES — By Friday, there should only be one Greyhound Stadium in Roosevelt County. The Eastern New Mexico University regents are expected to close on a sale of the former home of the Greyhound football team, along with nearly 24 acres surrounding it, during their Friday morning virtual meeting. To attend the 9:30 a.m. meeting, email [email protected] for a meeting link. Vice President of Business Affairs Scott Smart said the negotiated purchase price is $25,500, which is largely for the land. The stadium itself was...
CLOVIS — The city of Clovis is looking into foreclosing on a home on Gidding Street, and all indications are it won’t stop there. City commissioners voted 7-0 to authorize abatement of the house at 1201 Gidding, and Mayor Mike Morris agreed with a suggestion from City Manager Justin Howalt to look into other properties in similar situations because the foreclosure process is too laborious for a one-at-a-time approach. District 2 Commissioner Lauren Rowley pulled the item from the consent agenda to allow for public com...
SANTA FE — She believes the state is “trending in exactly the way we are hoping to” on COVID-19. So on Thursday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham introduced recreation-related changes to the state’s public health order aimed at reopening the state while keeping virus spread low. Also, Curry County moved into the “green” status for counties allowed to begin hybrid school learning on Thursday. The county has 7.7 daily cases per 100,000 residents with test positivity at 3.9%. The state requires 5% test positivity or less and eight d...
PORTALES — The Portales school district doesn’t plan to begin hybrid learning until Oct. 20, regardless of what data shows on Roosevelt County’s daily case count and test positivity show on COVID-19. By the time that date comes around, Portales Municipal Schools will have dealt with untold interruptions to normalcy. Superintendent Johnnie Cain participated in the school board’s Monday meeting from home, where he is quarantined until Sept. 25 following a positive test in central office. Cain said four others are in similar...
CLOVIS — State Human Services Secretary David Scrase spent about 30 minutes Tuesday morning with the Curry County Commission, and found himself on the wrong end of a few uncomfortable questions from commissioners. Scrase spoke for about 15 minutes during the commission’s virtual meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic and Curry County’s progress and worked through slides that featured public dashboard information. “A lot of people think this data is a secret,” Scrase said. “It isn’t a secret. You can go online, you can choose yo...
CLOVIS — Two people arrested in connection with a Friday kidnapping and shooting were arraigned Monday afternoon in Curry County Magistrate Court. Carlos Sanchez-Trillo, 31, of Clovis was arrested Sunday without incident. He is charged with kidnapping, aggravated battery, assault with intent to commit a violent felony, and possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon. An incident report from the Sunday arrest was not cleared for public release by the CPD as of Tuesday morning. Adriana Diaz, 29, of Clovis was a...
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court will hear an appeal involving two former Portales daycare owners now in prison for the death of a child who was under their care. Oral arguments begin at 9 a.m. today in a petition on behalf of Mary and Sandi Taylor, who were convicted last year and sentenced to 36 and 30 years, respectively, on charges of reckless child abuse. The charges were in connection to the death of 22-month-old Maliyah Jones and injuries to then 2-year-old Aubri Loya. Prosecutors believe the two girls were l...
CLOVIS — The Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority is heading south, following an eight-figure grant agreement Monday with the Bureau of Reclamation. The authority board voted 4-0 in a 20-minute special meeting at the authority offices to approve a $37.188 million grant from the BOR, with much of the money dedicated to its Finished Water 3 project. The authority is tasked to complete the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System, which will eventually connect entities in Curry and Roosevelt counties to the Ute Reservoir i...
CLOVIS — In a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, Curry County Commissioners heard work is progressing slowly on addressing “forever chemical” contamination at and around Cannon Air Force Base first disclosed two years ago. The commission heard a presentation from Todd Ringler of Rep. Ben Ray Lujan’s office. There was no action associated with the update that took place in the virtual meeting that spanned about 90 minutes. Ringler gave a quick rundown of the last two years of work, which began in August 2018 when the Departmen...
CLOVIS — A former principal with Clovis Municipal Schools entered a no-contest plea to driving while intoxicated in connection with a November traffic stop, according to court records. According to a plea agreement filed in July in De Baca County Magistrate Court, Karri Hatley, 52, of Clovis, entered a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated (.08). She received a one-year probation term and various instructions that included 24 hours of community service and ignition interlocks for any vehicle dri...
CLOVIS — City commissioners spent about 10 minutes Thursday asking administration about the details of $4.26 million in CARES Act grants awarded last week by the state. They came away with about as much information after the 8-0 vote to accept the federal dollars as they did before it, largely because that information will be disseminated in a state training that begins on Wednesday. “A lot of your questions are our questions as well,” City Manager Justin Howalt said. “We can’t give you a concrete answer until we’ve had...
SANTA FE — State officials provided good news regarding COVID-19 infection rates Thursday, but did not present any public health order changes. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the virus is challenging and unfair, and that while congratulations are in order there’s still more work to do. “I really do appreciate that New Mexicans are making huge differences every single time,” Lujan Grisham said, “to a new normal and getting things reopened to the greatest degree possible until there’s a vaccine.” The state reported on T...
CLOVIS — The city’s water policy advisory committee meeting Tuesday morning was as good a place as any for David Lansford to make his latest pitch for a water banking effort funded largely by the federal government. But for Lansford, the former mayor and current chair of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority, the meeting was also the best place to propose a city finance committee meeting to identify dollars that could go to the effort on the Readiness Environmental Protection Integration application next month. The...
CLOVIS — Accepting $4.26 million in federal CARES Act money won’t be the complicated thing for the Clovis City Commission. The challenge lies in exactly how that money will be awarded to small businesses over the next few months, and City Manager Justin Howalt said Tuesday plenty of uncertainty remains. The commission will meet in special session at 5:15 p.m. Thursday at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library with three business items, including acceptance of the CARES Act money from a state pool of $150 mil...
SANTA FE — Public schools in Curry and Roosevelt counties will remain in online-only mode through at least next week. While most schools around the state will reopen to students this week, recent coronavirus cases in the Clovis and Portales area are too high to meet state standards for re-entry. Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart had a media availability Thursday, where he and Human Services Secretary David Scrase addressed some of the key components as schools look to go back to in-person classes for the first time s...
CLOVIS — It’s no mystery the city of Clovis has lost retail over the last few years. The Clovis City Commission is hoping some outside help can reverse the trend. The commission on Thursday agreed to a three-year, $130,000 professional services agreement with Birmingham, Alabama-based Retail Strategies, LLC, to help the city plug retail holes and hopefully keep nearby dollars in Clovis. Lacy Beasley, president of Retail Strategies, said the company does work in 36 states and has helped Carlsbad, Artesia and Lovington. “Retail...
