Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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PORTALES - The 1600 Cherry Street building that has housed Eastern New Mexico University presidents since 1973 will continue in that regard for the foreseeable future. The $650,000 in capital outlay originally allocated by the state has been swept back under Senate Bill 5. The award was one of 80 taken back under the bill totaling $13.9 million, but that total does not account for funds entities have already expended. The bill passed 36-6 in the Senate and 68-1 in the House of...
CLOVIS - After 13 years of K-12 instruction, marked by a pandemic that moved schooling online in April, Clovis High School's class of 2020 met across town from their familiar campus for a commencement that was quite unfamiliar. Faith Christian Family Church was the site Friday night for an airing of a pre-recorded commencement of about 90 minutes, with an audience of the CHS seniors that met every requirement despite the interruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students have...
CLOVIS — Just over two weeks before a July 4 fireworks display purchased with city and county funds is set to take place, there were some fireworks at the Clovis City Commission meeting. The Thursday meeting was held with public attendance for the first time since mass gathering restrictions went into place in mid-March. A total of 33 people were at the meeting, with audience chairs spaced six feet apart for social distancing. Hotel owner Danny Jariwala blasted the commission and city leaders for using lodgers’ tax funding to...
Local legislators don’t expect much of a battle when a special legislative session starts Thursday to deal with coronavirus-related budget woes. The next few years, however, could be — in the words of “Die Hard” protagonist John McClane — “Double Jeopardy!, where the scores can really change.” State Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said he doesn’t expect much acrimony from lawmakers when they meet Thursday at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe to tackle an estimated $2.4 billion loss of revenue over two years caused by plunging oil an...
CLOVIS — Citing an apparent stalemate with the Department of Defense on the use of firefighting foam, Curry County put off a decision Wednesday on a mutual aid agreement between Cannon Air Force Base and county fire departments. Commissioners were briefed by County Manager Lance Pyle and County Attorney Steve Doerr on a clause that troubled them. The agreement would keep the Cannon fire department at the county’s disposal to help on nearby fires, provided the department didn’t have a prior obligation on base. However, this...
CLOVIS — It’s hard to find a workplace that wouldn’t value somebody who notices details too small for others to detect. Likewise, those same workplaces would love an employee who can draw people in through conversation. It seems, then, the Clovis Police Department was fortunate to get both of those things with Leon Morris and Doug Miller on staff. The two retired CPD officers died in May — Capt. Morris on May 14 at the age of 73, Sgt. Miller four days later at age 70. “They both had different personalities,” said Bob Morgan,...
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday ruled a Portales man’s conviction for fleeing law enforcement was correctly overturned. That’s because the Curry County Sheriff’s Office vehicle involved in the pursuit wasn’t adequately marked. The case of the late Roy Montano was combined with a similar case against William Daniel Martinez of San Juan County. Montano and Martinez were charged for aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Both defendants argued the sport utility vehicles...
CLOVIS — Hello, Curry County Expo. See you next year, Curry County Fair. Curry County commissioners said both things, and plenty more during a 45-minute conversation in a Wednesday special meeting. Commissioners said they felt their hands were tied by the prospect of continued mass gathering restrictions for a fair that normally draws more than 25,000 people over five days, and unanimously approved two motions: • Postponement of the fair to 2021 due to limitations on gatherings pursuant to state public health orders. • Sched...
CLOVIS — Independence Day fireworks, courtesy of your local governments. With city officials stressing the decision was a one-time deal, the Clovis City Commission voted 6-1 in a Friday special meeting to provide $10,000 in lodgers’ tax dollars for a 9 p.m. July 4 fireworks display. The show will be fired from what officials hope is a mostly empty Greene Acres Park. “It is not the Smoke on the Water event we all know and love,” Mayor Mike Morris said in opening the 18 minutes of discussion. “It is a fireworks display t...
CLOVIS - There was a hint of rain, and the wind that is no stranger to eastern New Mexico was no friend to the candles residents aimed to light Saturday in honor of George Floyd. But overall, there were only minor problems and multiple suggestions of solutions going forward in local responses to Floyd, whose May 25 death in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department sparked protests in all 50 states throughout last week. A crowd that started off with just under 100 soon...
CLOVIS — The Clovis Water Policy Advisory Committee met for the first time in three months, with mostly encouraging news on various water projects and conservation efforts. City Manager Justin Howalt shared news on the city’s use of effluent water for field watering and various municipal functions, similar to an update he gave the Clovis City Commission the prior week. The city moved 12.2 million gallons of effluent water in May, compared to 4 million in May 2019. Howalt attributed the increase to a lack of rain. For the yea...
PORTALES — The New Mexico Activities Association is referring to reopening summer workouts Monday as “Return to Play.” Portales Athletic Director Mark Gallegos sees it more as a return to normalcy for Portales High’s various athletes. “I think some of our kids are just hurting mentally,” Gallegos said during Monday’s school board meeting, where he outlined the June workout process. “I think they need to have some interaction with each other. I think they need to see coaches who are huge parts of their lives.” Athlete...
CLOVIS — When it comes to effluent water, the city of Clovis may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel — or rather, pipeline. City Manager Justin Howalt notified the Clovis City Commission of a $4.371 million award from the New Mexico Water Trust Board for the final phase of the pipeline at the commission’s Thursday meeting. The project involves treating wastewater to a sufficient quality for field watering and various municipal usage, saving potable water that would otherwise be used for such tasks. The award comes...
With only four contested Republican races overall, the primary season was not that difficult for most of the incumbents in Curry and Roosevelt counties. The ones in contested primaries, however, saw a slightly different story in the Tuesday election. Of the three contested primaries featuring an incumbent, only one will receive the chance to retain the office in the Nov. 3 general election. Curry County Clerk Annie Hogland won her primary, while in Roosevelt County Rodney Savage defeated incumbent Matthew Hunton in the...
PORTALES - Joseph Stroud isn't that different from anybody else in his graduating class at Portales High School. He wants to travel the world, and while he understands the COVID-19 pandemic he's disappointed it took away prom, potentially Maypole and various other social activities. He's not too unusual when it comes to his graduation accomplishments, either. He's one of more than a dozen members of the PHS Class of 2020 to receive recognition in the graduation program to...
Things aren't completely back to normal in eastern New Mexico, but the second phase of statewide reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic has people breathing a little easier - even as many wear a mask. Gyms and sit-down restaurants were cleared Monday to open at 50% capacity, while salons were capped at 25% with appointments required. The banner outside Creative Images Salon in Portales says, "WE ARE OPEN" in giant red block letters, but asks people to stay in their car and cal...
CLOVIS — One way or another, Curry County commissioners agreed Tuesday, there will be a county fair to celebrate the skills of residents young and old. Some fair staples like concerts and carnivals, however, will remain up in the air for about a week. Following around 45 minutes of spirited discussion about state public health orders on mass gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic and prioritizing the fair’s various elements, the commission voted 5-0 to still feature the Junior Livestock Sale and its associated shows, plu...
CLOVIS - When New Mexico canceled school for three weeks to fight the spread of COVID-19, Adriana Jones rationalized it as her Clovis High School spring break starting a week earlier and finishing a week later than planned. "And we never came back," Jones said Wednesday, a CHS graduate standing in front of its A Building. Just 10 minutes before, Jones was in the parking lot as a CHS senior. Jones and more than 400 of her classmates journeyed through a portion of CHS to...
CLOVIS — The 100th anniversary of the Curry County Fair may have to wait a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. County Manager Lance Pyle is advising the Curry County Commission cancel the fair, work with the fair board to have some type of junior livestock sale event in August and push centennial fair events to 2021. The board meets 9 a.m. Tuesday. It will be virtually due to public health orders banning mass gatherings. The meeting will be broadcast at currycounty.org and the county Facebook page, and comments or questions p...
CLOVIS — Shaves and haircuts may cost a Clovis barber $100. That’s because she’s been cited by state police for violating a public health order brought on by COVID-19. The Hotel Clovis Barber Shop has been closed since May 16. The citation filed Thursday against Jennifer Estes, 50, is the first of that nature filed in either Curry or Roosevelt magistrate courts since public health orders were issued in March shutting down non-essential businesses. Many businesses reopened at limited capacity earlier this month, but the state...
CLOVIS — Former Mayor David Lansford joined Thursday’s City Commission meeting by phone and said state-mandated mask-wearing during the pandemic should be the “line in the sand” for Clovis citizens. Lansford, a pharmacist, said wearing masks was detrimental to healthy people, called such a requirement sinister and a form of “slave training,” and that it should be called out and refuted as authoritarian. “I, for one, am not going to wear a mask,” Lansford said. “I’m not going to go to a store and wear a mask. It is more li...
CLOVIS — An ordinance approval for the Clovis City Commission on Thursday night was long in the title, but even longer in savings. Following a brief explanation that meant more than $500,000 in interest savings on existing loans, the commission approved $9 million in loan refinancing. The title of more than 250 words was read by Mayor Mike Morris in what was his first commission meeting with commission members in the room. The Thursday meeting at the Clovis-Carver Public Library was still closed to the public — except for...
There will be no large ceremonies Monday in New Mexico, as Memorial Day becomes the latest of gatherings to be affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. But locally and nationally, families and friends of those who paid the ultimate price protecting the United States' interests will still be honored however possible. John Montano of Clovis said the Joint Veterans Council has many individual members who plan to put flags on the gravesites of veterans, and they'll plan to leave...
PORTALES - Parking spots replaced chairs, parking lots replaced Greyhound Arena and car horns replaced air horns. But some things did not change Saturday at Portales High School, as another class of Rams graduated with pride as they took what became an unusual first step into adulthood. Vehicles, each carrying one of the 174 graduating seniors listed in the program, began lining up in the Ram Athletic Center parking lot long before the 10 a.m. ceremony began. The procession...
PORTALES - A Thursday drive through the Eastern New Mexico University campus looks like what May 21 would have had the COVID-19 pandemic never existed. The campus would be nearly two weeks removed from in-person finals and commencement ceremonies at Greyhound Arena, and be just like any late May day at ENMU - largely empty with the exception of a few cars at administrative buildings and various colleges and a jogger or two. But the pandemic is here, wiping out weeks of...
