Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS - Making the ordinary plays was what got the Melrose Buffaloes an early lead Thursday night. Hot shooting and hustle for extraordinary plays turned it into a blowout. Melrose led by double digits for the final 18 minutes and by as much as 34 in the second half of an 80-53 win, giving the family of Buffs coach Kevin Lackey plenty of time to fill his office with 200 balloons to celebrate that many wins over nine seasons with Dora and Melrose. "That just means I've...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico’s women’s basketball team is getting set to face the defending national champion, and hopes it can also pick up a win over Angelo State. Sound familiar? It should be, as the script flips on the home sites in Lone Star Conference play this week. The men’s and women’s basketball teams are getting set for a Thursday matchup at Angelo State, followed by a Saturday doubleheader at Lubbock Christian after playing the same squads two weeks ago at Greyhound Arena. For both of the teams, the games rep...
Timing hasn’t always been my strength. Just ask Las Vegas. Two Mays ago, I was in Las Vegas. Not our Las Vegas, the one with lots of lights and tourist traps. A friend was getting married, and she wanted me to be there instead of sending a wedding gift. Twist my arm. A delayed flight, a missed connection, a reroute and an uncomfortable shuttle ride later, I was settled in and waiting in the lobby for the rest of the party to meet me. The $2 I had in my pocket went into a nickel poker machine, and I hit the cash out button a...
CLOVIS — After an hour of evaluation during an executive session, Clovis school board members decided they want Superintendent Renee Russ to stay in that position for at least the next two years. Members voted 5-0 to extend the contract for Russ through the 2021-22 school year and retain the current annual salary of $153,000. Russ was hired from a field of three finalists last year with a two-year contract and elevated from deputy director of federal programs. The public portion of the meeting, which lasted a little more than...
CLOVIS - One's been a 49ers faithful before the team ever played in a Super Bowl, let alone won five. The other's gone through some rough patches as a Chiefs fan, but feels connections with the current high-scoring crew. Win or lose for Oscar Reyes and Dee Madrid, Super Bowl LIV just feels right. The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs square off today in Miami. The Chiefs are seeking their first Super Bowl victory in 39 years, while San Francisco seeks to win a sixth...
XLOVIS — Bryce Cabeldue couldn’t believe the first time a Division I college was interested in him as a football player, and it’s been the same every time another scholarship offer came the Clovis senior’s way. “It was a huge shock,” Cabeldue said Monday, a day after he committed to the Kansas Jayhawks and coach Les Miles. “I wasn’t really believing it, and honestly it still doesn’t feel real right now.” He’s a week away from the next step in that process, when he can first si...
A few years ago I wrote about Clovis High’s use of the Kansas State “Powercat” logo, mainly in how schools across the country acquire permission and how they protect the Kansas State brand in trade. Short answers: Clovis High pays, at last count, a token $7 per five years for use, and needs to make some effort so area businesses avoid trademark infringement when they’re supporting the school. My favorite part of the story came post-publication, when a TV station repurposing the story somehow butchered it into, “Clovis...
CLOVIS — With the caveat that nothing’s guaranteed in government funding, consultants for the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority were optimistic during their Thursday meeting about the prospects for big injections of state and federal dollars to its interim groundwater project. Reports from state consultant Joe Thompson and federal consultant John Ryan both illustrated opportunities for the authority to come closer to its 20/30/40 plan, which would raise $90 million to complete the delivery system that would eventuall...
CLOVIS — Plains Regional Medical Center officials prefer a 25 mph speed limit — not the posted 45 mph — around its facilities on 21st Street. Public Works Committee members on Wednesday agreed in principle, but didn’t see a reality where motorists would abide by a lower speed limit. That’s why, after a brief discussion, the committee decided to keep speed limits unchanged. But public works did request the Clovis Police Department step up patrols in the area. Ken De Los Santos of PRMC said the stretch of 21st Street between M...
CLOVIS — Employees with the city of Clovis have a new way to take advantage of retirement plans, and they don’t have to retire to use it. The Clovis City Commission unanimously approved a series of changes to the city retirement plan offered by the ICMA Retirement Corporation. The one that drew the most discussion was a benefit that would allow city employees to take out loans against the 457 deferred compensation plan balances they’ve already built. Employees would be limited to two loans, City Manager Justin Howalt said....
CLOVIS - Opening late is never good. When it comes to Seventh Street, Clovis' Public Works Committee felt opening, then closing, then opening would be worse. So, until further notice, a portion of Seventh Street will remain closed upon the recommendation of the committee at its Wednesday meeting. The road is currently closed on the one block between Weatherford and Norris streets. City Manager Justin Howalt said work on Seventh Street, which began last February, hit a snag...
CLOVIS - It was just a little above freezing in Clovis at 9 a.m. Monday - 36 degrees, to be exact. But there was no better time, and O.G. Potter Park no better place, to take an important walk. People from a spectrum of races and ages gathered there, and eventually at St. John Baptist Church, to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and discuss his body of work and the vision still not completely fulfilled. After a few quick words in King's honor, the crowd of about 60 people began...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico’s basketball teams, both coming off frustrating losses to Angelo State Saturday, hope they’ll find some resiliency on the other side of Texas. The Lone Star Conference slate continues for the Greyhounds, who travel for a Thursday doubleheader at Texas A&M-International and another twin bill Saturday at Texas A&M-Kingsville. Both teams are 5-5 in LSC play and 2-4 in division play, but they’re polar opposites in overall records with the women 1...
I tried to make a wager with my friend for the 2020 Major League Baseball season and failed spectacularly. Turns out there’s no money to be won when your friend agrees with you. More on that non-wager later. Right now, everybody’s talking about baseball, and it’s not because pitchers and catchers report in about four weeks. The first domino fell Monday, when Major League Baseball released a report of a cheating scandal that included the 2017 World Series champion Houston Astros and the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red So...
The New Mexico Legislature opens at noon Tuesday, but area lawmakers are already busy in the days leading up to the 30-day session. We queried area lawmakers on their concerns entering the session, which runs to noon Feb. 20. Phelps Anderson (R-Roswell), District 66 Committees: House appropriation and finance; House energy, environment and natural resources; House enrolling and engrossing. Prefiled legislation: House Bill 141 (doubling income tax exemption for low-income persons who are 65 and older or blind). Concerns enteri...
CLOVIS — Though the final completion date has moved back about three months from original estimates, the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority is satisfied with what’s been completed so far on its Finished Water 2 efforts. Authority Executive Director Orlando Ortega told Clovis Water Policy Advisory Committee members Tuesday morning that FW2 is at 81% completion. Remaining work for the approximate seven miles of pipeline to connect Clovis to Cannon Air Force Base includes vault construction, 13-inch welded pipe ins...
PORTALES — Of all the New Mexico school districts receiving money from Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grants, Portales Municipal Schools is the only district in 100% compliance with the grant requirements. The benefit may be a bonus of more than 100%, Superintendent Johnnie Cain reported at Monday night’s school board meeting. The SRCL formula grants — normally referred to as the “circle” grants — provide Portales with $450,000 annually to spend on literacy initiatives. The grant is going away after this year, and gr...
CLOVIS - The rotating spotlights shone outside the Clovis Civic Center Friday night, with shimmers in the light from rain that would graduate into snowfall by the time the evening was complete. On the inside, there were instead warm feelings, with red carpets, red-and-white guitar trophies and plenty of sincere thanks as the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce celebrated its most recent year with the annual banquet. "Eighty-sixth annual," outgoing Chamber President Thom...
Another season, another stamp on the passport for former Wildcat Jaye Crockett. The 6-foot-7 forward flew Tuesday out of Albuquerque to join BC Astana out of Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. It is his 10th professional team since his playing career at Texas Tech finished in 2014. Crockett, a 2009 graduate of Clovis High, is second on the Wildcat career scoring list. BC Astana is 5-5 in VTB United League play heading into Sunday’s game against Parma Basket Perm. What have you heard a...
CLOVIS — Since passing its Unified Development Ordinance last summer, the city of Clovis’ planning and zoning commission is finding out it either left out some old functions or didn’t adequately update to federal standards. The commission knocked out two of those matters Wednesday, recommending UDO changes regarding handicapped parking and fencing on commercial and industrial districts. All of the items discussed at the Wednesday meeting will go to the Clovis City Commission for final approval at its Jan. 23 meeting. The boar...
CLOVIS — In the first Clovis City Commission meeting since Mayor David Lansford said he would not run for a sixth term as mayor, and the first meeting since five people signed up to take his place, Lansford concluded the meeting by answering the question he most expected to hear between now and the March 3 election day. Lansford said he did not plan to make any endorsements of the field of Raymond Mondragon, Michael Morris, Stephen North, Rube Render and Sandra Taylor-Sawyer. “I respect all five of them,” Lansford said,...
On Sunday, I found myself doing laundry that was probably three years overdue. Don’t worry, the shirt I’m wearing is laundered and smells quite fresh. My concern was with the clothing I hadn’t worn recently and had put into what we’ll call the “D” stack. As 2020 bloomed, I looked into a walk-in closet I could barely walk in anymore, full of shelves and books and clothes. So many clothes. A former coworker who was a big believer in fashion told me, “Every year you should go through your closet and audit it. If you haven’t w...
CLOVIS - State Rep. Randy Crowder shared one of his key 2020 legislative session mantras during Wednesday's Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast. "Calvin Coolidge said it's more important to kill a bad bill than pass a good one," Crowder said. "I believe that." Crowder and other local legislators are likely to revisit that thought repeatedly during the upcoming 30-day session, which runs noon Jan. 21 to noon Feb. 20 in Santa Fe. The state reserves...
CLOVIS - A Clovis hotel got an unexpected guest Thursday afternoon, and what the owner estimates to be $100,000 in damage as a result. The Colonial Heritage Hotel, just southwest of the Cameo and Seventh streets intersection, had multiple worker and public areas damaged when a vehicle owner Ali Ghaffari and hotel staff described as a Chevy Suburban barreled down Sixth Street and came into the hotel through a wall. Johnny Moreno, who does maintenance for the hotel, said he was...
CLOVIS — Five people will vye to replace David Lansford as Clovis’ mayor, and all five of the city’s other municipal positions on the March 3 ballot are contested. A total of 20 candidates signed up for Clovis’ municipal elections, including seven for City Commission District 1 and two each for Districts 2, 3 and 4 and the municipal judge race. Only one race is contested in Portales. Municipal elections are scheduled for March 3, with early voting starting Feb. 4. Mayoral candidates, by position on the ballot, are Raymond...
