Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico has three finalists, and potentially a fourth, in its second go-round to hire a new athletic director and is planning campus visits this week. ENMU Chancellor Jeff Elwell reported on the three finalists during Friday’s ENMU board of regents meeting. The candidates are: n Matt Billings, deputy athletic director at Portland State University. Billings has been at Portland State for eight years, and previously served the college in athletics compliance and student services field. He will make his...
PORTALES - The Portales school board celebrated its most recent state champion, and professed excitement for one of its newest teams set for state competition Monday night. The Rams football team was honored for its Class 4A state title, with coach Jaime Ramirez bringing a few of his players from the 12-1 season. Ramirez said the Rams had plenty of injuries, but found a way to close out the season on a nine-game winning streak. "We used the 'next man up' mentality," Ramirez...
Realignment will change next year’s football schedules slightly for Portales, Clovis and Texico — and pretty drastically for Fort Sumner and Dora — assuming the New Mexico Activities Association’s proposals go through. The governing body of prep activities approved new classifications and alignments for member schools during its regular meeting Wednesday in Albuquerque. Teams have until Wednesday to appeal their placement to the NMAA. A complete realignment and a summary of changes are available at nmact.org. Distric...
“Hi Kevin Wilson, my name is Kevin Wilson. I believe I’ve been getting your email.” About a year ago I made that phone call. About two years ago I told you a portion of the story that would eventually lead to that phone call. It started as a story of frustration and mistaken identity, and has turned into a teachable moment on how to handle a mistake you didn’t make. Sometime two Novembers ago, I got an email from a guy named Bob designing helmet decals. He wanted to float them by me, or at least he wanted to let some other K...
PORTALES — A man shot by Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker in January 2018 is suing, alleging Parker used excessive force in trying to stop him as he drove a front-loading tractor. James McFarlin filed the lawsuit Nov. 26 through Albuquerque firm Kennedy, Kennedy and Ives. The suit seeks unspecified damages, litigation expenses and any other relief deemed proper by the court. Authorities said Parker shot McFarlin after McFarlin rammed the tractor into his wife’s car and drove recklessly. McFarlin, 48, at the time, was...
CLOVIS - The Clovis Community College Board of Trustees finalized a contract for incoming president Charles Nwankwo in what is expected to be the final meeting for 2019. Nwankwo, currently the vice president of technology and business partnership at Chandler Gilbert Community College in Arizona, is slated to begin Feb. 17 at CCC. He will receive a three-year contract, with a board option for a fourth year. The contract, approved 5-0 by the board after a 50-minute executive...
CLOVIS — The Clovis City Commission, with a lighter agenda on its plate than in previous weeks, passed a rededication of gross receipts tax with a few conditions. The commission approved an ordinance repurposing a .25% tax to potentially pay for $15 million in construction for the interim groundwater project of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System. The meeting went about 25 minutes, with all measures passing on 7-0 votes as Mayor Pro Tem Juan Garza was not attending. The interim groundwater project has a price tag of $...
CLOVIS - If a unanimous vote could be done begrudgingly, it certainly was Tuesday morning at a brief Curry County Commission meeting. By a 4-0 vote, with reservations noted, the commission approved a deal to retain Spectra for management of the Curry County Events Center and Fairgrounds. Commission Chair Chet Spear told Keller Taylor, a district general manager for Spectra, that he was "on the fence" about retaining the management services. He complimented Spectra on its past...
Everybody who is a professional at something was once a beginner. And everybody who is a beginner was once a person who had no idea the thing they were beginning even existed. I was in the latter category until a few weeks ago, poring over some cooking magazine I’d decided was worth a trial subscription. Enter the galette. As soon as I saw the picture, I messaged a friend who’s a far more experienced baker than me. How have I been alive this long, I asked her, and not known about the lazy river of pies? I’m guessing about...
PORTALES - A little bit of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and cranberry sauce. A little slice of dessert. And a few volunteers. Actually, make that a lot of everything above, and one dinner roll per serving. The recipe worked out again, as it now does every year in Portales' Memorial Building. Organizers expected they'd serve around 500 free meals throughout the community on Thanksgiving Day. The outreach event is in its 18th year, with people eating on-site,...
CLOVIS — Disappointed, but not discouraged. That’s how members of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority said they felt Thursday, regarding a decision two days before by the Curry County Commission to exit the authority. Members talked briefly during the Thursday meeting at the Sitterly Professional Center, where the authority maintains its office. With Curry County, Melrose and Grady recently signaling they wish to exit the authority, Chairman David Lansford said the next step is to ensure a smooth transition by ame...
CLOVIS — City commissioners expressed support for small businesses Thursday night, but held firm on current restrictions for just how those businesses can obtain public economic development dollars. The commission, by an 8-0 vote, sent a request back to its Economic Incentive Board about a potential exception on the Clovis local economic development act’s 50 percent clause. Bandolero Brewing had approached the EIB about receiving $20,000 in Local Economic Development Act funds as a manufacturer. However, the brewer could not...
Whatever bad timing I’ve had in other facets of life, I’ve always been good for catching historic sports moments. My junior year of high school, I got home from a family trip that coincided with an NBA playoff game. The TV, tuned to NBC when I powered it on, showed the Indiana Pacers with a six-point deficit and around 20 seconds to go. This game’s over, I thought, but let’s see what happens. Reggie Miller hits a three. Reggie Miller gets a steal and hits another three. The Pacers strangely foul John Starks, who even more st...
CLOVIS — The Clovis Community College Board of Trustees still ended up paying six figures to make necessary renovations to its presidential residence in preparation for its new president. But the trustees were much more comfortable with the price tag they decided on Wednesday. Trustees approved what was considered as Revised Option One during a special board meeting, held two weeks after they were first approached with a request to fix the residence at 1621 E. 21st St. The original package of work presented to the trustees in...
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE - Cody Smith had been in the audience at numerous awards ceremonies, hoping he could live up to the examples of those with whom he'd served. "Coming through the training pipeline, they were people I looked up to and wanted to emulate because of their ability to be proficient and support their team in the manner they did," Smith said. Now he's one of them. Smith was honored Friday with the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for gallantry in...
CLOVIS — Curry County commissioners on Tuesday approved a 2.25% cost of living salary increase for county employees. The wage increase will apply to all county employees with at least a year of service, and will be granted to other employees once they reach their one-year anniversary. The $186,000 to cover the increases was included in the 2019-20 budget, County Manager Lance Pyle said. The vote passed 4-0. Commissioner Bobby Sandoval abstained, noting he had a relative working for the county. In other action at T...
CLOVIS — Curry County commissioners on Tuesday voted to begin withdrawal from the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority. In a 3-2 vote, commissioners decided to withdraw from the authority and work with Grady and Melrose to have 2011 state legislation creating the authority amended to reflect their departures. Much of the morning portion of Tuesday’s meeting — about 3 1/2 hours — was dedicated to discussion with Clovis Mayor and Authority Chair David Lansford on the future water situation. The Clovis City Commiss...
New Mexico United, by any metric, had a stellar first season in the United Soccer League. It went 11-10-13, made the United Soccer League Playoffs and led the USL in attendance with an average of more than 13,000 fans a game. Now, New Mexico United is looking for a win in the New Mexico Legislature. Last week marked another round of discussions for the club to transition out of its initial lease at Isotopes Park and into its own stadium. Early numbers floating around note a $100 million stadium expense, with a $30 million...
CLOVIS — A Lubbock man was acquitted Wednesday on battery charges in connection with the 2017 death of his son. David Plyler, 61, of Lubbock, received the acquittal following roughly a day-and-a-half trial, with attorney Dan Lindsey noting the Curry County jury took just 31 minutes to acquit. “I appreciate the jury,” Lindsey said, “but this case should have never gone forward.” According to court records, Plyler, then 58, was visiting Clovis over the New Year’s holiday and ended up in an altercation with his 29-year-old...
PORTALES — The family of a girl who died in 2017 after being left in a hot car at a Portales daycare is suing the state, alleging shortcomings in training and supervision contributed to the death. The case, filed in U.S. District Court, lists Erika Tafoya, the mother of Maliyah Faith Jones, suing the New Mexico Department of Human Services, the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, the former Taylor Tots Daycare and former owners Sandi and Mary Taylor for wrongful death, personal injury, loss of parental c...
CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission made its ballots from the Nov. 5 general election official, and handled a few other business matters in a short meeting Tuesday morning. County Clerk Annie Hogland said the general election marked the first time combining school boards, community college boards and conservation districts. She said 57 different ballot combinations were available to county residents, depending on where they lived in the county. The county is submitting a reimbursement request to the secretary of state’s off...
PORTALES — The Portales school board on Monday briefly celebrated a team that learned to grow flowers, and ended up with some personal and professional growth in the process. The board congratulated Portales High’s floriculture team on its silver rating at the recent Future Farmers of American national convention and expo. The team — composed of Abi Cameron, Alyssa McAlister, Emily Newberry and Rylie Courtney — returned last week from the convention, held Oct. 30-Nov. 2 in Indianapolis. It qualified for the event by winning t...
CLOVIS - Mayor David Lansford believes to get a $90 million water infrastructure project going, local members are going to have to "put skin in the game" and supply the first $20 million before the state and federal governments supply the rest. The Clovis City Commission largely agreed, approving a property tax to help fund that $20 million while including language that protects taxpayers if the state and federal partners don't provide some skin in kind. Following a two-hour...
CLOVIS — The Clovis Community College Board of Trustees wants to make sure when Charles Nwankwo arrives as president, they have a house that’s perfect for him and his family. But they also don’t want to pay $186,770. That’s why, via a 4-1 vote, trustees tabled the request for fixes to the residence at 1621 E. 21st St. to see if staff could work with vendor Griego and Sons on a less expensive bid. The work, funded through CCC’s Building, Renewal and Replacement funds, included four proposed components: • Interior painting ($...
I wouldn’t consider myself a pottery collector. I’ll more likely be in an actual barn than a Pottery Barn, and I’m never in barns. But when I do get pottery, it tends to make a mark. When my friend Adrian screwed up in art class, he gave me the flawed baseball-sized pot that resulted from it. I spent the rest of the school day saying within earshot of teachers, “You should check out the pot Adrian gave me; it’s in my locker.” That pot is still in my possession to this day, and it usually stores pocket change or the screws...
