Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS — Plains Regional Medical Center Administrator Drew Dostal, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, provides weekly updates to The News. Here are parts of a Q&A conducted Monday with Dostal: You have some visitor policies that will change for July. What are they? There are minor tweaks to a few different things, but the big ones most of the people will notice is we’ll allow one visitor for patients in the inpatient setting. Another change is that two visitors at a time can come in for pediatric matters. We...
The dairy industry was just humming along in early January. Milk prices had been holding steady around $17.50 per hundredweight - roughly 15.625 cents a pound - and producers were making a decent profit. And then the rest of 2020 happened. Just as the COVID-19 pandemic rocked every corner of the globe, the U.S. dairy industry got hit with some devastating blows. But local dairy representatives think the industry is well on the path to recovery. "I would have to say that...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University’s board of regents on Friday discussed a pair of presidential searches, one underway and one needing to start soon. Regent Dan Patterson discussed the need to start the process to replace Jeff Elwell, who resigned as ENMU system chancellor and Portales campus president in April. While Patterson said he has trust in Interim Chancellor Patrice Caldwell, he believes the regents have an inherent duty to keep her time in the position limited. Caldwell is not interested in applying for the...
CLOVIS — The Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority had optimism, albeit cautious, a $1 million capital outlay award it received from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in February would survive a coronavirus-fueled budget cutting special session. With the session concluded and the authority meeting Wednesday, state consultant Joe Thompson said the optimism was justified. The money remains in the authority’s ledger to help cover costs of the authority’s Finished Water 3 construction. Thompson said during the session there were...
PORTALES — With the caveat that plans will certainly change based on state guidance and whatever public health orders exist as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Eastern New Mexico University staff updated regents on plans Friday to resume in-person instruction on its Portales campus. Interim Chancellor Patrice Caldwell said the ENMU system, to nobody’s surprise, “is experiencing unprecedented stress points” due to the pandemic, but has seen modest increases in fall enrollment and could see some uptick in July when reopeni...
PORTALES — Matt Billings has been the athletic director for Eastern New Mexico University for roughly five months. Less than two months into the job, he no longer had athletic events to oversee due to COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. Friday, he couldn’t guarantee when there would be athletic events again as he updated ENMU regents on plans to reintroduce student-athletes for the 2020-21 year. “The first five months have been interesting; not really what I pictured,” said Billings. “What I walked into is a great group of coache...
CLOVIS — After meeting for the first time since January, the city of Clovis’ Public Works Committee decided it would need at least an additional meeting to take care of much of its leftover business. The committee met Wednesday morning at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library, a recent standard for public meetings given the facility’s large capacity and infrastructure for Internet streaming. The main discussion items of traffic near the Walgreens pharmacy and recycling bin relocation were discussed in some detai...
CLOVIS - It is often said it takes a village to raise any generation. Should their paths go astray, the criminal justice system has secure villages more commonly known as detention centers. Curry County's village gets a little larger this week, as officials plan to start using their recently completed detention center expansion. A tour of the facility was offered Wednesday to county officials and media, with Administrator Mark Gallegos leading an hourlong journey through the...
PORTALES — The Roosevelt County Commission heard both extremes when it came to precipitation during its regular meeting Tuesday morning. About a dozen people, mostly county officials, filled out a socially distanced Jake Lopez Building and heard County Manager Amber Hamilton detail the ramifications she knew so far from a Monday night storm with widespread hail reported. Hamilton said there was obvious damage to a few roofs of county buildings, and numerous county vehicles took substantial windshield damage, but a complete r...
Plains Regional Medical Center Administrator Drew Dostal, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has agreed to regular discussions with The News. Here are parts of a Q&A conducted Monday: Are there any COVID-19 patients being treated at PRMC? There is one, who just came in today. Have you had to take patients from other facilities due to COVID-19? We have not. How many open beds are there as of Monday? Right now, we have about 25. We are remaining flexible so we can go back (to higher amounts) if we need to, but...
CLOVIS — The city’s first Parks, Recreation and Beautification meeting since February gave board members new and old optimism about upcoming projects and improvements to existing city facilities. The committee met Monday evening at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library, seated throughout the room to establish social distancing for the 11 people in attendance — three city staff, seven committee members and the media. Two items took the majority of discussion during the 20-minute meeting — a proposed shootin...
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...
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...
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...
