Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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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...
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...
CLOVIS — Curry County commissioners got no guarantees on what state public health orders would be a few days from now, let alone the next few weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic. But commissioners did get some insight from Brian Moore, co-chair of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Economic Advisory Council, during their Tuesday morning meeting. Moore, a grocery store owner in Clayton, told commissioners he feels like he and co-chair Christina Campos represent the smaller populations of the state’s eastern side while most of the c...
CLOVIS — There’s still plenty of data Curry County has no idea about for the 2020-21 fiscal year. But there’s no question the county will have less money to work with as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Commissioners approved on Tuesday a preliminary budget of $32.618 million — a decrease of $8.6 million from the current fiscal year. County Manager Lance Pyle noted that gross receipts taxes from March were off by 13.5% from March 2019. Since many business restrictions began in mid-March, Pyle estimates the next few months w...
CLOVIS — Following positive tests for two of its employees over the weekend, Retirement Ranch has tested all of its residents and staff and early returns showed one positive resident test. Trisha Gross, social services director at the facility, said Tuesday afternoon that full results are still pending, but the facility received the positive resident test Monday night. The resident is asymptomatic, and has been put into isolation. The facility tested 234 people through Sunday, which included all residents and 95% of its e...
PORTALES — Three candidates, one the incumbent, are on the June 2 primary ballot to be the Republican nominee for Roosevelt County probate judge. The winner of the primary does not have any general election opposition from the Democratic or Libertarian parties. Michelle Bargas is the incumbent, with Gracy Stone and Kendall Terry running for the position as well. The judge handles the formal judicial process for transferring the property of a person who has died. The salary for the term will be $20,024. Michelle Bargas O...
PORTALES — There are two candidates in the June 2 Republican primary for the District 2 slot on the Roosevelt County Commission. The winner faces no opposition in the November general election. Matthew Hunton, the incumbent, is running against Rodney Savage. The position pays $22,832 annually. Matthew Hunton Occupation: Insurance agent/business owner Prior or current elected offices held: Portales City Council, 2012-16. Curry County Commission, 2017-present. What experience do you have that will prepare you for the u...
CLOVIS - The mission of ENMRSH in Clovis is to "provide services to enhance the lives of adults with different abilities and support the development of children and families in our programs." And it's a wide net with generally 500 to 600 interactions a month. The mission hasn't changed over the last two months, even as the requirements under which staff fulfills it were turned upside down in March with the COVID-19 pandemic. "No services are allowed to remain in any...
PORTALES — The Portales Municipal Schools Board of Education spent about two hours Monday afternoon discussing and approving a 2020-21 budget they knew wasn’t going to survive the COVID-19 pandemic, and a Portales High School graduation they hoped would. The proposed 10 a.m. May 23 commencement at the Portales High School parking lot will feature about 185 students attending in their own vehicles before taking part in a student parade once they’re officially graduates. “We’re hoping this will be the only graduation in Portal...
CLOVIS — Christopher Rousseau came to Portales four years ago with his family, and he hopes he can move to Fort Worth with his family again with a new welding career lined up. However, the Clovis Community College student is finding his plans upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, and every day of uncertainty just turns up the heat a little bit more. Rousseau is working toward an advanced level certificate in welding, and is on the final semester of the three-semester program. “We learn how to do specific welds,” Rousseau said....
PORTALES — Plenty of work was still left between Friday afternoon and its May 30 airing, but much has begun on Eastern New Mexico University’s virtual spring commencement service. John Houser, assistant vice president of marketing and communications for ENMU, updated regents briefly during their virtual meeting. The commencement will be broadcast 10 a.m. May 30 on KENW 3-1 and 3-2 and streamed at the same time at enmu.edu. Houser said Interim Chancellor Patrice Caldwell and all deans are scheduled to pre-record speeches May 2...
CLOVIS — President Charles Nwankwo told Clovis Community College trustees he anticipates bringing employees back onto campus May 18, with plenty of precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Nwankwo told trustees of his plans during the trustees’ regular May meeting, held online due to mass gathering restrictions brought on by the pandemic. He said the plans to bring employees back include limiting the college to use of just three entrances, taking people’s temperatures and requiring masks, and noted that he stand...
CLOVIS - To anybody who's been in Clovis a few years, the name Phil Williams means trains. He opened the Clovis Depot Model Train Museum more than a quarter century ago. And he helped found the Clovis Model Train Society, which spearheaded the effort to move the 9005 locomotive to its current location on First Street. But there were plenty of tracks with Williams, who died April 30 from heart complications. He lived throughout the world, never stopped learning and could...
CLOVIS — New Clovis Mayor Mike Morris told the Clovis City Commission on Thursday he believes the city is ready for reopening businesses and other facilities immediately. He also shared that message as part of a mayor’s council to which he’s been appointed. But Morris noted that while regional approaches remain on the table, the governor’s office and Department of Health are still favoring uniform reopening guidelines for the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Friday, the state had 4,673 confirmed positive tests f...
It’s clear that public entities see rough times ahead, with the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on commerce, oil prices and anything else you can imagine that funds governments. What the rough times specifically mean, however, is still tough to tell. Disbursement of gross receipts tax revenue falls two months behind collection, and local municipalities will know on Friday what they can expect to receive from March revenues. The state closed schools March 16, and restrictions on businesses began later that week. The New Mexico Leg...
