Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 143
Displaced residents from Friday's fire at the Clovis Apartments may soon have a place to call home — if not already — but the families still need help. Nobody was hurt in the fire that displaced 10 families, according to Erinn Birch, executive director of United Way of New Mexico Capt. Allan Silvers of the Clovis Fire Department said the fire has been ruled accidental — most likely a candle — with no sign of arson or electric problems. Burch said displaced families have had six nights at a hotel provided through charita...
The lobby area of the Sitterly Professional Center, a former US Bank location Jim Sitterly purchased last year from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is illuminated through daylight and a series of energy-efficient lights hanging from the ceiling. With a newly-paved parking lot on the outside, and a building full of amenities on the inside — even a jar full of Wint-O-Green Life Savers — the Sitterly Professional Center is open for business. The center, site of a grand ope...
Clovis is getting a slightly earlier start on its annual preseason tradition. The Wildcats are loading up the bus Thursday morning for Alamogordo, the neutral site for the annual scrimmage with Las Cruces. The scrimmage is set for 4 p.m. at Alamogordo High School. The early scrimmage was requested by Las Cruces, Clovis coach Eric Roanhaus said, but the scheduling does help free up staff should they want to scout future opponents who are taking the traditional approach with a... Full story
Clovis is getting a slightly earlier start on its annual preseason tradition. The Wildcats are loading up the bus Thursday morning for Alamogordo, the neutral site for the annual scrimmage with Las Cruces. The scrimmage is set for 4 p.m. at Alamogordo High School. The early scrimmage was requested by Las Cruces, Clovis coach Eric Roanhaus said, but the scheduling does help free up staff should they want to scout future opponents who are taking the traditional approach with a...
In response to developer complaints, the Clovis Public Works Committee tried to make compromise on how it handles its new requirement of shoring for sewer tap inspections. But city officials, with the help of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration official, stood firm on the necessity of the policy. Shoring involves using plywood and/or metal walls in a hole dug to ensure that a hole dug for a sewer line connection will not collapse on itself. The city, which previously charged only $25 for sewer tap inspections of...
From wind to rain to hail, with plenty of sunny skies in between, the weather changes plenty in eastern New Mexico. Grady Bright hasn't. For 55 years, Bright has been a constant source of information for the National Weather Service, calling in whatever's happening at his home in Melrose. He was recognized Tuesday at his home by members of the NWS's office in Albuquerque, who presented him with the Benjamin Franklin Award for 55 years of service. As one of nearly 180 observers around the state, Bright precedes his 6 p.m.... Full story
In March 1990, Hakan Duzagadusmez came to New Mexico as an exchange student from Turkey. He graduated from Ruidoso High School two years later. It was nine months ago that Duzagadusmez brought his native cuisine to the area, and all indications are he's again in for the long haul. Donër Kebab's Mediterranean Cuisine has expanded at a rate normally only seen in Clovis by national chain restaurants. It started in December with a mobile kitchen a few hundred yards from Cannon...
If it's not fried, exploding your calorie count and draining your wallet ... well, you're probably not eating fair food. CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson A deep-fried brownie, prepared by Virdinski's BBQ Rub Shack, is prepared the day before and frozen before it is placed in the fryers, giving it a crispy outside before it is drizzled with icing. CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson David Culp of Tyler, Texas, pours batter for a funnel cake Tuesday night at the Curry County Fair. The... Full story
After much discussion Wednesday afternoon, the Planning and Zoning Commission voted to table a pair of requests in the Horse Run Subdivision that were met with heavy protest. The requests, which will be discussed during the 3 p.m. Sept. 12 commission meeting, included a rezoning from a residential zone to a planned urban development. That would allow a replat to change 17 lots for homes into 31 lots for townhouses at the subdivision, which includes Gayland Drive and Starlite Drive west of Williams Avenue, adjacent to the...
Current members of the Eastern Plains Council of Governments approved three years of scathing audits Wednesday morning, and received assurance that the things discovered could not happen under the current personnel. The board of directors meeting, which took about two hours, covered audit reports from 2006, 2007 and 2008, approved last month by the executive committee. The audit reports prepared by Hinkle and Landers listed widespread problems of borrowing between funds, misclassification of funds, posting of expenditures to... Full story
The hands raised up in the air, with four fingers extended and the thumb tucked out of view. "FOURTH QUARTER," the players yelled with the final two laps of Wildcat football practice Monday afternoon. The gesture was a motivator to give more, no matter how tiring the heat or the hours-long practice had been. CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson Clovis football coach Eric Roanhaus watches as seniors Marshall Winn, left, and Dijon Ford face off in an exercise for offensive and...
Much like a landlord rights and responsibilities forum in May, the key point illustrated in a Monday night companion forum for renters was paperwork. CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson Matt Rowland, managing attorney at New Mexico Legal Aid's Clovis office, speaks during a renter's rights and responsibilities forum Monday at the Clovis Community College Town Hall. Matt Rowland, managing attorney for the New Mexico Legal Aid office in Clovis, opened up the forum by noting that the...
Jeff Bingaman visited eastern New Mexico on Monday for possibly his final time as a sitting senator. CNJ photo: Tony Bullocks U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., left, and Clovis Mayor David Lansford look up to the top of the Hotel Clovis during a tour Monday of the construction site. This is likely Bingaman's final tour as senator before retiring at the end of the year. Bingaman, D-N.M., is retiring after his fifth term expires at the end of the year. While he expressed relief...
Matt Lowe hasn't been in Clovis long, but he is a relative groundbreaker for Clovis with a small online dream. CMI staff photo: Kevin Wilson A shot of Matt Lowe's Kickstarter project page for Micro Wars, an online game he is trying to complete with help from the crowd-funding website. Lowe, a second lieutenant at Cannon Air Force Base, is a few weeks into an attempt on the crowd-funding website kickstarter.com to fund Micro Wars, a game he and friends have been tackling for...
Shoppers around New Mexico were filling up their carts, and filling up a few school buses, while trying to not completely empty their wallets this weekend. CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson Britany Valdez, left, and son Nate Carney, both of Hereford, check out athletic shorts Saturday at JCPenney at the North Plains Mall in Clovis. Valdez said they were visiting family in Clovis and they lucked into the state's tax-free weekend when they decided to visit the mall. Valdez said the... Full story
A few years after Maurice Smith graduated from Farwell High School, some people from his Texas town and the neighboring New Mexico town of Texico decided they'd have a weekend get-together. CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson Farwell City Park hosted the 46th running of Border Town Days Saturday, a celebration between Farwell and Texico, which are divided by the Texas-New Mexico border. Smith, a 1962 graduate of FHS, skipped a few of the small gatherings in his early years, as he wa...
The Clovis City Commission worked through a Thursday evening agenda that included the 2012-13 budget for the city and a introduction of an ordinance for $9 million in bonds to go toward street repairs. All items presented to the commission passed unanimously, with the exception of a easement request that was tabled. Commissioners had little discussion about the budget, which does not include raises for city employees. It includes $52.89 million in revenues, down from last year's $56.87 million. City Finance Director Don...
Audit reports from 2006 through 2008 at the Eastern Plains Council of Government repeat findings from a 2005 report — poor accounting practices that either contributed to misuse of government-provided monies, or at least provided such opportunities. Just like an auditor's report and financial statement of 2005 done by Woodard, Cowen and Co., the three auditors reports and financial statements prepared by Hinkle and Landers listed widespread problems of borrowing between funds, misclassification of funds, posting of e...
Count the Eastern Plains Council of Governments as one of numerous entities against a proposed change on Community Development Block Grant rules. The change would introduce to the state the Housing and Urban Development's Section 108 loan guarantee program. The program offers government entities a loan to fund economic development or the rehabilitation of housing or public facilities — an intent EPCOG officials aren't against. The catch is that if a government entitity defaults on such a loan, payment would come through f...
One could expect to hear the sounds of cheers, country music and even dragging the field — or, as announcer Don Porterfield referred to it Wednesday, "letting the John Deere do its thing" — at the High Plains Junior Rodeo Association Finals. CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks Cowboys and cowgirls watch Wednesday as the first go round of team roping takes place during the 38th Annual High Plains Junior Rodeo Finals at the Curry County Events Center. But a look at the feet of Por...
Years down the road, Tres Amigas is optimistic it will make Clovis the center for cross-country energy transmission and a heap of other benefits. Leading off the Pure Energy Expo on Wednesday afternoon, Tres Amigas Chief Financial Officer Russ Stidolph spoke of the hub that would connect the country's three largest power grids. "It's going to change the nation, it's going to change the landscape of eastern New Mexico and west Texas," Stidolph told the audience at the Clovis Civic Center. "And best of all, it's right in your...
Most years, the lineup for the annual Clovis Ethnic Fair changes little, as the performers, volunteers and educators always plan to come back. CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks Anna Watkins, 13, left, and her sister Maria Watkins, 12, both of Waco, Texas, take part in the Batik and tie dye" workshop Tuesday at Roy Walker Community Center during the 21st Annual Clovis/Curry county 2012 Ethnic Fair. Akeem Ayanniyi of Santa Fe, right, shows them how to apply the wax. The Watkins... Full story
Local officials agree the plains of eastern New Mexico have plenty of untapped potential for wind and solar energy. But the key, Gene Hendrick said, is just how all that potential power will get to the rest of the country. That's a big part of this week's Pure Energy Forum and Expo Wednesday and Thursday at the Clovis Civic Center. The event is the first of its kind for Clovis, though a similar event took place in Tucumcari in 2008 — set up with Hendrick aiding Tucumcari officials. "It was similar to this," said Hendrick, a... Full story
Amid concerns over recreation plans, in the immediate past and foreseeable future, the Clovis City Commission upheld a lower committee decision to keep local soccer organizations at their current locations. The 6-2 vote will keep the Clovis Youth Soccer Association inside Hillcrest Park, and the American Youth Soccer Organization at its current location at 14th and Norris streets. Commissioners Randy Crowder and Juan Garza, who voted in dissent, expressed concerns that when a parks and recreation master plan was originally... Full story
Miles Mitchell didn't last long as an assistant principal at Texico schools. Hired during the summer to be an assistant principal and athletic director, Mitchell applied for and was named as the new superintendent at Texico. He replaces R.L. Richards, who left the post for an assistant superintendent position in Muleshoe. Mitchell, a 1989 graduate of Melrose High School, had served as principal at Grady for two years, and taught 12 years as an agriculture teacher — 10 at Melrose and two at Silver City. "I was going to move (...
