Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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After six years and nearly $4 million, the new Curry County Extension Office is complete. A ribbon cutting, transfer of keys, and open house was held Tuesday, with County Manager Lance Pyle delivering opening statements. "The County started formal discussions on a new Extension Office in 2017. This was a result of safety concerns with the old office being around the detention center, a congested area and space availability," Pyle said. It was in late 2019 and early 2020 when...
In effect, the Roosevelt County Commission held two meetings, one on Tuesday and one on Friday, to complete a single agenda. On Tuesday, the commission on a 3-2 vote decided not to take action on action items because, as Commissioner Tina Dixon told the board on Tuesday, commissioners had not had time to review meeting packets adequately before the meeting. Dixon moved to suspend action items, and the motion passed with Dixon and commissioners Dennis Lopez and Roy Criswell voting to suspend action and commissioners Paul...
Clovis Municipal Schools leads the state in the number of teacher trainees participating in a program that gives the participants classroom experience while they accumulate college credits to obtain a full-fledged teaching license. The participants are called “ed fellows,” and Clovis Municipal Schools has registered 43 of them, the largest number of ed fellows in the state, through the New Mexico Public Education Department’s Educator Fellows NM program, which is designed to help alleviate the state’s teacher shortag...
The Clovis City Commission will appoint a replacement for District 3 Commissioner David Bryant, the commission decided on Thursday, and on Friday began accepting applications from candidates for Bryant's seat. Applications for the position will be accepted until noon on September 18, in time for the commissioners to make a decision on who should fill the vacancy at their next meeting on September 21, the commission decided on Thursday. Residents of District 3 may apply for...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of state-of-the-entity interviews with local officials. Javier Sanchez is the Roosevelt County sheriff. Q: How are crime numbers right now in Roosevelt County? Anything that sticks out? Is there a crime that's most common? A: Crime has been pretty steady for the last few years. Some of the most common crimes in Roosevelt County are property crimes, which generally go back to narcotics. We have also seen an increase in...
The Clovis Community College (CCC) Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to hire ACCT Searches to assist them in their search for a new CCC president for a basic fee of $41,250, "They'll be basically doing all the leg work," Secretary Terry Martin said. "The background check, the police check, they're looking at experience." Martin said the firm will not be deciding on a president, but will help the board find the right candidates to select from. ACCT is the same firm that...
It’s week 28, and the sleep just keeps getting more and more uncomfortable. No, I’m not complaining, just adjusting to all of this still. Every week is an adjustment since it’s always something new. Let’s see … this week, in addition to the hard time sleeping, I’ve started to get leg cramps or “charley horses” at night, as some might call them. Those are quite the shock to wake up to when you’re peacefully sleeping. It’s hard to believe we are about 12 weeks out from meeting our baby girl. One thing I have yet to talk ab...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Roy Rice is the chief of police at the Clovis Police Department. Q: The city recently approved a $5,000 sign-on bonus for new hires in the police department. What else are you doing to recruit? A: We still utilize media sources such as Facebook, internet advertising programs and radio advertising. Word of mouth is one of the best methods, and we receive better responses from personal...
The Clovis Community College Board of Trustees has narrowed the search to find a firm that will assist them in their effort to hire a new president. In July, the board voted to appoint Trustee Jan Bradburn and Chair Lora Harlan to seek proposals from companies that can help them in the search. On Wednesday, the board narrowed its choice to two companies: ACCT Searches and Academic Search. Both companies share similarities in what they would provide for the search such as...
A false report of an active shooter in Clovis on Wednesday turned out to be a mental health crisis from the reporting party. Officers were dispatched to K-Bob’s Steakhouse about 9:30 a.m. after a caller claimed someone was shooting people inside. On arrival, police found only employees getting ready to open. Officers located the person who made the call and learned they were experiencing a mental health crisis, according to a news release from police. The incident was turned over to a Mobile Crisis Response Team. There w...
After nine years and $29 million, the Curry County Courthouse renovations are complete. The Curry County Commission and County Manager Lance Pyle introduced the space to the community Thursday at a ribbon cutting and open house. "This was part of a long-term plan, which required a lot of patience and had its fair share of frustrations along the way," Pyle said in his opening statements. Pyle then went on to discuss some of those frustrations, among them that the county was spe...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Lonnie Baca is the athletic director for Clovis Municipal Schools. Q: Now that school is back in session, what can people look forward to as they watch the Wildcats and Lady Cats this year? A: We did add powerlifting to our programs. We're going to be offering that for both boys and girls. That'll be a first for us this year. That season actually does not begin until January. We did hire a co...
Marijuana use and driving after using marijuana increased from 2022 to 2023 as did drinking and driving, but underage and binge drinking decreased from 2022 to 2023, Shannon Morrison of the Curry County DWI prevention program Tuesday told the Curry County Commission. At the same time, Morrison said, there was a decrease in the number of young people considering suicide and attempting suicide in the county between 2022 and 2023. E-cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana are the most-used illegal substances among middle and high sch...
The Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority (ENMWUA) board on Thursday approved a loan agreement in the amount of $15 million with the New Mexico Finance Authority, with the city of Clovis footing the bill. “The city of Clovis is providing this up-front, $15 million capital contribution as a portion of their membership contribution” to ENMWUA, water authority administrator Orlando Ortega said. Another $150,000 is tacked onto the $15 million for insurance, bringing the loan total to $15,150,000. The loan will finance som...
Because New Mexico is considered a plaintiff-friendly state with high payouts from medical malpractice lawsuits, rural hospital officials say they are struggling to find insurance coverage. One of the many hospitals across the state that is dealing with this issue is Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales. New Mexico has established medical liability limits, but the maximums keep rising, said Kaye Green, RGH’s chief executive. “The limit now is $4.5 million,” Green said. “It started out at $4 million, and then it was to incr...
This week marks week 27, and Baby Sena is apparently the size of a head of lettuce. She doesn’t feel that big, though. It’s really me that feels a lot bigger. She kicks and moves around every day, multiple times a day. I think feeling those movements is what I’m going to miss most about pregnancy. It’s such a unique feeling, but I’m always comforted when I feel her doing her little twists and turns and flips. Can we also talk about Braxton Hicks? I would’ve never dreamed I’d be feeling small contractions this early on. It...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. John DeSha has been the public utility director for the city of Portales since 2011. Q: As of right now, what is the status on the water emergency in Portales? Has it gotten any better in the past week? Worse? A: The status on the wellfield really hasn't changed. We can't produce any more water than we did before. But we do have some encouraging information. The conservation efforts are...
The Roosevelt County Commission discussed dollar amounts and other numbers involved with services the county provides to the city and vice versa. On Tuesday, county commissioners Tina Dixon and Roy Lee Criswell presented recent discussions they had with city councilors Veronica Cordova and Chad Heflin about the ongoing negotiations. “What they're offering is $200 for anybody arrested, whether they're municipal, whether they’re state charges, whatever it is. $200 a day, up until arraignment” for Roosevelt County Deten...
Friday's Curry County Fair Junior Livestock Sale has a chance to be a record-breaker. Organizers said 96 4-H and FFA youth sold their animals for just over $417,600 before add-ons. Add-ons are donations made after the sale. Add-ons are accepted until Sept. 18. Mindy Turner is the Family and Consumer Sciences agent with New Mexico State University's Curry County extension office. She said Friday night that after add-ons are compiled, this year's total could surpass last year's...
Some knew Wiley Teel as an Albuquerque school teacher, where he devoted more than three decades of his life. Others knew the Portales native as a cattle rancher, restorer of antique furniture, emergency medical technician and lover of antique cars. He moved back to Roosevelt County in 2000 after retiring as an educator. "We were born and raised in Albuquerque," Teel's son Mike Teel said. "So, I just knew the Albuquerque schoolteacher, Wiley. "He was the hardest working man...
Adding the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) as an economic development partner seemed to be the idea of the day Wednesday as the Eastern Plains Council of Governments (EPCOG) held its regular meeting in Clovis. The meeting's guest speaker, Jorge Ayala, regional director for EDA's Austin, Texas, Regional Office spoke to EPCOG about why to him it is important for the council to work towards being a partner with EDA. "It may not always be an EDA funded project...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of state-of-the-entity interviews with local officials. Tina Dziuk is the executive director for Clovis Economic Development (CED). Q: How exactly is Clovis Economic Development funded? How is it governed? Who decides how the money is spent? A: Our organization is primarily funded through memberships, grants, and our contract with the city of Clovis. CED is governed by a board of directors who is responsible for approving the b...
This week marks week 25. Only 15 to go! This summer has flown by, and with back-to-school in the air, I can’t help but think about what my baby girl’s first day of school will look like. Will she make a lot of friends? Will she like her teacher? Will she eat the food that’s served in the cafeteria? I’m not sure if it’s a maternal instinct or what, but these are the thoughts that flood my every day life. I constantly wonder what she’ll be like, look like, what her voice will sound like. Will she have more of my features or...
Financial challenges continue at Roosevelt General Hospital, along with the other rural hospitals across the state. RGH leaders and board members held a briefing Tuesday to provide an update on the state of the hospital and what the future holds. The briefing came after the financial challenges were made apparent by the fact that RGH recently had to cut back on staff hours and even dismiss some employees. RGH Chief Executive Officer Kaye Green said in May the cutbacks...
Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of state-of-the-entity interviews with local officials. Erinn Burch has been the executive director of United Way of Eastern New Mexico since 2002. Q: Inflation is an issue across all boards. For this organization, has inflation cut into any of your donations? A: We did have a smaller response to our diaper drives this year than we have in the past ... I think that there's a lot of things at play. Inflation and costs of...
