Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS - You've probably heard of the Mexican holiday The Day of the Dead. But there might be more to it than what you've seen in movies or heard about through pop culture. The Day of the Dead is a three-day annual celebration from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 where families honor and remember their deceased relatives, while presenting prayers and offerings in their memory, often in the form of small skulls made from sugar. If you want to learn more, you can join 12-year-old Vita Flores...
Texico School Board Position 1 is up for grabs this year and two candidates are running. Sandymarie Pieratt and Derek “Kyle” Cain are both vying for the position. Jason Levi Queener was also in the initial running, but has since dropped out. Early voting is under way. Election Day is Nov. 5. The News sat down with both candidates for Position 1 to ask a few questions on why they think they’re qualified for the position. Other candidate interviews will follow in upcoming editions of The News. Sandymarie Pieratt Why are you r...
RANCHVALE - Wednesday morning, state senators, city and county officials and volunteer firefighters gathered to break ground for Curry County's newest fire station in Ranchvale. Construction on the station will begin as soon as the design is approved and it should be finished by May. "This is one of our big capital outlay projects and a very important project for the county," said County Manager Lance Pyle. "We met with the area's legislators and secured their support for the...
High school students are often told to aim for the sky. Those at Elida High School have chosen to take it literally. If all goes as planned, they'll do it again this year by launching their second rocket. Four students at Elida have been working to design their own rocket and will travel to Houston this Wednesday to show their work to some of the top experts in the country at NASA. Jayce Victor, Logan Victor, Lydia Barron, Johny Woodruff and their teacher Jessica Faucett will...
PORTALES — Two fire-damaged buildings may be removed after the Portales City Council approved resolutions to consider them menaces to public comfort, health and safety during its regular Tuesday meeting. Both properties have structures made uninhabitable by fire damage as well as rubbish and wreckage littering the premises, officials said. They are located at 705 W. 17th St. and 417 N. Main, respectively, and are vacant. The landowners of each property have been contacted, but have yet to take action to remedy the various i...
PORTALES - Every fall the denizens of Portales and the surrounding communities hit the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds for a weekend of perusing arts and crafts vendors, listening to live music and snacking on a smorgasbord of peanut-based treats. The 46th annual Peanut Valley Festival is slated to kick off Saturday (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and run through Sunday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Admission is free and handicap parking will be available. PVF is primarily an arts and crafts show,...
PORTALES — You can relax this weekend with a glass of wine and a plate of cheese while listening to some live music and celebrating two big industries in New Mexico. The New Mexico Wine Growers Association has been working to promote the wine industry in New Mexico for the last 28 years and recently set sights on expanding to Portales and the surrounding area by hosting the first Queso Vino festival at Eastern New Mexico University. “We want to highlight the New Mexico wine industry and show people what it has, as well as...
PORTALES - While the collection of windmills at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds is an eye-catching sight, maintaining them has become an increasing burden on the county over the past few years. The Roosevelt County Board of Commissioners took action during their regular meeting Tuesday morning to allow for a public auction to dispose of 45 of the 70 windmills from the fairground's collection. Funds from the sale would go to maintaining the remaining windmills. The windmills...
If you’ve ever had a legal question gnawing at you or find yourself in the midst of a legal situation with no direction, Thursday might be the perfect opportunity to talk to an expert, for free. The 9th Judicial District Pro Bono Committee and the Volunteer Attorney Program will be putting on the eighth annual Ask-A-Lawyer event at Yam Theater in Portales from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. The event provides first-come, first served access to free consultations with volunteer attorneys for citizens of Curry, Roosevelt and D...
Many retirees have found a place working support jobs in the school system. Those jobs supplement their pensions, whether that’s as a substitute teacher, bus driver, librarian or another role. There are some restrictions in place however and with the passing of House Bill 360 earlier this year, they’ve tightened. While not causing any major disruptions in the local school districts, these changes have affected several employees. HB 360’s focus was to increase employer contribution to Educator’s Retirement Fund (ERA) by amendi...
CLOVIS — The Curry County Board of Commissioners discussed changes to the county's vehicle accident prevention policy during a special meeting Tuesday morning. After reviewing the policy changes the board decided to address several issues throughout, ultimately tabling approval to wait for a more thorough revision. The policy was last updated in 2007 and County Attorney Steve Doerr and County Manager Lance Pyle advised further revisions to eliminate redundancies and add several specific policies proposed by commissioners d...
PORTALES — Walk some laps, have a beer and listen to some live music this weekend while supporting the fight against cancer in eastern New Mexico communities. The Relay for Life of Eastern New Mexico will host its main relay event this Saturday at Oasis State Park from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Instead of regular park admission visitors can pay $5 for a Relay for Life pass. “This is going to be one of the better events we've had over the last three or four years,” said Mark Clark, the organizer for he Eastern New Mexico Relay for L...
While Lonnie Baca has served Clovis Municipal Schools for over 20 years, he only recently stepped into the position of athletic director at Clovis High, a position where he has already made an impression. Baca received the Rookie Athletic Director of the Year Award from the New Mexico Athletic Director’s Association (NMADA) on Monday. The announcement came during the New Mexico Activities Association’s fall conference. Rookie of the Year candidates must be nominated by the...
CLOVIS - Charles Nwankwo thinks the most important part of being a community college is to be a part of the community. Nwankwo said there's much to learn about Clovis and New Mexico, but he hopes to become a part of those communities after spending time interviewing on the Clovis campus. Nwankwo is currently vice president of technology and business partnership at Chandler Gilbert Community College in Arizona. He said he has over 24 years of experience across three community...
PORTALES — A flood of new members attended the Ag 50 of Eastern New Mexico committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, showing interest in revitalizing the committee as older members turned over the mantle of leadership to a new generation. Founding member Sid Strebeck turned over the chairman position to T.J. Curtis, who was elected Tuesday. “It’s exciting to lead an organization of this caliber,” Curtis said. “I’m excited about cultivating relationships, making new acquaintances and broadening a positive message about agriculture...
PORTALES — The Portales City Council on Tuesday approved a change for the Johnson Hill Water Tank Improvement Project. The order authorizes the disposal of AC pipes and the addition of transition fittings to connect to 16-inch AC pipe to complete the yard piping portion of the project, as well as adding racking panels to the chlorination building to provide the proper disinfection process to the systems. The cost of these additions will not exceed $18,000 plus general revenue tax and will revise the total contract amount to $...
Lea County issued a notice of termination for a contract with HB Construction on Thursday, claiming HB's work failed to conform to the requirements of their contract documents. HB is also in a contract with Curry County for the renovation and construction of facilities at its Adult Detention Center. Lea County issued a letter stating it was considering declaring HB in default of the contract on Feb. 28, after which it held a meeting with HB on March 20 to develop a framework for which HB could complete the project by April....
CLOVIS—The Curry County Board of Commissioners approved a motion to file a tort claim notifying of a potential lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force during its Tuesday morning meeting. The lawsuit in question would seek damages from groundwater contamination caused by the use of fire-fighting foam at Cannon Air Force Base over the past several decades. The commission increased the proposed maximum claim amount from $5 million to $10 million to cover a broader range of potential damages. “At this current time we're est...
PORTALES — The Roosevelt County Complete Count Committee held its first official meeting Thursday morning to lay the groundwork to support the 2020 United States Census. Darla Reed was appointed to serve as committee secretary. The committee began by soliciting ideas for its 2020 Census Integrated Partnership and Communications Plan. Ideas included producing printed fliers to put on notice boards around town, asking community organizations like local churches and schools to mention the Census after activities and setting up b...
CLOVIS — Teachers for Clovis Municipal Schools will no longer need to obtain a master’s degree or face the prospect of losing their jobs following a decision at Tuesday’s board meeting. The board voted to omit Board Policy G-3600, which required level II and level III teachers to obtain a master’s degree by the end of their fifth annual employment contract to qualify for continued renewal. The district issued a press release on Friday stating that since 2008 the policy saw several revisions over the year, but was finally...
PORTALES — The Roosevelt General Hospital Board of Trustees met Monday night and discussed progress on the construction of its new emergency department. The construction project is still in its planning stages, with the hospital putting together an evaluation team and searching for a qualified construction management firm. The board is seeking an engineer from the community to be a part of the technical evaluation team that will select contractors for the project. Members of the team are Kaye Green, John Bridges and Doug Ston...
CLOVIS - Soaring acrobats draped in colorful clothing and accompanied by traditional music will bring a taste of Chinese culture to Clovis this weekend, kicking off the latest season of the Clovis Cultural Arts Series. Opening its 19th season, the series will host the Cirque Mei Chinese acrobatics troupe at 3 p.m. Sunday at Marshall Auditorium. Boasting 40 different performers, Cirque Mei performs an array of traditional and contemporary Chinese circus acts dating back over...
PORTALES — The Portales City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday that formally made the city clerk the custodian of records responsible for responding to public records requests. The city clerk was already responsible for those requests as mentioned briefly in a 2009 resolution, but officials said the newly passed resolution restates those duties in “plain language.” Upon receiving a formal public records request, the city clerk is required to respond within three business days and allow inspection or provide copies of re...
CLOVIS - Deanne Guthrie has been competing in rodeo queen competitions since she was 5. Since then, she dreamed of becoming state fair queen, a dream that became a reality last weekend. Guthrie thought she reached a big milestone by achieving her goal of winning the horsemanship portion of the state fair queen competition. She also won the personality portion, but hadn't expected much else from this year's competition. Satisfied with those two achievements alone, she said she...
Furthering one’s education is a big commitment, requiring an investment of both time and money. For many students, state and federal grants help alleviate some of the financial concerns of tuition and the associated fees, but soon the state of New Mexico may be covering the full cost for residents. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday announced the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship, a “last dollar fund” that would cover the remaining cost of college tuition for eligible New Mexico residents after applying state and f...
