Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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(Left to right) Gwyn Del Toro, Art Cane and Judy Matthews look at the Teola Artman memorial that was unveiled Saturday afternoon. (Staff photo: Mike Linn) The late Teola Artman, who dedicated over 50 years of her life to area Girl Scouts, was honored yesterday at Hillcrest Park with a permanent bronze plaque donated by the Sangre de Cristo Council and local sponsors. The plaque stands at the site of the former Teola Artman Girl Scout Little House near a still-standing stone fireplace. The house was torn down earlier this...
Siobhan Flatow is one of four sophomores on this year’s Lady Wildcats volleyball team. The team returns just one starter from last season. CNJ photo by Mike Linn. They’re short and young and inexperienced, and by their coach’s own admission great for a Class 3A high school volleyball team. But the Clovis Lady Wildcats are in 5A, and will need hustle and teamwork to compete this season with some of the taller and more talented squads. Returning just one starter and three members from last year’s state playoff team, Lady Wi...
Game-oriented teaching, three hours a day of music and fine arts, and new computer-assisted curricula helped increase school attendance this summer at Clovis schools. There were 411 students grades 1-12 who attended summer school this year, up from roughly 240 students in 2003, records presented at Tuesday’s Clovis Municipal Schools board meeting show. A new computer-assisted curriculum, obtained through a national company called PLATO Learning Inc., allowed students who needed credits to complete course work in any s...
Kourtnie Cole of Clovis rounds a barrel during Saturday’s 13-15 year-old barrel racing competition at the Curry County Mounted Patrol Arena. Cole won the year-end saddle for her age division in barrels. CNJ staff photo by Eric Kluth. The first time Kourtnie Cole got on a horse — at the ripe old age of 3 — she got bucked off. She didn’t want to get back on, but after some coaching from her grandfather she decided to give it a shot. The 16-year-old has been in love with horse riding ever since. Her devotion to riding and the... Full story
Police are offering tips on avoiding credit card fraud, which has been on the rise nationwide, according to a recent press release from the Clovis Police Department. Among the tips, according to the release: • Make sure credit card receipts are protected. If a customer does not take the receipt, store employees should make sure to mark out the account number with a black or red pen and shred the receipt. Never throw a receipt in the trash. • Be cautious of onlookers when completing a credit card transaction. Credit card num... Full story
Samplings of recent calls received by Clovis-area law enforcement officers, according to reports: A woman contacted police Wednesday after she was unable to find her car for four days. The woman who owned the vehicle — which had $2,200 in the front seat — said while intoxicated a few days earlier at a Prince Street bar she may have lent the keys out to someone, but she wasn’t sure. A witness said she saw the father of the woman’s children driving the car the night it turned up missing. The woman said she did not want to pres...
Samplings of recent calls received by Clovis-area law enforcement officers, according to reports: Police responded to a Clovis hospital on Wednesday evening in reference to a woman who was drunk, injured and attempting to take care of her 3-year-old granddaughter. Hospital officials called police because they didn’t believe the 71-year-old woman could care for her granddaughter, due to her drunkenness. The woman told police the child’s mother is deceased and the father is in jail, and that she was the only person to care for... Full story
A Clovis man submerged in a year-long battle with the city over complications with his “free market ministry” said Wednesday he will obey court orders to remove unsightly items surrounding his property. In a court order filed Wednesday, Municipal Judge Jan Garrett noted that Henry Parmenter, 74, is attempting to comply with the city’s nuisance code and has made progress ridding the outside of his property of used furniture and appliances. Parmenter has been operating for about five years what he calls a “free market ministry,...
Former Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley is coming back to Clovis, and he’s bringing the milk mustache with him. The Clovis native whose experience on dairies came from milking his grandmother’s cow recently accepted a position as director of government and industry relations for Dairy Farmers of America’s Southwest region, which includes New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Bradley said he will be moving to his hometown within a few weeks from Albuquerque, where he works now for DFA after leaving his post with the State Land Offic...
Samplings of recent calls received by Clovis-area law enforcement officers, according to reports: Police responded to a Main Street library on Thursday in reference to an employee stealing cash intended as a donation to a library committee. A library employee told police she saw a worker take $5 from a woman who was there to pick up free encyclopedias. The worker denied taking the cash. In an e-mail to library officials, the woman said she gave the man $5 as a donation to the library. Police on Thursday responded to the 3700...
Three Clovis residents are in jail on charges stemming from a series of sexual encounters with three underage females. Authorities said the incidents, which involve prostitution, were videotaped and photographed at a Clovis home. Rockey Fleming, 40, a staff sergeant at Cannon Air Force Base, paid three girls — ages 13, 15 and 16 — between $1,000 and $2,000 to have sex with themselves or another man, Clovis Police Detective Matt Solari said. Fleming also had the encounters videotaped, then manufactured copies, Solari sai... Full story
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman, right, answers questions along with U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., during Wednesday’s press conference at ENMR. CNJ photo by Eric Kluth. The U.S. secretary of agriculture came to Clovis on Wednesday behind an entourage of political, dairy and technological gurus to promote broadband and wireless services in rural America and the re-election of one of New Mexico’s congressmen. Ann M. Veneman told Eastern New Mexico Rural Co-op, local business and media personnel before noon at...
The U.S. secretary of agriculture came to Clovis on Wednesday behind an entourage of political, dairy and technological gurus to promote broadband and wireless services in rural America and the re-election of one of New Mexico’s congressmen. Ann M. Veneman told Eastern New Mexico Rural Co-op, local business and media personnel before noon at ENMR’s offices in north Clovis that advanced technology expedites growth in the agriculture business. “Would we see a brand new cheese plant here if we didn’t have good electri...
A gustnado was spotted shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday near the Curry and Roosevelt County line. A gustnado is a small, weak, short-lived tornado that occurs along the leading edge of a thunderstorm. Courtesy photo by Randy Holland. At least three side-winding tornado-look-a-likes moved across the plains of eastern New Mexico on Wednesday night, prompting motorists to brake, photographers to grab their cameras and an array of residents to stare wide-eyed in amazement. Their curiosity was aroused by what National Weather... Full story
A Clovis man accused of stabbing an acquaintance to death Monday afternoon told police in interviews he was acting in self defense, a detective with the Clovis Police Department said. Joel Cordova, 24, of Clovis, is being held at the Curry County Adult Detention Center on an open count of murder in connection with the death of Victor Estrada, 19, of Clovis. He is also charged with tampering with evidence. No bond has been set, detention center officials said. Detective Kirk Roberts said Cordova and Estrada were angry at each...
Henry Parmenter digs through boxes in his back yard on the 1300 block of Reid Street. He was cited in Municipal Court for leaving items he collects for the poor scattered in his front, back and adjacent yards. CNJ photo by Mike Linn. A Clovis man who runs what he calls a “free market” out of his home, back yard and adjacent property is facing petty misdemeanor charges for violating the city’s public nuisance code. Henry Parmenter, 74, said he has been giving away clothes, furniture, appliances, children’s toys and a variety...
A former Portales High School and Eastern New Mexico University football player died early Sunday morning in a car accident in Las Vegas, Nev. Calvin Griffin, 19, played for Portales Rams football coach Glenn Johnson and graduated from Portales High in 2003. He had recently moved to Las Vegas to live with his father and pursue a career in personal training, Johnson said. Johnson described Griffin as one of the best linebackers he’s coached at the high school level in 23 years on the sidelines. Beyond his athletic ability, J... Full story
The Clovis Police Department plans to order seven new and improved Tasers that can lock up a suspect’s body and prevent their movement for five seconds. Police Chief Bill Carey said the department hopes to have seven of the $800-a-piece X26 Tasers within a month. The instruments are promoted for their ability to immobilize crime suspects without serious injury from within 21 feet. The product shoots two probes attached to hair-thin copper wire that stick into a suspect like hooks in a fish, then sends about 50,000 volts of e...
Officials with the local water company plan to increase water rates by an average of almost 19 percent for Clovis residents within the next seven months. New Mexico American Water Company Vice President Kathy Wright said reasons for the proposed increase — between 7 and 27 percent depending on various factors — include added expenses, labor and increased capital, which includes the drilling of new water wells. “We’re putting in a lot of extra capital,” Wright said. “Some people’s bills will double in the summer.” The...
The superintendent of Fort Sumner schools recently sent a letter to the state’s Public Education Department after failing to order a state-mandated test this year for fourth- and eighth-grade students. In the letter — which state officials acknowledged Thursday they have received — Superintendent Lecil Richards applauded the district’s dedication to its students and took personal responsibility for not issuing the tests. “The oversight of not ordering the test was not an attempt to avoid being held accountable,” the letter... Full story
A meteorologist said he’s suprised lightning did not cause more injuries on Tuesday night, as the National Weather Service recorded 6,000 lightning strikes in one hour within a 60-mile radius south of Portales. New Mexico State Police Officers Lance Bateman and Clint Varnell were struck near New Mexico Highway 206 about five miles south of Portales while helping people who were attempting to drive through flooded roadways. Both officers were in stable condition Wednesday night at Covenant Hospital in Lubbock and are e...
An army of rain marched through eastern New Mexico and West Texas on Tuesday night, bringing big grins to those who work in agriculture and big frowns from motorists traveling through some of the more waterlogged areas. Portions of three major highways — State Highways 206 and 88 and the Cacahuate road from Muleshoe to Portales — were closed Tuesday night due to flash flooding. Farmers residing south of Portales said excessive hail caused some damage to crops, but the rain was more than welcome. “I’d say it’s mostly go... Full story
Linda Hernandez has three e-mails from her cousin to which she’ll never get the chance to respond. The Clovis resident saw the messages after she returned from vacation Sunday — the day she found out her cousin, Sgt. 1st Class Linda Ann Tarango-Griess, 33, of Sutton, Neb., died when a roadside bomb exploded near her Nebraska Army National Guard convoy outside Samarra, Iraq. Sgt. Jeremy Fischer, 26, of Lincoln, Neb., also died in the early Sunday morning explosion. Tarango-Griess is related to several Clovis area res...
Linda Hernandez has three e-mails from her cousin to which she’ll never get the chance to respond. The Clovis resident saw the messages after she returned from vacation Sunday — the day she found out her cousin, Sgt. 1st Class Linda Ann Tarango-Griess, 33, of Sutton, Neb., died when a roadside bomb exploded near her Nebraska Army National Guard convoy outside Samarra, Iraq. Sgt. Jeremy Fischer, 26, of Lincoln, Neb., also died in the early Sunday morning explosion. Tarango-Griess is related to several Clovis area res...
Curry County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Sandy Loomis demonstrates the X26 Taser gun Wednesday at the sheriff’s office. (Photo: Eric Kluth) About a month and a half ago a Curry County sheriff’s deputy was placing a suspect into custody when somebody began charging toward him and threatening his life. The man had his hand behind his back as if he had a gun, but before he got within eight feet of the officer he was dropped to the ground and immobilized. The officer didn’t use his pistol to drop the suspect, but a Taser X...
