Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Goodbyes can be difficult. I’ve learned that I’m so much better at hellos. Today marks the start of my last week as publisher at Clovis Media. My family and I arrived in eastern New Mexico a little more than three years ago. The communities here were extraordinarily welcoming, and we’ve made some great friends over that span. My life in journalism has taken me on an exciting voyage that has included Delaware, St. Louis, upstate New York, two cities in North Carolina, Las V...
We're turning the page on another chapter of local journalism this week. As most of you already know from my column a few weeks ago, The Eastern New Mexico News is transitioning to a twice-weekly frequency. Our next edition after today will be Wednesday, Oct. 3. Newspapers nationwide are changing — have been for years. The News is no different. It's not doom and gloom for us, though. No need to send in sympathy cards. We'll show you that right out of the gate with W...
Newspapers across the nation have undergone a multitude of changes in recent years. Adapting to readership and advertising trends has become critical for success. We're no different here at The Eastern New Mexico News. Beginning next month, we are changing the print frequency of The News to two days per week — Wednesdays and Sundays. Our readers will still get seven days' worth of news, but it'll be packaged in larger, four-section editions each of those mornings. That will s...
I received a crash course in beekeeping last week. Firstly, I had no idea there are hives located at residences right in the heart of the city of Clovis. Little-known fact No. 2 — at least to me — is pollen is collected right off the little legs of bees. And it's edible. Marcus Petroski, a longtime Clovis resident, owns and operates W.W. Honey Co. He and a bunch of other vendors / farmers / families are starting to bring their respective wares to the local farmers market, whi...
We’ve made a few modifications here at The Eastern New Mexico News. Some of the changes may have already been noticed; others will take effect next Sunday. I’m here to pass along our rationale and — in some cases — hopefully soften the blow. We’d rather make changes and adjustments on our end rather than pass additional costs on to our readers by raising the cost of the paper or subscription rates. All of the moves are responses to some of the realities in the newspaper...
in professional sports, expansion teams tend to get beaten up like red-headed stepchildren. remember the likes of the houston texans, tampa bay buccaneers, vancouver grizzlies, toronto raptors? what about the minnesota wild, columbus blue jackets, arizona diamondbacks and tampa bay devil rays? the only thing in common with each of their first few seasons was an abundance of losses. true to form, when an expansion team starts play, their roster is generally full of...
Sadly, we now live in an age where someone somewhere will always be offended by something. Case in point: On Wednesday night, Oklahoma Thunder play-by-play announcer Brian Davis referred to how All-Star Russell Westbrook was playing as “out of his cotton-pickin’ mind.” Davis used that phrase as the point guard was en route to a historic season for triple-doubles. Soon after, Davis was being blasted for his linguistics and labeled a racist and socially insensitive. It was o...
It nearly slipped by most of us at The News last week. That can happen sometimes when an announcement appears as a “Legal Notice” in the Classifieds pages without any kind of accompanying press release. It’s typically a “trick” by a government entity to officially announce a grant approval, but draw as little attention to it as possible. Not this time, my friends. Last week, the city of Clovis received a state grant of $75,000 for the “transference and relocation of squirrels...
There’s a change coming this Wednesday, and we’re certain it’s going to be a big benefit to the community in many ways. Our free newspaper, My Eastern New Mexico PLUS, has undergone a facelift and a rejuvenation. The PLUS is our TMC — Total Market Coverage — product. It’s also commonly known as simply “The Shopper.” It took on the name My Eastern New Mexico PLUS back in November 2016 when we formed The Eastern New Mexico News as a combination of the Clovis News Journal an...
The two weeks of hype is just about over. The dust settles on Super Bowl LII — that's 52, for you non-Romans — this afternoon when the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles do battle for the NFL's top prize. That Lombardi Trophy has landed in the Pats' hands five times since Tom Brady became their quarterback and Bill Belichick their head coach. In all, they've taken part in seven previous Super Bowls together. Meanwhile, the Eagles have never won the title. They hav...
In Salem, West Virginia, it’s still against the law to eat candy less than 90 minutes before church services. Until a week ago, it was illegal for motorists to pump their own gas in parts of Oregon. On Jan.1, stations in Oregon counties with a population of less than 40,000 can offer self-service at the pumps. I guess you can say — with tongue in cheek — that times are slowly changing. On a more serious note though, hopefully the National Football League will soon catch up to...
I've long heard and respected the phrase "Power of the Press." Undoubtedly, you have as well. It wasn't until this week that I learned that expression could come complete with wheels and a die-cast metal body. That's all thanks to Jim Tulett, a Clovis resident who's been collecting Matchbox vehicles for almost 60 years. Jim called and told me that he had some items in his vast collection that I might be interested in. He had me hook, line and sinker when he said they had...
It’s the time of year again for that great debate: Is it OK to gear up for Christmas before Thanksgiving is even celebrated? I’ve long been a believer that the Christmas decorations, the yard inflatables and even any conversations about gifts must stay on hold until after the turkey has been cooked, carved and consumed. Steadfast in my ways, it just seemed to make sense to me. Enjoy one before you move on to the next. Call it tradition. However, on Thanksgiving Day this yea...
Historic firsts took place all across the United States last week. As voters in scores of states — but not New Mexico — headed to the polls last Tuesday for the first regularly scheduled Election Day since President Trump won the presidency, many of the outcomes showed the ever-changing fabric of our country. A transgender woman, a Sikh man and openly gay people all posted victories in their respective races from coast to coast. We’ve changed so much in society that newsp...
Later this week, local veteran Dennis "D.J." Johnson will be embarking on a hunting trip. A year ago around this time, he made the same excursion. It's all part of a "give back" program that a local hunting and fishing guide service is trying to get started to thank a veteran for his or her service. Brothers Jared and Peter Piepkorn, owners of Wing River Outfitters, are behind the idea. "My dad served 37 years total," said Jared, who lives in Clovis. "I've been around the mili...
We lost a great organization this week. What we’ve long known as the Boy Scouts of America is done. Kaput. Sayonara. Adios. Dead in the water. The group announced last week that, beginning next year, it will accept females into its ranks. It may be a progressive decision. It’s certainly one that’s unnecessary. Basically, it’s a whopper of a mistake. Once again, a private organization — which I remind you —can make its own rules and, within reason, do whatever it likes. That...
It was a jarring way to start a Monday morning. My wife woke me at the start of this past week to let me know there had been a horrible shooting in Las Vegas. It didn’t resonate right away, but as I cleared my eyes at 5:30 a.m. and began to catch up on the details, I read the appalling news. A gunman had opened fired on the Route 91 Harvest Festival country music concert. The death toll and the number of people injured had already climbed several times in the preceding hours....
People across the nation and the world learned about Clovis this week. Sadly, it was for all of the wrong reasons. The mass shooting at the Clovis-Carver Public Library on Monday afternoon made news across the globe. Unfortunately, that's reality when bad things transpire in faraway communities. We've printed those stories of other communities as a newspaper, way too many times to count. The datelines on many of those carried big city locales such as Chicago, Baltimore, New...
It began with a simple story about a lost dog. When it was all said and done, it had turned into a good old-fashioned brouhaha on Facebook. Let's back up a step to bring those unfamiliar with the story up to speed. The Eastern New Mexico News was contacted Saturday evening by Denise Madrid about her 10-year-old son's dog, which had gone missing sometime on Thursday afternoon. Two days had passed and there hadn't been a sign of little Lola, a 5-year-old Yorkie. Madrid, whom...
Finding good help nowadays is seemingly getting tougher and tougher. Now I’m certainly not saying that there aren’t good people out there. To the contrary: I know there are great potential employees out there who can help any business become better. It just seems like it’s getting more difficult to find them. I’ve had numerous conversations with current business owners and managers in the area in recent weeks, and the theme tends to be quite similar. They all have opening...
This week, I wanted to take an opportunity to update you on a few things going on here at The Eastern New Mexico News. Here goes: • SUNDAY TV SECTION CHANGE: Beginning Sept. 3, we’re making some changes to our weekly “Just TV” product. The most noticeable switch is the change from a 24-page tabloid-sized section to 16 pages. Don’t worry, all of the puzzles will still be there as well as the familiar “Best Bets” features. The only sacrifices we’re making are the listings fr...
For some of the more avid youth baseball fans out there, you may have flipped on your television to watch the American Legion World Series this past week. I count myself among those ranks. I generally tune in to view all kinds of baseball tournaments on TV if I can. This one in particular, though, was scheduled well in advance on the DVR, and watched live on as many days as possible. The reason: It’s always pretty neat to watch kids you’ve coached in travel ball or your son...
It’s almost undoubtedly a parent’s worst nightmare. A phone call comes informing them that there’s been an accident involving their child. Hearts drop, minds race, tears flow. Parents who had placed their young children in the trust and care of Taylor Tots daycare in Portales faced just that this past week. Calls came last Tuesday afternoon directing parents to pick up their babies. When they each arrived, they found police cars and emergency personnel onsite at the home...
While vacationing on the East Coast earlier this month, I heard an interesting news item about a man who had tried to carry a gun onto a plane. The gentleman worked for the taxpayers and was traveling on official business in June, headed to an out-of-state conference. He apparently had forgotten that his handgun was tucked away inside his laptop case — one of his carry-on items. It was discovered by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker when the bag went t...
As most of you are aware, summer officially started last week. However, well before the calendar flipped to June 20, the heat had already been turned up locally and on many of our friends to the west. While we topped out with several days of temperatures in the low 100s prior to the formal kickoff to summer, temperatures in Phoenix and Las Vegas touched as high as 118 and 119, respectively. In recognition of the Clovis Music Festival, that gave me flashbacks to the popular...
