Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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A state district judge has ruled that while Democratic lawmakers may have worked to dilute Republican voting power in one of the state's three congressional districts, their efforts did not rise to the level of "of an egregious gerrymander." The ruling by Ninth Judicial District Judge Fred T. Van Soelen of Clovis struck a blow to the plaintiffs in the case, including the Republican Party of New Mexico, who sued in January 2022. The GOP argued the Democratic-majority Legislature purposefully redrew the map for the 2nd...
LOVINGTON — Although closing arguments ended Thursday in a trial questioning the legality of the state's congressional district map, more evidence could emerge this week for the judge to consider. The trial did not include the testimony of any of the Democratic lawmakers named in the suit or those who received subpoenas to appear: state Sens. Mimi Stewart of Albuquerque, Peter Wirth of Santa Fe, Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces and then-House Speaker Brian Egolf of Santa Fe. Ninth Judicial District Judge Fred T. Van Soelen o...
Attorney General Raúl Torrez sent a letter Tuesday to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, alerting her he will not defend her office in any lawsuit challenging her executive order temporarily suspending the right to carry firearms in Albuquerque. The governor announced the order Friday after declaring the state in a public health emergency due to a high rate of run violence. She cited a series of shootings that have killed New Mexico children. The order, in effect for at least 30 days, has led to several lawsuits challenging its...
It was a sight so rare it might have been historic: a moose — yes, a moose — skipping along Hyde Park Road toward the Ski Santa Fe parking lot on Sunday afternoon. A video captured by a Santa Fe family heading home after a ski trip shows what could be a 1,000-pound animal moving in sync with the holiday song "Let It Snow," playing on their car radio when the beast trotted by. "That thing'll kill you," driver Adam Ronan says in the video as the moose passes his car. "We couldn't believe it," added his wife, Theresa Ronan, who...
Most Republican and Democratic legislators agree on at least one thing: The unpredictability of critical oil and gas money that fuels the state's budget demands lawmakers set aside a hefty cash reserve. Revenue projections, strapped to the fortunates of oil and gas, often rise like a rocket — and can plummet like a falling star. Still, the state's reserve funds remain a source of contention, with some lawmakers pushing to save more for a rainy day and others eager to invest as much as possible into improving state services o...
Lawmakers plan to take another swing at creating a paid family and medical leave fund during the next legislative session. Passing the bill won't be easy. Similar efforts have failed to make it through the Legislature going as far back as 20 years ago, according to a new task force report on the issue presented Monday to lawmakers on the interim Economic Development and Policy Committee. The fund will use both employer and employee contributions to pay employees up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year for a number of reasons,...
Many Americans take long-distance trips during the holidays, and some board their pets. Pet boarding has become a lucrative business — Forbes magazine reported in 2019 more than $6 billion had been spent annually on boarding and grooming services nationwide. With such practices, however, come risks. Dogs and cats unaccustomed to boarding sometimes become lethargic or depressed. There also is the possibility of a canine fight or a pet's exposure to an illness. Occasionally, a high-profile tragedy emerges. A dog fatally m...
In Steve McGee's view, every monument over a veteran's grave has a story to tell. But what if there is no gravestone or, perhaps, there's a marker with a story that remains unknown? McGee, an about-to-retire U.S. Army engineer who lives in El Paso, wants to uncover those stories — about 2,600 of them. That's how many New Mexicans died during World War II, either in combat or stateside, by his estimate. He's looking for volunteers to help him compile a database of Stories Behind the Stars, a national nonprofit initiative to r...
ALBUQUERQUE — Mark Ronchetti's dreams of reclaiming the Governor's Office for the Republican Party were dashed Tuesday, and he didn't make supporters wait deep into the night to know. A little past 9:30 p.m., Ronchetti took the stage at the Hotel Albuquerque to tell supporters his campaign would "likely to come to an end tonight without winning." The former television weatherman, who jumped into the race nearly a year ago, said just because you walk down God's path does not mean you will win. But, he added, you are "...
SANTA FE -- It's a heartbreaking image: a photo taken by Dorothea Lange showing Japanese American children joining other students in pledging allegiance to the U.S. flag sometime in the spring of 1942. One wonders what the children were thinking or if they understood the sad irony of the situation. After all, the photo was taken was just months after the U.S. government had rounded up Japanese American citizens, first in Hawaii and then nationwide, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 — the event t...
New Mexico voters will get a second — and likely last — chance to watch the two most prominent gubernatorial candidates square off in a face-to-face debate. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Mark Ronchetti are scheduled to take part in a one-hour debate sponsored by KOAT-TV, the Albuquerque Journal and KKOB-AM Wednesday night. Libertarian Karen Bedonie will not participate. As was the case when they met in KOB-TV's live debate on Sept. 30, voters should expect Ronchetti and Lujan Grisham to again tangle on high-profile issues l...
Sue Cleveland watches the number of experienced state school superintendents decline every autumn during the get-togethers that introduce New Mexico's 89 district leaders to one another. Cleveland, the de facto dean of state school superintendents — she has headed Rio Rancho Public Schools since its inception in the early 1990s — knows better than most how vital consistent leadership can be. Without it, experts say it's more difficult for districts to improve student achievement and graduation rates, plus retain good tea...
SANTA FE -- Every September, when Zozobra goes up in smoke, tens of thousands of glooms go up with him. Those glooms, collected on slips of paper or official documents, are often related to personal problems — bad jobs, bad relationships, bad financial situations. This year, someone even dropped off a wedding dress to be torched with Zozobra on Friday — perhaps a reflection on vows taken but not delivered. But a look at a few dozen glooms provided by Zozobra organizers this year — replete with ZIP codes emanating both far a...
GREENVILLE, Texas -- When "The End" flashed on the screen at the conclusion of the film, the audience broke out in applause. The 75 or so patrons in the Texan Theater had just watched their hero, Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of World War II, save the day again. In the audience, Larry Winters, 79, had already used his handkerchief to wipe away tears at least once during the screening of "To Hell and Back," the 1955 film adaptation of Murphy's war memoir. "Every... Full story
As embattled Rio Arriba County Sheriff James Lujan heads to trial on felony charges, his attorneys battled prosecutors over discovery issues Friday. Lujan, whose trial is scheduled to start Tuesday in Rio Arriba County, is charged with aiding a felon and bribing a witness in a 2017 case in which he is accused of helping former Española City Councilor Phillip Chacon evade police and telling a deputy who witnessed some of those actions not to tell anyone. At issue Friday was whether former Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Deputy...
SANTA FE — A Republican lawmaker in the New Mexico House of Representatives and four staff members at the Roundhouse have tested positive for the coronavirus. The cases at the Capitol come just two weeks into a 60-day legislative session that requires everyone but lawmakers to receive weekly nasal COVID-19 tests to be admitted into the building. In an email late Thursday, House Republican spokesman Matthew Garcia-Sierra wrote that he had been “informed one of our members tested positive, and I am also aware that there wer...
Call it the debate that wasn’t. Both candidates for New Mexico’s U.S. House seat in the 3rd Congressional District stressed their deep roots in the state and vowed to provide a voice for New Mexicans who may not otherwise have one during a televised forum Sunday on New Mexico PBS. While Republican Alexis Martinez Johnson showed up at KNME’s studios in Albuquerque for a live interview, Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez appeared via a videoconferencing app. Leger Fernandez told moderator Gene Grant that the COVID-19 pande...
