Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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It’s a trend states and districts are feeling nationwide: teacher shortages. And New Mexico’s larger districts — including the state’s largest and in Clovis — are still on the hunt to fill positions for the coming 2018-2019 school year. Numerous positions are available, including 56 in Clovis. U.S. Department of Education data for the just completed 2017-2018 school year showed that teacher shortages were affecting every state in the country. Now, with schools looking ahead to the coming school year, Albuquerque Public Sc...
SANTA FE — Allsup’s Convenience Stores, the Clovis-based chain that operates throughout New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, is giving its employees a grand bonus. That’s a grand as in $1,000 to each full-time, non-executive employee, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Allsup’s said in a statement to the New Mexican that the windfall was “a result of the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed” in December. The bonus went to employees who have been with the company at least a year. Allsup’s operates 317 stores in New Mexico, West...
ALBUQUERQUE — A hearing examiner is urging New Mexico regulators to reject an earnings proposal related to Xcel Energy’s two planned wind farms along the Texas-New Mexico border. One of those proposed projects is the Sagamore Wind Project, a 522-megawatt wind farm that would be located 20 miles southeast of Portales. At issue is a proposal that would allow the utility to recover lost earnings that accumulate between the time when the wind farms actually come online and when the state Public Regulation Commission approves new...
SANTA FE — Two Clovis-area female attorneys who filed sexual harassment complaints against Chief Deputy Public Defender Chandler Blair are still pursuing their claims after the New Mexico Disciplinary Board declined to take action. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that one woman’s complaint has been sent to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a second alleged victim has asked the state Supreme Court to review the Disciplinary Board’s decision. No criminal charges have been filed in either case. Blair has denie...
ALAMOSA, Colo. — The president of a university in Colorado has been placed on leave amid accusations she bullied faculty and staff, failed to improve declining student enrollment and mocked workers with an offensive Halloween costume. The Denver Post reports Adams State University President Beverlee J. McClure was placed on leave last week after photos of her in the costume in October 2016 began circulating on campus. McClure was president at Clovis Community College from 1999 to 2005. McClure became Adams State’s first wom...
EL PASO, Texas - The FBI questioned two brothers from Portales in the death of a border patrol agent in Texas, according to federal court documents that have been sealed. Jeanette Harper, a spokeswoman for the FBI's El Paso office, said Thursday that the investigation is ongoing into the death of agent Rogelio Martinez and serious injuries sustained by his partner. FBI officials said previously that they were investigating the incident as a "potential assault" but they have no...
Embracing a historic change, the Boy Scouts of America announced Wednesday plans to admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting next year and to establish a new program for older girls using the same curriculum as the Boy Scouts. Under the plan, Cub Scout dens — the smallest unit — will be single-gender, either all-boys or all-girls. The larger Cub Scout packs will have the option to remain single gender or welcome both genders. The program for older girls is expected to sta...
ALBUQUERQUE — It’s now official: The high school football season will end on Thanksgiving weekend, beginning in 2018. By an overwhelming majority of 66-7, members schools in the state have voted to confirm a new calendar that will go into effect for the 2018-19 school year and beyond. It will push up by one week the season openers, and it will mean a Thanksgiving finish to the season for the upper classes, with championship games on Black Friday or the following afternoon. This year, Dec. 2 falls on a Saturday, and that is...
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday it is abandoning a test meant to determine whether nuclear waste can be buried far underground. That’s because of changes in budget priorities, the agency said. But the plan’s critics and supporters, at least in Quay County, all say the battle is far from over. The Trump administration sent Congress a federal spending plan that seeks $120 million to revive the mothballed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The repository was closed in 2012 after heavy opposition by for...
ALBUQUERQUE — Athletics are losing out in the competition for limited dollars as one of the nation’s largest school districts prepares for a 2 percent cut in state funding. Albuquerque Public Schools is dropping its middle-school athletics program for the coming school year because of anticipated spending reductions linked to New Mexico’s state budget crisis, the district announced Thursday. School district spokeswoman Monica Armenta said eliminating intermural middle-school volleyball, basketball, and track and field will...
The New Mexico Livestock Board received a judge's permission Friday to remove about 1,000 emaciated cattle from a drought-stricken ranch near Fort Sumner. New Mexico Livestock Board officials served a search warrant at the sprawling Double V Ranch on May 17 and found at least 25 dead animals and others at risk of starving to death, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant. The owner of the ranch, Richard Evans, was charged with 25 counts of cruelty to animals Thursday evening. A number listed for Double V Ranch was a...
Former Portales High coach Mark McAfee knew Lovington's Brian Urlacher had a bright future when he coached against him as the Rams' defensive co-ordinator in the mid-1990s. McAfee didn't necessarily see him as an eight-time Pro-Bowl middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears. "He was a stud," McAfee said Wednesday night. "I knew he could play at the next (college) level, and I was glad he had what I would consider to be a successful college and NFL career." Urlacher announced his retirement on Wednesday through social media...
Representatives from Raton, Tucumcari and Lordsburg told New Mexico racing commissioners on Thursday they are interested in applying for the state's sixth racino license, even though discussion of that license had been removed from the meeting agenda. The long-delayed and still unfinished La Mesa Racetrack in Raton earlier this week appealed the loss of its racing license to the state Supreme Court, putting the availability of that license in limbo. An unnamed group has also expressed interest in opening a racino in Clovis.... Full story
The district attorney for Curry and Roosevelt counties said a plea bargain struck Thursday with a retired judge accused of soliciting bribes was a victory for the state's justice system. Retired 3rd Judicial District Judge Michael Murphy pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct in what became known as the "pay to play" case. He was indicted on four felony charges based on evidence presented a grand jury by Matt Chandler, the district attorney for Curry and Roosevelt counties...
SANTA ROSA — New Mexico State Police are investigating after an explosive device was found at a famous diving spot in eastern New Mexico. Sgt. Emmanuel Gutierrez said the state police bomb squad was called out to the Blue Hole on Thursday after a visitor noticed a suspicious device in the fresh-water spring. The park was evacuated, and the bomb squad determined that the device was in fact an explosive. Gutierrez says there were no injuries or property damage. State police divers also conducted a sweep of the water in Blue H...
PLAINVIEW, Texas — Cargill has announced it will idle a West Texas plant and lay off all 2,000 workers because of a tight cattle supply stemming from years of drought. A news release from the Wichita, Kan.,-based company Thursday says the Plainview workers will be laid off Feb. 1. Other Cargill plants in the region, including the plant in Friona, and in other parts of the country will not be affected. The release said the company will work to relocate Plainview employees to its other plants, and existing regional plants w...
Clovis and Portales residents woke to a white Christmas Tuesday morning as the area was sprinkled in less than one inch of snow overnight. Snowfall at the Clovis Municipal Airport began around 2 a.m. Tuesday and stopped around 7 a.m., according to Mark Fettig, a general forecaster at the National Weather Service, Albuquerque. There were no traffic accidents reported in Curry and Roosevelt counties, according to New Mexico State Police and local law enforcement. Fettig said no storm systems will affect the area the remainder...
ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico is getting ready for what could be a significant blast of winter. Forecasters with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque are warning residents and travelers that the above-normal temperatures and dry weather that New Mexico has been experiencing in recent weeks will come to an abrupt end Sunday. That's when a "potent" arctic front will move across the state, bringing with it cooler temperatures and gusty winds. Snow is expected across the northern mountains and the northeast plains Sunday m... Full story
Peanut butter manufacturer Sunland has expanded its voluntary recall of all products made at its Portales plant, citing the threat of possible salmonella contamination. The announcement comes as the Food and Drug Administration disclosed that it found what it called "objectionable conditions" at the Portales plant in 2010, two years before the current outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to Trader Joe's peanut butter produced there. The FDA said Friday that a recent inspection found salmonella in the plant that produced...
Postings on a new Facebook page have prompted Clovis police and Clovis Municipal Schools officials to launch an investigation into online bullying. Clovis Police Chief Steve Sanders says no threats of violence have been made on the page, but his officers are looking into whether the posts violate New Mexico's harassment statutes. He says the page is being used to belittle and harass students at Clovis High School. More than 1,600 students are enrolled at the school. Police... Full story
SANTA FE — Local officials say scaled-back loans from the New Mexico Finance Authority would not have a big impact on obtaining funds for future infrastructure projects. The authority's governing board reviewed a proposal Thursday for limiting a loan program that finances projects such as sewers, roads and other infrastructure in communities. The authority can only make loans using $37 million in cash reserves because it's unable to issue new bonds without a final audit or tap into a $50 million line of credit previously a...
A computer that may have contained the personal information of Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico members was stolen in Clovis, according to a police report. According to the report, the computer was one of two stolen Thursday from a vehicle in a hotel parking lot on Schepps Boulevard. The computers belong to an employee of an Albuquerque CPA firm conducting an annual audit of the state's public pension agency. The computer may have contained PERA member information including names, addresses, financial...
Jimmy Reagan saw a woman on the porch at 1701 N. Wheaton Road on Wednesday night and asked her for money. When she declined, Reagan entered the house and killed 35-year-old Shondel D. Lofton. Jimmy Reagan That's what witnesses have told police about Clovis' second homicide this year. Police say Reagan, 31, shot Lofton in the head and kidnapped two women while fleeing the scene. An armed Reagan was captured a short time later after the shooting. He is being held at the Curry...
ALBUQUERQUE — A dramatic increase in the price of hay and corn and low milk prices are putting some New Mexico dairies out of business. Dairy Producers of New Mexico President Luke Woelber tells the Albuquerque Journal that he knows of five dairies in the eastern and southern part of the state that have closed in the face of feed costs that have doubled in the past few years. The higher feed costs combined with higher fuel and transportation costs means that, for the dairies, the cost of producing a gallon of milk is g...
SANTA FE — A private plane carrying Gov. Susana Martinez and Clovis-Portales District Attorney Matt Chandler landed without its landing gear down Wednesday in Santa Fe, but there were no injuries, officials said. The emergency landing took place about 10 p.m. at Santa Fe Municipal Airport. The governor was returning from a campaign event in Tucumcari for Republican state Senate candidate Angie Spears. The Spears campaign paid for the flight, spokesman Scott Darnell said. The governor's husband Chuck Franco was also on b... Full story
