Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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The New Mexico state Legislature started Jan. 15. As of Friday, 25 bills have been introduced by area legislators. The deadline for filing is Feb. 14. Legislation introduced by Curry and Roosevelt County legislators in the 2013 session, as of Jan. 25, includes the following: Rep. Dennis Roch (R-Texico) HB17: Licenses dental therapists to be dental health providers, entitled to many of the same tax credits and privileges granted to dentists, in rural areas. Dental therapists...
The fiscal cliff that had threatened the nation with possible recession became a speed bump at the last minute on New Year's Day, but the law that averted the cliff consisted mostly of date changes. Many of the same issues still confront Washington leaders and the public's collective bank accounts. In the wake of the cliff, the Congress members who represent Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties, all Democrats, are mainly concerned with keeping alive the federal programs that benefit New Mexico, especially the Los Alamos and...
Two Curry County school superintendents said they are withholding full acceptance of Gov. Susana Martinez's announcement Thursday that the statewide graduation rate for the class of 2012 was 70.3 percent, which would be an increase of 7.3 points from last year's graduation rate. In a news release, the Governor's office said all student groups increased their graduation rates with the largest increases occurring among minority students. While applauding the graduation rate improvement, Martinez urged the passage of proposed... Full story
While the nation and the state worry through an unusually severe outbreak of influenza, schools in Curry and Roosevelt counties seem to be carrying on with no more absences than usual. Only two districts, Dora and Elida, reported greater illness rates than usual, but officials in neither district were able to say whether the flu was the cause. Jim Daugherty, superintendent of the Elida District, said there had been a number of "stomach flu" cases, not the sinus and respiratory symptoms of the strain of flu that is currently... Full story
The nation's current influenza epidemic has sent thousands of Curry, Roosevelt and Quay County residents in search of flu vaccines, and immunization providers report booming business. County health offices in all three counties report brisk trade in the flu vaccines, leading some to worry about possible shortages before this flu season ends. Gayla Jaquess, nurse manager of the Curry County health office in Clovis, said she estimates that the office has administered about...
At noon on Tuesday, the first session of the 51st Legislature begins its 60-day term. Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties are represented by six legislators. Five of these legislators are Republican. One is a Democrat. One, Republican Sen. Pat Woods, is beginning his first term as a legislator. In general, the legislature convenes in regular sessions on the third Tuesday in January each year. It meets for 60 days in odd-numbered years and 30 days in even-numbered years. Between regular sessions, legislators serve on interim...
A million-dollar (or more) question that is likely to face Curry and Roosevelt county lawmakers in the New Mexico Legislature's next session, which begins Tuesday, is how state capital outlay funds are divvied up among legislators and Gov. Susana Martinez. Near the end of the 2012 legislative session, Martinez penciled out $22.9 million of the $146.8 million, about 15 percent of the total, in capital outlay projects that the legislature had authorized, using line-item veto....
Curry and Roosevelt County state lawmakers seem united on what issues need the most attention in the upcoming New Mexico Legislature, which begins Jan. 15. Education, economic development and financial reforms, either in taxes or in fund distributions, seem to be on the radar for Republicans and Democrats alike, and most have pledged, as Gov. Susana Martinez has, to work across the aisle. It will be the first term for Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview. He said he intends to "watch...
If your list of achievements for 2013 includes a new job or career in eastern New Mexico, goal recommendations would depend on what you're looking for. If you're just looking for the job with the best pay, that seems to be surgeon, with a salary of $261,094 per year. General practice physicians follow at $230,894 annually. If you haven't undergone the 10 or so years of post-college education to become a physician, however, other health care careers with less required preparation are plentiful, according to job training and...
Before most drivers take a deep breath and steer their vehicles onto storm-whitened winter roads for the morning commute, a small army of public employees have been there first, usually, to make the roads as passable as possible. These are the state, county and city road crews who rush into the storm to spread salt, sand and cinders or plow snow off the roadways as soon as they know things are getting rough. The largest share of that work belongs to the crews of New Mexico Department of Transportation's District 2. The...
Warmer and drier — again. That's the forecast for eastern New Mexico's winter of 2012-2013, courtesy of the National Weather Service's Albuquerque office. "On average," said Tim Shy, senior forecaster for the NWS, "it will be a little warmer and a little drier than normal. That means there will be more days that are warmer than usual and fewer days it will be cooler than the average." Shy's forecast applies through March 2013, he said. So far December's 16 days of above-normal temperatures and three cooler-than-normal days, w...
Agricultural leaders and a New Mexico state representative are encouraging farmers and ranchers across eastern New Mexico to participate in the national 2012 Agricultural Census being conducted by the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. On Tuesday, the USDA announced it had started mailing census forms to farmers and ranchers throughout the nation. The census, the announcement said, is "the only source of consistent and comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county in the nation." Agriculture... Full story
Gun shop sales have increased sharply in the Clovis area in response to events surrounding the Newtown, Conn., school shooting tragedy, local gun shop owners say. Just this week, owners said, sales of firearms and ammunition have soared. While some of the increase is due to the Christmas season, most of the jump in sales is a response to events surrounding the shooting deaths of 26 people, 20 of them children in Newtown on Dec. 14, according to gun shop owners. "We sold out of just about everything," said David Cresap, owner... Full story
