Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS - With a short email, David Lansford decided 20 years as mayor was enough. Lansford confirmed his decision not to run for a sixth term in an email to The News Monday night, briefly after chairing a short Clovis city commission meeting that dealt with property and liability insurance for the upcoming year. Citizens of Clovis first elected Lansford in 1996, the first year a mayor was elected at large. Previously, the office was voted on within the city commission followin...
PORTALES — The first postseason football win in school history and a trip to NCAA Division II South Central Region competition for the women’s basketball program highlighted 2019 for Eastern New Mexico University sports. The school also enters the decade with a new athletic director, as Portland State deputy athletic director Matt Billings was chosen to the position last week. As of Jan. 20, he replaces Greg Waggoner, who stepped down in June and is slated to become the AD in January at NCAA Division III Johnson & Wales Unive...
Hello, 2020. You snuck up on me. I knew you were on the way; but I still haven’t decorated for Christmas yet, and here you are, nipping at my heels. I haven’t processed 2019, and here I sit on the threshold of 2020. You gave me a run for my money, 2019. Like everyone else, I was swimming through everything life tossed at me. Sometimes I managed well, and then other times, meh. I gave up writing resolutions years … OK, decades … ago. Since they were broken before the ink was...
There is holiness to memory, Philip Gulley writes in his “Christmas in Harmony,” and “a sense of God’s presence” in what Gulley calls the “mangers of the mind.” Perhaps the memories in the manger center on wonderful moments in a decades-long line of Christmas eve services or the particular way your family lit the Advent candles each year. Other memories in the manger almost certainly focus on Christmas joys, as commonplace as they are special, all wrapped up in the way your...
I personally have never made a resolution for a new year. I have planned on it, but never got it done. But if I were to make a resolution, it would be to go outside often every day. That’s because I’m always in the house when I’m not at school. I know there are people who always have resolutions and always get them done before the next year. My dad always has a resolution and it’s always the same — to run a mile every day. My grandmother says she writes her resolutions down so she can keep herself accountable. People ha...
I glanced up as the bells rang to herald new customers walking into the used clothing store. I was looking for a pair of warm dress pants. Visiting my parents in Minnesota, I had forgotten entirely about the possibility of extreme cold and the idea of going out that night in tights and a skirt seemed preposterous. Luckily, I found a like-new pair of black jeans with just a little sparkle on the pocket for a good price. I was wandering around the store with these jeans in my hand — just in case I saw something else that I m...
Welcome to 2020. I’m writing this a few days ahead of this first day of a new decade, but if tradition holds true, my New Year’s eve celebration last night likely involved pajamas, a cup of hot chocolate, and maybe a picture puzzle. Those are typically combined with gratitude that we live in the Mountain Standard Time zone, because when that crystal ball drops at Times Square in New York City, it is only 10 p.m. here — a mere hour or so past my normal bedtime. I can usually ma...
Three 12-year-old girls were putting air in their bicycle tires early that Sunday evening. Then the Texaco service station attendant told them they needed to leave. As they were riding away, a shot rang out. “Mr. Tapp got shot,” Kathy Wilkinson told a jury a few months later. Mr. Tapp was Grover Tapp, a 70-year-old painter and school janitor. His killer was Al Griffin, 36, who worked at the service station on American Boulevard in Muleshoe. The men may have been friends. Certainly they were friendly acquaintances. The tro...
Today • 18th annual Freeze Your Bippy ride — 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., High Plains Harley-Davidson, 4400 Mabry Drive, Clovis. Meet at 11:30 a.m., and ride to the Portales VFW at noon for a potluck lunch; $7 per person. All proceeds benefit veterans through the New Mexico Auxiliary special project and VFW Post 9515 Auxiliary’s Veteran Assistance Program. Information: 575-769-1000 Thursday • Pajama storytime — 10 a.m., Clovis-Carver Public Library, 701 N. Main St., Clovis. Open to Tiny Tots and Preschool Storytime kids. Wear your...
CLOVIS — The city of Clovis in 2019 said hello to small brewers, goodbye to one of its commissioners and longtime civic leaders and imposed a conditional property tax aimed at long-term water supply. No issue filled meeting rooms for the Clovis City Commission in 2019 more than a proposed property tax increase to help pay for Clovis’ share of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System. Clovis has a 75% share in the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority, which is seeking $90 million to do an interim groundwater project tha...
The Clovis Municipal School District saw a big change this year as Renee Russ took charge as superintendent to fill the role left by the departure of Superintendent Jody Balch. Balch served five years as superintendent, first taking over in July 2014, and had served a total of 39 years in education before deciding to leave the career behind. “You know when it’s time,” Balch said to the CMS board after announcing his intent to leave. Balch went on to be appointed to the Curry County Labor Management Board by the County Commi...
PORTALES — After three years of negotiations, some worried that the Sagamore Wind Farm may never become a reality, but before 2019 was out, community members from Roosevelt County and beyond gathered 8 miles east of Elida to break ground on the 100,00-acre wind farm. Xcel announced it would commence with the project in September after previously coming under fire from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in 2018 because of a proposed rate hike for customers intended to help pay for the project. Xcel worked out an a...
PORTALES — After working several years to secure funding, Portales finally broke ground on a new fire station in the northwest part of town in 2019. La Casa originally donated the land to the city several years ago, but it took time to secure funding to finally make use of it. Former fire chief Gary Nuckols was committed to getting the project off the ground before announcing his retirement in December and making way for Timothy J. Cathey to step in and take over as chief. The new station is on the north side of the train t...
Curry County is dry no more. Voters allowed the change during November elections as one of many items that drew attention for Curry in 2019. Commissioners proposed three questions to voters, saying they wanted the matter of alcohol in Curry County’s unincorporated areas to be left to voters instead of their opinions on the matter. Three questions passed easily in November: • Allowing the sale, service and consumption of alcohol, 1,614-947 • Allowing the transfer of liquor licenses to unincorporated parts of the county, 1,453...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Friday-Tuesday): Clovis ∞ Peter Macias, 47, failure to appear on a felony charge ∞ Nancy Mascarenas, 44, trafficking ∞ Adam Crespin, 34, aggravated battery upon a peace officer ∞ Ricky Sena, 26, aggravated battery upon a peace officer ∞ Austin Lee, 21, criminal sexual penetration in the second degree ∞ Jesus Ornelas, 39, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge ∞ Marc Calbert, 32, battery ∞ Raul Venegas, 28, failure to appear on a felony charge ∞ Rogelio Maya, 22, aggrava...
It’ll begin very soon, with state caucuses and primaries starting in Iowa and New Hampshire, and impeachment roaring out of the nation’s capital, all in January. The biggest monkey wrench to be thrown into the crossover between the 2019 posturing and the 2020 reality checking, in my opinion, wasn’t the articles of impeachment — we’ve known that was coming for months now, and still don’t know how it will affect the election. Instead, I think it came as a crack in President Trump’s armor, in the form of an editorial cal...
New Mexicans received an early holiday present as the New Mexico Supreme Court declined to review the strong Court of Appeals and District Court decisions in the Corizon Health case, enforcing the state’s Sunshine Laws. The Supreme Court denied a petition for Writ of Certiorari filed by Corizon Health seeking review of September’s New Mexico Court of Appeals decision. The decision upholds First Judicial District Court Judge Raymond Ortiz’s verdict requiring Corizon to turn over requested public records and pay legal fees for...
Happy new year and happy new decade. I know, it doesn’t really mean anything to say it’s a “new year” or a “new decade” since it’s arbitrary, but it feels significant — partly because it’s treated as though it is. I like excuses to celebrate so I’m fine with it. The winter solstice is a natural time for a year to begin, as would be the other solar divisions of the year: the summer solstice or one of the equinoxes. The winter solstice was originally celebrated as the n...
On this date ... 1970: The Clovis News-Journal applauded its 80 newspaper carriers with a “hearty well done” for their “high standard” of performance. “Even the recent snow that slowed and hampered the delivery of the News-Journal did not succeed in stopping a single boy from making his rounds in the city of Clovis,” the newspaper reported. “During the height of the storm we received only 11 calls from customers who did not receive their regular delivery.” The short story included a photo of brothers Elton and Robert Well...
Tuesday • Roosevelt County Commission — 9 a.m., Commission Room, Roosevelt County Courthouse, 109 W. First St., Portales. Information: 575-356-5307 • City of Clovis Civil Aviation Board — 5:30 p.m., Clovis Municipal Airport Terminal Conference Room, 459 CR 11.5, Texico. Information: 575-769-7890 • Clovis Lodgers Tax Advisory Board — 5:30 p.m., Clovis City Hall assembly room, 321 N. Connelly, Clovis. Information: 575-769-7828 • Portales City Council — 6:30 p.m., Memorial Building, 200 E. 7th St., Portales. Information: 57...
One person died and another was injured Sunday in a one-vehicle crash north of Corona, according to a news release from the New Mexico State Police. Enid Miller, 77, of Carrizozo, was ejected from a 2005 Fort F-350 when it left the roadway and rolled over near mile post 172 of U.S. 54. The driver was injured and transported to Albuquerque by ambulance. He was identified only as a 48-year-old man of Melrose. The crash remains under investigation....
CLOVIS — Picking a new property and liability insurance provider didn’t take the Clovis City Commission long. Six-and-a-half minutes, to be exact. The commission went that long, from starting gavel to adjourning gavel, voting 6-0 to go with Travelers for a total cost of $1.317 million. The cost includes a $1.231 million premium, plus insurance broker fees and gross receipts taxes. “This is a 16% increase over what we paid in 2019,” Howalt said of the premium, “but was within what we’d projected increases to be.” The city had...
CLOVIS — The Curry County Investment Committee has an opening, and is accepting letters of interest from current or retired bankers or financial advisers who live or work in the county. The board meets quarterly and provides recommendations to the Curry County treasurer and commission on investing county funds, the county investment policy and other matters. Any qualified individuals are asked to submit a letter or interest no later than noon Jan. 28 to County Manager Lance Pyle at either 417 Gidding, Suite 100, Clovis, NM 8...
Whether it was a case of homicide, embezzlement or negligence, there was no shortage of crimes, suspects or victims as 2019 came and went in eastern New Mexico. Few cases captured more public heartbreak and rage as the mother and daughter daycare duo who, in July 2017, left a pair of children in a hot car. Mary and Sandi Taylor were convicted in February for reckless child abuse pertaining to the death of 22-month-old Maliyah Jones and injuries to 2-year-old Aubri Loya. The...
CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission approved a change order to install additional camera conduits for the Detention Center renovation project during a short special meeting held Monday afternoon. The change order was for $12,148 and is the first step to address an issue regarding additional camera sites discovered by contractor HB Construction during the renovation that weren't outlined in the architect's plans. The original plan showed 59 cameras that would need to be switched from an analog to digital system as part of t...
