Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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After 18 hours of induced labor, Kasper Montes arrived Wednesday as the first 2024 baby at Plains Regional Medical Center. Born at 1:33 a.m., Kasper is a treasure, said his mother, Maria Ortega. Kasper's name literally means bringer of treasure, she said. "It was an amazing experience," Ortega said. Kasper was born smaller than Ortega and his father John Montes expected – he's 6 pounds, 2 ounces and 19 inches in length. Ortega and Montes are from Clovis, with Kasper being t...
Mike Morris said last week he wants four more years as Clovis’ mayor. He’s expected to sign up for the job on Tuesday, and he may have some competition. Misty Ponce, a regional manager for the Girl Scouts, said Saturday morning she is “thinking about” joining the race. “Right now I’m just doing research so I can communicate the experience to the girls and hopefully get them involved in it,” she said. Ponce said she has no issues with the job Morris has done. “Absolutely not. He’s done a great job these last four years,” she...
FARWELL – Farwell's girls have beaten some mighty good teams this season, including several which are a class or two above them. Tuesday, though, they got all they could handle from a traditionally strong Class 1A program going through a bit of a down year. Junior Bella Jaime scored nine points and the Lady Blue (19-3), ranked fifth in Texas Class 2A by MaxPreps, rallied in the fourth quarter to slip past Nazareth 37-32. Earlier this season, Farwell handed the Swiftettes (...
WOLFFORTH, Texas – The bad news is it really hurts to get drilled by 49 points. The good news is the Portales High Lady Rams are highly unlikely to see another team anywhere close to the talent level of Frenship again this season. Ranked fourth in Texas Class 6A by MaxPreps – and coming off just their second loss of the campaign – the Lady Tigers put a 61-12 whipping on PHS on Tuesday night. “Probably 90 percent of their roster is taller than anybody we’ve got, and more mobile,” Portales girls coach Wade Fraze said. “On a pos...
MESCALERO – After the first day of their two-day trip out west was postponed due to weather, Texico’s squads traveled to Capitan on Friday night and earned a pair of victories – the girls edging the Lady Tigers 31-29 while the boys won easily 68-35. In the opener, the Lady Wolverines took a three-point halftime lead after outscoring Capitan 12-7 in the second quarter. High scorers for Texico (4-7) were senior Kaya New and sophomore Brylee Burgin with five points each, while junior Joni Foster paced the Lady Tigers (3-8)...
ODESSA, Texas – Six-foot-8 senior post Lathaniel Bastian notched his sixth consecutive double-double with 26 points and 14 rebounds as Texas-Permian Basin held on late to edge Eastern New Mexico University 79-76 in Lone Star Conference men’s basketball on Thursday night, handing the Greyhounds their first LSC setback of the campaign. Juniors Maison Adeleye and Alex Matthews added 17 and 12 points, respectively, for the Falcons (9-3, 4-2 LSC), who took a double-digit lead after going on a 16-4 run late in the opening hal...
Randy McBroom knew Alamogordo would challenge his Portales High boys basketball team on Friday night in the Portales Shootout. What he didn't anticipate from the Tigers was 10 3-pointers. Seven players tallied eight or more points as Alamo (10-3) took the lead for good on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the quarter and went on to beat the Rams 72-55 at the Ram Athletic Center. "We competed for the majority of the night," Rams coach Randy McBroom said. "It was just one of those...
Evannie Fulfer hardly qualifies as a 3-point shooter, but she shot one with a lot of confidence in overtime on Friday night. Senior guard Audrey Paden hit a 3-pointer less than 10 seconds into the OT and Fulfer added another on the next trip down, and Portales High's girls went on to a 47-41 victo4y over the Cavegirls in the Portales Shootout at the Ram Athletic Center. Staring at a 12-point deficit late in the third period and with nothing seeming to work, it was all...
AMARILLO – Five-foot-8 junior guard Jaemon Palacios erupted for five 3-pointers and 23 points in just three quarters on Friday night, and Amarillo Tascosa pulled away in the second half for a 70-49 victory over Clovis High’s boys. Junior guard/forward Jacorey Fields added 15 points and senior forward Jailyn Sledge notched 14 for the Rebels (18-6), who have played nearly twice as many games as the Wildcats (10-4). Tascosa converted nine 3-point field goals in the contest. Eight players tallied for CHS, but only 6-foot-7 senior...
Editor’s note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Fay Craigmile is the deputy chief with Clovis Fire Department. Terrance Lizardo is Clovis’ fire marshal. We asked them about fire prevention. Q: What is the most common cause of house fires? A: According to the U.S. Fire Administration national database estimates from 2012 to 2021 the leading causes of house fires were as follows: 170,000 cooking fires; 32,200 heating fires; 29,800 other unintentional, careless fires; 24,200 electrical mal...
When I was a kid, people compared me to Tommy Smothers, who, at age 86, died just as 2023 was winding down. Aside from sharing the same first name, I was also a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white kid with an off-the-wall sense of humor. When I imitated the clueless Tommy Smothers with one of his routines I memorized from a Smothers Brothers album, people would laugh and say I sounded just like him. My brother Don was more like Tommy’s brother, Dickie Smothers, straight man for their comedic schtick. Donnie, as we called my b...
With yet another massive budget surplus awaiting the New Mexico Legislature as it convenes later this month, this column should rightly be replete with ideas for how the governor and Legislature can use that surplus to diversify the state’s economy and bring New Mexico out of poverty. Alas, if we learned nothing from last year’s 2023 session, it is that even at a time of surplus, the Legislature can still harm our economy. As the Legislature convened last year with a $3.6 bil...
Two years ago, the unchecked dangers of the digital world hit home. My son, a 14-year-old freshman at the time, was being bullied at his old school in Texas because of his race. That afternoon, a friend texted him a link to an Instagram account targeting Black students at their high school. One of the page’s posts compared pictures of monkeys to a photo of my beautiful son. I’ll never forget seeing the spark leave his eyes as his face dropped. As a protective mom, I acted fast, filing a report from my own account (my son did...
Two of the greatest miscalculations made by NATO and the Collective West regarding the Ukraine Project are that the Russian economy would collapse as a result of the economic sanctions imposed on it and that the Russian army would collapse when the Spring Counter-Offensive launched its drive to Melitopol and the Sea of Azov, to cut off Crimea. After more than 10 increasingly restrictive sets of sanctions, international institutions including the World Bank as well as...
You are never obligated to cooperate with anyone trying to violate your rights. Never, for any reason. It will be dangerous to refuse to help them violate you, but in such circumstances, cooperation is just as dangerous. Once someone has decided to harm you, you’re not going to escape without a scratch. Especially when they claim to have the imaginary, magical quality they call “authority.” They’ll try to make you sorry you didn’t help them hurt you. They’ll do their best...
More than a dozen states now, including New Mexico, have pending legal challenges that could remove Donald Trump from their presidential primary ballots. I am no fan of the reality TV star with the big-government leanings, but voters should decide whether he’s president again, not a few politically motivated judges. The courts are trying to decide whether Trump violated the anti-insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment. If his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol was an attempt to overthrow the government,...
Clovis Community College has received 18 applicants for its president’s position, trustees announced at Wednesday’s meeting. Once again, interim President Robin Jones declined to say whether she plans to apply for the job, which became open when embattled President Charles Nwankwo resigned Feb. 1. “I am not able to put anything on record at this time,” Jones told The News after Wednesday’s meeting. She was named interim president after Nwankwo was placed on paid leave in August 2022. In March she said she was intereste...
After several years of dormancy, the city of Clovis is looking to revive the Local Growth Management Committee to better seek ways to support the mission of Cannon Air Force Base. Mayor Mike Morris presented a memorandum of agreement to the commission at its regular meeting on Thursday. Morris proposed the name of the committee be changed to Armed Forces Support Committee along with presenting amended duties of the committee. Morris said the goal of the committee would be to bring in elected representatives from the...
Water remains atop the Portales City Council agenda as it kicked off discussions for plans in 2024. Council member Dianne Parker said Tuesday the city needs to form a water advisory committee, which would include community residents, the city manager and “experts.” “The day we went into this (restricted water use policy), we should have started with a plan the next day,” Parker said. “Collectively between all of us in our community, we need to get together and get this done,” she said. Councilors discussed a process for...
SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday appointed Rep. Greg Nibert to the New Mexico Senate. Nibert, R-Roswell, a 1976 Clovis High School graduate, was first elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives in 2016, according to a news release from the governor's office. He fills the District 27 Senate seat vacated by former State Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, in October. District 27 includes Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Lea and Roosevelt counties. County c...
Does the city Animal Control Department handle foxes, skunks and squirrels when they take up residence on city residents’ property? In Clovis, the city’s Animal Control Department traps foxes and skunks in an agreement with the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish, according to Animal Control Supervisor Larry Jacquez. “People who have a problem with foxes and skunks call us. Right now there’s a waiting list for the traps,” Jacquez said. Jacquez said the department gets calls “once or twice a week” about someone having a fox...
A Clovis man on Tuesday was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the sexual assault of a child. George Gutierrez, 39, will also be required to register as a sex offender following his release from prison, according to a news release from Ninth Judicial District Attorney Quentin Ray. According to the news release: On June 25, Clovis police officers responded to a home in regard to a sexual assault. "After a thorough investigation ... Gutierrez was arrested for the extreme...
I had lunch last month with a fairly large group of family members and friends at a not-inexpensive restaurant in Santa Fe. Collectively, we represented seven or eight households, and most of us had gathered with the idea of picking up our own checks. When we got ready to gather up and leave, however, we learned that one of our group had furtively managed to collect the tab and treat us all. When confronted, our generous benefactor brushed it off, saying, “I try to do a g...
In the spirit of romance, the Ninth Judicial Court judges will be performing free weddings on one of the most romantic holidays of the year – Valentine’s Day. Nicole Madrid, a court paralegal, said it is a tradition the courts have been hosting for several years, but had to put on hold due to the COVID pandemic. “This is a way for our judges to give back to our community. The judges are very excited to provide weddings to the public again,” Madrid said. Madrid said the judges officiated about a dozen weddings a year before...
The man charged in connection with a Dec. 29 hit and run death told police he did not know he’d hit anyone – until he read about the death of Matthew Gibbs on Facebook two days later. Collin Guthals said he initially left the intersection where his truck had been involved in a crash, but then returned and he did not see anyone or anything that night. “Collin claimed he did not know anything about the accident until he seen it on Facebook,” court records show. “Collin...
