Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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There will be no special election to decide the fate of Clovis’ anti-abortion clinic ordinance. “At this point the petition is not certified so the petition is rendered invalid and the ordinance remains in effect,” Clovis City Clerk LeighAnn Melancon said Wednesday afternoon just after 5 p.m. That was the deadline for possibly changing the status of signatures ruled invalid. The petition organizers, Eastern New Mexico Rising, had gathered 447 signatures on a 55-page petition looking to turn to Clovis voters to decide the f...
A Clovis man has been sentenced to 34 years in New Mexico's Department of Corrections for shooting at two Clovis Police Officers and a Curry County Deputy. Marcus Lewis, 22, was sentenced by Ninth Judicial District Judge Drew Tatum Thursday after his conviction on being a habitual offender with one prior felony conviction. Ninth Judicial District Attorney Quentin Ray wrote in a news release, "Shooting at Law Enforcement Officers is a serious violent offense per New Mexico law...
As I write this column I sit at my home office desk — naked and afraid. OK, my only fear is knocking out this column before midnight. And I am not that naked. I’m wearing boxer briefs and dress socks, but that’s more than you wanted to know about my column writing. But I was thinking of another time when I had been naked and afraid. I’ve recently learned that a new episode of the Nat Geo series “Naked and Afraid,” was filmed right here in eastern New Mexico. It took place...
Duane Castleberry has been a magistrate judge and spent nearly 20 years in the automotive muffler business, but the frame of his life has been music. He started playing drums professionally in the 1970s at the age of 18 and made his living in music for about eight years. Now as a retired magistrate judge, music is again a central interest in his life as he has continued an association with Johnny Mulhair, a well-known Clovis musician. Castleberry took some time on Thursday to...
An area woman has notified the city of Texico, Curry County and the state of New Mexico she will be seeking “all damages allowable” because of an accident in Chaves County last September. Jasmin Wilson, age and address unknown, filed a Tort Claim Notice on Feb. 10 through the Santa Fe law office of Larsen & Mender. Wilson was one of four people in a Texico ambulance on a transport assignment to Roswell. Others in the ambulance besides Wilson were Curry County Deputy Amy Jo McKenna and two people from the Texico ambulance ser...
On this date ... 1956: Police Officer Bill Davis, who had his foot amputated following an on-the-job auto accident, received a “beautiful 17-inch table model TV set” as a gift from friends and business owners. Davis said the TV had been delivered to his home in Portales and he wanted to thank those involved. 1961: Parmer County’s sheriff was searching for those responsible for swiping more than $300 worth of groceries and cigarettes from the State Line Food Mill. Deputy Tom Atkins said someone broke through the rear window of...
Clovis police have arrested the man suspected of robbing the Best Western Hotel just off Mabry Drive early in the morning of Feb. 15. Clovis Police Department Captain Robbie Telles reports via a news release Anthony Martinez, 52, was arrested Wednesday evening. According to Telles, the robbery was reported at the Best Western Hotel at 201 Schepps Blvd. a little after 2:30 a.m. Feb. 15. A police investigator spoke with the employee who reported the suspect kept his hand in his jacket pocket causing the employee to believe the...
SANTA FE -- Actor Alec Baldwin pleaded not guilty Thursday and waived a virtual first appearance hearing scheduled for Friday in New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court. The actor is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the October 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins at Bonanza Creek Ranch while filming the movie Rust. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer set Baldwin’s conditions of release Thursday, which include a stipulation stating the actor cannot consume alcohol or possess firearms. How...
The city of Clovis has joined with other city and county governments in responding to New Mexico’s attorney general over a writ of mandamus filed with the state Supreme Court concerning anti-abortion ordinances. Jonathan Mitchell, the Austin, Texas, attorney who wrote the ordinance, is listed as counsel for the respondents, which include the city of Clovis. Also listed as counsel are Albuquerque attorney Michael Siebel and Hobbs attorney Efren Cortez. Clovis City Attorney Jared Morris said, “Mitchell is our attorney; Sie...
The Clovis zoo plans to open its new education building within the next few weeks. The building, located near the previous entrance to the zoo, and the remodeling process has been moving along well, according to zoo Director Damian Lechner. He said the building hasn't been used in about 10 years, and he's excited for it to get some new use. While the education building will be mostly geared toward kids, Lechner said it's open to all ages. The purpose of the building is to a...
Curry and Roosevelt County members of the New Mexico House of Representatives, all Republicans, voted Tuesday against a bill requiring appropriate medical professionals to provide reproductive services, including abortions and gender-affirming care when asked. The bill passed the House on Tuesday on a party-line vote with the Democratic majority prevailing, and now faces action in the state Senate. On Wednesday, the bill went to the Senate, where it was assigned to the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee. Opponents to...
During the 2013 session of the New Mexico Legislature, Rep. Mary Helen Garcia introduced House Memorial 79, “celebrating the adventurous life of former State Rep. J. Paul Taylor.” I was working in Santa Fe covering the Legislature in 2005 for Taylor’s final session after having represented District 33 for 18 years. The farewell ceremony for him in the rotunda of the Roundhouse was a genuine display of bipartisan affection. Even those who disagreed with him fiercely on policy couldn’t help but love and respect the man. As I in...
We’ve passed the midway point in this year’s 60-day legislative session, and the state has yet to crash and burn. At halftime, according to nmlegis.gov, some 1,230 bills, memorials and resolutions had been filed this session, which doesn’t tell us much except that a lot more legislation is filed than will ever be passed — which is fortunate, since too many laws will only cut into our cherished freedoms. What tells us more is comparing this session to the last regular 60-day session, which was in 2021. That session generat...
I am against the Ute Pipeline project. In fact, I am convinced that if it goes on as planned it will be the biggest waste of taxpayer money in New Mexico history. When you realize that I am a Logan resident and business owner your first reaction will probably be that you can’t listen to my opinion because I am not objective. Although that is true -- I am not objective -- hear me out. Facts are still facts regardless of where they come from. I acknowledge that Curry and Roosevelt counties need water. The problem is they are a...
Drug abuse is stupid, but prohibition is evil. The surest way to guarantee a market will become dominated by criminals who are willing to steal, kidnap, and murder to protect their market share is to criminalize a product. You saw what happened with toilet paper and eggs when they became harder to buy. Why would you imagine the same economic factors don’t apply to substances you don’t want people to have access to? Yet, toilet paper and eggs were temporary shortages, not per...
In October of last year, results for the Nation’s Report Card placed New Mexico dead last in education among all states, the District of Columbia, and Department of Defense schools. The test covered reading for fourth and eighth graders and math for the same age groups. New Mexico was last across all categories. These results should have been a wakeup call for Gov. Lujan Grisham and the Legislature. Bold solutions are needed and there’s no time like a 60-day session to enact b...
Good legislation should address real issues of importance to all New Mexicans. When the current legislative session started, New Mexicans were hopeful a dose of sunshine would filter through the Roundhouse. Recent actions in two key Senate committees are damaging steps in curtailing the public’s scrutiny of those individuals who apply for jobs as school superintendents, city and county managers and other high-level government jobs. Good legislation should consider the desires of the majority of constituents – especially whe...
Clovis City Commissioners have said “no” to citizens of Clovis keeping chickens in residential neighborhoods. Commissioners voted five to three to deny the creation of the pro-chicken ordinance at the commission’s regular meeting Tuesday. Commissioners Helen Casaus, Chris Bryant and David W. Bryant voted in favor of allowing residents to keep chickens. Before the vote, City Attorney Jared Morris outlined the proposed ordinance. Morris said he used the proposed ordinance of 2017 as a template for the new ordinance. The matte...
Ask people in the area if crime is up or down and the answer will depend on who you ask. Clovis Police Chief Roy Rice reports crime in the city is actually down from a year ago, according to police records. Local minister and media entrepreneur Daniel Murrell said, “For the people who say crime is not up I would ask them, ‘Are you living in a box?’ Maybe crime is not up to them because it is not personally affecting them.” Murrell is working on a documentary about crime in Clovis. “I just filmed Queva Hubbard and she talke...
Clovis Municipal Schools has zero tolerance for hazing. “That is not something we will condone or allow,” CMS Athletic Director Lonnie Baca said. “When we put students into a compromising position, that is not OK at all.” The issue is under the spotlight across the state after New Mexico State University announced early this month its men’s basketball season was canceled due to potentially criminal hazing allegations. Baca has been CMS’ athletic director for five years. He said he’s not had to address an incident of h...
The Roosevelt County Commission acknowledged a number of items of business in their regular meeting Tuesday morning. An agreement between Roosevelt County and the City of Portales was discussed, regarding the Portales Communications Center. Sheriff Javier Sanchez expressed some concerns, stating the funding in the agreement didn’t include public safety answering point (PSAP), but only included dispatch services. “The PSAP was funded by the state. So, my concern is there’s nothing in this that would obligate the city to conti...
Clovis car dealer Gary Hamilton is a big fan of children competing in sports. "If we've got more kids doing wholesome things, we've got less crime," he said. And he's willing to invest in his beliefs. If the city agrees to implement a $5 fee for each child in sports leagues using city fields, Hamilton told the city parks committee on Tuesday that he will pay those fees. "I believe that the priority should be kids ... they should all be funded first," he said in an interview...
Rhonda Patterson called it "a bucket-list experience" -- going to the Sunday school class taught by Jimmy Carter at his hometown church in Plains, Ga., in 2017. "Since I was a kid in high school I've always admired him," Patterson said. "I had a picture of his mother, Miss Lillian, in my high school locker." Carter, 98, the 39th president, made the news last week, announcing he was ceasing treatment for an unspecified illness and going into hospice care. Admiration and accolad...
It seems you can fight City Hall. “We’re listening, we have heard you,” City Commissioner Megan Palla told a few hundred Clovis residents on Tuesday night. Then in response to complaints that a $50 parks-use fee was too much for working families, Palla and other members of the city’s parks committee voted to recommend reducing those costs. The new plan is to charge youth $5 per season and adults $10 person, with small increases – 50 cents for children and $1 for adults – over each of the next five years. The committee’s...
A Clovis man was sentenced Thursday to five-and-a-half years in prison for being in possession of a stolen vehicle and being a habitual offender. According to a news release from Ninth Judicial District Attorney Quentin Ray, Robert Najar, 42, was sentenced to eighteen months in the Department of Corrections after a jury had previously found him guilty earlier this month of possession of a stolen vehicle. Ninth Judicial District Judge Drew. Tatum presided over the sentencing and found Najar to be a habitual offender. Tatum...
