Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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PORTALES - Enthusiasts purchased 45 windmills from Roosevelt County on Saturday, bringing in $17,500. The money will go to the upkeep of the county's other windmills, which once belonged to area collector Bill Dalley. Dalley, who donated dozens of his windmills to the county in 2011, died in November 2018. Many of the donated windmills began to fall into disrepair, and county commissioners decided to auction some so proceeds could help with maintaining those that remained....
TEXICO - Never mind that the Texico Lady Wolverines have won six consecutive Class 2A state volleyball championships. Senior outside hitter/setter Riley Rohrbach says the state tourney is a little different animal than the rest of the season. The top-seeded Lady Wolverines fell behind early in Game 1 against No. 8 Estancia in Monday's 2A quarterfinal matchup, but recovered quickly and generally cruised en route to a 25-12, 25-10, 25-18 victory over the Lady Bears. "I think the...
PORTALES — Coming off its first loss of the season, the Portales High football team will look to bounce back when it hosts St. Pius in a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Greyhound Stadium. The contest is one of a number of “bowl games” offered by the New Mexico Activities Association, giving teams a chance to play a fifth game in this COVID-abbreviated spring season. After cruising to victory in their first three outings, the Rams (3-1) lost at rival Lovington 36-20 on Friday night. Moreover, they lost senior quarterback Baylo...
TUCUMCARI — Mesalands Community College likely will offer classes this fall revolving around the care of several wild horses from Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. Paul Leonard, farrier science faculty member, and Manny Encinias, animal sciences faculty member, gave an update during the board of trustees meeting March 16 about the college’s efforts in launching a wild horse program so the animals eventually can be adopted out. Fees to adopt the horses currently are $125. Mesalands officials first revealed the...
FORT SUMNER — The village’s insurance carrier won’t cover damages to the roof and ceiling at the Old Fort Museum, Mayor Louie Gallegos reported at a special council meeting March 22. Gallegos said roof and ceiling repairs are expected to cost the village about $12,000. He told the council the situation is being considered an emergency repair and that the damage to the facility is progressing by the day. The Chamber of Commerce is renting the facility, but is only partially able to use it due to the extent of the damage and t...
CARRIZOZO — Ruidoso Downs Race Track kicks off its summer racing season over Memorial Day weekend when live racing begins on May 28. The 2021 season spans 15 weeks for a total of 47 days of live quarter horse and thoroughbred racing. Race days are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and include Monday, May 31, and Monday, Sept. 6. “Running the 2020 season with 10% occupancy was a challenge, and we are eager to welcome fans back to Ruidoso Downs this summer,” said Jeff True, president and general manager of Ruidoso Downs Race...
FORT SUMNER — The village’s efforts to reopen the Bain Municipal Pool this summer are being met with a number of significant issues. During a special meeting March 22, Mayor Louie Gallegos told councilors that city crews will soon begin the annual pool cleanup. But standing in the way are issues with aging infrastructure, roof damage to the pool house and falling ceilings in the lobby due to leaks from water pipes broken in the February cold snap. In addition, the pool suffered some degradation in a year in which it was not...
TAOS — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed HB-22, the Grow Your Own Teachers Scholarships Act, which expands financial aid support for students pursuing teaching degrees. “Improving educational outcomes for all New Mexicans is vital, and we must work together to support aspiring educators and fill current vacancies,” said Stephanie Rodriguez, Acting Secretary for the New Mexico Higher Education Department. The bill, signed into law on March 17, was introduced by Rep. Joy Garratt, D-Albuquerque, and expands the Grow Your Own T...
SILVER CITY - Sliced from its frame in a secure museum - the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson - the day after Thanksgiving 1985, the world-renowned "Woman-Ochre" by Willem de Kooning was mysteriously discovered three decades later in Cliff. It was found in the longtime home of Jerry and Rita Alter, a recently deceased couple. Now, 36 years after the infamous art heist, Academy Award-winning writer Mark Monroe and Emmy-nominated director Allison Otto plan to...
Just as New Mexico’s COVID-19 cases are decreasing - no deaths were reported Sunday or Monday — the Lubbock Health Department is reporting good news. No Lubbock County deaths were linked to the virus from March 23 through Monday. Just as much as they’re being credited for keeping the case count low, vaccines are being credited for preventing long-term illnesses and death for the increasingly few people who do still test positive. “These vaccines protect us from getting COVID, and more importantly, if we were to get it by s...
“I could be wrong to swing this sword, but swing it I will! Try to arrest my Lord, if you will, but this sword says that there will be blood!” Was something like that going through the Apostle Peter’s head when, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he drew his sword and swung it to defend his Lord? An armed “detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees” (John 18:3), lit with torches and adrenaline, had come to arrest Jesus. It seemed clear to Pete...
On this date … 1956: J.W. Crim, a descendant of Blackfoot Indians, had made his annual moisture prediction for the region - another tough year for crops. Crim was in his 30th year of predicting the weather based on his ancestors' ritual of building a fire at 5 a.m. on March 22. He believed the direction the wind carried smoke from the fire indicated how much moisture could be expected in the coming months. For this year, Crim, whose family farmed near Lazbuddie, had told his s...
About this time last year, Jan Smartnick was gearing up to direct a pre-Easter performance of "The Living Last Supper" at First United Methodist Church in Portales. The drama, written in 1954 by Pastor Ernest K. Emurian, is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's painting, "The Last Supper," a depiction of Christ and his disciples sharing a final meal together. "We were all ready," Smartnick recalled this week. With two rehearsals under their belts (or maybe sashes?), the cast was...
New Mexico is in one of the most unusual economic times in its history. Profound forces have impacted our state over the last year in unforeseen ways. • The governor and COVID shut down much of our state for much of the past year. COVID is declining, but New Mexico remains among the most locked-down states in the nation; • Oil and gas prices plummeted last April due to the pandemic and an international price war, but have come roaring back and produced $300 million in “new” mo...
Last year, grocery stores might have run out of toilet paper, but the domestic food supply remained strong. Farmworkers, many of them immigrants who entered the country illegally, harvested fruits and vegetables. They processed meat. They were essential workers. Now they deserve legal protection, and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would provide it. U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican who represents Central Washington, has joined with Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California to sponsor the bill. Its core components...
This past year has been hard on liberty. It started with world-wide government overreaction to a pandemic. This was still going strong when some focus shifted to choosing a politician to run your life. Recently, as the pandemic hype began to fizzle in many places and after most of the post-election drama had faded, the push to further violate your natural human right to own and to carry weapons was triggered by the horrible crimes of a few evil losers. Making good people...
PORTALES — Sammy Standefer, who has served as the city manager at Portales since 2015, has announced he will retire May 28. Standefer has worked with the city for nearly 29 years, beginning in September 1992 moving at city parks and the city cemetery. He has moved up through the ranks, serving as the city’s planning and zoning director and city building inspector before taking the city manager helm. Portales Mayor Ron Jackson will soon name a search committee to find Standefer’s replacement....
CLOVIS — A Clovis police officer involved in a car crash on Feb. 24 was cited for speeding and failing to wear his seat belt, records show. The other driver involved in the accident at First and Sycamore streets was cited for failure to yield. Neither driver was seriously injured in the crash, according to reports the News obtained this week under the state's Inspection of Public Records Act. According to police reports: • Clovis Police Patrol Officer Mark William Heldt was responding to a report of a motor vehicle acc...
With a week to go before the next “Red to Green” update, Roosevelt County looks like a safe bet to stay in the vaunted turquoise designation. Curry County is on pace to join it there. The state has, since Nov. 30, graded counties every two weeks on meeting gating criteria of 8 daily cases per 100,000 residents and test positivity at or below 5%. Green counties meet both, yellow counties meet one, red counties meet neither and turquoise counties make green for two consecutive data collection periods. Halfway through the cur...
CLOVIS — A bill that would have given the possibility of earlier parole for juvenile offenders serving life sentences, like many other bills, died on the floor of the House of Representatives when New Mexico’s 60-day legislative session ended Saturday. But there’s always another session, and the bill’s opponents aim to be more prepared if and when the bill comes up again. A life sentence in New Mexico is defined at 30 years in prison before the possibility of parole, and is normally followed by additional time for connect...
CLOVIS — On a night where Jeston Webskowski had plenty of surprises, the biggest might have been going the entire third quarter without touching the football. He did more than enough the other three quarters, accounting for five touchdowns and 366 yards of offense as the Clovis Wildcats routed the Carlsbad Cavemen 55-20 to close out the Class 6A regular season for both teams. Both teams will be back in action this weekend after opting into bowl games. Clovis will host R...
CLOVIS - The city of Clovis introduced new Parks and Recreation Director Russell Hooper to its parks, recreation and beautification committee Monday. And the committee assured him he'll have plenty on his plate. Russell Hooper, who spent 13 years with the city of Dallas, joined the committee meeting on his first day replacing Mark Dayhoff, who retired at the end of 2020. City Manager Justin Howalt said Hooper started as an irrigation technician and worked his way up to become...
PORTALES — Two new coffee houses are open for business in Portales on Chicago Avenue. Tabitha Nixon, co-owner of Nixon Construction, said when she and her husband, Bruce, decided to move their construction business from New Mexico 467 into town, they bought an extra building to go with it. “We were looking for a business to start out of it,” she said. “We also wanted to start a business that our kids could work in and help with, so we just decided on a drive through for drinks and donuts.” Sip and Savor, the Nixon family's...
FOOTBALL Prep summary Saturday Clovis 55, Carlsbad 20 Carlsbad 0 7 7 6 — 20 Clovis 16 6 8 25 — 55 Scoring summary First quarter Cl — Justin Webskowski 44 pass from Milo Acosta (Blake Muscato run), 10:06. 2 plays/66 yards/1:54 Cl — Muscato 45 pass from Acosta (Muscato run), 7:01. 2 plays/66yards/1:05 Second quarter Cl — Webskowski 14 run (run failed), 9:14. 4 plays/55 yards/ 1:24 Ca — Dane Naylor 34 run (Kaden Mirales kick), 1:54. 6 plays/41 yards/3:36 Third quarter Cl — Robert Nara 85 pass from Acosta (Muskato run), 5:12. 1...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Friday - Tuesday): Clovis • Rex Guss, 18, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge, failure to appear on a felony charge • Alexander Vargas, 37, aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug • David Ancira, 66, embezzlement • Roderick Cordova, 28, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, assault, shoplifting • Gabrielle Armstrong, 23, probation violation • Gary Marez, 40, trafficking controlled substances • Ariana Tapia, 20, probation...
