Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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These are extraordinary times. They call for extraordinary measures. But let’s not give up our liberty — especially when government’s “help” in trying to save us from ourselves doesn’t make any sense and won’t prove helpful. Recent executive orders from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham are undoubtedly intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But they are not all well-reasoned and won’t stand up to scrutiny when this is over. Take for example the governor’s list of “non-essential” businesses that must close until the...
I’ve been mostly restricted to quarters for the last three weeks and it’s starting to wear me down. I shouldn’t complain, I’ve been able to go for groceries, pick up the mail at work and run payroll checks at the office. My wife and mother have all been almost totally locked down during that time. I’m also not going to complain because some out there haven’t been getting a paycheck. About the time it became apparent we were going to be locked in until at least mid-April, my wi...
“As long as you have mystery, you have health; when you destroy mystery, you create morbidity.” — G.K. Chesterton The entirety of creation seems to have plunged into an abyss of darkness and disorientation and despair. The current pandemic has touched every corner of the world and now prevents us from touching each other. We are social beings, created to live in community and to break bread and enjoy the presence of friends and loved ones. Forced to be separate and distant, we have sadly become acutely aware of the thing...
As most of our friends and parishioners know, my brothers and I, all four of us preachers, head to Robert Lee, Texas, a couple of times a year to spend some time together at the old home place of our maternal grandparents. We were supposed to be there last week, but the COVID-19 virus, national and state authorities, and our wives clipped our wings. The Coke County Ministerial Conference. That is what I call our usual biannual get-togethers. I’ve derived far more m...
amos on easter boss it s here exclamation point the greatest time of the year - easter - it s the time for lilies green grass little bunnies and chicks multicolored eggs and bright butterflies symbols of brand-new lives in jesus the messiah sometimes though boss i wonder what that first easter must have been like you know what those bible characters really felt and thought - and how we might have acted in their place would we have understood his act of grace or would we instead have sought to save face question mark boss i...
This Resurrection Sunday, let’s focus on the physicality of Christ’s victory over death. He was really raised, it’s clear, in the same body he died in. To borrow a phrase, that’s huge. The Gospels show him inviting people to touch him, to make sure he’s real. He eats with his disciples. He spends extended time with them, talking and teaching. He shows them the scars from the wounds he received at the cross. Our common creed as believers says that he was crucified, dead, and buried. That’s all talking about his physical bo...
A country learns about itself in a crisis, and one revelation in the coronavirus emergency is that we can’t make our own penicillin. The first patient successfully treated with the antibiotic was a woman suffering from sepsis in a Connecticut hospital in 1942. Her treatment took up half the country’s supply. Yet in short order we figured out how to mass produce the medicine, saving the lives of countless soldiers in World War II. Once, factories throughout the country mad...
What’s the use of living in sunny L.A.? It’s bad enough it has been raining. Now I have a mayor, Eric Garcetti, telling me I’m not allowed to go out of my house on Easter weekend. Garcetti holds daily press conferences to update the local battle with the coronavirus and to scare us into obeying his stricter mitigation edicts like we’re his misbehaving children. He’s just told me if I go out of my house this weekend, I’m going to die. And if I don’t follow the city’s “guide...
The church has left the building. Simple yet profound. But church isn’t about the building. Don’t get me wrong — I love my church, Westminster Presbyterian in Clovis. It’s a beautiful building where every single nook and cranny holds a memory. Walking up to the door, I’m greeted by memories of past “Wacky Olympics,” where adults and children competed against one another in some seriously goofy games. Once inside, thoughts of past Sunday school gatherings and youth activit...
CLOVIS — The Clovis Community College Board of Trustees approved its 2020-21 budget, and honored three retired employees with emeritus status Wednesday morning. The meeting was held virtually due to a state public health order banning mass gatherings, and trustees were hopeful their May 6 meeting could be held in person. The college’s 2020-21 budget included $17,686,314 in expenditures, up 2.4% from last year’s budget of $17,256,744. The budget includes $100,836 for salary increases. Trustee Carolyn Spence asked if any fundi...
More than 90,000 New Mexicans have filed initial unemployment claims over the past four weeks. According to unofficial numbers released Friday by the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, 20,085 more New Mexico residents filed for unemployment April 3-9. They join more than 70,000 people who have filed such claims in the past three weeks, since the spread of the new coronavirus began to prompt widespread business closures in New Mexico. On Monday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham extended the in-person business closure...
PORTALES — The last time Eastern New Mexico University regents met, they made a decision to postpone graduation ceremonies with the intent to either hold a replacement ceremony or cancel by Aug. 1. A virtual graduation floated at Friday’s virtual regents meetings brings ENMU no closer to either option, but might offer some temporary relief. John Houser, ENMU’s assistant vice president of marketing and communications, told regents the college is looking at a virtual ceremony that recognizes graduates while keeping expen...
The National Rifle Association and others have filed a federal lawsuit against New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over her order to close gun shops and shooting ranges as part of a broader measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “By arbitrarily, capriciously — and unconstitutionally — targeting those who lawfully sell firearms and ammunition, New Mexico is depriving citizens of their natural and fundamental right to keep and bear arms,” the complaint says. “Uncertain times are precisely when fundamental rights ...
Floy Wood was a tremendous salesman with an unrivaled work ethic, but family members said he worked just as hard to glorify God and be there for his family. Wood, who died March 20 at age 92, could always be counted on for a love of nature and an enthusiasm for life even as dementia and Alzheimer’s took its toll on the final dozen of his years. Born Feb. 19, 1928, in Clayton, Wood got his experience in work early at his father’s Wood’s Grocery and as a high school senior for the railroad. “He was in that greatest generat...
The following divorces were recently filed at the Curry County clerk’s office: • Sherrie Lynn Tucker and Ernest Tucker • Ambra Culpepper and Jarrett Culpepper • Cheli Mendoza and Luis Mendoza The following divorces were recently filed at the Roosevelt County clerk’s office: • Katherine Ann Sosa and Andres David Sosa • Tyler C. Watson and Audrey Watson — Compiled by The Staff of The News...
CRSMA Senior Diner’s Club 901 West 13th St., Clovis Monday: BBQ riblet, mac and cheese, seasoned peas, dinner roll w/margarine, fruit cocktail. Tuesday: Cheeseburger, baked beans, potato salad, peaches. Wednesday: Chicken enchiladas, pinto beans, salad w/dressing, chips and salsa, ice cream. Thursday: Roast pork, mashed potatoes, pork gravy, black-eye peas, cornbread w/margarine, oatmeal cookie. Friday: Salisbury steak, mushroom gravy, scalloped potatoes, mixed veggies, dinner roll w/margarine, pears. Community Senior C...
Information on ozonated water and substituting gluten-free flours in cooking and baking will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and noon Thursday (all times Mountain). Dr. J. Tim Rainey will talk about the difference between the Ozone water and the Ozone layer and explain how ozone water is made. Dr. Rainey is with the Texas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies in Refugio, Texas. Cookbook author, chef and teacher John Vollertsen (known as Chef Joh...
Jeanette Orrantia, 47, was born in Portales but spent much of her childhood moving because her father was in the military. Between her father's deployments, Orrantia often returned to Portales and spent her third- and seventh-grade years here, until her sophomore year of high school when the family returned permanently. After graduating high school in 1991, Orrantia went to New Mexico State University for a bachelor's degree in business administration with an emphasis in...
Meetings are subject to change due to coronavirus concerns Monday • Curry County Commission special meeting — 9 a.m., teleconference. Information: https://www.currycounty.org/open-government/meeting-portal or 575-763-6016 Thursday • Clovis City Commission — 5:15 p.m., North Annex, Clovis-Carver Public Library, 701 N. Main St., Clovis. No public access. Will be streamed on Facebook at City of Clovis, NM, and on http://www.cityofclovis.org. Information: 575-769-7828 To place an item on the meetings calendar, call the newsroo...
Today • Easter • Labor of Love Project’s Virtual Hippety-Hop Hop-Along — 10 a.m.-4 p.m., online at https://www.facebook.com/events/214328386463003/. Pet photo contest, games, door prizes. Hosted by Labor of Love Project pet rescue. Friday • Blood drive — 12:30-4:30 p.m., Ingram Room, Clovis-Carver Public Library, 701 N. Main, Clovis. Register online at www.bloodhero.com. Appointments are highly recommended. Information: 877-258-4825 April 23 • Blood drive — 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Courthouse Café, 109 S. Main, Portales. Appoin...
CLOVIS - The Friendship Senior Center is closed to the public. But last week saw its sewing machines busier than ever. Stitch by stitch, elastic band by elastic band, a group of seven city employees and volunteers worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to make masks for various city functions. The New Mexico Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended that anybody who must go out in public should wear a mask of some type. Sandy Pieratt,...
It’s Easter Sunday. Spring is here, warm weather burst through last week ... and it’s probably going to snow soon. Less than a week after temperatures in the 80s reminded us what sweat feels like, forecasters say eastern New Mexico can expect snow on Monday night / Tuesday morning. Chance of precipitation is better than 50 percent, with rain Monday evening possibly turning into snow overnight. Accumulations are expected to be less than one inch and shouldn’t impact driving. But optimistic gardeners may be sorry if they...
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 soared past the 1,000 mark in New Mexico last week, just one month after state officials reported the first positive test results. The state’s reported death total was at 19 on Saturday morning. Lubbock County remains the closest area to eastern New Mexico with a significant number of confirmed cases; it had 249 as of Saturday. Texas health officials said 13 have died in Lubbock County, while 54 Texas counties have reported 254 deaths attributed to COVID-19. New Mexico had five deaths related to c...
The sign on the door of Hilltop Bottle Shop in Clovis doesn’t mince words. Written by the liquor store’s owner Kyle Brewer, the sign reads: “The Governor of our state has decided that we are not essential. She would rather you go to Walmart with 400 people than come in here with only 7 people. So, we will have to close temporarily. We will update everyone on our facebook page. Thanks for the support and we hope to see you soon.” Scorn? Little bit, yeah. Justified scorn? Brewer thinks so. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham...
CLOVIS - This Easter Sunday there are few, if any, sitting in church pews. Despite the importance of the holiday to Christians around eastern New Mexico, church services have largely turned to an at-home exercise due to concerns on gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. There will, however, be a celebration, and it shouldn't be hard to notice. Any motorist is welcome to take part in the community Easter parade, with organizer Latriece Brooks noting it started when she asked...
