Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Law officers in Roosevelt County on Thursday arrested a man they say shot a woman during an armed robbery on Wednesday. Nathaniel Orona, 19, is accused of shooting Heather Apodaca through her right hand and leg while stealing her purse, phone and vehicle after she gave him a ride. Apodaca was hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. Officials said Orona was taken into custody about 6 p.m. Thursday.... Full story
Plans were to get back on track for writing my column on Wednesday this week — a tornado had other ideas. First I procrastinated while finishing a novel, then I watched the late Albuquerque news. The weather guy had picked up on radar-indicated rotation in a storm system north of Cannon Air Force Base, but his report was all over the place as to what was actually happening and whether or not a tornado warning was issued. My normal phone alerts weren’t going off for even a sev...
Victor Velasquez originally wanted to make money in baseball. One day, though, while playing in his grandfather's garage, he found some clippers and gave his brother a mohawk haircut like the mixed martial arts fighter Chuck Liddell. Those clippers were dog clippers, but it didn't matter; he had given a haircut and he liked the feel of the clippers in his hand. Now he has a barber shop, "House of Fadez," in downtown Clovis, at 516 N. Main. The News spent some time with...
Another summer means the return of the La Casa Family Health Center's free summer food program. One benefit of the free food program is it pumps money into the local economies of Clovis and Portales according to La Casa Chief Executive Officer Seferino Montaño. "The food is bought locally. The money comes from the federal government, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the state then to the La Casa summer food program," Montaño said. Montaño was in Clovis Tuesday fo...
After spearheading the first slate of Pride events in eastern New Mexico history last year, Laura Wight received a Facebook message from an older lesbian couple. "They were like, 'We've lived here pretty much our entire lives, we've been together for more than 30 years and we have to say that the Pride parade was the first time we ever felt like we belonged in this community," Wight beamed. It served as an indicator that despite backlash Eastern New Mexico Rising - a new...
A New York jury on Thursday found former President Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. Here’s what area politicians and others had to say about the verdict: Steve Pearce, Republican Party of New Mexico chairman: “From the beginning, we’ve contended this trial was a witch hunt against President Trump and countless legal experts have concluded this trial was a sham and politically motivated. … New Mexicans will decide if a prosperous and secure future for their f...
Donald Trump made history on Thursday, becoming the first former president and first major-party presidential candidate to be convicted of felony crimes. But apart from that unique distinction, the decision by a Manhattan jury to convict him on 34 counts of falsifying business records - all tied to $130,000 in hush money payments he authorized in 2016 to porn star Stormy Daniels - raises a number of significant questions about Trump's unprecedented legal situation and the...
One of the most promising young big men in the University of New Mexico’s men’s basketball history is trading in his cherry gear for scarlet. JT Toppin, a highly touted 6-foot-8 power forward who burst onto the scene as a true freshman for the Lobos during the 2023-24 season announced via social media Tuesday that he is signing with Texas Tech. He will have at least three years of eligibility remaining with the Red Raiders, a team that reached the 2019 national championship game. Toppin, who is originally from Dallas, was...
Major League Baseball has a new record holder in several single-season and career categories. Legend and Hall of Famer Josh Gibson will take the top spot on lists that include single-season batting average (.466 in 1943) and slugging percentage (.974 in 1937) - and become the career leader in both - as Negro Leagues statistics become part of the Major League Baseball historical records. The Negro Leagues were officially elevated to MLB status in 2020. Some 2,300 people played...
MINNEAPOLIS – Afterward, Luka Doncic hugged teammates and coaches, but someone was missing. As the Mavericks gathered for the Western Conference finals trophy presentation in Target Center following Thursday night's Game 5 rout of Minnesota, Doncic kept gazing around the court. Finally, he spotted the person for whom he was looking, his father, Sasa. They embraced. Sasa almost didn't make it from Dallas to Minneapolis in time because his original commercial flight had to r...
Clovis High School southpaw Jasiah Mendoza doesn’t regret having bleached hair in the graduation photos he recently took. “Ten years from now I could look back and be like, ‘Why did I bleach my hair?’ Then be like, ‘Oh, yeah, because we made it to the playoffs,’” said Mendoza. Before the season, CHS baseball players agreed that “If we make the playoffs we’re gonna bleach our hair.” Mendoza was a pillar of a Wildcats squad that snapped a half-decade long playoff drought. He’s also one of 11 graduating seniors who laid a fo...
Primary elections are scheduled Tuesday across New Mexico. Winners will face each other in the general election scheduled Nov. 5. President of the United States Joseph R. Biden (D) Chris Christie (R) Nikki Haley (R) Lars Mapstead (L) Vivek Ramaswamy (R) Donald J. Trump (R) Marianne D. Williamson (D) United States Senator Martin Heinrich (D) Nella Louise Domenici (R) United States Representative District 3 Teresa Leger Fernandez (D) Sharon E. Clachischilliage (R) State Senator - District 7 Pat Woods (R) State Senator -...
For the third year, Eastern New Mexico University will host another Summer by Design art camp on Monday through Thursday. The camp is for elementary, middle and high school students. There is no limit to the number of students who attend the camp; organizers say that historically, 40-50 students participate. “We started this camp as an opportunity to support our regional students, so they are able to explore their visually creative side,” Richard Schwartz, chair for the Department of Art at ENMU said. Schwartz said there is...
Right-wing politicians have made no secret of their disdain for the rule of law as well as our current state of democracy. One of the more blatant acts of far-right hostility to our current government was Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s flying an upside down flag at his Washington, D.C., residence signaling support for the Capitol insurrection in the days after Jan. 6, 2021. Alito said his wife hung the flag in this position after a contentious dispute with a neighbor, w...
The problem with presidential debates is they don’t have a scoreboard. We treat them as if they were a football game, with clear winners and losers. President Joe Biden sent out a taunting video recently in which he claimed, “Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020.” To my pleasant surprise, Trump responded to the taunt by agreeing to all of the terms proposed by the Biden campaign. That means there will be two debates, the first June 27 on CNN and the second Sept. 10 on ABC. More significantly, the debates will be held...
When Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker delivered his commencement address at Benedictine College last month, the outrage was primarily focused on his comments about a woman’s place in society. The sisters who clutch at their pearls when anyone suggests that being anything but president is a worthwhile profession went ballistic at the suggestion that motherhood was equal, if not superior in value, to the sort of person who scrubs her laptop in anticipation of an electio...
At our church last Sunday, during that portion of the service where we offer public prayers, we prayed for all those who lost their lives in service to our country during war. I was once again reminded of the often-quoted remark by John Quincy Adams: “We go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” The speech was delivered to the U.S. House of Representatives on July 4, 1821, while he was secretary of state. Adams’ speech should be read in full. It’s short and insightful....
If you are a good person who votes for Democratic or Republican candidates because you feel you must, even if you don’t agree with the crazy positions the national party holds, I won’t hold the party’s flaws against you. I also hope you don’t confuse the Libertarian Party for libertarian people. They aren’t the same thing at all. Politics ruins everything it touches. The problem with political Libertarianism is that libertarianism and politics aren’t compatible. Politics is...
Spring storms produced heavy rain, large hail and tornado warnings last week, but the region avoided significant damage beyond battered roofs and vehicles. Portales city officials asked their residents to conserve water following a sustained power outage Tuesday night, but everything was back on line by week's end. While Portales water levels fell more than 2 feet during the outage – 25 of 43 wells were out of commission – they were back to 28 feet by Friday morning, "wh...
If you’re not aware of it yet, you will be soon. Route 66 is turning 100 in 2026. Last month, a New Mexico committee called the Route 66 Centennial Coordination Group held a public meeting in Santa Rosa — one of more than a dozen communities across New Mexico that either grew up or grew more prosperous with the highway that was officially designated as a national highway in 1926. Officials gathered to brainstorm ideas for celebrating the centennial anniversary with attractions and festivities worthy of “the kicks” people...
Early voting and absentee ballot returns from early Friday are not at the point they were in the 2020 Presidential Primary in Curry and Roosevelt counties. Curry County early voting totals as of Thursday according to County Clerk Annie Hogland are 741 early voting ballots and 235 returned absentee ballots. Of the 976 ballots cast in early and absentee voting in Curry County 724 are from Republicans, 248 from Democrats. Four Libertarian ballots were received. Hogland reports in the 2020 Presidential Primary, Curry County had...
If they give out prizes at the summer reading programs at public libraries across our region this year for the person who came the farthest to be there, Andy Mason is lined up to take home a suitcase full of them. As the crow flies, from where Mason makes his home these days in Les Martys, France, to eastern New Mexico is a little over 5,300 miles. What brings this singer/songwriter with long Portales ties back to the area? He is spending his 20th consecutive summer...
Swimming pool negotiations between Eastern New Mexico University and the city of Portales are still ongoing, at least for now. Interim City Manager and Fire Chief T.J. Cathey presented a proposal to the City Council at Tuesday’s regular meeting, but it was tabled because of costs and concerns about parental supervision. In the proposal, the city would be required to hire and train a manager and 12 to 15 lifeguards. Cathey said if the city decided to include an admission fee to the pool, then ENMU would get 5% of those p...
Roosevelt County Manager Amber Hamilton will be resigning her position and her last day will be July 26. Hamilton told county commissioners Tuesday and gave them an official letter of resignation. In the letter, Hamilton wrote, “This has not been an easy nor quick decision as we’ve spent more than 18 months praying for God’s direction and preparing for His release.” In a separate interview with the News, Hamilton said she and her husband knew this time would come, and God told them it would be in 2024. “It will be just shy...
After serving a year at Cannon Air Force Base as wing commander, Col. Jeremy Bergin will be leaving in the summer for an assignment at Air Force Special Operations Command. Clovis Mayor Mike Morris said Bergin has gone above and beyond in serving his airmen. Morris said he was surprised and slightly disappointed to hear the news. He said he and Bergin had developed a friendship in making the two communities better for one another. “I’m happy for him and I certainly wish him well. He’s been a champion for the Clovis and Canno...
