Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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PORTALES - Members of the Portales City Council took the first steps to increasing the salaries for their positions. But they'll have to win another term to reap any benefit. Councilors, by a 6-0 vote, approved introducing a pair of ordinances that would increase the salaries for the mayor, mayor pro team, councilors and municipal judge. Mayor Pro Tem Michael Miller and Councilor Jessica Smith did not attend. City Manager Sammy Standefer said the changes would be up for final...
Did you ever stop to consider what is going on in your pet’s brain? I found myself contemplating just that one morning recently. I was seated in a rocker at one end of the patio while my little dog Maggie searched frantically for her toad frog buddies that hang out near the end of the garden hose. Sure enough she found one and soon both toad and dog were hopping all over the patio. Lots of dogs’ weakness is “SQUIRREL!” Since she’s not a lot bigger than the squirrels her rally...
My name is Annalyn Cooper. I have been married for 11 years to my husband, Paul Cooper. We have three children: Angelo, 10; Leon, 8; and Ryu, 7. I moved to the United States from the Philippines in 2008. My mother joined us in 2012 and she married Ron Johnson from Portales. I work at the Chavez Child Development Center because I love children. What would you do if you won $1 million? I would donate all of the money to charities, primarily the "No Kid Hungry" shelters and to...
CLOVIS — The city’s senior services division is hoping to hear from the people it serves. The Clovis Senior Citizens Service Committee gave approval during its Thursday meeting for Senior Services Director Barbara Riggan to release a survey that she said will help the department create its four-year plan. It will also prioritize requests on its infrastructure capital improvement plan for future state legislative sessions. Riggan hopes to have all surveys in by Aug. 23 so results can be compiled in time for creation of the...
Booked The following were booked into local jails Tuesday - Thursday: Clovis • Joey Petty, leaving the scene of an accident, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, criminal damage to property, open container, speeding • Brandon Brooks, 28, tampering with evidence • John Reese, 46, false imprisonment, aggravated battery against a household member • Isaiah Gabaldon, 21, breaking and entering • Justin Brewer, 28, possession of a controlled substance • John Montoya, 22, aggravated driving while under the influence ...
PORTALES — In a discussion about as lengthy as the rest of the meeting combined, Portales city councilors expressed frustration about alleyways overloaded with trash. Portales City Manager Sammy Standefer conceded issues with large items left next to trash bins, but that a solution can’t be 100 percent city staff and 0 percent citizen pride and responsibility. No action was taken, as the conversation happened during an open comment section at the end of the Tuesday council meeting. Members, however, hinted at a possible wor...
CLOVIS — When one private entity gets three times as much taxpayer disbursement as another private entity, supporters of the latter are sometimes inclined to disagree. That took place during the Thursday Clovis City Commission meeting, with a back-and-forth over lodgers tax disbursements taking up much of the conversation for the hour-long meeting. Before the meeting began at the Clovis-Carver Public Library, the agenda included one new business item — a scope and fee request for the effluent water pipeline — and a handful of...
The following marriage licenses were filed through Thursday at the Curry County clerk’s office: • Marissa Christina Cruz, 29, of Clovis, and Lorna Reyes, 27, of Amarillo • Quran Tikal Wiggins, 26, and Amanda Nicole Hernandez, 29, both of Clovis • Brendan Allen King, 25, and Wednesday Alexandria Westbrook, 26, both of Clovis • Manuel Edwardo Zapata, 19, of Clovis, and Katelyn Sue Williamson, 19, of Rolling Prairie, Indiana • Douglas Brent Wall, 40, and Naomi Denise Hernandez, 36, both of Clovis • Gary Lane Holbrook, 79,...
CLOVIS — Curry County's former senior meals director, charged in February with embezzling thousands from the program, was scheduled this week for a trial in September. The matter was set to go to trial later this month, but a continuance was granted due to a change in counsel for Cherisse Perez, 35. Perez was indicted in March on one second-degree felony count of embezzlement (over $20,000) in connection with transactions from 2018. An investigation started in December, and by January she had departed her position as director...
Did R. Alexander Acosta mishandle the case a decade ago of Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy and politically connected financier who was accused of sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls at his pink waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida? Well, either he did or someone did, it seems — because Epstein was arrested July 6 on very similar charges. Acosta today is President Trump’s secretary of Labor, but back in 2008 he was the U.S. attorney in Miami who oversaw the plea deal that allowed Epstein to avoid tri...
The American middle class just got a lot richer. Joe Biden, who invariably and tiresomely refers to himself as “Middle-Class Joe,” made $15 million the first two years after the end of the Obama administration. This hardly qualifies as a rounding error in the portfolio of any billionaire mogul, but for the average American, a million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. According to one estimate, it takes an annual income of $420,000 to be...
Last year, the U.S. Air Force confirmed that firefighting foam containing toxic PFAS chemicals used around Cannon and Holloman Air Force Bases in New Mexico had contaminated nearby groundwater supplies. The contamination at Cannon affects several nearby agricultural wells, creating major disruptions for local dairy farmers. One dairy producer had to lay off 40 employees and quarantine 4,000 cows. His family business will never be recovered. It’s clear that we urgently need to clean up this toxic mess and protect the health a...
A little more than a year ago, I decided to look up the streaming package for the Women’s National Basketball Association. I had already planned to purchase NBA League Pass later in the year, and thought there might be a group discount. I knew NBA League Pass was $200, and expected the WNBA package to be significantly less based on a shorter season and fewer teams. I at first laughed when I saw the package was just $17, because I probably had more than $17 in cereal in my kitchen at the time. Then I did the math. Since W...
Politics is complicated. And politicians are champions at confusing voters and taxpayers even more than necessary in efforts to sway support. Take, for example, President Trump’s recent threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act. New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, both Democrats, would have us believe the issue is all about the “toxic mess” the Air Force caused that contaminated water and put a local dairy farmer out of business. “I was stunned to learn that President Trump is threatening to veto th...
CLOVIS — Clovis Municipal Schools has returned Jennifer Longley to a principal position, as she accepted the vacancy at the Arts Academy, according to a release from the district. She replaces Shelly Norris, who was promoted to director of education quality for CMS. Longley has been with the district since 1999, and was the principal at Ranchvale during its final year of operation in 2015-16. She has also served as a principal at Marshall Middle School, an instructional coach for Marshall and a teacher at Zia, L...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University regents on Thursday took one more step toward a new president’s residence at the college. Now the challenge is taking long enough to do the project right and getting the project started before the year closes out. Regents agreed on the Albuquerque-based architecture firm of Dekker Perich Sabatini to draw up plans for the new residence, commonly referred to within ENMU administrative and regents circles as the University House. During its June meeting, regents decided the new residence...
CLOVIS — Clovis High School will host its 2019-20 kickoff days in just over two weeks, according to a release from Clovis Municipal Schools. The event is an opportunity for students to receive student ID cards and, when necessary, parking passes and district-issued laptops. Each day will be held 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1 pm..-3:30 p.m. Seniors will go July 30, juniors July 31 and sophomores Aug. 1. The sophomore day includes printed schedules, school tours and a station to learn the district’s Skyward system. Information: 575...
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE - The first step in a $138 million national weather radar systems upgrade got its start earlier this year at Cannon Air Force Base. Through a program managed by Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts, Cannon was the first of 25 sites throughout the Air Force to receive a radar system upgrade. The program is a joint effort of the National Weather Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the military to standardize the 180 radar systems that build...
On this date ... 1959: Today marked the anniversary of the death of the outlaw Billy the Kid. “Perhaps New Mexico’s most famous — or infamous — resident met his death 78 years ago,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. The newspaper reported the Kid was “one of the most dramatic and colorful figures of the old west.” The Kid will be remembered again at 11:30 tonight at his gravesite south of Fort Sumner. A filmmaker is hosting a live Facebook broadcast to help promote the docu-feature “In Their Own Words: Billy the Kid & the L...
Tuesday • Curry County Commission — 9 a.m., Commission Chambers, Curry County Administration Complex, 417 Gidding St., Clovis. Information: 575-763-6016 • Friends of Clovis-Carver Public Library — 11:30 a.m., Clovis-Carver Public Library, 701 N. Main St., Clovis. Information: 575-769-7840 Wednesday • Swearing-in ceremony for Clovis City Commissioner David Robinson — 9 a.m., Clovis City Hall, 321 N. Connelly, Clovis. Information: 575-769-7828 • City of Clovis Finance Committee — 2 p.m., Clovis City Hall small conference room...
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE - A new commander for Cannon Air Force Base's 27th Special Operations Wing will take the helm this week. Col. Robert A. Masaitis , previously stationed at CAFB as its Operations Officer for the 73rd Special Operations Squadron, will be welcomed Wednesday morning on base in a change of command ceremony. Masaitis assumes the position from Col. Stewart A. Hammons, who took command of the 27th SOW on June 2, 2017, and departs to Joint Base San...
CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission is slated to hear a report on financials for the Curry County Fairgrounds and Events Center during its Tuesday morning meeting. The 9 a.m. meeting at the Curry County Administrative Complex will also include a review and potential change of fairground and events center fees. Proposed for the events center’s indoor arena is $1,500 for the first day, $1,200 for the second day and $800 for any following day. The current fee is $1,000 per day. There is no change suggested on fees for the pavil...
Editor's note: Actor Ronny Cox, who graduated high school and college in Portales, is working on a book. Here's a chapter about growing up in New Mexico. I've read a lot of autobiographies by actors and comedians talking about their desperate childhoods, but that just doesn't apply to me. I had a really happy childhood. Oh, sure, we grew up poor. My dad never made more than $4,000 in one year in his life, and he and Mom had five kids: four boys, and one little girl. When my...
CLOVIS — President Trump has produced a laundry list of justifications in his threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, including border wall funding. New Mexico’s congressional delegation has chosen to focus in on one particular disagreement that impacts the groundwater supply at Cannon Air Force Base and numerous other military installations. Adjacent to Cannon, and many other installations, is an underground plume of water contaminated with perfluoroalkyl substances. More commonly referred to as PFAS, the che...
July 14, 1959 60 years ago: Switchblades were against the lawClick Here to Download...
