Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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After nearly 20 years as a local prosecutor and district judge, Clovis native Matt Chandler said Monday he’s retiring and moving to Texas for “a new career in the law.” Chandler, 45, has been a fixture in Clovis-Portales criminal courtrooms since he joined the District Attorney’s office in 2002. He was elected DA in 2004, held the job 10 years, then was appointed to the bench in 2015. “Serving the state of New Mexico … has been a dream come true,” Chandler said. “It truly has...
Question: What is the proper attire for a person attending a mask-burning event? Answer: a smile. I laughed when I learned that our local senior citizens’ center was hosting a “mask-burning” a few weeks ago. It was partly “tongue in cheek.” Ditching your mask is very helpful if you’d like folks to know that your tongue is in your cheek. Those good folks really weren’t engaging in civil disobedience, thumbing their noses, or extending lengthy middle fingers toward anyone...
If there is anything more important than the sustenance of a meal, how about a nutritionally balanced meal prepared by someone else and delivered to your kitchen table with a smile? That's exactly what Meals on Wheels does, but it can't happen without assistance from some of the most important people in any community: volunteers. In fact, according to longtime Portales Meals on Wheels treasurer Glenn McCoy, "We are a volunteer organization top to bottom. The board and...
Isabel Garcia of Clovis said she is not discouraged after returning from Lubbock in defeat Saturday from Boxing USA's Summer Festival in Lubbock, where she fought as an elite boxer. "I'll keep getting into the ring," she said. Her 34 bouts more than adequately qualify her as an elite boxer, since one only needs 10 fights to earn that status. Her record is about "half and half," she said. But those matches include the finals in the Golden Gloves competition in 2018. "I fought...
The Table Top Food Cooperative that aims to mentor novice farmers and produce more local food appears to be bearing more fruit this year. David White, owner of La Casa Verde Floral and Nursery in Tucumcari and president of the cooperative, said organization now has a half-dozen farmers “who now are successful and growing.” “This year, we should see a significant increase of vendors at the (Tucumcari) farmers market,” White said. “We are cultivating the next generation of food farmers.” Table Top offers a land-access...
New Mexico has become the 18th state to legalize recreational cannabis. It’s been a long time coming. Not counting a failed half-century drug war that grossly distorted the damage marijuana does to body and mind, New Mexicans started arguing in earnest over full legalization about 10 years ago — around when our neighbor to the north, Colorado, was preparing to blaze the trail. We had already been a frontrunner in the legalization of medical marijuana, but got cold feet when it came to recreational use. In 2012, when Col...
Why are legislative messes so quick to be made but so slow to be removed once in place? After they are shown to move society further from the goal used to justify them, they should be immediately reversed. If politicians can hide their mistakes without admitting or reversing them — and get away with it — that’s what they’ll do. At most, cleaning up these messes is done piece by piece, as though searching for a way to keep as much of the mistake around for as long as possibl...
Work on the results of the decennial census in New Mexico has gotten off to a rocky start, and the members of the newly appointed Citizen Redistricting Committee missed a golden opportunity to boost its legitimacy by demonstrating they are not afraid to be open about how they intend to represent all corners of the state. After committee members were named, criticism came quickly from people with various points of view as well as those who live in the far-flung reaches of the state. It was apparent this group was not going to...
It's no surprise to most that education has changed dramatically in recent years. One of the reasons is, of course, the integration of technology in many forms: from the network infrastructures to integrating devices, such as laptops, wireless projectors, digital tablets, online learning environments, and more. The physical walls of the classroom have come down, so to speak. There are many other factors influencing change, both positive and negative. Like it or not,...
Three public officials, including Curry County’s chief deputy assessor, completed the New Mexico Certified Public Management Program and were recognized at a virtual graduation last month. New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service administers the nationally accredited program, NM EDGE, which stands for Education Designed to Generate Excellence in the public sector. “NM EDGE serves as a program of New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service to find and fill educational gaps in the public...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Friday-Tuesday): Clovis • Michael Bazley, 39, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge • Shawntaya Daniels, 27, theft of identity, forgery, fraud • Tommy Romero, 47, aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge • Samantha Roberts, 48, probation violation • Shaun Acy, 32, failure to comply with specific requirements, possession of a controlled substance, tampering with evidence • Charles Kirven, 35, fai...
On this date … 1961: Birdie Rackler was hoping to win a pair of hose when she signed up for a contest at Portales' Mode O'Day clothing store. She did win the hose, but also learned she was the winner of the store's top prize in its nationwide promotion - a trip to Europe. She didn't really want to go to Europe. “I've never had any desire to go to Europe or anywhere else,” she told the Portales News-Tribune. “I'm satisfied with home.” Her neighbors and children may have been more excited than she was about her good fortune. “E...
New Social Studies standards that the New Mexico Public Education Department is developing could be “contentious,” Portales Municipal School Superintendent Johnnie Cain Monday wrote in a report presented Monday to the school board at the board’s regular monthly meeting. The social studies standards, Cain said in an interview after the meeting, are likely to include some guidelines involving “critical race theory,” a topic that has become very controversial nationwide. Critical race theory teaches that racism has been buil...
CLOVIS - Vandals over the weekend broke glass and tossed pool supplies and other equipment into the pool at Clovis Aquatic Center. City officials estimated damages exceeded $10,000. The damage was discovered about 7 a.m. Sunday. Police said the vandalism occurred sometime after 5 p.m. Saturday. "The vandalism of parks facilities is extremely upsetting," said Parks and Recreation Director Russell Hooper in a news release. "The Parks and Recreation Department works extremely har...
