Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
New Mexico State police will no longer issue verbal warnings or "cease and desist" orders to businesses that violate the governor's public health orders. That's according to Lt. Ramon Terrazas, who informed officers under his command in an email this week. "If the business is found to not be compliant you need to issue the non-traffic citation for violation of a public health order," the email reads. NMSP Public Information Officer Ray Wilson on Thursday confirmed Terrazas sent the email. "The New Mexico State Police (have)... Full story
With the coronavirus it seems like it's been one step forward, two steps back. And some area restaurant owners are particularly frustrated with the dance. "It's definitely bad for the industry, bad for the people," said Justin Cole, who owns Roosevelt Brewing Company & Public House in Portales. "I think we've been doing things right all along; we've been pre-emptive on so much stuff. We pulled out half our tables a month before our government said to. We had masks before they...
CLOVIS — A 2-month-old Clovis baby has suffered multiple bone fractures and the boy’s parents and a grandparent have been charged with abandonment or abuse of a child. Charges were filed Wednesday against the child’s mother, Lachel Johnston, father, William Teague, and grandmother, Jessica Barnett, court records show. Medical records show the child has suffered six rib fractures in different stages of healing and a fracture of the left tibia, or shinbone, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday. He has been released... Full story
Criminal allegations against a former Roosevelt County sheriff’s deputy are increasing. Chris McCasland, 34, was arrested Wednesday on stolen property charges connected to his time working as a police officer in Angel Fire. On Thursday, charges of burglary and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle were also filed, again in connection with his time in Angel Fire. District Attorney Andrea Reeb said McCasland turned himself in to authorities for a second time Friday after Thursday’s charges were filed. She expected him to be rel... Full story
TUCUMCARI — A Roosevelt County sheriff’s deputy was fired Monday and arrested Wednesday in Quay County after being accused of receiving stolen property. Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker on Wednesday also issued a press release in which he named Chris McCasland, 34, as a suspect in the theft of more than $8,000 from the sheriff’s evidence room. The $8,254 was reported missing in January 2019. McCasland has not been charged in connection with the missing cash. State police arrested him on Wednesday morning on charg... Full story
Gridiron championships in early May, not December. Fall sports seasons that don't begin until September. Spring sports championships that extend weeks beyond some of the participants' graduations. That's the plan for now, as the New Mexico Activities Association released its updated calendar for all activities Wednesday morning. The massive shift in seasons became a necessity last week, when the governor's office announced football and soccer would be delayed until the spring due to the spread of COVID-19. Sally Marquez, exec... Full story
PORTALES — The city of Portales is asking residents to stop outdoor water usage over the weekend and into early next week. The brief announcement from city administration said outdoor water usage includes but is not limited to lawn and garden watering, car washing and pools. “The summer weather has been brutal,” the release said, “and the city’s water system has been challenged by more daily demand than the system can handle without having time to recharge.” Residents are asked to stop such water usage on Saturday an...
Perhaps you've never heard of August Doyle, but his hair was famous. His story played out 50 years ago, which makes today a good day to remember the former airman at Cannon Air Force Base. Doyle grew up in Crosby, Texas, about 25 miles east of Houston, where he graduated high school in 1967. He enrolled at then-North Texas State University, but soon realized "I didn't know anything about college." He was working full-time and taking more than a full load of classes when he dro...
More than 20 Republican lawmakers have asked New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to reconsider her decision to shut down restaurant dining rooms. “Your recent decision to restrict dine-in service at restaurants could very well be the death knell this industry has been struggling to avoid since you shut down the state in March,” the letter begins. The lawmakers said more than 200 restaurants have already gone out of business due to state lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We will likely see further closu...
The drips and the crickets. My brother Jim has long said that those are the sorts of things that finally drive you “over the edge” when you’re already under stress. Along the same line, we might recall an agricultural metaphor: “Well, that was just the straw that broke it!” The old wagon or cart or trailer or pickup was handling the load of straw pretty well, maybe just showing a little stress as the weight was piled on, and then someone dropped on one more straw. Just one....
CLOVIS — Retirement Ranch had an employee test positive for COVID-19 on Friday, finding itself back on a state list of nursing homes with positive cases in the last 28 days. Trisha Gross, the nursing home’s social services director, said the employee was asymptomatic and underwent routine testing Wednesday. The facility has been testing 20% of staff and 25% of residents weekly. The employee must self-isolate for 14 days, and will remain on leave until he or she tests negative twice. Due to the positive employee test, the fac...
CLOVIS - After holding on for as long as it could to see if the answer would be yes, the Clovis Softball Association told its coaches and players on Monday the answer was no on a summer league season. The communication from Association Director Roger Jackson wasn't a surprising one. Thursday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office noted organized sports leagues of pretty much any type couldn't take place, and restrictions on mass gatherings that wiped out the Custom Classic...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University had 140 student-athletes represented on the Lone Star Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the spring semester, according to a school release. The honor roll includes student-athletes who were on an athletic team roster and achieved a grade-point average of at least 3.3. Of the ENMU athletes, 35 achieved perfect 4.0 GPAs — including seven in football, six in women’s soccer, five in softball and four each in baseball and men’s soccer. The conference included 2,667 student-a...
PORTALES — Pro sports are rearing their head, with Major League Soccer back last week, Major League Baseball due back next week, National Football League training camps and the National Basketball Association starting the week after. College sports are due to return soon as well, though some Division I and II conferences have already canceled or amended their seasons. Eastern New Mexico University athletes are still preparing to come back with voluntary workouts on tap. How many athletes are involved remains to be seen. ...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Friday - Tuesday): Clovis ∞ Crystal Alvarado, 38, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, battery against a household member, criminal damage to property ∞ Jessica Pina-Garcia, 31, probation violation ∞ Calvetti Johnson, 47, battery against a household member ∞ Timothy Garcia, 52, driving while license suspended or revoked, speeding, requirement for head lamps and auxiliary lamps ∞ Steve Anthony, 55, kidnapping, battery on a household member, false imprisonment, interfere...
With all that is going on in our nation and our world — not to mention this brain-frying heat — I found myself turning this week to some wise words penned several decades ago by Robert Fulghum. Fulghum, a beloved American storyteller and retired Unitarian preacher, wrote “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” as his personal credo, a statement that he honed over the years and first shared with his congregation. Later, the story goes, he read it aloud at a prima...
America is in crisis. Nearly everyone agrees on this point; they only disagree over what the crisis is. Fewer still agree over what caused the crisis they can’t agree on, so they can’t agree on how to solve it. Whatever the crisis is, and whether it was caused by a virus, police callousness, racism, inequality, or something else, governments love the excuse to crack down on liberty. This is often among their first responses — regardless of what the crisis is, what cause...
Change is in the air. So is resistance to change. And in the tug-o-war between these two opposing forces, I’m hanging my hopes on change. The idea that we will return to the normalcy in place before the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd’s death is foolish. They are tipping points, not anomalies, and now that we’re over the cliff there’s no turning back. Once we get control of the virus — and we will, eventually, though it’s looking like later rather than sooner — we should expect another pandemic to follow. And another, and...
If only it were that simple. There is no question Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s tough measures to combat COVID-19 have kept New Mexico’s death toll relatively low — although we collectively mourn the tragedy of more than 500 lives lost to the virus. There is no question the measures have helped keep the state’s hospitals operating well within their capacity for treating COVID patients. That was a key goal of measures taken since March to “flatten the curve.” And there is no question that continuing an aggressive lockdown in...
Dora student selected A Dora student was one of 60 seventh-grade girls from across the state selected for a camp for Tech Trek — a series of Science, Technology, Math and Engineering classes, workshops and field trips. The American Association of University Women planned to offer its seventh annual camp at New Mexico Tech last month, but due to mass gathering restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic the association mailed materials to students for what was called “Tech Trek in a Box.” Boxes included a backpack, a table...
CLOVIS — The Clovis City Commission will consider a new subdivision — just northwest of where 21st Street and Humphrey Road intersect — in its regular meeting Thursday. The 5:15 p.m. meeting at the North Annex of the Clovis-Carver Public Library will have limited public seating due to social distancing measures. The meeting will be available on Suddenlink Channel 10, cityofclovis.org and the city’s Facebook page. The agenda includes two items on what would be known as the Colonies Subdivision. One is an ordinance to rezone 8....
CLOVIS — The Curry County Commission is planning a special meeting Friday morning to request public health order modifications that would allow the Curry County Expo to continue as planned. The 9 a.m. meeting at the Curry County Administrative Complex will be livestreamed to the public on currycounty.org and the county Facebook page. Members of the public can contact County Manager Lance Pyle at [email protected] prior to the meeting with questions or comments. The agenda includes two actions: • a resolution req...
CLOVIS — Plains Regional Medical Center Administrator Drew Dostal, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, provides weekly updates to The News. Here are parts of a Q&A conducted Monday with Dostal: Q: How many COVID-19 patients are in PRMC as of Monday? A: Five. None in the Intensive Care Unit. Q: Have any additional PRMC employees tested positive for COVID-19? If so, do you believe the source to be outside of the hospital? A: No additional employees. We believe the cases we’ve tracked down are from sources outside the...
PORTALES — The 2020-21 school year in Portales will begin as a mix of in-school and at-home instruction. That’s the plan for now, as approved Monday by the Portales Municipal Schools Board of Education, in a meeting held via web conference. Superintendent Johnnie Cain said the district website would soon have the full plan posted, and there would also be a shorter document with highlights of the plans for in-person and remote re-entry. Included in the plans is language that gives Cain latitude to make changes as nec...
