Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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CLOVIS — If they put you in the zoo, friends and family can visit during regular business hours again starting Saturday. Clovis’ Hillcrest Park Zoo has been closed to visitors since March 17 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. City officials announced in a news release Friday the zoo will reopen for normal business hours, though some restrictions will be in place. “Zoo visitors are asked to follow the one-way route signs, wear a face mask and practice social distancing during their visit,” the city news release stated. “Zoo vi...
The Allsup’s headquarters in Clovis is closing and 18 employees' positions will be terminated on Sept. 26. Yesway, which acquired Allsup’s in October, made the announcement this week in a letter received by Curry County Commission Chairman Ben McDaniel. The letter said the September terminations are a "first phase" of terminations and that additional information about employee separations will be announced later. “This action is expected to be permanent,” the letter reads. “Eventually the entire office facility in Clovis wi...
Curry and Roosevelt county jails on Thursday announced employees have tested positive for COVID-19. Also Thursday, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham extended the state’s public health order through August and Curry County extended its string of positive tests for the virus to 49 consecutive days. “We’re still not where we need to be as a state, but we are seeing some hopeful signs of stabilization,” said Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase in a news release from the governor’s office. “Unfortunately, stabilizing...
CLOVIS - One of three Clovis residents facing charges of abusing an infant will remain in the Curry County Adult Detention Center while he awaits trial. That was the ruling made Tuesday morning by District Judge Fred Van Soelen following a 20-minute hearing on a pretrial detention bond for William Teague. Teague, 29, is the father of a 2-month old Clovis baby who suffered multiple bone fractures. Teague is facing a first-degree child abuse charge along with mother Lachel...
Times have changed. Fast. But the love of sports hasn’t. So while playing football in the spring might seem a bit weird, the consensus is that it’s better than not playing at all. And so with that attitude, defending state 4A champion Portales will go charging into its 2020 season — in March 2021. Postponed beats canceled any day. “And that’s the thing we try to sell the kids on — ‘Hey, we’re going to play,’” Portales High Athletic Director Mark Gallegos said. “‘It’s going to be different; it’s going to be unique. It’s going...
The celebration didn’t have a name back then, but there was barbecue. Underwood’s of Lubbock fed the hungry at Farwell’s city park. The American Junior Rodeo Association inspired the gathering, attracting hundreds of cowboys and cowgirls from throughout the region, in addition to Oklahoma, El Paso and elsewhere. They competed Aug. 2-4, 1967. The Texas-New Mexico state line was a happening place that weekend. More than 200 people were counted eating the catered barbecue lunch. That was on a Saturday. A “gigantic parade” was he...
Wow, it’s a good thing nobody can hear what I’m thinking right now. An “open mic” transmitting from my brain might show how incredibly jumbled it is today. I’m sure the funeral directors’ and, of course, the families’ minds are every bit as jumbled. It’s been a flood. But it’s never easy. And multiple services this week. I’m thinkin’ ... The trick with anybody’s job, I guess, is that, if you do it right, it looks simple, and even if it’s “game on” in your head, thoughts are ca...
Back in the spring of 1997, 13-year-old Brandon Reed was finishing his seventh-grade year as a student in the Floyd Municipal Schools. Anticipating the spring fever that strikes most kids as May rolls around, Reed said his school offered a series of enrichment classes. "This allowed us, for around two hours a week, to take fun classes that might interest us," he said. The one that caught his eye was "Introduction to Aviation," taught by Dink and Mitzi Miller, who still live...
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made it official: New Mexico’s public schools will not physically open until after Labor Day. That’s in line with what a lot of school districts, faced with COVID-19 outbreaks in the communities they serve, were already moving toward; the governor just made it an across-the-board directive. It’s easy to understand the school closures in communities where the virus is spreading; reopening schools in Bernalillo, Doña Ana, McKinney and Lea counties would only make matters worse for those “hotsp...
On the personal front, there are new developments in the continuing saga of the Greatly Feared Virus Pandemic of 2020. Two family members caught COVID-19 several weeks ago. They both apparently recovered, in spite of being in the age group most vulnerable. One even has additional risk factors but made it through and now feels fine. After being tested he was told to take Tylenol and get help if he started having trouble breathing. When the hospital called a few days later to...
New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act makes clear the public is entitled to the greatest amount of information possible about its government and guarantees everyone access to public records. The law, commonly known as IPRA, has become a key tool not only for journalists but for citizens, allowing them to access records such as police reports and 911 tapes, government contracts and emails of public-sector employees. Its transparency is a key mechanism for keeping government accountable. But it is not without s...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Friday-Tuesday): Clovis ∞ Jamond McClendon, 36, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge ∞ Patrick Williams, 32, failure to appear on a felony charge ∞ Brandon Ashmore, 31, failure to register vehicle, requirement for head lamps and auxiliary lamps, no insurance, driving while license suspended or revoked ∞ Jason Cadena, 39, probation violation ∞ Lonnie Clark, 31, failure to appear on a felony charge, failure to comply with specific requirements, aggravated fleeing a law enfor...
PORTALES — A Portales resident said she is organizing a prayer event Monday at Portales City Park. Debbie Hahn said she was inspired to do the event when she saw how local businesses were struggling, and wants to have the event to seek prayers for them, along with first responders, healthcare workers and friends and neighbors. When asked about social distancing or face coverings, Hahn said those decisions would be left up to individuals. Hahn encouraged people to bring posters or business cards to let people know what they d...
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University, anticipating continued issues with the COVID-19 pandemic, has opted to cancel in-person homecoming events and have the ENMU Alumni Association instead pursue various virtual events to recognize and celebrate alumni. The homecoming festivities were scheduled for Sept. 21-26. Canceled in-person events include the ENMU Foundation Awards Breakfast, Songfest, the pep rally and bonfire and the Homecoming Parade and tailgate. Alumni reunions for the classes of 1970, 1995 and 2010 have b...
On this date ... 1930: Portales’ canning factory had employed 50 women and girls to snip beans. “Snipping beans is breaking off the stem ends, for which the snippers receive one cent per pound,” the Portales Valley News reported. After they’re snipped, the beans are “run through the cutter and placed in cans for cooking,” the paper reported. Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact: [email protected]...
CLOVIS - Plains Regional Medical Center moved its chief nursing executive up a rung Monday, placing Jorge Cruz as its interim hospital chief executive. Cruz, who has been with PRMC since December 2002, replaces Drew Dostal. Dostal left PRMC after eight months to pursue a job in Michigan. Cruz has been the chief nursing executive for three years, and served in many other roles since he and his wife Laci first arrived as traveling nurses and decided to stay following a 13-week a...
PORTALES — A former school superintendent was among three indicted Monday by a Roosevelt County grand jury for misusing funds while associated with the Dora Consolidated School District in 2016. Indictments were returned against Steve Barron of Elida and Steven and Amy Butler of Dora as part of a joint prosecution from the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and the Ninth Judicial District. These cases came to light in 2017 after the state auditor issued a special audit report identifying 13 areas in which the three all...
CLOVIS — The show must go on. By a unanimous vote Tuesday morning, the Curry County Commission approved the Kevin Roberts Show Arena as the site for parent-driven livestock shows Aug. 11-15. A junior livestock sale, commissioners said, would be held outside of county property. In June, the commission canceled the Curry County Fair that normally includes shows and the sale due to state public health orders banning mass gatherings to limit COVID-19 spread. An expo planned in its place for the mid-August timeframe has met o...
An outbreak of cases at a privately run detention center near Grants spurred New Mexico’s number of reported coronavirus cases to a new single-day high on Monday. In all, Department of Health officials announced 467 new COVID-19 cases, with 170 of the cases coming from the Cibola Correctional Center in Milan. The 467 new cases shattered the state’s previous single-day high of 343 cases, an amount reported on July 23. Curry County cases also continue to soar. The county has seen 46 consecutive days with at least one pos...
CLOVIS - Slowly but surely, things are ramping up for Clovis Community College. The campus is sparsely populated, even factoring in the late July timeframe. The college is still taking every precaution it can with the COVID-19 pandemic - one entrance and one exit, temperature checks, maintaining a visitor's log for contract tracing the college hopes it won't have to use. But things are going on. Students are coming in to talk with advisors on their plans for eight- or 16-week...
