Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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SANTA FE — While no immediate changes were made to public health orders, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham warned the state was “at extreme risk of uncontrollable spread” of COVID-19 during its weekly press conference. “This is feeling week after week like we’re preaching ... but the reality is still the same,” Lujan Grisham said Thursday. “This is a deadly virus. We’re in a global pandemic.” Also, the governor said, the state will not update its public health order to permit youth and K-12 games or competition, incl...
Three COVID-19 related deaths were reported in Parmer County on Wednesday and the state of New Mexico recorded more than 400 new cases of the virus. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon to address the pandemic and efforts to stem it. Parmer County, which includes the Texas communities of Farwell, Friona and Bovina, now has the most recorded covid deaths among local counties with 11 in all, four since Sept. 30. Parmer County Judge Trey Ellis said Wednesday he was out of...
The New Mexico Activities Association, the governing body for prep athletics and other extracurricular activities in New Mexico public schools, has told member schools all competitions scheduled for Saturday have been canceled. The NMAA noted that public health orders, which limit gatherings to 10 people or fewer, remain in place and eliminate any feasibility for such events. The association said it is awaiting approval from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office regarding events for the following week. Portales Athletic...
CLOVIS — Clovis Municipal Schools announced three confirmed cases of COVID-19 among staff or students at two of its campuses on Wednesday, bringing the total to seven announced at CMS sites since Sunday. The district announced one positive at Highland Elementary in the afternoon, after announcing two positive tests from Sandia Elementary in the morning. District releases do not distinguish between students or staff members, and the district will not comment further due to privacy laws. The positive at Highland is the second a...
PORTALES — A grand jury hearing is scheduled Oct. 16 for three people alleged to have participated in a drug deal turned fatal shooting. A juvenile accused of being the gunman, however, will not be part of the hearing. Prosecutor Quentin Ray said the district intends to charge a 14-year-old male as an adult for fatally shooting Brady Vallejos, 19, of Roswell. Vallejos died Sept. 29 at University Medical Center in Lubbock, 18 days after he was shot. Those matters are being held up, Ray said, pending a determination on w...
CLOVIS - As the hoped-for start of 2020-21 high school sports fast approaches in New Mexico, players and coaches are waiting for the final word from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. As of early Tuesday, the state had not given a final go-ahead for the New Mexico Activities Association's abbreviated fall lineup, which is to include only volleyball, cross country and a portion of the spring golf schedule, with limits imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Other sports activities...
SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Monday that she is self-quarantining after possible exposure last week to a custodial worker at the Governor’s Mansion who later tested positive for COVID-19. The governor tested negative for the disease Friday and does not have any symptoms but will remain in quarantine for at least two weeks out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with state Department of Health guidelines, according to the Governor’s Office. “We have all seen how quickly COVID-19 can spread, not least i...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Friday-Tuesday): Clovis • Ariana Tapia, 20, failure to appear on a felony charge • Sydney Lucas, 36, failure to appear on a felony charge • Amber Blanco-Castillo, 29, failure to pay fines • Mytrice Williams-Deleon, 49, distribution of marijuana • Johnny Garcia, 34, out of state fugitive • Kayla Diaz, 32, harboring a felon • Cathrine Baughman, 20, harboring a felon, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge • Ranesha Stonelake, 26, failure to pay fines • Daniel Duran, 58,...
CLOVIS — Infection numbers are indicating that the state is not nearly out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Curry County is having plenty of challenges itself. Curry County reported 12 positive COVID-19 cases Monday and 11 Tuesday, its fifth and sixth days with double-digit cases in the last eight. Through the first six days of October, Curry County had recorded 80 positive cases, while Roosevelt County had 23. The county also recorded its seventh death Saturday, a female in her 80s who was hospitalized and had underlying c...
One of my favorite events on the church calendar happened this past weekend, World Communion Sunday. This celebration crosses denominations as people put aside their differences to share in a communal feast. Rebecca Davis, who teaches at Union Presbyterian Seminary, says that across the globe we celebrate communion the first Sunday in October as an international show of unity. “When we gather at the communion table, regardless of where it is physically located, it is the Lord...
I wonder what would happen ... Well, it probably wouldn’t happen, at least, not with the folks I’m thinking of, though I think there’s a pretty good chance it could happen, would happen, and does happen with you or me or anybody you really want to spend much time around, folks who don’t suck the air out of any room they enter, people you can honestly say that you like, but I wonder ... I wonder what would happen if the loud politicians (and most of them are loud) presently enj...
FARWELL — The Farwell football team was looking at the possibility of three open dates in a four-week stretch. Not good. The Steers, though, managed to find a game last week, and they learned that their first Class 2A Division I District 1 opponent, Boys Ranch, will field a team this week for Farwell’s 7 p.m. homecoming game on Friday. The Roughriders (0-4), who dropped a 48-7 decision last week to Booker, Texas, had been considering canceling the remainder of their season due to some concerns over coronavirus before dec...
On this date ... 1930: Tickets were on sale for the Robbins Bros. Circus coming to Clovis. Promotional advertising announced 1,000 people, 300 wild animals, 200 trained horses, 40 clowns and Miss Iowa were part of the show. 1970: Roosevelt County Sheriff Glen Widener was investigating a burglary at Causey Hardware in which $2,500 in merchandise was taken. Keneth Gardner, the store's owner, said burglars entered through a rear door and carried off 120 pair of men's and boys' trousers, 20 dozen pair of gloves, five dozen short-...
New Mexico and Texas attorneys painted differing pictures before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as to why water was allowed to evaporate in Brantley Reservoir near Carlsbad instead of being delivered to Texas under the Pecos River Compact. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation held water in the reservoir after Tropical Storm Odile inundated the region in September 2014. Reclamation released the water in August 2015. By that time, 21,000 acre-feet, or about 6.8 billion gallons, had evaporated. The court-appointed river master...
Dear October, Consider this a love letter. Some say it is wrong to have favorites, but you leave me no choice. You are the one. The other months have their moments, of course, but they can turn on a moment’s notice to scour us with sand, scorch us with heat, pierce us with bitter cold. You are consistent and gentle and oh, so glorious. You seduce us with the fragrance of roasting green chiles and the intoxicating scent of campfires built from gnarled twists of mesquite and p...
No need to worry about an October surprise this time around. It’s already happened. You guessed it, I’m talking about President Trump contracting COVID-19. It’s the barn-burner that changes everything. Or, nothing. There’s so much uncertainly to this moment in history that it’s hard to keep up, and even harder to predict where it’s all going. Consider last week: It started with the debate over Amy Coney Barrett, the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court. It’s an appointment of incredible importance because it will create...
Of all the political ideas I’m puzzled by — which is all of them — the ideas of White Supremacy and White Nationalism are among the most bizarre. To imagine you’re better than others because of your race rather than for your achievements is foolish. For that matter, anyone who feels they are owed something beyond the respect for life, liberty, and property every human is entitled to is mistaken. To use government and its legislation to force your superiority on others is to a...
Before President Donald Trump contracted COVID-19, a strong case could be made for modifying the format of the remaining debates from face-to-face to remote. Now it’s essential. It may seem premature to consider the format of future debates before we know the seriousness of the president’s condition. But at present the nation should operate under the assumption that the president is going to recover and that the campaign will go on. The first debate was a disaster. Only those with an appreciation for rhetorical blood spo...
PORTALES — Roosevelt County officials provided commissioners with a review of a few pandemic-related challenges both statewide and in the county during its Tuesday morning meeting. County Manager Amber Hamilton presented information on unemployment given by the New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department and the Department of Finance. Unemployment for the state peaked in July at 12.7%; Roosevelt’s peak of 10.3% took place in July as well. For August, the state rate was 11.3% and Roosevelt was 8.8%. The most severe declines in une...
Meals halting during break CLOVIS — Clovis Municipal Schools will halt grab-and-go meal service during its fall break, scheduled for Friday through Monday. To ensure children can receive meals during the break, additional pre-packaged meals will be distributed 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday at any school in the Clovis district. Families can pick up two additional breakfasts and two additional lunches per child. Meals are available for anybody in the city 18 and under, and enrollment in the Clovis district is not required. Meal d...
Call it the debate that wasn’t. Both candidates for New Mexico’s U.S. House seat in the 3rd Congressional District stressed their deep roots in the state and vowed to provide a voice for New Mexicans who may not otherwise have one during a televised forum Sunday on New Mexico PBS. While Republican Alexis Martinez Johnson showed up at KNME’s studios in Albuquerque for a live interview, Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez appeared via a videoconferencing app. Leger Fernandez told moderator Gene Grant that the COVID-19 pande...
SANTA FE — Roosevelt County Magistrate Judge Christopher Mitchell has been elected as a board member for the New Mexico Magistrate Judges Association, according to an association release. The association re-elected Los Alamos County Magistrate Judge Pat A. Casados, who has been in the position for the past four years. Elected, in addition to 15 board members, were Lea County Magistrate Court Judge David Finger as vice president; Lincoln County Magistrate Judge Katie Lund as secretary/treasurer; and retired Torrance County M...
CLOVIS — Curry County is accepting letters of interest from people wishing to fill two vacancies on its investment committee, according to a county release. Applicants must live or work in Curry County and be current or retired bankers or financial advisers. The committee meets quarterly and provides recommendations to the treasurer’s office and the Curry County Commission regarding investments, investment policy and other matters. Letters will be accepted through noon Oct. 27 to Curry County Manager Lance Pyle either at 417...
CLOVIS — Starting with their next paycheck, employees at the Curry County Adult Detention Center will see a small boost to reflect work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Curry County Commission unanimously approved a request during its virtual Tuesday meeting to provide a stipend of up to $100 per pay period to all detention center employee going forward. The commission plans to review the stipend in its Dec. 15 meeting, but Commissioner Chet Spear already wants it to become permanent. “Pretty much everything they do is on a...
At 93, Homer Tankersley experienced a lot in one lifetime. Tankersley, founder of the Clovis Main Street clothing store that bears the family name, passed away Saturday. Born March 25, 1927, Tankersley was raised in Dallas by his parents Homer Sr. and Audrey Tankersley. He initially stayed close to home and pursued music at Southern Methodist University, but left to enlist in the military during World War II. From 1944 to 1945 he served in the 82nd Airborne in Europe, and...