Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Leon Williams was recuperating from heart surgery in 1970 when his daughter suggested they get out of the house. “Daddy,” she told him, “we need to get you out for a drive.” The family drove to one of Williams’ favorite places -- the Clovis High School football stadium where Leon played in the 1930s, where he broadcast maybe 100 games as a team booster, where he was affectionally known throughout the community as “Mr. Wildcat.” Soon after they pulled into the parking lot, Leon Williams noticed Wildcat Stadium had a new nam...
Can you vote if you’re in jail? The answer is no you can’t, according to Roosevelt County Clerk Mandi Park. “Ballots may not be mailed to correctional facilities. If you’re incarcerated you can’t vote in person,” Park said Wednesday. Park pointed out if a person has a felony conviction in New Mexico there’s another reason they can’t vote. “If you have a felony conviction, you’re not on the voter roll,” Park said. Park noted once a person has served their sentence, including parole, the person may apply to be put back on the...
I live on the edge of town in a quiet neighborhood — quiet enough I don’t get trick-or-treaters interrupting whatever important program I’m watching on TV. My late wife used to lament the fact that we never or rarely ever had any of the candy freeloaders show up on our doorstep. I kinda liked the fact that she would stock up on chocolate candy and someone had to eat it. I liked it even more at the places where we lived out in the country with absolutely no chance of having to...
New Mexico’s Department of Justice issued a ruling Thursday that Clovis schools are violating the “spirit of the law” with their online meetings policy. Schools Superintendent Renee Russ said Friday the board will change its policy at its next meeting to “align with the guidance” from DOJ. The policy requires those watching school board meetings online keep their cameras on with their face visible to board members throughout the meeting. A letter to school board members from Assistant Attorney General Stephanie Padilla r...
I don't support Israel. I don't support Palestine. I don't support Ukraine, Russia, or any other state. I support individuals who live in places claimed by those states, as long as they aren't violating the life, liberty, or property of others. States -- political governments -- are a threat to every life on the planet. If life on Earth is wiped out, and it isn’t due to an asteroid or a gamma-ray burst, it will be because of states doing what states do. It is preventable. F...
LAS CRUCES – New Mexico writer-photographer Julie Carter and musician Joe Delk received the 2024 Rounders Award Oct. 16 at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. According to a news release from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture: The award was named after “The Rounders,” a classic Western novel written by Max Evans. Created in 1990 by former New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Frank DuBois, the purpose of the award is to honor those who live, promote and articulate the Western way of life. New Mexico Agric...
The Clovis City Commission on Thursday approved a request for $6.15 million in New Mexico Local Economic Development Act grants in the form of a 2 1/2% gross receipts tax return. The money is for four new retail businesses in town for reimbursement of a portion of their construction costs. North Plains Mall Management applied for the reimbursement for the new Ulta and Marshall's stores. Ulta's construction cost was $2.067 million making it eligible for up to $1.033 million...
It costs between $50 and $100 to produce a pound of a product containing forever chemicals. But if those chemicals infect a public water system, cleanup can cost millions per pound, according to a panel presentation at a meeting Tuesday of the Legislature's interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee. "You can see why it's so important for my job and my department to educate and prevent PFAS from getting into our water system," said New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney. Kenney on Monday made clear to the...
SANTA FE — In the run-up to every general election since 2016, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver's office has sent out mailers to potentially eligible but unregistered voters in New Mexico. But this year's batch of 105,000 postcards generated particular alarm among some Republican legislators, who say ineligible voters in their districts were among those who received the mailers. "As trust in our institutions continues to worsen, it is unconscionable to think that our top election official may be advising n...
A special meeting Wednesday by Portales Municipal Schools to evaluate first-year superintendent Sharon Rowley yielded no action. But there was action approved to begin a discussion about updating district-wide evaluation standards and practices. While it may not be of high priority now, it could be relevant for end-of-year surveys, officials said. School Board Secretary Cade Standifer, who joined from Zoom, said the current evaluation standards are “weak.” The scale is too wide-ranging and unclear, he and other members sai...
Highway officials on Thursday in Texico rolled out their latest version of a railroad overpass at the New Mexico and Texas state line. The latest plan is not much different than one presented in May that would divert traffic to and from Lubbock around most of the Texico business district, with little impact on Farwell. The latest version provides easier access for motorists with additional lanes. Texas Department of Transportation District Environmental Coordinator Ayssa Trevino said the U.S. 70/84 Railroad Elimination...
Over the past 3 1/2 years, President Biden has regularly claimed credit for a foreign policy that in retrospect may not be all that successful. Biden takes credit for things like revitalizing NATO, providing proactive aid coordination for Ukraine and for global stability and U.S. leadership. An accurate appraisal of the current situation finds some NATO states in the precarious condition of near de-militarization and inadequate preparedness for future conflicts due to sending...
Of all the reforms passed during the administration of former Gov. Bill Richardson, and it was a busy eight years, perhaps none has had the same lasting positive impact as the election reform bill of 2005. Before then, the state had no uniform system from county to county, and relied heavily on electronic voting machines with no paper trail. We were consistently ranked at the bottom of national reports on election security and convenience. The 2005 law required all counties to use paper ballots that are scanned by a counting...
MELROSE – Melrose thought it came out perhaps a little lethargic on Friday night. You'd have had a hard time selling that to the Lordsburg Mavericks. Senior Brayden Eldridge and junior Jaxon Odom had three touchdowns apiece, and the Buffaloes cruised to a 52-0 win over the Mavericks in 8-man District 3 action. The game ended with just over seven minutes left on the 50-point lead rule. Melrose (9-0, 5-0 district), ranked No. 1 in 8-man and the defending state champion, p...
On this date … 1931: Hotel Clovis opened, instantly becoming the nine-story center of the city’s social activity. It had 114 guest rooms, each containing a telephone, bathroom and hot/cold running water. The hotel employed 55 people when it opened. It laid off 25 when it closed in 1983. 1940: A Curry County deputy sheriff was in Clovis Memorial Hospital after suffering a shattered kneecap in a fight. The Clovis News-Journal reported Val Baumgart was attempting to arrest a Floydada, Texas, man downtown when he was kicked in...
Portales' Tate Turnbough has high praise for Gary Crandall. "He's a jack-of-all-trades. If you need help, he's there on a moment's notice," Turnbough said. "Pick up trash? Clean streets? Pick up people's yards? Decorate a fair booth? He does anything and everything. "He does so much for the community that people don't even realize. He might seem like a regular guy but he's the kind of guy we need more of." So we asked Crandall to tell us about himself. Q: Tell us about where...
Editor's Note: Democrat Jake Lopez is running against Republican Fabian Munoz for the Roosevelt County Commission District 1 seat in the Nov. 5 election. The position is currently held by Dennis Lopez, who is term-limited. Dennis Lopez is Jake Lopez's son. Q: How can the County Commission help local business grow and prosper? A: The County Commission and Portales City Council have to work together. We're the same people, we need to work together. We've always tried to work tog...
Clovis High's volleyball team is sure glad to have Ashlynn Evans back. The senior outside hitter missed four matches with a shoulder issue before returning this week to help the Lady Wildcats win a pair of District 4-5A home matches. Evans compiled 19 kills, three blocks, seven digs and a couple of aces on Thursday night as CHS defeated Hobbs 18-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-18 at Rock Staubus Gymnasium. The Lady Cats (9-9 overall) now take on sixth-ranked Roswell High (18-1, 2-0) in...
HOBBS – It was another long night for the Clovis High football team. Rival Hobbs wasted no time, scoring five first -quarter touchdowns and handing the Wildcats a 63-8 setback in District 3-6A football on Friday night. Clovis (0-8, 0-4 district) moved the ball at times, but struggled to sustain anything. The Cats got their only points on a fumble return for a touchdown by junior Jaden Tapia-Cordova and a 2-point conversion run by sophomore quarterback Javier Jimenez in the second period. CHS returns home on Friday night to f...
Editor's Note: Republican Fabian Munoz is running against Democrat Jake Lopez for the Roosevelt County Commission District 1 seat in the Nov. 5 election. The position is currently held by Dennis Lopez, who is term-limited. Dennis Lopez is Jake Lopez's son. Q: How can the County Commission help local business grow and prosper? A: I believe the County Commission can help local businesses grow and prosper by possibly helping the city look more presentable to people passing throug...
When I was growing up in south Roosevelt County, our television viewing choices were (no matter how you counted them) darned limited. In the earliest days, we had one station that was magically (and still somewhat inexplicably) cobbled together from the available networks at the time. Our early viewing favorites included “Captain Kangaroo” each weekday morning, and “Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color” one cherished evening each week. Eventually that station split into th...
For all the world, it looked like Eastern New Mexico University and Oklahoma Christian were headed to a scoreless draw in Wednesday’s Lone Star Conference men’s soccer tilt at Steve Loy Family Foundation Stadium. But the Greyhounds upped their pressure as the match headed into the final stretch, and sophomore forward Robin Vandewalle was able to break through from point-blank range with just under eight minutes left for a 1-0 victory over the Eagles. ENMU (4-3-4, 2-1-1 LSC) is currently tied for fourth place in the 11-...
Carlsbad forced overtime with a goal in the final three minutes of regulation, then scored again two minutes into sudden-death overtime to edge Clovis High 2-1 on Tuesday night in District 4-5A girls soccer at Leon Williams Stadium. The win avenged a 3-2 setback to the Lady Wildcats in the district opener for both teams at Carlsbad on Oct. 1. Junior forward Ava Evans split a pair of Carlsbad defenders and slipped the ball into the back of the net to give Clovis (5-11-2, 1-3...
The Gattis seventh grade football team defeated Portales 14-8 on Tuesday at Portales, improving to 5-1 for the season. The Cubs finish the campaign with a 6 p.m. tilt on Tuesday against Yucca at Gattis Field to determine the city championship. Nate Lewis accounted for the Cubs’ scoring with two touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. Defensively, Ricky Fenstermaker had one sack and five total tackles, Jaime Hernandez recorded a sack and a tackle for loss and Larry Munoz-Bravo and Andres Cabrerra each recovered a f...
TYLER, Texas – Texas-Tyler wasn’t about to be caught looking ahead to a Saturday’s showdown with ninth-ranked West Texas A&M for the Lone Star Conference volleyball lead. Tyler took control from the get-go and never let up in a 25-13, 25-11, 25-18 sweep of Eastern New Mexico University on Friday night. UTT (10-5, 7-0 LSC) converted 47 kills on 90 attacks in making short work of the struggling Greyhounds (3-15, 0-7). Junior outside hitter Kota Hartman notched 14 kills and six digs and sophomore outside hitter Autumn Perry...
