Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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MELROSE — Melrose Schools has announced it will return to remote learning beginning Monday, according to a Thursday afternoon release from Superintendent Brian Stacy. The district is taking advantage of Public Education Department requirements for schools currently in hybrid learning models. Currently, any school in hybrid learning would be required to return to remote learning if there are four COVID-19 cases in a four-day period and could not return to hybrid learning until its county met the gating criteria of less than e...
Clovis Municipal Schools will be returning to remote learning after the Thanksgiving break, the district announced in a news release. The decision comes after the state issued a “stay at home order” but left school districts to determine how they will respond to increased virus cases. “It is without question that in-person learning is best for students, and Remote Learning places strains on students and staff. To that end, the District has worked to prolong in-person opportunities as long as possible, however the curre...
PORTALES — Citing difficulty in adherence to public health orders on college athletics, Eastern New Mexico University will sit out the upcoming Lone Star Conference basketball seasons, its athletic department said Monday afternoon. The decision sidelines a women’s team that had qualified for three NCAA national tournaments in its last four seasons under Josh Prock, and a men’s team set to begin the Brent Owen coaching era. “We truly feel for our men’s and women’s basketball programs at this time, but the number one concern...
We can be safe, or we can be truly alive. Not both. Opting for “safety” is an illusion both unsafe and pathetic, a gag gift all wrapped up with three bedraggled ribbons: fear, arrogance, and control. When safety is our highest goal, we betray a fear of life and, deeper still, a lack of trust in the God of life. Then we're well on our way to becoming our own gods. Why? So we can control our own lives and the lives of those around us. (Note: I'm talking about life in gen...
I was awakened in the wee hours one morning last week by the unmistakable odor of freshly launched skunk spray wafting its way through closed windows into our house. We haven't had a skunk visit for a while, but all it takes is a whiff and the memories come flooding back. I was but a young girl when my father killed both a skunk and a basketball on our porch one night using only a single bullet. You don't see that kind of marksmanship every day. My mother, though, was the...
The next two weeks will be critical in determining whether some schools in the state can keep offering in-person classes, Secretary of Education Ryan Stewart said during a virtual news conference on Monday. “Let’s be very clear that if we don’t start to trend in the right direction, if we don’t start to get these case numbers down, get our positivity rates down, then we will be in a situation where we’ll have no choice but to move all schools into remote learning,” Stewart said. While the state on Monday began a two-week lo...
LUBBOCK — The county of Lubbock reported 772 new coronavirus cases and four additional deaths on Monday, continuing a trend of increased daily cases and deaths, with few signs of the spread slowing any time soon. Lubbock currently has 25,810 confirmed cases since March, according to state health officials, and about 25 percent of those cases have been confirmed this month. Lubbock Health Authority Dr. Ron Cook said the city is doing everything it can under Gov. Greg Abbott’s orders to mitigate the spread, including clo...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Friday-Tuesday): Clovis • Adan Ordonez, 37, receiving/transferring stolen motor vehicles • Roland Benavidez, 54, disorderly conduct • Adrian Loya, 28, aggravated battery upon a peace officer • Lorenzo Salinas, 40, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer • Esmeralda Trejo, 29, failure to appear on a felony charge • Christopher Bell, 37, out of state fugitive • Austin Ewers, 28, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge, failure to pay fines • Jessica Lewis, 32, out of stat...
On this date ... 1950: Portales firefighters responded to four alarms - three grass fires and one house ablaze. The first grass fire was reported at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Charles Street and College Avenue. At 2 p.m., a blaze was reported in the 1000 block of Nevada Street. At 5:30 p.m., firefighters were called to N.C. Bailey and Son sweet potatoes storage house on North Main. The house fire was reported at Herb Savage's home north of Portales. "It was thought an...
FORT SUMNER — The COVID pandemic and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's public health orders have come to roost in De Baca County. A recent increase in the number of positive cases in the county — from one to 23 since Oct. 27 — is not the most pressing issue, however. It's the contact tracing factor that has several governmental agencies in the county at the breaking point. With so many persons in De Baca County wearing multiple hats, the ripple effect of state-mandated quarantines is that multiple agencies can be affected by th...
CLOVIS — As New Mexico, like most of the rest of the country, wades through the coronavirus pandemic and its recent surge in cases and hospitalizations, high school seniors looking to move on to play in college can only sit and wait. Football coaches Cal Fullerton in Clovis and Jaime Ramirez in Portales are trying to help those with a chance to go on, but the fact the season has been delayed until the spring — if it’s played at all — has made it quite challenging. “I think any kid in general who’s wanting to play at the next...
BOVINA — Suffice it to say, the competition ramps up considerably this week for the Bovina football team. Coming off a 19-7 win over Plains in last week’s Class 2A Division II bidistrict round, the Mustangs take on a hot Vega squad at 7 p.m. (CST) on Thursday in an area round matchup at Kimbrough Stadium in Canyon. The teams met on Sept. 25 at Vega, and the Longhorns (9-2) dominated from the middle of the first quarter on en route to a 63-13 victory. Bovina (4-6) was just regaining the services of senior quarterback Cole Eme...
As goes New Mexico, so goes the nation. You might even say we’re leading the way, on a number of fronts. We’re what the rest of the country is slowly becoming — multicultural to the point at which white folks are no longer running everything. Maybe that makes us a bit of a cultural leader, and perhaps it was reflected in this year’s election. Here in the Land of Enchantment, 68.48% of registered voters statewide actually voted. That may be unimpressive in some fresh young democracy where people don’t take their right to...
One thing that has been demonstrated beyond any doubt by both the pandemic and the recent presidential election is that government has too much power over our lives. If government didn’t have the power to force you to close your business because a new cold virus showed up, and punish you if you ignored its demands, the American economy would still be strong. Much tragedy could have been avoided. The pandemic would have most likely run its course and be only a memory by now. I...
Finally ... some much-needed good news in the battle against the coronavirus. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. announced last week that its COVID-19 vaccine showed an astounding 90% effectiveness rate in early test results and that initial doses — if approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this month — could be available by the end of the year. It seems everyone welcomed the news, from health officials to politicians to Wall Street, where the markets soared. Health officials have been saying for some time tha...
CLOVIS — With the holidays approaching and new health and safety guidelines limiting gatherings and businesses, those in need may be wondering how they will access local food drives and meals often offered during Thanksgiving. Non-profits, volunteers, and local health services have worked together to make sure this year is no different for supplying food to those who cannot afford it or cannot go out and get it for themselves. The Lighthouse Mission in Clovis will be making and delivering meals for both Thanksgiving and C...
Cohort change deadline 4 p.m. Friday CLOVIS — Clovis Municipal Schools has instituted a 4 p.m Friday deadline for any families who wish to change their instruction cohorts for the spring semester. Requests should be made through staff at the respective schools. Cohort A attends in person Mondays and Tuesdays, and is in remote learning the remainder of the week. Cohort B is in remote learning Monday through Wednesday, and in person Thursdays and Fridays. Cohort C is entirely remote learning. Changes will be effective Jan. 1...
Xcel: New transmission line now in service ROSWELL — Xcel Energy has reported that a new 345-kilovolt transmission line in Eddy County is now in service to meet current needs and anticipated growth, according to a company release. “The new Eddy-Kiowa line is a major component of our 10-year plan to significantly boost the amount of power flowing into the job-creation engine of New Mexico’s economy and to sustain regional industries for decades to come,” said David Hudson, president of Xcel for New Mexico and Texas. “We hav...
CLOVIS — The Eastern Plains Council of Governments is hosting a virtual legislative forum 10 a.m. Dec. 17, according to a council release. As of Tuesday, forum organizers had not indicated who would attend, but all local legislators and various state officials have been invited to attend. The forum will be available as Zoom meeting 979 3258 6209, with passcode 18594....
PORTALES -- A 32-year-old Portales man missing since Monday night was found dead Sunday. Jay Cole was found near NM 267 in Roosevelt County, Portales Deputy Police Chief Chris Williams said. He said the county sheriff's department was handling the investigation. Family members said on social media that the body will be taken for autopsy. Cole walked away from Roosevelt General Hospital at 5:21 p.m. Monday, according to hospital surveillance video. He'd gone to the hospital's emergency room with multiple medical issues, his...
CLOVIS — Despite its initial cancellation over the weekend, there will be a Clovis City Commission meeting this week after all. The 5:15 p.m. Thursday meeting will not be open to the general public but can be viewed on the city’s Facebook page or Suddenlink Channel 10. Anybody wishing to call in comments can do so at 575-763-9200. The commission only has two items not on its consent agenda — a resolution supporting a change to the state’s Local Economic Development Act to include retail business and approval of its 2021 le...
CLOVIS - With new state COVID-19 restrictions in place for at least the next two weeks, the impact is already being seen in businesses closed or limited in service, and local holiday traditions being pushed to next year. Between Saturday and Monday, eastern New Mexico saw three more COVID-19 deaths. Curry County's 15th death was a woman in her 80s reported Monday. Roosevelt County reached 12 COVID-19 deaths as two men in their 50s were reported, one Saturday and one Monday....
CLOVIS — Much of a two-hour Curry County Commission meeting Tuesday morning dealt with local effects of COVID-19 infection spikes, with commissioners briefly going back and forth about their roles as leaders during the pandemic. The virtual meeting began with a pair of presentations from Plains Regional Medical Center Interim Administrator Jorge Cruz and Cannon Air Force Base Commander Col. Robert Masaitis. As of Tuesday morning, Cruz said, the hospital had 26 COVID-19 patients, with six in intensive care and three on v...
PORTALES — The trial for two men charged with killing a Muleshoe woman is scheduled for August. Keith Cordova, 22, and Francisco Bustamante, 24, both are charged with murder in connection with the slaying of Jaime Edgmon in rural Roosevelt County. Records show Edgmon, 41, was killed about sunrise Oct. 13, approximately six hours after she may have witnessed a shooting in the vicinity of 10th and Pile streets in Clovis. Cordova and Bustamante will be tried together, with an Aug. 2 docket call and a trial setting of Aug. 1...
