Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Pets and patriotism. Aside from the pleasing (to my ears) alliteration of two words beginning with Ps, I’m not sure what I think of those three words strung together. I’m not aware of any sociological or other studies funded to try to determine if a link exists between pet ownership and a significantly higher level of patriotism than the levels normally measured in pet-less people. But, come to think of it, don’t you think that sounds exactly like the sort of study some gover...
The latest edition of Kids Count provides more devastating news about New Mexico and the condition of our children. The report, created by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (a center/left non-profit that works nationwide) analyzes and ranks all 50 states based on 16 variables relating to childhood outcomes. Surprising absolutely no one, New Mexico was once again at 50th. I analyzed the report and counted seven variables that improved, seven that got worse, and two that stayed the...
For the past five decades or longer, the state Legislature has been planning for what we will do when the oil runs out. We’ve set up permanent funds to ensure we’ll be able to keep our schools open and provide other essential services, tucking away money that is not needed now. We haven’t planned nearly as well for the depletion of an even more precious resource — water. The state didn’t even have a water plan until 1987, and the one drafted that year led more to regional competition than conservation. Many of the plans sub...
About 12 years ago, when I was at the Las Vegas Optic, we worked up a special section on the seven-county region of Northeast New Mexico. Not surprisingly, our lead story was about water. At the time, Las Vegas was facing some serious drought conditions that had slowed the Gallinas River to little more than a trickle, leaving the city — which gets nearly all its water from the Gallinas — with only a couple months of water in reserve. City officials at that time said the reservoirs were only 68% full and sinking. Also aro...
The presidential debate once again convinced me that these shows have reached their “sell by” date. Neither contestant answered questions that could have been answered yes or no. This is not unusual. No politician running for any office will answer a yes/no question yes or no. Candidates also never have the time to explain policies or plans that are complicated and difficult to understand. One example of this is, “What is your plan to reduce global warming?” The thing that am...
By the time I knew what the term “blue collar” meant, I wasn’t. I come from a long line of blue-collar people, proud Italians and Irish who were carpenters and cooks and iron workers, and in the case of my beloved Pop Pop, a trashman. My parents were able to move way up in the social and economic ladder through lots of sweat, even more tears and dedication to each other. And while my maternal grandparents will always be two of the four most important persons in my life, I gre...
You are probably familiar with the poem, “First They Came,” by Martin Niemöller. It begins, “First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist.” It goes on to list more groups “they” came for. We are living in such a time again. People in power are coming for those they don’t like: often the ones who speak out against the evil being committed by political criminals in positions of power. They are coming with lawfare, inflated charg...
When it comes to the issue of debates, perception is often just as crucial as reality and substance. There is no way to codify the fact that Joe Biden’s debate performance last month was nothing short of dismal. The ferocity we witnessed at his State of the Union earlier this year was absent, although his performance did incrementally improve as the evening progressed. The debate was an opportunity for Biden to ask the American people about what direction they wanted the n...
Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series about that time in 1978 when Gray and Sara Wilson bought the Roosevelt County community of Pep. There may not be many things more daunting than moving into a new-to-you small community and finding your niche in a place where everyone else seems to have known each other forever. When Gray and Sara Wilson bought the town of Pep in 1978, they didn’t know a soul here, but I can’t remember anyone who ever more joyously embra...
Somebody was telling me a joke the other day that dealt with yoga. "What did the dyslexic cow say in yoga class? Ooooooom." A good laugh was had. "That reminds me of something I said on the CB radio back in my trucking days," I said. Yes, once upon a time, about 22 years ago, I went to trucker's school in Arkansas, got my commercial driver's license and hit the road driving an 18-wheeler. I call it "My year I saw America." Other truckers accused me of being a spy from the...
Ruby, our latest rescue dog, is a hoarder. She has a kennel in the living room, a good-sized wire kennel. We set that up the evening we trapped her. We floofed blankets and I put a couple of my t-shirts in there for her. The first couple of nights, I slept in the living room, just to keep her company. She never made a peep. She loves that kennel. She can come and go as she pleases. She has blankets, toys and a giant tennis ball in there. And if we don’t watch her, she’ll hav...
Words and birds. Freedom and faith. I’d planned to begin by sharing a simple story about a bird that “flew the coop.” But then I flew a little off course by looking for a little “poop” (as in, information) about “flying the coop.” Forgive me, but you understand that, with many birds around, the type of information I just mentioned drops pretty much everywhere. “Flying the coop” led me to a Merriam-Webster online article about “Common Idioms That Come from Chickens” (along wi...
Going into Joe Biden’s debate with Donald Trump on CNN, the big question was whether Biden could last 90 minutes. We found out he couldn’t last 90 seconds. On Thursday night everyone saw what’s left of the president’s brain and body – and it was not just a disastrous political moment for Joe Biden, it was a sad one. It wasn’t just that his voice was hoarse at the start. It wasn’t because of his confused and muddled answers or his five-second freeze about 13 minutes in, w...
Set aside for a moment Joe Biden’s haunting performance at the debate last week, there was something even more troubling that just took place. It’s not getting as much attention because we’re used to it. The debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is an example of style versus substance. Trump won on style and Biden won, by default, on substance. Biden supporters blamed a head cold on their man’s hoarse voice and subdued manner, while Trump’s supporters declared Biden ready for the nursing home. Meanwhile, Trump used his...
Several years ago, when I was covering state government from Santa Fe, I attended the annual briefing given to reporters prior to the upcoming wildfire season. After going over the current conditions and expectations for the coming months, the discussion turned to reporters’ safety. We were warned about the unpredictable nature of fire and the importance of following their directions at all times. At the end, they talked about worst-case scenarios. The instructor pulled out what looked like an aluminum-foil blanket and e...
Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series about that time in 1978 when Gray and Sara Wilson bought the Roosevelt County community of Pep. For a lifetime, I've received my mail in one of the tiniest hometowns around - the community of Pep, located 24 miles south of Portales on NM 206. During my growing up years, besides the post office, there was a store. In the window of that store - for long enough to become yellowed and dusty - there was a sign that read, "For...
Do you celebrate Independence Day, or do you celebrate the Fourth of July instead? It’s the difference between celebrating insurrection, secession, and the violent overthrow of a tyrannical government in the cause of independence, or demonstrating your loyalty to an even more tyrannical government and its military. I know which one most people celebrate. Most holidays get corrupted and co-opted over time. Complaints about the commercialization of Christmas are as t...
In his blog, Dances With Bears, John Helmer writes, “In war, exaggeration is a killer. In the media, exaggeration is a bestseller.” The corollary to this is, “In war, it’s OK to BS everybody else, but don’t BS yourself.” Hellmer goes on to note that in Ukraine, the “war fighters” believe that just one more brilliant operation carried out with derring-do by special operators can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Let’s look at one of the super weapons that were suppose...
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry was brimming with pride and arrogance when he signed into law a requirement that every classroom in his state — from kindergarten to college chemistry labs — will be required to display a copy of the Ten Commandments. “I can’t wait to be sued,” Landry said before signing the bill. While other states have proposed similar bills, no one besides Louisiana has been successful enacting such efforts, especially with the threat of legal battles looming o...
A God who gets tired. That, my friends, is quite a picture. But it’s one of the amazing pictures hanging on the wall of the universe we inhabit. And, surprise, it hangs right there in the living room. I’d have expected to see a Do Not Touch sign prominently displayed, but, on the contrary, a rather amazing placard posted nearby informs and invites us: Please Note the Question Scribed on the Back of the Frame. So, before gazing at the front and center depiction itself, we rea...
I’ve always found it interesting that some townfolk think it’s just fine to point their pistol, rifle, shotgun in the air and squeeze off a shot or two of live ammo seemingly without a care in the world as to where that bullet or those shotgun pellets might land. I mean, when I was a kid I was curious about where would what went up come down. But I used a slingshot. How close would it land near me? I’d drop a marble in my trusty slingshot, pull the thing back, aim it straight up in the air and let ’er fly. I think the clo...
The term color revolution came into general usage in the early 2000s during a series of protests in the post-Soviet states. The purported aim of these revolutions was to rid the countries of corruption and to establish Western-style democracy. The revolutions were triggered by what the West viewed as falsified election results, and were highlighted by use of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the protests. Critics say that color revolutions constitute unlawful...
I often say politics makes people stupid. I’ve tried to think of a nicer way to say this, but there isn’t one. I don’t tie this to any specific political party, but observe it applies to all of them, through the effect they have on everyone who identifies with them. I’m embarrassed for people who pretend Joe Biden is mentally or physically capable and for those who imagine Donald Trump is a friend to gun owners. No one has a right to govern another person. There’s no way to...
Occasionally the evening news reports on people keeping more animals than they can handle. Other times children of deceased parents are astonished by how much “stuff” their parents or grandparents hang onto only to leave piles of unwanted things to be thrown out. The state of New Mexico is a hoarder. It hoards cash. One might think this is a good thing because, after all, isn’t keeping cash for a “rainy day” (such as a downturn in oil and gas) a good thing? Not really. Governm...
A few weeks ago, my 97-year-old friend Jean Grissom called to ask me if I could find out more information about a story that happened 82 years ago this month. Jean had been leafing through her journals, no small feat since she’s been religiously keeping a daily journal since Jan. 1, 1939. She was in the first of her five-year diaries — she said the cover is starting to crumble, so she’s very careful — when she came across an entry she had penned on June 17, 1942. Jean recorde...
