Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
My electronic mailbox was loaded with thought-provoking correspondence this month. Well, some of it anyway.
Here’s a sampling:
So many questions unanswered
Bill Hailer of Portales has a few complaints.
He said he read the “puff piece” we did with Portales Public Utility Director John DeSha. “He did not answer anything.”
Hailer wrote that the press used to hold government accountable. “Now it’s just a parrot for the government.”
Hailer wrote that he’s not had much luck with getting answers from Portales city officials either. “They will not engage with the citizens of Portales.”
He has questions/concerns about local water issues, the city airport, the old city hall, lack of interaction with residents at City Council meetings and more.
His letter ended:
“It would be nice to talk to someone in person on the city’s lack of transparency. If you want, we can do it behind my house in the alley I share with a Portales city councilor, in front of the 6-foot tall overgrown weeds/brush that he refuses to clean up. No code enforcement at his address.”
Every community needs a Bill Hailer to help ensure public officials, and the media, act responsibly. Keep after us, sir.
Watch your diet, newspaper man
Several readers offered thoughts on my ode to the corn dog. Most of them said I should eat more vegetables. All of them understood the struggle.
“I too enjoy fair food but only in moderation. (I) am glad the fair is only once per year,” one reader wrote.
I promise I’ve been trying to eat healthier since the fairs ended – more fish and at least one fruit every day.
Does anyone know if I get credit for cherry fried pies?
So that’s how Bluitt got its name
My favorite e-letter this month came from Galen Singleton. He is retired and living in Graham, Texas. He recently stumbled onto a story I wrote a few years ago about the New Mexico ghost town of Bluitt.
“My father -- Joe Singleton -- was raised in Bluitt. He was one of seven children and I (along with my sister and cousins) grew up hearing stories about Bluitt and that area,” he wrote.
“My dad was born in 1928, so he told us stories about growing up during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. He said he had seen sandstorms so bad that they would strip paint from cars.
“I asked him how Bluitt got its name and he said he didn’t know, but his mother would joke and say it was because the wind blew so much out there that it ‘blew it’ into existence. (And then blew it out of existence apparently.)”
Galen Singleton said he’s never been to what’s left of Bluitt, which is south of Portales. But he’s planning that trip soon. “Even if it is just an old cemetery.”
Please keep writing, readers. I enjoy what you have to say … most of the time.
David Stevens is editor and publisher of Clovis Media Inc. Email him at:
