Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date …
1946: A Curry County man and his son were awarded more than $700 by a district court jury.
Thomas J. Stephens and his son Tommy Dale Stephens, 10, who lived five miles west of Clovis, sued Victory Bus, which operated between Clovis and the Clovis air base.
The Stephens’ alleged a Victory Bus was being operated recklessly when it struck the boy, who was running across the highway after exiting a school bus.
The boy suffered a broken leg, broken hand and other injuries and was hospitalized for 13 days.
Attorney Dick Rowley represented the Stephens family.
1953: Snow, wind and rain took down 30 telephone poles between Clovis and Texico. Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Co. brought in workers from Santa Rosa to help with emergency repairs.
1956: The city of Clovis’ sanitation department reported a large amount of waste paper was being scattered on the streets, sidewalks and vacant lots.
“Some of our vacant areas are so covered with waste paper that they look like half-picked cotton patches,” said sanitation Supervisor L. E. Thompson in a public release.
1961: Thieves stole floor mats from 820 W. Manana and from 912 Cypress streets in Clovis. Police also received reports of stolen hubcaps on West Street and the theft of a television set from 120 Lydia.
1965: Clovis Office Equipment Company, at 509 Main St., was having a winter clearance sale on reconditioned office size typewriters.
They had been cleaned, oiled and carefully adjusted and were 25% off.
Brands included Royal, Remington, Underwood and Smith. Terms were as low as $5 per month.
1967: New Mexico Gov. David Cargo was under fire from Democratic lawmakers for a comment he made to the media about “girlfriends” of legislators.
Cargo, a Republican, had told reporters he was unhappy that “friends, relatives, wives and girlfriends” were being allowed on the Senate floor, when members of the press were barred.
Sen. President Pro Tem Ike Morgan, D-Curry-Roosevelt County, was among the governor’s critics.
Morgan said Cargo’s statement “points out the need to be more careful about statements issued to the press.”
Sen. Mike Alarid, D-Bernalillo, said he took “a personal affront to the governor’s implication that the Legislature embraces a collection of philanderers.
“And the implication becomes more serious when you consider that with but one or two exceptions, every member here is married.”
1970: Clovis animal control officers had been instructed that their jobs no longer required them to chase and apprehend animals running at large. Instead, they had been issued tranquilizer guns.
“A shot from the tranquilizer gun will put an animal to sleep without inflicting permanent damage,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.
City officials had been receiving “a great number of complaints” about dogs running at large, the paper reported. “(C)ertain discrepancies” within the law had been resolved and dog owners were warned that ordinances would be enforced.
Dog owners violating ordinances would be cited in municipal court, the paper reported.
Fines would range from $5 to $100 per violation, officials said.
1972: The “new, exciting capless wig” was on sale for $29.95 at Wig Chateau in Clovis.
A newspaper advertisement proclaimed the wig offered “easy care,” was “ideal for frosting or tipping” and “you can pull some of your own hair through if you desire.”
The Wig Cheateau was at 21st and Thornton streets.
1976: Nine men were on death row in New Mexico.
One Clovis man, Stanley Deon Melton, was awaiting execution. His sentence was ultimately commuted to life.
1977: Clovis edged Roswell, 45-43, in high school basketball.
“With the score tied 43 all, Nelson Franse had to fire up an off-balance 15-footer that hit the cotton at the buzzer,” Clovis News-Journal Sports Editor Mike Magda reported.
The win lifted Clovis to 12-4 for the season, while Roswell fell to 12-6.
Bill Patton led Clovis in scoring with 14 points.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
