Week of November 6, 2024
Week of November 6, 2024
Quay County will have a new commissioner and a new assessor after Republican challengers triumphed over the current officeholders Tuesday during the general election. Republican challenger Dallas Dowell, a rancher and retiree from NuStar Energy, won by nearly a 2-to-1 margin over Democratic incumbent District 1 Commissioner Robert Lopez, a farmer who also served as chairman of the body. Dowell gained 2,311 votes compared to Lopez’s 1,233 in unofficial results announced by the Quay County Clerk’s Office about 45 minutes after polls closed....
One of the organizers for a drag-racing event in Tucumcari said he is optimistic he still can host an event on Route 66 in October 2025 - with a state senator's help - before a bigger event during the highway's centennial in 2026. Those developments were revealed during a visit Thursday by state Sen. Pete Campos (D-Las Vegas) at Quay County Democratic Party headquarters in Tucumcari. About 25 people - many of them business owners or local officials - attended. Campos, who has served in the...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3: — Toby Steve Apodaca, 56, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Matthew Hill, 20, Quemado, contempt of court. — Johnny Pedro Dominguez, 51, Tucumcari, driving while license suspended or revoked. — James Paul Molinas, 37, Tucumcari, concealing identity, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia. — Albert Jess Chacon, 38, San Jon, driving while license suspended or revoked. — Daniella Jean Pacheco, 34,...
A woman with Quay County ties saw a Clovis school she leads earn a prestigious national award. Zia Elementary School in Clovis recently received a Blue Ribbon Award — only one of three in New Mexico to receive the honor. Kaylene Davis, who attended San Jon schools, became principal at Zia in 2022. Davis uses a data-driven approach and worked to create an environment that supports teachers and inspires students at the school. “With Miss Kaylene Davis as our guide, it really just warms our hearts to see that all of our work is finally being...
More than 2,200 people in Quay County cast votes early in the presidential election, which is in line with similar elections, reported the county's clerk. After early voting ended Saturday, a total of 1,914 registered voters in the county had submitted their ballots, County Clerk Ellen White said. More than 300 also sent back absentee ballots. The outcome of Tuesday's Election Day was after the Quay County Sun's deadline, though breaking-news updates will be posted at qcsunonline.com. Final...
LOGAN - Nearly two years after receiving a multimillion-dollar state grant for the project, Logan village officials and contractors broke ground Friday for a recreational complex not far from the shores of Ute Lake. In as little as 18 months, the village could have a new softball or Little League field, a multiuse sports field, a large building that contains concessions and a pavilion, courts for pickleball and other amenities. With large earthmoving equipment serving as a backdrop, about 50...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3: Oct. 28 — 4:37 a.m.: Trespassing in 3900 block of East Maple Avenue, Tucumcari. — 4:44 a.m.: Brush fire at North Lake Street and East Turner Avenue, Tucumcari. — 7:35 a.m.: Disturbance in 400 block of North First Street, Tucumcari. — 8:14 a.m.: Arrest in 100 block of West Center Street, Tucumcari. — 10:18 a.m.: Arrest warrant in 200 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. — 10:21 a.m.: Accident in 35500 block of Interstate 40...
SAN JON — State officials signaled they were receptive to a proposal from San Jon school officials and their architectural firm to build two full-size gymnasiums instead of preserving the two existing gyms for a new school. Several members of the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority chatted by videoconference with San Jon school board members and administrators, plus two representatives from Formative Architecture, during a work session Wednesday. Voters in the San Jon district last fall approved a $250,000 bond issue, making it...
The Quay County Public Health Office in Tucumcari now is offering updated COVID-19 booster vaccines with an appointment. The office at 310 S. Second St. is taking appointments by phone at (575) 461-2610. Its hours are from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Moderna booster can be administered to anyone age 6 months and older. The vaccine helps protect people from severe illness, hospitalization and death. It is especially important for people age 65 and older, those at risk of severe COVID-19 complications or those...
Saturday-Sunday — 50th annual C.R.A.F.T. Fair of Tucumcari. The local handcrafters club will host its golden jubilee event at the Quay County Fairgrounds. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Saturday -- Veterans Breakfast. The breakfast will be served from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Tucumcari Elks Lodge. Veterans are free; $5 for everyone else. Sunday -- Veterans Remembrance Program at 1:30 p.m. at the Tucumcari Elks Lodge, with a performance by the Quay County Community Choir. This event is free to the...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Breakfast banana split, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, cinnamon graham cracker, banana, apple juice, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk; Lunch: Spaghetti and meat sauce, seasoned breadstick, buffalo chicken wrap, seasoned Italian veggies, fresh broccoli, 1%, skim, chocolate skim or strawberry skim milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Cherry frudel, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, cinnamon graham cracker, apple, orange juice, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk; Lunch: Loaded fries, ham and cheese sandwich, pinto...
On this date ... 1974: Democratic state senator Jerry Apodaca, a businessman from Las Cruces, won the New Mexico governorship by a razor-thin margin over Republican Joe Skeen, a Picacho rancher, during the election Tuesday. Apodaca scored 50.01% of the vote and won only 13 of 32 counties but scored big margins in the northern part of the state to offset Skeen’s lead in Albuquerque and eastern counties. Democrats, riding a political tidal wave of scandal and fed by inflation and unemployment, swept nationwide elections and tightened their...
Tucumcari's volleyball team captured another district championship with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 victory Saturday over Raton during an often-emotional final home match for THS this season, especially its seniors. The Lady Rattlers (17-4 overall, 8-0 in district) won their second straight district title and third in four years. Tucumcari has won eight in a row and is ranked fourth in Class 2A by MaxPreps.com. Sophomore Cambree Benavidez's match-high 14 kills paced a THS attack that totaled 39 kills...
One of the most decorated players in Tucumcari High School volleyball history committed to playing next season at Lamar Community College in Colorado. Caylee Benavidez, a 5-foot-5 senior setter for the Lady Rattlers, signed a letter of commitment to play for the Runnin' Lopes during a ceremony Friday attended by about 40 fellow players, friends and family members - many wearing blue Lamar T-shirts. Benavidez later Friday signed the actual commitment letter electronically. Benavidez, a...
LOGAN - After spotting eighth-seeded New Mexico School for the Deaf an opening-possession touchdown, No. 1-seeded Logan tallied eight unanswered scores during a 62-7 victory Friday in the quarterfinals of the six-man football state tournament. The game ended midway through the third quarter due the 50-point mercy rule. The Roadrunners, which lost to the Longhorns 54-0 the previous week in a regular-season game, ended their year with a 3-6 record. The Longhorns (10-0) will host fourth-seeded...
Tucumcari ended its football season on a strong note with a 41-0 victory Saturday at Capitan, but it wasn’t enough for the Rattlers to earn a playoff spot. The Rattlers (3-7 overall, 2-3 in district) just missed nabbing one of the 12 postseason berths in Class 2A. THS had been ranked 13th by MaxPreps.com going into Saturday’s game, and its victory didn’t budge that rating. Laguna Acoma nabbed the 12th and final seed. Texico (9-0) landed the top seed, and Santa Rosa (7-3) was second. Against a winless Capitan squad, Tucumcari racked up...
When we think about the economic damage of climate change, most of us probably think about the physical destruction wrought by mammoth disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and droughts: Bungalows tumbling into the sea. Houses turned to ash. Acres of dead crops. That sort of thing. But the quieter, longer-term effects of global warming cut even deeper. Consider western North Carolina. It’s just beginning to repair the heavy physical damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure caused by Hurricane Helene nearly a month ago. The state’s...
When I was young, I didn’t know how good I had it. My family wasn’t rich, but we had enough. My parents loved their children unconditionally, taught us the value of service and gave us all a foundation for lives well lived. Moreover, I grew up with a hero in the house — my father. He wasn’t a war hero, a great athlete or television star. Instead, he was a good and decent man who made sure our home was filled with love and laughter, and I never stopped looking up to him as an example of how someone should live their life. When I hit my...
If you designed a banner declaring, “The world is full of crazies” and ran it up the flagpole, assuredly, I would salute it. On the other hand, as Veterans Day approaches, I realize the world is also full of opportunists – opportunists who devalue the dangers faced by the nation’s military personnel. We’ve all witnessed it with increasing frequency: some office-holder, bureaucrat or celebrity (a) gets pushback for a totally outrageous statement or (b) finally gets busted engaging in some flavor of financial/political/sexual...
“Close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” That was said by baseball manager Frank Robinson in 1973. Not long after that, while I was in college and throwing water balloons through open windows into girls’ dorms was fun (more fun if there was a screen), we modified the last sentence to, “Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and water balloons.” We’ve heard almost all summer the presidential election would be close and that the loser might have the greater popular vote but lose...
