Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 1008 - 1032 of 1717
Members of the Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Board brainstormed ideas to boost tourist spending in town, including inserting coupons into a forthcoming visitors guide. Board member Matt Bednorz began the discussion during the board’s meeting Wednesday by noting a Fox Business story that reported Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is paying visitors $100 to visit the town through Nov. 30. The first 1,000 visitors who qualify would receive $100 in Glenwood Gold Community Currency on arrival. To qualify, visitors must complete an application, book at least a t...
State Sen. Pat Woods said he’d try to submit a bill during the New Mexico Legislature’s upcoming session in January to reform the judicial’s system’s so-called “catch-and-release” bail system for criminal suspects. Woods, a Republican from Broadview whose District 7 includes Quay County, made the pledge while participating in an videoconference roundtable last week by the Quay County Health Council’s Intimate Partner Task Force committee in conjunction with Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Several local law-enforcement officials als...
Quay County's clerk said she wouldn't be surprised if crowds at polling places Tuesday for the general election were smaller than usual because so many residents had cast their ballots during early voting. After the final early voter had submitted his ballot a few minutes before 6 p.m. Saturday, the total number of early voters in the county stood at 2,138. That beat the old early voting record by more than 400, according to records kept by County Clerk Ellen White. Another 736 residents had...
The chief medical officer of New Mexico’s biggest healthcare provider said Thursday that hospitals may have to resort to MASH-style medical tents in their parking lots by mid-November if the coronavirus pandemic soon isn’t brought under control. Later that day, New Mexico broke another daily record for COVID-19 cases with 1,082 cases, exceeding the old mark by more than 200. The next day, the state reported 13 deaths from coronavirus, also a record. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also ordered flags flown at half-staff that day after New Mex...
Loretta's Burrito Hut will be closed indefinitely after the Tucumcari restaurant sustained major damage from a fire early Saturday. The owner has vowed to rebuild. Loretta Muller, owner of the Mexican restaurant at 321 E. Route 66 Blvd., said she was alerted about the fire shortly after midnight Saturday after it had been closed for hours. She said a patrolling police officer saw the flames and alerted firefighters. The west side of the building showed fire damage, especially on the roof. But Mu...
An unusually potent storm nearly two months before the official start of winter dumped at least 10 inches of snow last week in Tucumcari and more in the region north of town. Despite the biggest winter storm to hit in years, Interstate 40 stayed open the entire time snow fell Tuesday and Wednesday. That doesn't mean travel difficulties didn't occur. Traffic on the interstate nearly dropped to a standstill at least twice Wednesday. Daniel Zamora, Quay County's emergency management coordinator,...
A Tucumcari woman received an unexpectedly high bill of $148,000 for her property taxes, but the county treasurer and assessor’s office said it was an isolated clerical error and not a computer glitch that potentially could have affected scores of residents. Kristine Paulson Husman on Oct. 22 posted on Facebook an image of her bill from the Quay County treasurer’s office that requested a full payment of $148,116.60. Paulson Husman stated she “about had a heart attack today,” and “I must have a mansion, but where is it?” She stated her bill us...
With snow swirling outside, the Quay County Commission openly wondered Monday morning what would happen to stranded travelers if Interstate 40 closed because of a winter storm and motels and emergency shelters were limited in their capacities to house them due to COVID-19 restrictions. County Emergency coordinator Daniel Zamora said his plan was to set up at least three emergency shelters that would hold about 100 people each, though he acknowledged that was down from typical capacity of 300 or more. He said each shelter would contain masks...
Quay County set a record for early voting numbers with more than week to go, and the county's clerk anticipates record turnout overall when all the votes are tallied Election Day next Tuesday. By the end of the day Friday, the Quay County Clerk's Office had recorded 1,737 early votes, surpassing the previous record of 1,720 during the 2016 general election. Adding 648 absentee ballots turned in so far Friday, the county's voter turnout already had passed the 39% mark. According to records kept b...
Tucumcari Public Schools submitted projections to the state that reflect about a 10% drop in enrollment during the 2021-2022 school year largely because of COVID-19. However, the district’s superintendent said he’ll request the same funding because he anticipates a bounce-back in student numbers when the pandemic ends. The school board last week learned during reports from superintendent Aaron McKinney that TPS projects a total enrollment of 892 during the next school year. Documents submitted to the New Mexico Public Education Department rev...
New Mexico's governor last week announced new health COVID-19 regulations designed to keep businesses open with the hope they soon would flatten record surges of cases in recent weeks. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she hoped the new rules are “significant enough” to avoid closures and widespread economic disruption as the state heads into the winter. She said New Mexico, which has one-third less hospital capacity than other states, must avoid overwhelming its health systems. “We're not in a good place right now,” she said of the rise in...
The New Mexico Activities Association last week announced its revised calendar for volleyball and cross country in the wake of ongoing coronavirus restrictions, though Tucumcari’s athletic director expressed some skepticism whether sports would be played in 2021. Volleyball was moved to a March 1 start date, with state championships set for April 26 through May 1. Cross country was moved to a Feb. 15 start date, with state championships set for March 19-20. Like all sports, they will play condensed seasons and no non-state tournaments. The T...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees last week gave its acting president a retroactive pay raise that will remain in effect until a new president is hired. The board’s action during its Oct. 20 meeting followed a 20-minute closed session with acting president Natalie Gillard. She was given at one-time stipend of $16,759.19 for the period from July 1 to Oct. 31, plus an additional $5,000 a month until a president is hired. Board Chairman Jim Streetman noted Gillard was given a 10% raise as acting president after college President J...
New Mexico on Saturday broke another record for the most coronavirus cases in one day, while Quay County on Sunday reached the 100 mark since the pandemic began in March. The latest case in Quay County on Monday was a woman in the McAlister ZIP code age 60 to 69, according to the New Mexico Department of Health website. That brought the total to 101. The county has recorded 21 cases of COVID-19 since Oct. 14. Quay County likely will exceed the state’s two benchmarks for school reopenings of eight daily cases per 100,000 people and a test p...
The superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools, one of the best-performing districts in the region, said a substantial percentage of students using remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are failing at least one class. Logan superintendent Dennis Roch said during his academic report at the school board’s meeting Oct. 12 that one-third of the high school and 43% of middle school students are failing at least one class this semester. That is in spite of the district receiving “A” or “B” grades from the state’s Public Education Department...
The New Mexico Department of Health on Thursday reported six confirmed cases of coronavirus in Quay County the same day the state set a short-lived record high of 672 cases. One day later, a new high of 819 cases was reported in New Mexico. According to the DOH website, the five females and one male who contracted the virus in Quay County all were in the Tucumcari ZIP code. The age breakdown of the cases was a child under age 10, one age 20 to 29, one age 30 to 39, two age 60 to 69 and one age...
It’s safe to say Jefferson Byrd won’t have a “Yes on 1” yard sign at his rural Tucumcari home during this election season. That’s because the District 2 commissioner for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, who represents the eastern half of the state, isn’t bashful about his opposition to the proposed state constitutional amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot. The PRC oversees public utilities, including rates for electric companies, pipelines, sewers and telecommunications. Constitutional Amendment 1 would convert the elected five-member com...
Though the production company involved in the upcoming "Bands of Enchantment" television show in Tucumcari has offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, the main principals involved have deep roots in New Mexico. Vincent Chavez of La Tewa Media, the show's director of marketing and client relations, is based in the northern New Mexico town of Sapello. He's not the show's only link to the state, however. Ken C. Peterson, the show's creator and Elkhorn Entertainment's executive producer and...
Citing a rise of coronavirus cases statewide, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on last week announced an extension of the public health order and new restrictions on hotel occupancy limits, a 10 p.m. closing time for restaurants that serve alcohol and a reduction of public gatherings ban from 10 to five. The governor's office announced the new restrictions via email Oct. 13. New Mexico’s seven-day rolling average rose to more than 400 after it was below 100 just a few weeks ago. More than 900 people in the state have succumbed to the d...
SAN JON — The San Jon Municipal Schools board of trustees on Oct. 12 unanimously approved a micro-district re-entry plan that allows the district to begin offering in-person classes to all students this week. The board also gave superintendent Janet Gladu a contract extension that will keep her in the district through June 2022. Regarding the micro-district, Gladu told the board the New Mexico Public Education Department accepted the plan that afternoon after rejecting a previous plan. Because San Jon has fewer than 100 students, it is not s...
A Quay County sheriff’s deputy helped a local woman give birth by the side of the road Thursday night after she and her husband couldn’t make it to a hospital on time. Rudy Vallejo, a deputy for about 18 months, said during a telephone interview he was on patrol on Interstate 40 about 8 p.m. Thursday when he heard an emergency dispatcher send an ambulance on Highway 209 south of Tucumcari. He left the interstate and headed south on the highway to see whether he could assist before the ambulance arrived. About six miles east of Ragland, Val...
A fuel vendor’s mistake at the Yesway convenience store in San Jon led to fouled engines for numerous residents and other customers who filled up their diesel vehicles for about a four-day period. A company spokeswoman said the Iowa-based company would reimburse customers for repairs, towing expenses and alternate transportation caused by the flub. She did not know how many customers were affected. The fuel vendor inadvertently put gasoline into a diesel storage tank in front of the store, she said. Steve Kent, owner of S.S. Kent C...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday missed a chance to rent five billboards west of Santa Rosa at a low price after a motion to secure them deadlocked in a 2-2 tie. Concerns from city officials and two board members about being fiscally responsible amid tight budgets during the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately doomed the proposal. Board member Al Patel presented the three-year contract plan of five billboards 30 miles west of Santa Rosa on Interstate 40 that had been used by Flying C Ranch. The billboards could have been secured...
Noting a large increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday the state was “at extreme risk of uncontrolled spread” of the disease and feared a rollback of restrictions this week, including imposing a curfew, if the daily caseload didn't show signs of stability. Two confirmed cases were reported Saturday in Quay County — one a child under 10 years old and the other person age 60 to 69. Both were in the Tucumcari ZIP code. The governor and Human Services Secretary David Scrase said New Mexico's virus...
The Tucumcari Talking Tour is approaching its fundraising goal to buy a historic neon sign that once graced the Trav-O-Tel Motel along U.S. 54 in town. The 10-foot-tall "MOTEL" sign once hung on the ornamental stone chimney of the motel that now is the K9 Design Dog Grooming business at 1001 E. Main St. It also hung for years on the Historic Route 66 Motel on the city's Route 66 corridor. The sign had been listed on eBay last month for almost $3,000 until locals, including Karen Alarcon at...