Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The athletic director at Logan High School detailed the restart of athletic practices in the coming weeks as outlined by the New Mexico Activities Association. Athletic director Billy Burns gave a report about those plans during the Logan Municipal Schools board of education's regular meeting June 8 at the Nara Visa Community Center. The NMAA's eight-page "Guidance for Return to Play" indicates the state is in the midst of Phase One in prep sports emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. It...
Police jailed a Tucumcari man after he was accused of sexually assaulting a Colorado woman visiting a friend in the city. Jorge Cosme, 38, is charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration by force or coercion, a third-degree felony that could lead up to three years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. Cosme’s name also was listed as George Cosme in booking records. Magistrate Judge Timothy O’Quinn on June 8 found probable cause in the case and ordered Cosme held without bond. According to a complaint filed by Tucumcari Police Det...
A weeklong wildfire that burned almost 23,000 acres and briefly threatened the village of Mosquero was brought under control by Sunday. Mosquero Mayor Victor Vigil said Sunday afternoon the fire was "pretty well out," and dozens of firefighters who'd battled the blazed the blaze for a week were heading back home. Vigil said he saw no evidence of smoke in the area Sunday, and state forestry officials were keeping an eye on it for flare-ups. A New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural...
Jerri Rush and Robert Lopez easily captured their respective Republican and Democratic primary nominations for open Quay County Commission seats during the June 2 election amid stronger-than-usual turnout fueled by a record number of absentee ballots. Rush, 49, a rancher, farmer and substitute teacher in Forrest, defeated Todd Duplantis, 52, a business owner and Tucumcari city commissioner, by nearly a 2-to-1 margin in the Republican race for District 2 that encompasses the southwest part of the...
The Quay County Fair board chairman expressed hope Monday to county commissioners it would hold an “as normal as possible fair” in August despite coronavirus restrictions, but a carnival would not be among its offerings. Fair Chairman Justin Knight said during the commission’s meeting the board decided June 1 to cancel its contract with the carnival vendor because of uncertainty caused by the state’s current and indefinite ban on public gatherings. Knight said the fair’s horse show also was canceled because of light participation in previous ye...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board with some reluctance Wednesday approved $15,000 in reimbursements for costs incurred by the Rockin’ Route 66 festival that was scheduled for this month but cancelled because of coronavirus-related restrictions. The promoter of the roots-rock festival also announced during a conference call with board members he plans an internet livestream of four musical acts starting at 4:15 p.m. June 27, with the possibility it also would be shown at the Odeon Theatre in Tucumcari that day if restrictions on the v...
After a big truck ran off the road Friday and wrecked west of Tucumcari, nearly a dozen Good Samaritans lifted the mangled cab off the driver, gave him first aid and comfort, then cleared a path through the debris so first responders could airlift the injured man to a hospital. Quay County sheriff's deputy Clay Huffman recounted the "heart warming acts of humanity" in a post Friday evening on Facebook, which was shared more than 1,600 times and drew nearly 350 comments by Monday morning. Other...
In another sign of a tentative return to normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic, Tucumcari’s restaurants reopened to sit-down dining Monday morning, as did one of its gymnasiums, for the first time in weeks. Diana Jimenez, manager of Mary’s Mainstreet Gym, opened the doors on its downtown facility at 5:30 a.m. Monday for the first time since mid-March. When Jimenez was asked whether there was pent-up demand after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday that such facilities could reo...
Tucumcari High School's virtual commencement exercises Friday evening may have been designed to foster social distancing during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but there was nothing distant or cold about it. The ceremony, held outdoors on a stage erected in the high school's bus lane instead of its traditional spot inside Rattler Gymnasium, brought new wrinkles for its 58 seniors to make the gala memorable, including shooting fireworks from the parking lot and confetti cannons near the stage a...
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed a longtime business in Tucumcari. The Gallery Etc., closed since mid-March because of mandated shutdowns of non-essential businesses due to the virus, will not reopen and is dispersing its artwork collection back to its creators. It had been a fixture in downtown Tucumcari for 13 years. Lynn Rodgers, president and director of The Gallery Etc., said its board of directors held an emergency meeting May 20. She said they unanimously voted to close the gallery at...
Tucumcari High School athletic director Wayne Ferguson said during the Diamondback Booster Club’s virtual athletic banquet that sports would be played during the upcoming school year, contrary to some rumors. With the annual banquet at the Tucumcari Convention Center canceled because the coronavirus pandemic, the club compiled an 87-minute video from the school’s coaches that was uploaded Friday onto YouTube that served as a virtual banquet. The video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/-XEGgo0e3Xs . During his opening remarks, Ferguson ack...
Of the industry sectors impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, it's difficult to find one more affected than theaters. In addition to states shutting down those venues because of the virus, studios stopped sending them new films in March. Despite that, the husband-and-wife team that owns and operates the historic Odeon Theatre in Tucumcari, which remains Quay County's only operating movie venue, is optimistic they'll show films again in late July and will offer a quasi-preview by selling...
The Quay County Commission on May 26 unanimously approved a preliminary $16.16 million budget for fiscal year 2020-2021 its finance director said would give 3% pay increases to workers but no changes to property taxes. Finance Director Cheryl Simpson said after the meeting the budget rose from $13.475 million, or 21%, in the previous year. She said the increase is attributed to the county receiving more than $3 million in state appropriations, mostly for a new bridge that will be built on Old Route 66 between San Jon and Endee. Simpson said...
The Logan Board of Education last week during a special meeting unanimously approved a graduation date of 10 a.m. June 27 at its football field, with a possible option of moving the ceremony 70 miles northeast to Dalhart, Texas, if public-gathering bans remain in effect in New Mexico because of coronavirus. The board surveyed parents of the 19 graduating seniors to find their preference of three possible dates and venues in Logan. Superintendent Dennis Roch said about 60% favored June 27, with July 3 and July 11 trailing respectively. He said...
New Mexico's governor signaled during a briefing last week the state is meeting or close to meeting several criteria and was “on track” to reopen dine-in restaurants, salons, gyms and malls June 1 after they were ordered closed for weeks by the coronavirus pandemic. Human Services Secretary Richard Scrase said during the briefing the spread rate of COVID-19 in New Mexico had dropped below the 1.15 target rate, to 1.12, for the first time. The southeast part of the state, which includes Quay County, saw an uptick in the rate he attributed to cas...
Though this year’s Tucumcari High School graduation will forgo many of its traditions because of coronavirus restrictions, it will add a few new wrinkles that should make it memorable — including its seniors going out with a bang. The high school will host a virtual, drive-in graduation ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday in front of the building at 1100 S. Seventh St. “I think it will be good, and we’re going to make sure it happens,” school superintendent Aaron McKinney said in a telephone interview last week. “It’s going to be a memory they can take...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees approved a COVID-19 reopening plan adopted from a proposal by the New Mexico Higher Education Department that includes multiple phases and a mix of in-person and online classes in August. The college’s acting president, Natalie Gillard, said during the board’s May 19 videoconference meeting the agency’s plan was “complete, thorough and flexible” and can be adopted for Mesalands. She said it had been drafted with the input of presidents of colleges and universities across the state. Mesalands...
When and how Tucumcari High School would hold a graduation ceremony amid COVID-19 restrictions became a hot topic of discussion among school board members during its regular meeting May 18. Later in the week, the district announced it would hold a virtual drive-through graduation ceremony at 6 p.m. May 29 in front of Tucumcari High School. Superintendent Aaron McKinney said he was calling other schools that held ceremonies to see how they did it, and he would “come up with something sooner than later.” He said he was eyeing graduation dat...
The owner of Loretta's Burrito Hut anticipates she'll reopen her restaurant about a half-mile east of her current location in the Joe's Back in the Day Diner building by late June or early July. Loretta Muller, owner of the restaurant at 605 W. Tucumcari Blvd., said she's been shoring up the long-closed Joe's building at 321 E. Tucumcari Blvd. since March, including repairing a leaky roof. She'd planned to reopen there sooner but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented that. Muller said in a phone inter...
One non-essential business owner in Tucumcari who'd been closed for weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic was elated to reopen Saturday. Two other businesses also cleared to reopen said they were prepared to file or join in a lawsuit against the state for the losses they incurred during their closures or restrictions. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday her amended public health order effective Saturday would allow all retailers except wholesalers and suppliers to reopen at 25%...
The New Mexico Department of Health announced last week a new case of COVID-19 had been reported in Quay County. The case, reported by the agency May 12, was the fifth in the county during the pandemic and the first since April 23. One resident died last month from the disease. The Department of Health does not identify the person who tested positive for the virus. An interactive map by the agency hadn't been updated with data from the latest case. Previous cases in the county were two men and two women. Two were age 40-49, and the others were...
Churches in Quay County reopened this weekend to in-person services for the first time since mid-March after being shuttered because the coronavirus pandemic. The example of First Baptist Church of Tucumcari, one of the first to announce an in-person service after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she would amend her public health order to allow 25% occupancy for churches, indicates houses of worship may undergo a complicated and lengthy slog before returning to normalcy. Several First Baptist...
Saturday became the first day when all New Mexico residents were required to wear protective masks in public to help slow the spread of coronavirus. For the most part, it appeared locals in Tucumcari had heard and accepted Wednesday’s message from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her amended public health order that took effect that day. During a one-hour period Saturday morning at the Lowe’s Market in Tucumcari, a 46 of 62 shoppers were observed exiting the grocery wearing masks, or nearly three-fourths of the total. That compares to less tha...
The San Jon Municipal Schools board of trustees last week approved its $3.2 million budget for the next school year, but that amount may change after the state legislature holds a special session this summer to address budget shortfalls mainly created by the COVID-19 pandemic. San Jon’s budget assumes a 4% pay raise for employees would remain in place. But superintendent Janet Gladu said those increases may be taken away by slashes in the state budget during the special session that’s anticipated in July. “This is a best guess; we’ve never b...
A Tucumcari man was jailed for several days on three felony charges after being accused of breaking into a house and stealing home-improvement items from it. Lawrence P. Rivas, 44, was charged with burglary, breaking and entering, larceny of over $250 and receiving stolen property. The burglary count is a third-degree felony that can lead up to three years in prison and a fine up to $5,000. The larceny and breaking-and-entering counts are fourth-degree felonies that can led up to 18 months in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. According to a...