Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 1233 - 1257 of 1717
Twice a week after school, about a dozen Tucumcari High School freshmen gather in a classroom to dig into a Zip-lock bags and tangles of switches, sensors, tiny cameras and various gizmos to build autonomous robots for an upcoming competition. They are part of the inaugural Rattler Robotics club, though its mentor, Tommy Evans, is old hat at this sort of thing. Evans, now a history teacher at Tucumcari, previously guided a robotics club at San Jon Municipal Schools for about a dozen years and...
Because of a bureaucratic delay, major construction work on converting a former ethanol plant on Tucumcari's north side into a methane facility has been delayed by about a month. That doesn't mean the principals are standing pat, though. In recent weeks, they've been readying the site with upgrades and other small construction jobs for so the plant and its offshoot operations are fully operational by spring 2021. During a tour of the idled ethanol plant on a chilly Thursday morning, Tucumcari...
Future board meetings of Logan Municipal Schools will be streamed live on the internet and archived online. The board authorized the livestreaming during its meeting Feb. 10. The first meeting broadcast through the livestream.com portal will be in March 9. A direct link to the streaming site may be found through the school district’s website at loganschool.net. Superintendent Dennis Roch said in a telephone interview Wednesday that school boards in Clayton and Roswell livestream their meetings and other districts are considering it. ...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team pulled itself into a tie for second place in the district standings with two victories last week, including a come-from-behind 63-61 home victory Friday over New Mexico Military Institute. The Rattlers, who trailed much of Friday's game, rallied with a 7-1 run to take a 44-40 late in the third quarter and added a 9-2 run early in the fourth for a 53-46 advantage - one they would not relinquish. Jesus Ramos led the Rattlers with 19 points, going 10-for-15 from...
If the Tucumcari girls basketball team had held a state-ranked foe to just 18 points in the first half, you would think it'd be in great shape. You would be wrong. Instead, the Lady Rattlers suffered a 47-34 home loss Thursday to Melrose, ranked No. 2 in last week's Class 1A polls, in a performance marred by turnovers, poor shooting and squabbling that dismayed longtime Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson. The 34 points scored by Tucumcari (14-9) was the team's worst offensive outing since a 46-33...
Quay County Commission Chairman Franklin McCasland during the commission's meeting Monday congratulated and recognized the Tucumcari Farmers Market for the Farmers Market of the Year award it received last week at the state Capitol. New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte presented the award Thursday during the eighth annual New Mexico Food & Farms Day and School Nutrition Awards at the Roundhouse rotunda in Santa Fe. The Tucumcari Farmers Market beat four other nominees for the honor....
LOGAN - Construction of a new U.S. 54 bridge over the Canadian River at Logan that began in late 2018 probably will be finished and opened to traffic by early summer. Chris Urioste, assistant engineer at the New Mexico Department of Transportation's District 4 office in Las Vegas, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that construction was 79% complete. With a 500-day window to build the span, that would place its finish date in June, he said. The project's official start date was Nov. 3,...
BARD - Cemeteries named Boot Hill conjure up an indelible image of the Old West, where gun-toting cowboys too slow on the draw wound up buried "with their boots on," hence their name. Quay County contained not just one, but two, cemeteries actually called Boot Hill. The one that existed just outside of Tucumcari appears to be long gone, but another one a few miles south of Bard on private ranchland remains in use, with at least two people interred there in recent decades. Wikipedia lists about...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team's chances for a come-from-behind district victory Friday against Tularosa essentially evaporated when the Rattlers' leading scorer, Jesus Ramos, fouled out late in the third quarter. The visiting Wildcats went on a 16-2 run after that, sealing a 76-57 victory at the Snake Pit. Ramos, a sophomore guard, scored a team-high 19 points despite sitting the entire fourth period. "With him out, we're a very different team," Tucumcari coach John Span said. Tularosa...
The Quay County commission on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution recognizing the county’s 911 dispatchers as first responders. County Sheriff Russell Shafer and Jamie Luaders, director of the Tucumcari/Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center, requested approval of the resolution during the commission’s meeting Thursday, rescheduled from Jan. 27 because commissioners were in Santa Fe to meet with state lawmakers before the start of a 30-day session. Three other dispatchers attended Thursday’s meeting. The Tucumcari/Quay Regio...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Monday unanimously voted to recommend the city commission not renew its contract with an Albuquerque marketing firm for its regional tourism efforts, citing long-simmering dissatisfaction with the company. The board also unanimously recommended the city not put out a request for proposals for a new marketing firm. Instead, board Chairman Larry Smith suggested the formation of a local tourism committee that would report to the board and city commission. The committee, Smith said, would “get back to b...
A house fire Friday afternoon apparently claimed the lives of a Tucumcari couple preparing to move to their son’s home in Clovis later this month. Richard Urioste Sr., 75, and Ann Urioste, 74, were found dead in a blaze that gutted their home at 1910 S. Rock Island St. on Friday afternoon, said their son, Richard Urioste Jr. of Clovis. He was at the remains of the house Saturday afternoon to retrieve his parents’ personal papers and other belongings. Quay County Sheriff Russell Shafer on Fri...
A Tucumcari man faces seven felony charges after he and four juveniles were accused of breaking into a house, trying to steal items and slashing the tire of a van parked there. Adrian Rivas, 20, was booked into the Quay County Detention Center on Jan. 27 on complaints of residential burglary, conspiracy to commit residential burglary, larceny (over $500 but less than $2,500), injuring or tampering with a motor vehicle (cutting and marking) and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The burglary count is a third-degree...
The Tucumcari Farmers Market will be honored Thursday as the Farmers Market of the Year during the eighth annual New Mexico Food & Farms Day and School Nutrition Day Awards in Santa Fe. The ceremony recognizes contributions to and participation in New Mexico's local food and farm to school programs. It will be from 9 to 10 a.m. Thursday in the rotunda of the state Capitol. The Tucumcari market beat out four other nominees for the award. According to a news release from the New Mexico Department...
Portales' Taris Rippee scored just before the final buzzer after an offensive rebound to hand the Tucumcari girls basketball team a 60-58 overtime loss Friday at the Snake Pit. Rippee led her team with 23 points. Tucumcari center Jasmine Jones scored a game-high 26 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Jones scored a total of 49 points in losses to Portales and Goddard, both state-ranked teams, during the week. Despite the mixed outcome, the topsy-turvy game Saturday may prove beneficial...
LOGAN - A key element in Logan's 63-60 district win Thursday over area rival Grady/San Jon was the Longhorns' star player was on the court in the final minutes of the game, and the Bronchos' star player wasn't. Grady/San Jon power forward Chisum Rush, who tied for the team lead with 14 points and grabbed at least a dozen rebounds, was whistled for a technical foul - his fifth foul of the game overall - midway through the fourth quarter. Bronchos coach Jonathan Langan said Rush had turned to a re...
LOGAN - The Grady/San Jon girls basketball team knew it might have a tough night Thursday against the No. 1-ranked team in Class 1A. It was made tougher by an illness to Lady Bronchos coach Alicia Rush, who couldn't yell instructions to her players on the floor during a 57-12 loss. "We're better than what we did tonight, but I'm sick and they can't hear me," a hoarse Rush said in a near-whisper after the game. "If I can't direct traffic, they're not (as good)." Teryn Foote led the Lady Bronchos...
West Las Vegas and Robertson dashed the Tucumcari wrestling team's hopes for a district team title Saturday by defeating the Rattlers 60-18 and 44-33 respectively at the Snake Pit. Tucumcari, which fell to 13-7 in dual meets this season, fell behind the eight-ball before matches began when Isaiah Lopez failed to make weight at 132 pounds, costing the team at least a few points in each match. Tucumcari stalwarts such as Joe Martinez at 170 pounds, Colt Garcia at 182 and Dyson Clark at 220 did as...
The Logan United Methodist Church likely will split from that denomination if the members vote at its general conference in May to diverge from that sect’s Book of Discipline doctrine and allow gay marriages and gay ministers. The Rev. John Barrett, pastor of that church and Center Street United Methodist Church in Tucumcari, also said last week he would leave the denomination, as well, if the main, 52-year-old domination adopts more of a pro-gay stance. The United Methodist Church will hold its general conference in Minneapolis on May 5-15 to...
The change, if it happens at all, won’t occur for a while, and it may be subtle. But Mesalands Community College’s president asked the board of trustees during its meeting Jan. 21 to consider altering the college’s name. The meeting agenda that day listed under new business “Discussion on the Name of the College” that was not an action item. College President John Groesbeck suggested changing the institution’s name — one proposal he offered was Mesalands College — for marketing purposes and to reflect its efforts to draw more students from o...
The annual Quay Day on Wednesday morning before the start of the New Mexico Legislature’s 30-day session drew one of the biggest crowds in the history of the event, according one longtime local official who attended. Because the state remains flush with money from oil and gas revenue, local leaders stated their optimism the region would receive more money in the coming year for roads and other projects. The state for the first time had a $7 billion budget last year, and some projections have added another half-billion to that this year. C...
LOGAN - The century-old Road to Ruin building along Logan's main drag will hold its grand reopening 5 p.m. Saturday, rechristened as Mama T's Road to Ruin restaurant, with a face behind the scenes familiar to many Tucumcari diners. Todd Duplantis, who owns the Cornerstone First Edition and Kix on 66 restaurants in Tucumcari, signed a lease a few weeks ago to operate the Logan eatery at 103 U.S. 54. He's joined forces with Brian Cox, who was general manager of Mama T's at its previous location a...
LOGAN - Senior power forward Karli Webb scored 11 of her game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter to rally the top-ranked Logan girls basketball team to a come-from-behind 54-47 district victory Thursday over No. 2 Melrose. The Lady Longhorns, ranked atop the MaxPreps.com and coaches polls in Class 1A, improved to 15-3 overall and 2-0 in District 6. Kyndall Ragland added 10 points for Logan. Melrose, which had been ranked No. 1 until Logan defeated it in double overtime at the EPAC Tournament...
LOGAN - The defending Class 1A champion Melrose boys basketball team lived up to its No. 1 ranking by taking a double-digit lead three minutes in the game en route to a 74-55 district victory Thursday over Logan that wasn't as close as the score indicated. The Buffaloes (16-1, 2-0 in Class 1A's District 6) led by 20 early in the second period and by 30 less than halfway through the third quarter. Only an 8-0 run to end the game kept the Longhorns (11-7, 1-1), ranked fifth in Class 1A by...
Three new board members took the oath of office and were seated during the Tucumcari Public Schools board of education's regular meeting Jan. 20. Magistrate Judge Timothy O'Quinn administered the oath of office for Jerry Lopez, Matthew Pacheco and Bo Wallace at the meeting's start. Lopez defeated incumbent Fernando Ureste of District 2 in the Nov. 6 election. Pacheco and Wallace were unopposed for their seats in Districts 1 and 5, respectively, after board members Carlos Romero and Corinne...