Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 1333 - 1357 of 1717
Rejecting a defense attorney’s pleas for a conditional discharge so his client could join the military, a Tucumcari district court judge on Oct. 15 sentenced an Albuquerque teen to 16 years behind bars for his role in a home invasion last year where an elderly Tucumcari man was beaten and his residence ransacked. District Judge Albert Mitchell Jr. sentenced Jamal Jones, 19, to 21 years to prison, with five years of that suspended. Shortly before his case was to go to trial in August, he agreed to plead guilty to aggravated burglary with a d...
Concerns last month by the Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Board over a sudden shortfall in lodgers tax revenue were resolved Wednesday when it was revealed the mail service had lost a tax-revenue check by one of the city’s motels. Also, the organizer of Rockin’ Route 66 gave a 13-page report of June’s festival and outlined plans for future editions, including the 95th anniversary of Route 66 in 2021 and the highway’s centennial in 2026. The report prompted board members to discuss boosting aid for the next Rockin’ Route 66, scheduled for June 25-28. Du...
The Quay County board of commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a motion to a place a resolution on a future meeting agenda to give $10,000 to help pay for an engineering study for a proposed 2-mile road from Mine Canyon Road to U.S. 54 south of Logan. The donation would be contingent on the Village of Logan also giving $10,000 to help cover the study during a village board meeting next week. The total cost of the study would be $45,000. The county recently received a $25,000 state grant to help cover part of the cost. County attorney...
Several paying guests and members of a paranormal team experienced something peculiar during their visits Saturday night at the Tucumcari Historical Museum. Whether it was a ghost probably never will be known. Regardless, the event wound up being a successful and fun - when they weren't creeped out - fundraiser to restore the museum's retired F-100 fighter jet. About 40 people paid to spend four hours at the night-darkened museum, formerly Tucumcari's Central School, while eight members of the...
The state wants to partner with Ducks Unlimited to refill Tucumcari Lake with water and revitalize it as a refuge for ducks and other wildlife. However, a couple of officials with the Arch Hurley Conservation District voiced skepticism about the idea. The Arch Hurley board of directors during its Oct. 8 meeting discussed a letter from Alan Hamilton of the Rio Grande Return conservation group that proposes putting Arch Hurley’s reclamation irrigation water into Tucumcari Lake. Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the p...
LOGAN - The Lady Longhorns volleyball team kept its hopes alive for a regular-season district title with 25-12, 25-11, 25-12 victory Thursday over Grady/San Jon. Meanwhile, the visiting Lady Bronchos saw their chances for a district crown dim markedly with their second straight league loss. Grady/San Jon fell to 6-8 overall, 0-2 in the district. Both are chasing No. 1-ranked Melrose, who improved to 13-0 overall and 4-0 in district play by week's end. Logan, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A by...
The host team was left out in the cold for championship buckles during the 12th annual Mesalands Community College Grand Canyon Region Intercollegiate Rodeo. Several athletes with the host Stampede squad finished runner-up overall Saturday night at the Quay County Fairgrounds arena. Among those Mesalands athletes finishing second were Bonner Voss in the saddle bronc riding, Jesse Hay in bareback bronc riding and Wyatt Wells in bull riding. AJ Kee finished third in the bareback and Vinell...
One of the suspects accused of a high-speed police chase through Tucumcari and an attempted shooting of officers in May accepted a plea deal that will put him behind bars in New Mexico for more than five years. Scott Sherbondy, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sept. 25 agreed in district court to plead guilty to resisting, evading or obstructing an officer during an arrest, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault upon a peace officer with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit aggravated...
A few weeks before Halloween, a paranormal investigation team from Amarillo will come Saturday night to the Tucumcari Historical Museum to see whether it's haunted and help a cause at the same time. Museum director Paula Neese doesn't need much persuasion about that possibility. She said she and visitors at the museum have heard or seen strange happenings in various spots of the 1903 building that once was Central School. The investigation by Buried Secrets Paranormal also will serve as a...
The Mesalands rodeo team has vastly improved this season. Trouble is, the teams in the entire region have improved greatly, as well. That's why the team title is up for grabs at the 12th annual Mesalands Community College Grand Canyon Region Intercollegiate Rodeo that begins Friday at the Quay County Fairgrounds rodeo arena. Saturday night is the championship round. Rodeo performances begin at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a slack performance at 9 a.m. Saturday. Nightly admission will be $5...
SAN JON - James Gonzales' third rushing touchdown with 1:33 left sealed a 39-33 victory for Carrizozo over San Jon/Grady in a six-man football game Friday afternoon that saw three lead changes and two ties. Gonzales ended the game with 108 yards on 14 carries. The win for the visiting Grizzlies (3-4) snapped a three-game losing streak. Carrizozo coach Jesse Samora said his team's resilience was the difference. "It's been a while since we'd won a game, so I was really proud of the boys for coming...
The ninth annual Fired Up festival in downtown Tucumcari on Saturday drew a record crowd of 4,271, according to an official count kept by the organizer, Tucumcari MainStreet. That number was 6% higher than last year's previous record of 4,024, though the 2018 total was incomplete because a volunteer lost one of the clicker counters, and it never was recovered. Connie Loveland, who became executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet at midyear, said Monday she was confident the number was higher...
A Tucumcari man faces two felony charges after being accused of attacking a woman when she brought a meal to him. Lawrence Poncho Rivas Jr., 24, was charged in a complaint filed Sept. 24 in Tucumcari magistrate court of aggravated assault against a household member with a deadly weapon, felony possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), tampering with evidence, interference with communications, possession of drug paraphernalia and assault against a household member (unlawful act, threat or conduct). The counts of aggravated assault...
A fundraiser to restore the Odeon Theatre's neon lighting has an upcoming Route 66 documentary screening and a streaming channel promoting the city. "Almost Ghosts," a full-length documentary from Spain about "three men who fought to maintain their essence when the highways and interstate roads began to displace the old Mother Road," will screen at the Odeon at 7 p.m. Oct. 17. Doors open that night at 6 p.m. for "Dinner at the Odeon," where pizza-by-the-slice will be sold in addition to the thea...
MELROSE - In the first one-third of the game Friday night, Logan's defense had held Melrose, the state's top-ranked team in eight-man football, to one touchdown from scrimmage, stopped two drives in the red zone and forced a fumble. Then half of the field's lights abruptly went out, leading to a 20-minute stop in play until they flickered back on. That 20 minutes was all Melrose coach Caleb King needed to make vital adjustments to his team's offense. After that, the Buffaloes (5-0) scored on...
MELROSE - The top-ranked and unbeaten Lady Buffaloes played a nearly perfect district volleyball match Friday afternoon and No. 2 Logan didn't, leading to a rare three-game loss - 14-25, 23-25, 23-25 - for the Lady Longhorns. Melrose, which improved to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in their district, undoubtedly had their sights on Logan after losing four of five of their matches last season, including in the Class 1A state championship. "We played exceptionally well," Lady Buffaloes coach Casey Jackson...
Jon Kulas of Santa Rosa broke the course record by nearly 25 minutes during the fourth annual Wheels on Fire 100 bicycle race Saturday, averaging nearly 25 mph over the 100-mile road loop in southern Quay County and a part of Curry County. Perhaps the most impressive part was he did about one-third of the course by himself. Most elite cyclists ride behind others to cut down on wind resistance and conserve energy. For the first 65 miles of the race, he did that with a cyclist from Colorado. Then...
Alleging an act “contrary to law,” a Quay County woman filed a complaint against a local magistrate judge after she said she was denied access to a courtroom to attend a criminal case that involved a family member. A Tucumcari district judge issued an interim order days later to address the case, but the New Mexico Supreme Court was asked to review it and may intervene. Sue Moore filed the complaint Sept. 17 against Quay County Magistrate Judge Timothy J. O’Quinn after she and a relative, an alleged victim in a criminal case, “were not allowed...
The Quay County Commission during its meeting Monday approved 2019 property tax rates that will result in small tax decreases for most property owners except for some landowners in House, who will see a small increase. County assessor Janie Hoffman presented the new property-tax rates compiled by the New Mexico Finance and Administration Department. The county’s next taxable value is $231.7 million, up from $212.9 million the previous year. For nonresidential property in House, the owner of a tract valued at $100,000 would see an increase of $...
Connie Loveland has been Tucumcari MainStreet's executive director for only a few months, but that doesn't mean any hiccups should occur Saturday during the organization's ninth annual Fired Up festival in the downtown railroad depot plaza. Loveland is an old hand with Fired Up; she was one of the first committee members for the inaugural event. Mark Lake, Tucumcari MainStreet director at the time, was impressed with how she and Christy Dominguez, now manager of the Odeon Theatre, put together...
NARA VISA - The 26th annual Nara Visa Cowboy Gathering of poetry and music performances Friday through Sunday again became a reaffirmation and preservation of the western way of life. The event also serves as a preservation effort for the venue itself - the nearly century-old Nara Visa Community Center, once known as Nara Visa School, and its adjacent Works Progress Administration gymnasium. Teressa Bruhn, a board member, said the Cowboy Gathering generates about $1,000 each year for the...
The Tucumcari school board unanimously approved a motion to let superintendent Aaron McKinney “move forward with the necessary steps” to acquire city land for a proposed redevelopment of the existing baseball and softball fields. McKinney also said during the board’s meeting Sept. 16 the district likely would hold a special mail-in election in February on a $3 million bond issue for the project, instead of using the Nov. 5 election. The district missed an Aug. 27 deadline to file paperwork for the bond election to be on the November ballo...
A Tucumcari man accused of sexually assaulting a preteen girl saw the criminal charges against him dropped this month because of a lack of evidence. The charges against Fernando Samaniego, 43, officially were dismissed Sept. 5 in Tucumcari district court on the request of special prosecutor Russell Lance Miller of Santa Rosa. “We made the decision that there was not sufficient evidence to proceed primarily due to the child having recanted critical details from her first statement and the lack of any other evidence to prove guilt other than t...
SANTA ROSA - Though Santa Rosa has dominated its football games against Tucumcari in recent years, the Lions' 35-33 overtime victory Friday over the Rattlers was a throwback to when anything could happen during their rivalry. In the end, the Lions relied on running back Elijah Velasquez as their workhorse. He scored the go-ahead touchdown in overtime and ultimately game-winning two-point conversion. He totaled 262 yards in 29 carries in Santa Rosa's vaunted single-wing offense, and he added a...
With a solid 25-9, 25-17, 25-14 victory Thursday over Maxwell, the Tucumcari volleyball team tied its total number of wins from last season even before September ends. The Lady Rattlers improved to 7-5, matching the victory total of last year’s 7-16 campaign. Tucumcari logged a 4-17 record in 2017. “This is the first time we’ve had a winning record since my first year in coaching here,” Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said, noting her inaugural season with a 13-8 record in 2016. “This is huge f...