Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 1433 - 1457 of 1717
The Tucumcari Public Schools board during a mostly routine meeting June 17 approved several resolutions for the upcoming school year, including applications requesting more than a half-million dollars to cover costs to teach at-risk students. The board approved a Title I application for $503,671.10 in federal funds for some teachers’ salaries and a Title II application for $54,762.99 in federal money for professional development. Assistant superintendent Dave Johnson said both funds are used to improve at-risk or poverty-stricken students. B...
If the faded big "T" on the side of Tucumcari Mountain eventually is refurbished, the key individual behind the project is a non-native who's lived in Tucumcari for slightly over a decade. The white "T" hasn't been painted in at least two years after the mesa's new owner tightened access to the property. Al Patel, owner of the Desert Inn hotel and 66 Outlaw apparel shop in Tucumcari, aims to change that by finding a low-maintenance solution that will make the letter stand out better and longer....
Voters in the San Jon school district during the Nov. 5 general election will vote on a proposed $800,000 general-obligation bond package for repairs to the district’s school buildings and other facilities. The San Jon school board unanimously passed a resolution during its meeting June 17 that would put the bond question on the November ballot. District Superintendent Janet Gladu said in a phone interview last week that members of the state’s Public School Capital Outlay Council recently toured the school grounds and graded facilities on wha...
He was looking to lead a church in Tucumcari. A church in Tucumcari was looking for a new pastor. Those two goals recently were met with one fell swoop when Wheeler Hughes became pastor of First Christian Church in Tucumcari. Hughes, a 1996 graduate of Tucumcari High School, returned to Quay County less than two years ago with his wife of 15 years, Lauren, and their four children to live in the small settlement of Hudson, halfway between Tucumcari and Logan off U.S. 54. Previously, when he wasn't ranching in Texas Hill Country, Hughes and his...
A high-speed police chase that went through the heart of Tucumcari last month would have been ordered terminated by the county sheriff if the suspects' car had turned onto a residential street. However, the chase continued on a north-south artery through town and ended when the suspects' stolen vehicle crashed upside-down onto the lawn of a north-side residence. A two-hour standoff ensued when one of the suspects in the flipped car reportedly shot at officers approaching to give aid. The two wer...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees on June 11 approved increases in tuition rates and several fees and gave a two-year contract extension to President John Groesbeck. Without dissension, trustees voted for hikes in credit-hour tuition for the 2019-2020 school year. The rate per credit hour for an in-state student rose from $58 to $60, a 3.4% increase. For out-of-state students, the rate rose from $104 to $110 per credit hour, an increase of 5.8%. Several officials at the meeting, which was moved from its regularly scheduled June...
The new executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet is someone who holds considerable familiarity with the downtown improvement program and with Tucumcari itself. Connie Loveland began her duties June 3 in the MainStreet office in the historic Tucumcari railroad depot after spending 12 years as a loan officer and community bank compliance officer at Tucumcari Federal Savings and Loan. She said she was prompted to apply for the position after spending two years as co-chairwoman of the organization's Fired Up festivals, including the first in...
The Tucumcari City Commission approved a one-year contract extension with an Albuquerque marketing firm Thursday after members of the Tucumcari Lodgers' Tax Board on Wednesday reluctantly but unanimously voted to recommend the renewal despite some dissatisfaction with the company. All four of the lodgers' tax board members — Chairman Larry Smith, Matt Bednorz, Brenda Lopez and Al Patel — indicated early in the meeting they would have voted against the contract extension for the Sunny505 firm. But city manager Britt Lusk's pleas to reconsider, t...
A Tucumcari man was arrested Wednesday on a warrant where he was accused of shooting another man four times with a BB gun and threatened to shoot a woman with it. Nicholas Matthew Aragon, 26, was booked into the county jail on a complaint of burglary, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery and larceny. The burglary count is a third-degree felony that can lead to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The aggravated-assault count is a fourth-degree felony that can lead up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. The...
A Tucumcari man was booked into the Quay County jail after he was accused of trying to attack a police officer with a rock. Simon Romero, 61, was charged Thursday in Tucumcari magistrate court with aggravated assault upon a peace officer with a deadly weapon and resisting an officer. The aggravated-assault count is a third-degree felony punishable by up to three years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. According to a complaint filed by Tucumcari police officer Daniel Lopez, officers on Wednesday were requested by medical personnel to help with...
Police officers arrested and jailed a Tucumcari man on a felony complaint after he was accused of stabbing another man in the lower back, upper shoulder and face. Adrian J. Andrade, 25, was booked on a complaint of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony that can lead up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. According to a complaint filed by Tucumcari patrolman Tyler Davis, officers were sent to the 600 block of East Tucumcari Boulevard the afternoon of June 1 to investigate a stabbing. A Quay County sheriff’s d...
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved a series of six resolutions to increase its budget on its soon-to-close 2018-2019 fiscal year. The resolutions were presented by county finance director Cheryl Simpson described the resolutions as “housekeeping” items to square its budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30. The budget increases unanimously approved by commissioners were: • A $263 increase to the Safety Net Care Pool Fund for “activity not contemplated at the time the final budget was adopted”; • A $37,000 increase to the Hospital...
LOGAN - Voters in Logan approved by a 5-to-1 margin a mail-in ballot question on whether to approve the sale of beer and wine at restaurants there. A total of 331 voters, or 84%, approved the June 4 special-election ballot question that read: "Shall the issuance of restaurant license for the sale of beer and wine be allowed within the local option district in the Village of Logan?" Only 63 voted against the measure. Turnout for Logan's first-ever mail-in election was the highest in recent...
Four athletes from Mesalands Community College are competing in this week's College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming, and their coach is confident one of them can emerge as a national champion. ESPN3 will broadcast the rodeo's performances Wednesday through Saturday. In addition to cable television, ESPN3 is available through a variety of online devices and platforms for those with a cable subscription. Levi Gray, Roy Jackson and Vinell Mariano each will be competing in bull riding and...
A Tucumcari man was sentenced in district court May 28 to five years in prison and other conditions for his role in a violent and armed home invasion in October that hospitalized an elderly man. Riley Severeid, 18, pleaded guilty in a plea deal to felony counts of aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon and distribution of marijuana. Other counts of felony larceny, conspiracy to commit larceny, felony tampering with evidence, lawful taking of a motor vehicle, false imprisonment, cr...
Just under 400 people attended the headlining acts of the third annual New Mexico Music Showcase inside the Tucumcari Convention Center, which was down about 80 from the previous year. But the festival's chairman saw enough opportunity for improvement that he's optimistic the Hispanic music fiesta will be bigger and better next year. Jerry Lopez, chairman of the showcase, said 392 tickets were sold for the Saturday night acts of Str8 Shot and Cuarenta y Cinco. The festival printed an allotment...
A crew from the British Broadcasting Corp. spent about 12 hours in Tucumcari last week filming at two Route 66 restaurants for a pair of longtime television hosts. The crew spent the evening of May 28 eating at Cornerstone First Edition Pizza and Subs and Wednesday morning at Kix on 66 filming and eating breakfast. Both restaurants are owned by Todd Duplantis, who also is a Tucumcari city commissioner. The crew's journey on Route 66 will become a six-part television series and the newest...
A Tucumcari man accused of pulling a gun on another man and firing as he drove away down a street was apprehended after being at large for a month. Quay County Crime Stoppers had offered up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Jacob Ramirez, 28, was taken into custody by a Tucumcari police officer and booked into the Quay County Detention Center the morning of May 27. Police Chief David Lathrom said the officer arrested Ramirez as he was walking down a Tucumcari street. Ramirez was charged in an April 28 complaint in...
Vastly improved weather conditions made all the difference with attendance Saturday during the 50th anniversary of the Tucumcari Historical Museum. Spitting rain and cold temperatures depressed attendance at the previous special event in mid-April. On Saturday, ample sunshine, gentle breezes and temperatures in the 80s led to bigger crowds. More than 150 people went into the museum's main building's by mid-afternoon Saturday after it didn't reach 100 during the April event. Dozens more milled...
The New Mexico Activities Association is poised to make girls wrestling an officially sanctioned sport, and Tucumcari's wrestling coach is all for it. The association's commission voted for the proposal last month, and the NMAA's board of directors is scheduled to make a final vote June 13. If approved, girls wrestling will have its first official state tournament in February. Female wrestlers previously had competed at the state tournament, but those matches were deemed as exhibitions....
For the first time, the New Mexico Music Showcase will feature a parade Saturday morning down Tucumcari’s Route 66. Benji Torres, treasurer of the Tucumcari Columbus Club that helps organize the third annual celebration of Hispanic music in New Mexico, said last week the 9 a.m. parade already has 25 entrants and is welcoming more, especially if they’re local. “We’re trying to get the community more involved,” Torres said. The parade from the old Kmart building to the Tucumcari Convention Center offers prizes of $300, $200 and $100 for first...
For a second time, the Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday tabled a possible contract extension with an Albuquerque marketing firm until it hears from the city’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board next month. City Manager Britt Lusk said the proposed one-year, $50,000 deal with the Sunny505 firm was “worthwhile,” and he attributed a $30,000 increase in lodgers tax revenue from its tourism marketing efforts for Tucumcari and Quay County. Lusk said Tucumcari likely would see more tourists in town this summer. Joanie Griffin at Sunny505 provided the c...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees approved a capital project request to extensively renovate its main building to make it more welcoming to current and prospective students. The board approved a plan during its May 21 meeting to remodel a large portion of Building A into a student-services hub using $800,000 of previously appropriated state money, plus pursue additional funds for the project’s second phase that will convert the current business office into a store. Kim Hooker and Brian Griggs, architects for Parkhill, Smith a...
More than 300 people attended the annual Tucumcari Athletic Awards Banquet put on May 20 by the Diamondback Booster Club at the Tucumcari Convention Center. The event served as a final sendoff - especially seniors who would graduate Friday - for participants in the school's varsity cheerleading, cross country, football, volleyball, wrestling, boys and girls basketball, golf, boys and girls track, baseball and softball programs. Rod Dunlap, a participant in track, football and wrestling during...
An extension of Tucumcari Public Schools superintendent Aaron McKinney’s contract was on the agenda, but school board members during their May 20 meeting instead delayed action on it. Board members held a 20-minute executive session to discuss McKinney’s evaluation and contract, including several minutes with him behind closed doors. McKinney has been the district’s superintendent for 13 years. Board President Carlos Romero announced after his colleagues emerged that there would be no action on the contact, and it would be “tabled for further d...