Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 1533 - 1557 of 1729
Quay County will receive more than $1.6 million worth of capital-outlay projects from the New Mexico Legislature, barring any line-item vetoes from the governor. State Rep. Randy Crowder (R-Clovis) provided Clovis Media, which owns the Quay County Sun, a list of capital-outlay requests for Quay, Curry and Roosevelt counties approved by the Legislature. For Quay County, the projects approved were: • Tucumcari Senior Center renovation, $60,565; • Tucumcari water storage tank improvements, $226,000; • 10th judicial district attorney child safe...
A Tucumcari man was jailed after being accused of breaking into a garage, assaulting a family member and possessing marijuana during an incident March 11. Joshua Neal, 29, was accused in complaints filed March 12 in Quay County magistrate court of breaking and entering, assault against a household member, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. Breaking and entering is a fourth-degree felony that can lead to 18 months in prison or a $5,000 fine. The other counts were misdemeanors. Tucumcari Police Cpl. Abel Cullum wrote...
Tucumcari track and field coach Wayne Ferguson will get his first good look at his boys and girls teams in competition Saturday during the season-opening Rattler Relays. The Rattler Relays, which begin at 9 a.m. at Rattler Field, also will include competitors from Logan and San Jon. Ferguson said he was optimistic his boys team, which finished third in the state last year, would make another strong showing in Class 3A. "I return a pretty good crew," he said. "I have a pretty good group of...
The sixth-seeded Tularosa girls basketball dashed Tucumcari’s dreams of a state-final berth by stunning the third-seeded Lady Rattlers 38-35 in the Class 3A quarterfinals March 12 at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. Tularosa, improving to 19-9, had lost its previous three games against Tucumcari by an average of 31 points. Shacie Marr led the Wildcats with 13 points, and Clara Lechuga added 11. Aaliyah Brown’s 11 points and eight rebounds led Tucumcari, which finished its season 22-5. Jasmine Jones added nine points. The Wildcats cam...
A Logan resident commended the Quay County Commission for “taking a stand” and passing its “Second Amendment sanctuary county” resolution last month. During the public-comment portion of Monday’s meeting, Kent Terry thanked the commission for unanimously passing the resolution after Sheriff Russell Shafer urged the measure during its Feb. 11 meeting. Terry said the commission’s action has prompted him to pay more attention and be more involved. “Things are happening we don’t like ... so we’ll probably be here more often,” Terry said during h...
A company hired by the city of Tucumcari to boost tourism is “turning heads” around the state with its video and soon will launch advertisements that potentially could reach millions of people, the city’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board learned during its regular meeting Wednesday. Joanie Griffin, CEO of Sunny505 (formerly Griffin and Associates) of Albuquerque, said during a conference call with board members the state tourism department “loves” the video the marketing company produced for the city’s main tourism site at visittucumc...
About a half-dozen Quay County residents gathered Wednesday night in a classroom at Mesalands Community College to learn how to become SKYWARN weather spotters for the National Weather Service. A weather spotter isn't the same as the adrenalin-junkie storm chasers risking life and limb to capture video of tornadoes. "We don't advocate that," said meteorologist Jennifer Shoemake, who ran the class as part of the college's Community Education program. Shoemake is based out of the NWS' Albuquerque...
A Tucumcari man landed in jail for several days on a felony arson charge after being accused of setting a fire that damaged a vacant home. James J. Lucero, 26, was detained March 2 on a complaint of negligent arson, a fourth-degree felony that can lead up to 18 months in prison or up to a $5,000 fine. Negligent arson is described as recklessly starting a fire or causing an explosion that damaged or destroyed a building. In a complaint filed March 4 in magistrate court, Tucumcari police officer Shaun Slate wrote he was sent to investigate a...
Three people were arrested last week on felony charges after being accused in connection with at least one burglary in Logan. The people detained were: • Bernadine Gutierrez, 56, of Logan, on one count of residential burglary; • Stanley Ralph Brown, 56, of Logan, on one count of residential burglary; • Lawrence W. Barranca, 55, of Tucumcari, on one count of receiving stolen property (over $500 but not more than $2,500) and one count of tampering with evidence. All of the complaints were filed Wednesday in Quay County Magistrate Court in Tucum...
The Tucumcari school board approved several budget adjustments during a special meeting March 4, including one that allowed the district to hire a team of counselors for its students. Assistant superintendent David Johnson said the district had been approved for a Title IV grant the previous week. As a result, the board during its special meeting approved an adjustment that will allow the district to spend $27,146.72 of that money to hire Mesa Counseling of Tucumcari. Johnson said Mesa’s counselors will come to Tucumcari schools one or two days...
LOGAN - The Logan boys basketball team roared to leads of 15-2 in the first quarter and 42-17 at halftime during a 79-45 victory Saturday over Cimarron in the first round of the Class 1A tournament. The fourth-seeded Longhorns (21-7) advanced to face fifth-seeded Melrose (22-7) at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Bernalillo High School. The district rivals went 2-2 against each other this season, with Melrose winning the last matchup 74-65 on Feb. 28. The winner of that game plays...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team scored the game's first 28 points against overmatched Cuba during a 66-28 victory Friday to advance to the Class 3A quarterfinals. The third-seeded Lady Rattlers, who improved to 22-4 with their 15th straight win, were scheduled to play sixth-seed Tularosa (18-9) for a fourth time Tuesday morning. (A final score wasn't available before deadline). Tularosa defeated Sandia Prep 47-36 in its first-round game. The winner of the Tucumcari-Tularosa game plays the...
The first day of baseball season often reveals problem or two a team needs to remedy. In Tucumcari's case, that list of problems proved to be lengthy. Errors, balks, walks and blunders on the bathpaths proved fatal for the Rattlers in 12-1 and 21-2 losses during their season-opening home doubleheader Saturday against a fundamentally sound West Las Vegas team. Tucumcari didn't look like the same team that had advanced to state quarterfinals last season. "We've got a lot to work on," Tucumcari coa...
The Tucumcari softball team has a new coach, but much of the same team from last season. C.J. Oglesby, the Lady Rattlers' assistant coach for four years, takes over the reins this season after head coach Donald Garcia stepped down following last year's 10-8 campaign. Oglesby said he was confident he can do the job. "I've played softball all of my life, and I've coached all-stars in baseball," he said. "The experience, I've got all that down. It just getting the kids to buy into it." The Lady...
Mesalands Community College's 21st annual Iron Pour, which begins Sunday, still is enjoying a boost from an article in New Mexico Magazine more than a year ago. Last year was the 20th anniversary of the molten-iron art festival, so organizers already were expecting more visiting artists to see one of the event's founders, Mesalands art professor D'Jean Jawrunner. But the feature story in the magazine's March 2018 issue also boosted participation from the low 20s to more than 40 in one year....
K-Bob's Steakhouse, a fixture restaurant along First Street and Interstate 40 for years in Tucumcari, abruptly closed Feb. 26, leading to the loss of about 20 jobs. Evangeline Baca, a cook at the restaurant at 200 E. Estrella Ave. for the last 13 months, said there was no inkling of the closure until that morning. "I came to work yesterday at 9 o'clock," she said Wednesday. "They had a meeting, saying they would shut us down. It wasn't paying off to keep it open." Baca said the Houston-based com...
The Kix on 66 restaurant in Tucumcari has a new owner, and he's a local who's no stranger to the dining business. Todd Duplantis, who also owns Cornerstone First Edition Pizza & Subs down the street, closed on the deal Thursday afternoon for Kix on 66 at 1102 E. Route 66 Blvd. from longtime owners Yvonne Braziel and Yvette Peacock. Don't expect big changes at Kix, which serves only breakfast and lunch, with its new owner. "It's my favorite restaurant to eat breakfast," Duplantis said. "I have...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to turn a close game into a 78-34 blowout of Tularosa at the Snake Pit as the Lady Rattlers captured the Class 3A, District 4 tournament title Friday. Tucumcari, winners of 14 straight to improve to 21-4 overall, captured the No. 3 seed for the Class 3A state tournament and faces Cuba (12-11) in the first round at 6 p.m. Friday at the Snake Pit. The winner of that game will play the winner of the...
Hampered by 23 turnovers, the Tucumcari boys basketball team's season came to an end Thursday with a 47-43 loss at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell in the semifinal of the Class 3A, District 4 tournament. Tucumcari coach John Span said fatigue was a factor in the loss. "I think the three games in four days hurt us," he said. "It caught us. You could see we were tired from the turnovers." Starter Robbie Hartmann also didn't make the trip to NMMI because of the flu, costing the Rattlers...
If the Tucumcari's high-school baseball team struggles this year, it won't be because of a lack of players. In coach Dwayne Roberts' third year, he's seen the number of players on his Rattlers squad jump from the low 20s to nearly 50 this year. A berth to the Class 3A state quarterfinals last season apparently boosts interest. In Roberts' first year, the Rattlers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Last year, with just one senior on a 9-11 club, they made it to the second round b...
A Tucumcari man acknowledged his accessory role in a shooting at a west-side motel but was sentenced to probation and other conditions Wednesday because of his cooperation with police to secure another conviction in the case. Joseph Quintana, 31, pleaded guilty weeks ago to attempted aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Other counts of aggravated burglary with deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon were dismissed in exchange for him being willing to testify against...
The Quay County Commission’s approval during its last meeting of a nonbinding resolution declaring itself a “Second Amendment sanctuary county” apparently was not met with universal approval from constituents. Daniel Garcia, a rural Tucumcari resident, told commissioners during the public-comment portion of Monday’s meeting “I strongly oppose this” resolution. Such sanctuary-county resolutions similar to Quay County’s have been approved in at least 19 counties in the wake of the New Mexico Legislature considering several gun-control b...
The Tucumcari school board on Feb. 18 unanimously approved a five-year facilities master plan that will enable the district to more easily receive future state funding for improvements. Schools Superintendent Aaron McKinney told the board the state likely will match 69 percent the cost of $20.3 million in improvement projects listed in the plan. Officials don’t necessarily foresee the entire “wish list” being fulfilled, hence it being ranked by priority. The board previously went over the plan in more detail during its November meeting. Among...
A contractor still needed to apply paint to the walls, switch plates needed to be added, trenches for water lines needed to be filled and piles of pea gravel needed to be spread in the parking area. But the sound of barking dogs indicated Paws and Claws Animal Rescue of Quay County had moved to its new location on Airport Road by a Feb. 15 deadline. Kathi McClelland, chairwoman of the nonprofit shelter, said Thursday "it was a crazy weekend" for her and about 15 volunteers to move all the...
A Tucumcari man stands accused of dealing methamphetamine after several law-enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at his home. Danny Benavidez, 55, was detained at the Quay County Detention Center on Wednesday on complaints of trafficking controlled substances (by distribution of sale of narcotic drug, first offense), trafficking methamphetamine (by possession with intent to distribute, first offense) and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. The two trafficking complaints are second-degree felonies that can lead up to nine...