Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The newest member of the Tucumcari Public Schools board was sworn into office a few minutes earlier than anticipated before its regular meeting on Oct. 21. Because two members were absent, the board would have lacked a quorum to do business. The swearing-in ceremony for new District 1 board member Carlos Romero had been scheduled as the third item on the board's agenda. But because of the lack of a quorum, Quay County Clerk Ellen White administered the oath of office to Romero a few minutes...
Tucumcari now has a visual plan for its proposed Hometown Heroes Park, and all it needs is about another $13,000 to begin construction on it. Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, and Anthony Kent, who proposed the Hometown Heroes Park more than two years ago, in early October received renderings of the proposed park from Anthropopulus Design & Planning of Albuquerque. Anthropopulus formerly is Groundwork Studio, which facilitated the city's wayfinding plan. The...
Quay County’s road superintendent told county commissioners Monday that repairs on a flood-damaged, eight-mile stretch of Quay Road M may begin as soon as early November. Road superintendent Stephen Salas said $750,000 in state disaster funds earmarked for the May 2023 flash floods recently were approved. Salas said the forthcoming work by Pacheco Construction of Tucumcari would use up most of that money. Quay Road M runs from north of Bard to the caprock in the southern part of the county. Salas said he would request another $750,000 in s...
LOGAN - The Longhorns completed an undefeated regular season, won a district title and nabbed the No. 1 seed in the six-man football playoffs with a 54-0 victory Friday over New Mexico School for the Deaf. The game ended in the third quarter due to the mercy rule. While pleased with the district crown and the top seed in the postseason, Logan coach Dwayne Roberts wasn't about to rest on his team's accomplishments. "It's been a great season, but we're still not where we want to be," he said....
Tucumcari's volleyball team dispatched of a depleted Estancia squad on Thursday by a score of 27-25, 25-14, 25-16, all but eliminating the Lady Bears from district contention. The Lady Rattlers dominated the Lady Bears 34-21 in kills during their annual Think Pink game where the players wore specially made black-and-pink jerseys. Sophomore Cambree Benavidez, celebrating her 16th birthday that day, led THS with 12 kills. July Lafferty, apparently recovered from an ankle injury in mid-September,...
In a wide-ranging discussion with Tucumcari city commissioners, the code enforcement officer and police chief acknowledged the nuisance ordinance needs changes to eliminate confusion and get tougher against scofflaws. Code enforcement officer Maria Carmen Gonzalez and Police Chief Patti Lopez sat with commissioners during a work session Thursday to discuss nuisance issues. Gonzalez said some owners and landlords don’t take responsibility for neglected properties. “I have to write that citation before they clean that place,” she said. Lopez...
SAN JON — Members of the San Jon Municipal Schools board learned last week it would be nearly $7 million cheaper to build two new high-school gymnasiums than renovate its current facilities. The board and administrators discussed by videoconference their gymnasium options during a work session Oct. 14 with two members of Formative Architecture, which is tasked to design a new school for the district. Weeks ago in discussions with architects, board members were inclined to preserve the existing Ed Lee Activities Complex and a 1960 gym on c...
Tucumcari's volleyball team vaulted into sole possession of first place in its district with victories last week over Clayton and Raton. The Lady Rattlers breezed to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-13 home victory Saturday over an overmatched Yellowjackets squad, which has only one victory this season. Tucumcari's win improved it to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in district play, with a one-match lead over runner-up Santa Rosa at 3-1. Raton and Estancia each were 2-2 in district play. The Lady Rattlers are ranked...
Tucumcari's air attack might have enabled it to keep up in a shootout Friday with district foe Santa Rosa, but center-snap problems short-circuited that possibility during a 55-7 loss. Bad snaps in the shotgun formation repeatedly lost yardage or threw off the rhythm of quarterback Nick Goen. One snap that sailed over his head led to a Santa Rosa defensive touchdown as the Lions staked a 28-0 lead during the Rattlers' last home game of the season. Goen went 14-for-28 passing for 125 yards and...
In the wake of a 14% increase in enrollment this fall, Mesalands Community College’s vice president of student affairs presented an updated five-year enrollment management plan that seeks to avoid an “enrollment cliff” many colleges and universities are forecast to encounter. Many higher-learning institutions are bracing for when the number of high-school graduates is expected to peak in 2025 or 2026, then decline for many of the following years. The U.S. saw a falloff in its birthrates after the 2008 recession. Josh McVey told the college’s bo...
Tucumcari's volleyball team won its district opener Thursday against Santa Rosa in part because of the return of a starter from an injury and the emergence of another starter as a hitter. Sophomore Serenity Savala registered eight kills as the Lady Rattlers (10-4) commanded a 34-16 advantage in that over the Lady Lions (3-11) during a 25-22, 25-21, 25-15 victory at a raucous Rattler Gymnasium. Savala had been used primarily as a blocker this season. During the team's nearly two-week break, THS...
Members of the Princess Theatre Task Force on Thursday received a glimpse of several possible facade improvements as part of an incremental plan to bring the long-closed Tucumcari venue back to life. Artist renderings of the reimagined facade were well-received by task force members. But news that morning of a break-in and damage at the theater cast a pall over the meeting, as did some pointed back-and-forth talk over a lack of communication about the draft of the plan. The city, which has...
A judge sentenced a Tucumcari man to life in prison after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the May 2022 shooting of another local man after an argument at a high-school graduation party. Judge Drew Tatum, labeling the killing of Michael Arellano, 46, as "inhumane" and "tragic," delivered the sentence Thursday to Tyje Garrett, 44, after a jury of seven women and five men took just over two hours to come to a verdict in the Quay County Courthouse after a four-day trial. "I'm tired...
The Bears kept scoring points. The Rattlers kept coming back. Tucumcari quarterback Nick Goen scored the game-tying touchdown on a 14-yard run with 1:02 left, then kicked the go-ahead extra point to power the Rattlers to a thrilling 48-47 comeback victory over winless district foe Estancia on Friday at Rattler Stadium. In a career day, Goen went 17-for-35 passing for 352 yards and six touchdowns and one interception. In addition to his rushing TD, he recovered two of his own onside kicks that...
The Tucumcari City Commission last Tuesday chose Clayton Thorne as its newest District 4 representative from three who applied, including a former commissioner. Before the vote, Mayor Mike Cherry said the three were "really good candidates." The others were former District 4 commissioner Christopher Arias and Krishana Sandoval, a manager at Rocky Mountain Cannabis. After a lengthy silence when Cherry called for a motion for a District 4 representative, Commissioner CJ Oglesby nominated Thorne....
A nearly two-week break for the Tucumcari volleyball team couldn't come fast enough after a 25-10, 25-15, 25-14 home loss Friday to No. 2-ranked Legacy Academy. After a 7-1 start, the Lady Rattlers have struggled to a 2-3 record after one of its best hitters and fielders, senior July Lafferty, suffered a sprained ankle during the Mora match. THS coach Dana Benavidez said a back-row player - she didn't say who - also was absent from Friday's match and her top hitter from last season, sophomore...
NARA VISA - A severe storm last Tuesday struck this northern Quay County village, knocking down trees and causing widespread property damage, including to its historic community center. No injuries were reported. The storm the afternoon of Sept. 17 ripped away about one-third of the roof from the Nara Visa Community Center - formerly the Nara Visa School built in 1921 and designated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Though the school closed in 1968, the building continues to...
The former Republican candidate for Quay County treasurer and former deputy treasurer was charged Friday with two felonies and jailed after being accused of altering county records so a property she owned wouldn't be placed in a state delinquent-tax list. A no-bond arrest warrant was issued shortly after noon Friday for Albenita Rene Rael, 50, of Tucumcari after she was charged with tampering with public records and fraud, both felonies. She was booked into the Quay County Detention Center...
The Tucumcari Public Schools board deadlocked again last Monday in selecting a representative for its vacant District 1 seat, sending the decision to the state’s Public Education Department chief. Board President Heather Gonzales and fellow board member JD Knapp voted for Carlos Romero, a former board president until declined to run for re-election in 2019. Board members Jerry Lopez and Robert Lucero favored Andrea Madrid. That was the same result as during the board’s special meeting on Sept. 9 after members interviewed applicants Romero, Mad...
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved an ordinance and two resolutions regarding the regulation of wireless telecommunications facilities. The measures were facilitated in recent months by Wireless Tower Solutions, which has an office in Albuquerque. One resolution set fees for wireless facilities, which will be split between Wireless Tower Solutions and the county. Fees would range from $1,500 for updates to cellular towers to $17,500 for a new tower. Fees for small wireless facilities would range from $100 to $750 for each site. Anoth...
CLOVIS - Quay County attorney Warren Frost asked to speak to Clovis city commissioners on Thursday, reporting he had "new and alarming information" about the Ute Water Pipeline. Permission denied. "You don't have new and alarming information to this commission; this commission is informed. I don't see you as qualified to lecture us," Clovis Mayor Mike Morris told Frost. Frost and others opposed to building the 100-mile pipeline have stated in recent weeks that costs for a necessary water...
One decision change late in the first half of Tucumcari's game against Cuba proved critical in the Rattlers' 29-14 victory on Friday. THS coach Doug South thought he would let his quarterback take a knee with one second left in the half and go into the locker room at Rattler Stadium with a 14-14 tie. "My coaching staff talked me out of it," South said after the game. "'What does it hurt if we just throw it up and the clock runs out?' And it worked." Quarterback Nick Goen found Luis Archuleta...
One of the vice presidents for Mesalands Community College reported a substantial increase in student enrollment compared to a year ago. Josh McVey, vice president of student affairs, reported to the board of trustees last Tuesday that total enrollment was 553 as of Sept. 11. He said that was a 14% increase compared to the same time in the fall semester of 2023. “There are more enrollments coming in,” McVey added in his written report to the board. “That’s great,” board of trustees Chairman Richard Primrose said, noting the state’s Higher Educa...
Tucumcari city commissioners during a work session Thursday discussed with Monarch Properties officials how to improve security at the troubled Quay Apartments, including possibly letting a city police officer live there for free. Tucumcari Police Chief Patti Lopez said she didn't have data on the number of police calls at Quay Apartments but confirmed it was a problem area for crime. "We go there a lot," she said. 'It's bad right now over there." Commissioner CJ Oglesby said the Quay...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees approved a total of $1.88 million in funding requests to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for the college’s rodeo, wind, nursing and commercial driver’s license programs. The board heard details on the Research and Public Service Project funding application during a special meeting on Sept. 10. The college faced a Sept. 15 deadline to submit the application. The funding request for fiscal-year 2026 includes $212,900 in rodeo program recurring funds, $116,200 in wind-energy program rec...