Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The Tucumcari City Commission approved lodgers tax funding aid requests for events in the next fiscal year but declined to act on whether to allocate funds for the main operation of the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, citing the lack of a recommendation from the city’s lodgers tax board. Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved these promotional fund requests as recommended by the lodgers tax advisory board: — Fired Up festival, $6,900; — Chamber of commerce events, $7,500; — Wheels on Fire, $10,500; — Rattler Reunion,...
An Xcel Energy crew and a sporadically used power generator on the city’s north side on Thursday afternoon effectively ended Tucumcari’s power outage after about 19 hours. Shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday, a severe storm 17 miles north-northwest of Clovis in Curry County knocked out 20 H-shaped structures that carried a main electrical line from Clovis to Tucumcari, reported Xcel spokesman Wes Reeves. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for that area shortly before the outage. Flooding in the afflicted area hampered Xcel workers...
Mesalands Community College delayed approving its 2023-2024 fiscal year budget and latest budget-adjustment requests on request of its interim president. Allen Moss was granted a special board of trustees meeting for 5:30 p.m. May 31 to approve those items. He said there “still is a little work to be done” with Mesalands chief financial officer Blanca Pauliukevicius on next year’s budget and budget adjustments before they are approved. Moss stated in his written report about the budget: “We will have the best we can manage at his point with he...
The Tucumcari Public Schools board last week approved a resolution to pursue a $3 million bond referendum in November to pay for various district improvements. Regina Gaysina, director of the municipal finance department at RBC Capital Markets in Albuquerque, said during the board’s May 15 meeting she recommended the district call a two-mill and general-obligation bond election. Paired with the issuance later this year of a education technology note estimated at $700,000, Gaysina said that would stabilize the district’s property tax rate of...
Tucumcari Public School’s superintendent and school board members voiced support for the city police chief’s proposal to seek a federal grant that would help pay for a school resource officer. District superintendent Aaron McKinney said during the board’s May 15 meeting that Tucumcari Police Chief Patti Lopez is seeking a $125,000 grant that would cover 50% of the cost of a school officer for three years. The district’s share of the cost would be 25%, or about $62,000, during that period, with the city covering the other 25%. McKinney said the...
The Quay County Commission with little discussion approved its 2023-2024 preliminary budget that includes raises for most of the county’s 79 employees. Many of the budget’s details were recommended by county manager Daniel Zamora before Monday’s meeting, including during a work session the week before. The budget anticipates $15.7 million in expenditures and an ending cash balance of a little over $7 million. Finance director Cheryl Simpson said payroll will see a big increase, with employees receiving a raise of at least $1 an hour, plus...
Tucumcari residents may have noticed a brighter lighted "T" on the north face of Tucumcari Mountain last week after the sun went down. That's because five members of the Rotary Club Tucumcari last Tuesday replaced 34 solar-powered lights that outline the "T" on the mesa. The effort took about three hours. Robert Hockaday, who led the club's previous installation of the lights in December 2020, said last week they were due for replacement because their lithium-ion batteries wear out after about...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board at a special meeting Wednesday voted to recommend approval of all requests for financial aid as submitted from events and entities for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The recommendations will go on to the city commission, which can accept, reject or modify them. The board scheduled the special meeting to hear from city officials about the upcoming budget before making a decision on funding. Board members in general were swayed by information from city finance director Rachelle Arias, who pointed out the...
More than 330 people attended the annual Diamondback Booster Club Athletic Banquet last Monday, but two who were not present were on the minds of many. A small memorial table near the Tucumcari Convention Center stage was set for Tucumcari High School freshman athlete Jayden Gloms, who died in a vehicle accident at Five Mile Park in January. Amid flowers and candles stood a framed message that stated: "Reserved for Tucumcari High School athlete Jayden Anthony Gloms." A poem with it read: "I'm...
Tucumcari city manager Paula Chacon said repairs on the city’s closed municipal pool were continuing and didn’t dismiss the possibility it would reopen in time for its traditional Memorial Day weekend start. Chacon said during her report to the city commission Thursday a plumber still was working on issues at the pool and that Nick Griego & Sons Construction of Clovis would perform plastering work to remedy leaks there. She said she and other city officials were working with the state’s purchasing cooperative to expedite work at the pool....
Quay County’s manager suggested $1-an-hour raises for most employees and $2-an-hour pay hikes for sheriff’s deputies and road workers during a budget work session Monday for the forthcoming fiscal year. Daniel Zamora recommended the bigger raises for the county’s highway department, which has been struggling to fill positions for months, to make its pay more competitive. That would bring the pay for workers with commercial driver’s licenses to $16 an hour. The pay could be as much as $19 an hour for a mechanic’s position. Commissio...
Conchas Lake saw a mild increase in its levels during the past month, but not enough for the Arch Hurley Conservancy District’s board of directors to allocate water. District manager Franklin McCasland reported during the board’s May 9 meeting the elevation of Conchas Lake reached 4,162.7 feet that morning, nearly a foot higher than the previous month. The district typically needs the lake to reach 4,174 feet before it can release water from the lake into its canals. The lake received 3,246 acre-feet of inflow during April, with 2,224 acr...
ALBUQUERQUE - For once, it wasn't the Longhorns' day. District rival Melrose - especially starting pitcher Dathan Yeary - dashed Logan's dreams for a third straight Class 1A baseball title and an undefeated season by seizing a 10-run lead at one point during a 13-7 victory Saturday at the Jennifer Riordan Spark Kindness Sports Complex. The victory was especially sweet for the Buffaloes (12-5), the No. 3 seed in the tournament, after the top-seeded Longhorns conquered them three previous times du...
Filling a months-long vacancy for District 3 on the Tucumcari City Commission will take a while longer. Because of what he characterized as a “misunderstanding,” Mayor Ralph Moya said during a special commission meeting last Wednesday the city again would take applications for the open seat through 4 p.m. May 17 and advertise it in the Quay County Sun. After that, Moya said the commission would place filling the vacancy on its May 25 meeting agenda. Moya said even those who submitted applications for the position earlier this year must re-...
At least two Tucumcari city commissioners said during a work session last Wednesday they wanted to give at least $1-an-hour raises to employees during the next fiscal year. Commissioners held the session to discuss the fiscal-year 2024 budget. The commission scheduled another work session for 3:30 p.m. May 23, which is when city manager Paula Chacon said she would have more solid financial data after meeting with all city department heads. City finance director Rachelle Arias told commissioners the city’s coffers were looking “pretty favorable...
On the afternoon in April 21, Donnie and Lora Goode were in their rural Tucumcari trailer when they heard a loud bang. The Goodes found a large hole in the back window of their residence he knew came from a firearm projectile. They called the Quay County Sheriff's Office, and they found seven holes in their trailer caused by a shotgun discharge. "Once inside, she pointed out a line of travel of the projectile they dislodge prior to my arrival," wrote sheriff's Sgt. Rudy Vallejo in his report....
Quay County commissioners asked the county manager to draw up a possible contract for the Hull Consulting of Albuquerque and obtain quotes from two other lobbying firms for action at its next meeting on May 22. Commissioners chatted with and asked questions of the principals of Hull Consulting — Art Hull and Kim Legant — during their regular meeting Monday after Commissioner Jerri Rush requested a personal meeting with them during a previous meeting. The county’s attorney, Warren Frost of Logan, previously recommended hiring the Hull firm...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board heard four requests for funds but tabled decisions on them until they could get more solid numbers on the fiscal-year 2024 budget from the city manager. The board during its regular meeting Wednesday looked over applications for $3,873 for Rattler Reunion, $10,500 for Wheels on Fire 100 bicycle race, $4,000 for a charity golf tournament for the Mesalands Community College Foundation and $115,000 for Tucumcari Municipal Golf Course for new equipment. Addressing fiscal concerns from board Chairman Matt...
ALBUQUERQUE - Haisley Huffman became the first Tucumcari girls athlete to win multiple events at a state meet in more than 20 years. The junior used a clutch final attempt to repeat as Class 3A champion in the long jump on Friday. The next day, she broke a school record by winning the triple jump - an event she began practicing for only a few weeks ago. Tucumcari track coach and athletic director Wayne Ferguson said it had been at least two decades since a Lady Rattler had won two individual...
ALBUQUERQUE - Thanks in part to Haden Judd winning four events in record fashion, the Logan boys captured their first team title since 2016 during the Class 1A-3A Track & Field Championships on Saturday. The Longhorns finished with 93 points, well ahead of district rival and state runner-up Melrose's 74 1/2 points for the Class 1A trophy. Fort Sumner finished third with 62 points. The Logan girls finished runner-up during the state meet at the UNM Track-Soccer Complex, finishing behind only...
Former Quay County manager Richard Primrose attended his first meeting Thursday as a member of the Mesalands Community College board of trustees, then he promptly was elected chair of that body. Early in the meeting, acting chair Teresa Stephenson said the board's policies required a new election of a chair. The previous chair, Jim Streetman, resigned in March after more than 30 years on the board. Board member Tom Sidwell nominated Stephenson as chair, and Phillip Box seconded it. Board member...
The number of findings in a fiscal-year 2021 audit for financially troubled Mesalands Community College more than tripled compared to the previous year, and the findings were more serious. The report, released by the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor last week after its submission in early April, contained 17 total findings, including nine material weaknesses (the most serious type), seven significant deficiencies, one material noncompliance finding and three repeated or modified findings. The audit covers the fiscal year that ended June...
The second annual Tucumcari Film Festival likely will have a repeat competitor when the event returns next April. That would be Brandon Martinez, a student who just completed his third year in cinematic arts and technology at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. He won the Best New Mexico Student Works honor for his short film, "Foresight." Martinez explained during the awards ceremony Saturday night at the Tucumcari Railroad Museum it was the first honor he'd earned for one of...
Tucumcari's softball team finally notched its first district win of the season Wednesday largely because its pitcher's bat. Senior Juli Rivera hit a two-run homer over the left-field fence, helping fuel a nine-run rally in the fifth inning during a 21-20 victory over East Mountain. The home run was the first over-the-fence dinger for the Lady Rattlers this season, though they've hit several inside-the-park homers. Rivera, who also earned a complete-game pitching victory, also hit two doubles...
Quay County government’s attorney, alleging a conflict of interest with its current lobbyist, on Monday suggested to commissioners the county share the cost of another lobbying firm being considered by the Village of Logan. Warren Frost of Logan said the county’s lobbyist, Clinton D. Harden & Associates, has showed to have a conflict of interest with other Clovis-area clients regarding Tucumcari’s longstanding bid to land a horse-racing track and casino and Logan’s fight to stop the Ute Lake water pipeline project to the Clovis region. “It see...