Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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A letter from the leader of the New Mexico Higher Education Department to the state’s attorney general and auditor detailed concerns that officials at Mesalands Community College may have broken laws and created “a higher risk for fraud, waste and abuse at the college.” The Feb. 15 letter from HED Cabinet Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez specifically names Mesalands President Gregory Busch and former board of trustees chairman Jim Streetman, who resigned from his post last week after more than three decades with the board. Busch, who took a medic...
The director of the local chamber of commerce was hired last year to organize three events, but he said he was having difficulty organizing even one because of an inability to book musical acts. Scott Crotzer, director of the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, told the city’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday he also was more motivated to improve the finances of his office than organizing events. Noting the lack of funding from the city and county in 2020 and 2021, he said the chamber’s coffers have not bounced back suf...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team didn't rely as much on 3-pointers and press defense during its first-round playoff game Friday against Cuba. This time, the fifth-seeded Lady Rattlers received a big lift from freshman center Kyla Lopez, who scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a 68-41 victory over the 12th-seeded Lady Rams at a crowded Rattler Gymnasium. "She was a game-changer, for sure, just going up there and getting rebounds," Tucumcari coach Patrick Benavidez said. In...
LOGAN - The Longhorns were losing at halftime and needed a boost from an offense stuck in low gear. It got that boost from junior guard Kaeden Stoner, who scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter to ignite eighth-seeded Logan to a 46-39 victory Saturday over ninth-seeded Legacy Academy in the first round of the Class 1A boys basketball tournament. The Longhorns (18-11) advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were scheduled to face defending state champion and top-seeded...
The acting interim president of Mesalands Community College told Quay County commissioners on Monday the financially distressed college has reduced its request of emergency state money from $3.7 million to $2 million, though he warned of “hard decisions” ahead even if it is granted. Allen Moss was appointed to as acting president in February after current president Gregg Busch left town in the wake of no-confidence votes from staff and faculty. Busch, citing complications from COVID-19 and Parkinson’s disease, took a medical leave of absen...
Though Mesalands Community College remains cash-strapped, its executive staff and new acting president during a Feb. 21 board of trustees meeting sounded a more optimistic tone than during a testy meeting the previous week. Mesalands earlier that day was authorized to receive $763,000 in state funds to reimplement its Jenzabar program and other moves so it can provide more complete financial statements, acting president Allen Moss said. Moss’ appointment as acting president the previous week was met with dismay primarily from the executive s...
About 20 people braved blustery winds Sunday afternoon to view a tree-planting in memory of a Tucumcari man slain by a pack of dogs several weeks ago. Meanwhile, the city's newest animal control officer during a city commission meeting Thursday explained how he was trying to address stray-dog problems. He also attended a dog-safety seminar Saturday at the Tucumcari Railroad Museum. On Gamble Avenue at a spot about 100 yards east of where Stanley Hartt, 64, died on South 11th Street on Feb. 1...
The Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday approved actions to fix a construction mistake at the landfill that will cost the city no additional funds. A previous change order for a new cell at the landfill due to an engineer’s error on the location of a liner had caused consternation at the commission’s previous meeting, especially from Commissioner Mike Cherry. He had insisted the engineer should cough up the money to remedy the mistake. Cherry essentially got his wish. The commission first approved a change order in the project with CBKN Dir...
A bond adviser for Tucumcari Public Schools recommended a two-mill levy renewal election in November, plus issuing an education technology note this year, to access more money for the district and ensure area property tax rates remain stable. The school board during its Feb. 20 meeting didn’t take action on the proposal. That likely would happen at a meeting in April. Regina Gaysina, director of the municipal finance department at RBC Capital Markets in Albuquerque, said she recommended the school district call a two-mill election for about $...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team left no doubt Friday which was the top team in its district. The top-seeded Lady Rattlers took an early double-digit lead and never trailed in their 59-33 home victory over second-seeded Ruidoso in the championship game of the District 3A-4 tournament. Tucumcari's triumph followed a perfect 6-0 record in district play during the regular season. The Lady Rattlers earned a No. 5 seed in the Class 3A tournament and will host 12th-seeded Cuba on Friday. (See...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees appointed Allen Moss as acting interim president last Tuesday, but not without testy opposition from executive staff who labeled the move as “retaliatory” against them and accused the board of violating its own policies. The board also approved a fiscal solvency plan of salary and program cuts for the troubled college and moved to implement them immediately. The move clears the way for the New Mexico Department of Higher Education’s plan of issuing up to $4.7 million in emergency funds for M...
Animal-complaint calls in Tucumcari nearly doubled since a fatal dog attack in the city earlier in the month. According to records kept by the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, the number of animal-problem calls handled by the Tucumcari Police Department totaled 24, plus four stray-dog calls. During the Feb. 6-12 period, a few days after the Feb. 1 attack by five dogs that killed Stanley Hartt of Tucumcari, the total number of animal-problem calls to TPD jumped to 45, with five stray-dog calls....
Arch Hurley Conservancy District’s manager seemed resigned that a minimum-wage bill in the New Mexico Legislature would be enacted, thus increasing the district’s cost at least $50,000 to $60,000 a year and leading to significant hikes in assessments for many landowners. District manager Franklin McCasland told the board of trustees last week that a Labor and Veterans Committee substitute for House Bill 25, known as the Minimum Wage & Indexing Act, would hike the hourly minimum wage from $12 to $13.50 on Jan. 1, 2024, increase it to $15.50 on...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team reeled off three victories last week, securing an undisputed regular-season district title and the No. 1 seed for this week's district tournament. Earning early round byes, the Lady Rattlers (18-6 overall, 6-0 in District 3A-4) will play for the district tourney championship at 6 p.m. Friday at Rattler Gymnasium, aka The Snake Pit. On Saturday, Tucumcari capped the regular season with a dominating 73-27 victory over Dexter in Tucumcari's rescheduled...
A dominating second half gave the Tucumcari boys basketball team a 66-45 victory Saturday over Dexter and secured the No. 2 seed for the Rattlers in this week's 3A-4 district tournament. Tucumcari, which improved to 8-15 overall, tied with New Mexico Military Institute with a 3-3 mark in district play but earned the second-seed due to head-to-head point spread. The Rattlers will play the winner of the NMMI-Dexter matchup at 6 p.m. Thursday. The winner of that game will go to top-seeded Ruidoso...
RIO RANCHO - In an illustration of how much tougher the two-day state wrestling tournament has become for Tucumcari, a defending state champion literally was the last man standing for the Rattlers on Saturday, and he didn't even earn a medal. Xzander Garcia, who won a Class 3A state championship in the 172-pound division a year ago, was eliminated in the consolation round Saturday when Adryan Triana (37-5) of Pojoaque Valley pinned him 47 seconds into the match. On Friday, Garcia won his first m...
Two Tucumcari people made their first appearances in magistrate court Friday after they were criminally charged in the death of another resident who was attacked and killed last week by a pack of dogs. Mary Olimpia Montoya, 50, and her son Kristopher Jaquaris Morris, 27, both of the 400 block of West High Street, each was charged earlier in the week with involuntary manslaughter (reckless) and a dangerous dog (death of a person). The dangerous-dog charge is a third-degree felony that can lead up to six years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine....
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees, acting without its embattled president, approved a solvency plan that imposes progressively deeper pay cuts for higher-earning employees and cuts some programs for the financially distressed college. The board during its special meeting Thursday also approved a request of $4.7 million in state emergency funding to carry Mesalands through the end of the fiscal year in June. Officials there recently learned the college had only enough money to cover one more payroll period. The action followed a...
The Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday accepted a $216,803 state grant to repair the city’s municipal swimming pool that the city manager said she hopes to reopen by summer. The city last month received a Regional Recreation Centers/Quality of Life grant to fix the pool, which has been closed since 2019. It was one of 35 such grants issued statewide totaling $45 million. City manager Paula Chacon said she would start the bidding process for the pool, which has a severe leak under it. When asked by a commissioner whether the repairs would be...
Quay County Assessor Janie Hoffman is stepping down later this year after a total of 14 years in the position. Hoffman announced during a closed executive session with Quay County commissioners on Monday that she was resigning effective June 30. “My husband and I are in the process of purchasing Western Plains Title,” Hoffman explained in a phone interview Monday. She anticipated the transaction would close by the time she resigns. “My interpretation (owning a title company) is a conflict of interest,” she added. “That’s why I’m resigning my...
Executive staff for financially troubled Mesalands Community College and representatives from its faculty and staff senates during a special board of trustees meeting Thursday issued scathing criticism of Mesalands President Gregg Busch, who wasn’t present. The faculty and staff senates also criticized the board of trustees for its alleged lack of oversight over Busch and the recent revelations of the college’s poor finances. Both bodies earlier in the week issued no-confidence votes against the board, as well as against Busch. The exe...
The Ruidoso boys basketball team overcame a double-digit deficit and foul trouble during a 50-45 district victory over Tucumcari last Tuesday at the Snake Pit. The Rattlers, needing a victory to stay alive in the regular-season district race, made too many turnovers and especially failed to convert free throws down the stretch. Tucumcari went 2-for-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter; Ruidoso went 6-for-6 - all in the last 45 seconds. The Warriors went 11-for-14 from the foul line during...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team vaulted into first place in the District 4 standings with victories last week over Ruidoso and Dexter. Last Tuesday, Tucumcari's press defense and a balanced scoring attack led to a solid 60-34 district victory over a somewhat depleted Ruidoso squad at the Snake Pit. The Lady Rattlers' press forced a bunch of turnovers and held the Lady Warriors to just one field goal in the first quarter. That helped give Tucumcari a 16-2 lead, one they wouldn't relinquish....
A pack of roaming dogs attacked and killed a Tucumcari man as he was walking near Mesalands Community College on Wednesday night, state police said. Five mixed-breed dogs attacked Stanley Hartt, 64, as he was walking down 11th Street near Gamble Avenue, according to a news release from New Mexico State Police, which is investigating. Hartt died at the scene of his injuries and was pronounced dead by the Office of Medical Examiner. NMSP will give its final report to the district attorney's...
Executive staff of Mesalands Community College on Sunday unanimously passed a vote of no confidence against President Gregg Busch, according to a news release from the college, amid reports of overspending and alleged threats of firing employees if details of the college being placed under state fiscal oversight were revealed. Josh McVey, Mesalands' chief communications officer, issued a news release Monday morning about the no-confidence vote, along with a copy of a Jan. 18 letter from the New...