Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The Quay County Commission on Monday approved a so-called Hospital Story Map website that aims to inform the public and stop “misinformation” about the county’s bid to build a new hospital in Tucumcari. Dana Leonard, the county’s mapping technician, and county manager Daniel Zamora developed a draft of the story map. Zamora said the website would contain a summary of a feasibility study for a new hospital to replace the nearly 60-year-old Trigg Memorial Hospital, the justifications for a new facility and frequently answered questions about it....
A former chair of the Republican Party of Quay County took a non-U.S. citizen to try to register to vote during the last week of early voting of the just-completed general election. Quay County Clerk Ellen White said the attempt to register the non-citizen was unsuccessful. Ann Hall said during a phone interview Monday morning she took a Mexican immigrant to the county courthouse to register. “He’s doing stucco at my house,” Hall said. “He has got his visa, his Social Security number, his driver’s license, even his tax ID number for work … he...
Republican candidate Brian Fortner breezed to an easy victory over Democratic challenger Tommy Wallace for the Quay County District 3 commission seat during Election Day on Tuesday. Fortner, 63, a retired schoolteacher, broadcaster and rancher from rural Tucumcari, won by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. In unofficial totals, he gained 1,982 votes compared to 997 for Wallace, 62, a third-generation rancher near Grady. Fortner prevailed in every precinct in the county. Wallace stood nearby Tuesday night...
RIO RANCHO - Logan's volleyball team surged to a double-digit lead in the first set of its match Friday against Legacy Academy and seemed poised for a victory and a semifinal berth in the Class 1A tournament. Then the roof fell in. The Lady Longhorns blew that lead, then another sizable one in the third set, during a 25-27, 13-25, 25-27 loss at Rio Rancho High School, knocking them out of the tournament. Sixth-seeded Logan finished 18-9 overall. Albuquerque-based Legacy, a fourth seed, fell in...
RIO RANCHO - One of the most successful seasons in Lady Rattler volleyball history ended Thursday with successive losses to Bosque and Santa Fe Indian in the first day of the Class 3A tournament. In the nightcap match of the double-elimination tourney at the Rio Rancho Events Center, the fourth-seeded SFIS Lady Braves used their front line to pound their way past 11th-seed Tucumcari in a 25-13, 26-24, 25-23 victory. Santa Fe Indian totaled 41 kills to Tucumcari's 21, with three Lady Braves...
Conchas Lake experienced a minimal rise in water levels in the past month, reported the manager of the Arch Hurley Conservancy District. Manager Franklin McCasland informed the district’s board of directors during its Nov. 8 meeting the lake received 2,057 acre-feet of inflow in October, with 1,355 acre-feet in evaporation and other losses. The morning of the meeting, Conchas Lake’s water elevation stood at 4,163.3 feet, which was 0.1 feet higher than the previous month. A year ago, the elevation was 4,162.3 feet. The district recently com...
The City of Tucumcari’s 10-months-late audit for the 2021 fiscal year was publicly released by the state last week, and the city manager “guaranteed” during a city commission work session Thursday the FY2022 audit would be submitted to the state by the usual Dec. 15 deadline. The work session went over details of the forthcoming FY2022 audit via videoconference with officials from Axiom CPAs and Business Advisors of Albuquerque. The auditors said they would perform fieldwork at City Hall for about a week starting Nov. 14, then hold an exit...
An estimated crowd of more than 1,000 people descended into Tucumcari High School's gymnasium to listen to a speech Wednesday by Thomas H. Begay, one of the last three surviving Navajo Code Talkers from World War II. Busloads of schoolchildren arrived from as far away as Bushland, Texas, and Des Moines to witness what an attending congresswoman described as "living history." In a rare occurrence, school officials unfolded all the gym's bleachers to accommodate the throng. THS principal Nicole Br...
The Tucumcari High School volleyball team celebrated more than normal after its 25-22, 25-14, 21-25, 25-11 district victory last week over New Mexico Military Institute. It wasn't entirely because the Lady Rattlers had avenged an earlier loss to the Lady Colts on Oct. 20, though that played a part. It wasn't entirely because the win came during Tucumcari's final regular-season home match and Senior Night, though that played a part, too. The main reason for the rejoicing was the victory gave the...
Tucumcari High School's STEM team is one of 10 in the United States that landed a prestigious $7,500 grant and other support from the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam program to build a problem-solving, technological invention. The team's mentor, THS faculty member Tommy Evans, said he and its members knew about the grant about a month ago, but it wasn't officially announced until last week. Evans said he was informed by email of his team's selection. "I almost had tears in my eyes when were were...
The Odeon Theatre in Tucumcari last week hosted what is believed to be its first-ever movie premiere - the life-after-death drama "Next Exit," which was shot partly in Tucumcari. The film's director, co-star and producer attended other showings at moviehouses last week in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Phoenix, but Tucumcari was the first stop. Odeon Theatre general manager Christy Dominguez said it was the first time to her knowledge the circa-1935 venue ever has held a premiere, despite the city be...
A young and inexperienced Tucumcari High School football team failed to earn a win this season, but the second half of a 54-16 home loss Friday to district foe New Mexico Military Institute may have provided a glimpse of brighter days ahead. After a disastrous second quarter where the Colts (5-5) scored five touchdowns on assorted Rattler turnovers or mistakes, Tucumcari (0-10) regrouped in the second half with its offense scoring two rushing touchdowns and its defense intercepting two passes...
In a compromise, the Tucumcari City Commission on Monday approved giving $400,000 in executive lodgers tax funds to Tucumcari Public Schools to help pay for lighting at its ballparks redevelopment project. A few commissioners talked about giving $433,082 to cover the full estimated expense for lighting at the rebuilt high-school baseball and softball fields, which school officials hope will be ready for play this coming spring. However, city manager Paula Chacon told commissioners that work remains for the Tucumcari Convention Center,...
The New Mexico Racing Commission, citing the declining health of the state’s horse-racing industry, on Thursday unanimously denied a license application from Coronado Partners to build a racetrack and casino on Tucumcari’s east side. The attorney and one of the principals for Coronado Partners said he would appeal the decision to the same district judge who ordered the commission to make a decision on the application. The commissioners’ 4-0 action followed a closed executive session of about an hour to discuss the application for the sixth and...
The Tucumcari Public Schools board last week approved the first reading of a new district policy that would bar elementary-school and middle-school students from athletic or fine-arts events without the accompaniment of a parent or guardian. The board also made a minor change to the district’s bullying and harassment policy it hopes will address serial bullies. Both actions during the board’s Sept. 17 meeting came out of a previous week’s work session to discuss those issues. Assistant superintendent Dave Johnson said he borrowed the “Attendanc...
A Tucumcari senior made one heck of a varsity debut during the Lady Rattlers' 25-15, 25-7, 25-12 district victory at home last week against Dexter. Sierra Valverde came off the bench during the second set with Tucumcari nursing a 6-4 lead. She then served 18 straight times, with seven aces and no service errors, against a flustered Lady Demons squad. By the time she was lifted for a substitute with her team leading 23-5, she received a big ovation from the crowd in the Snake Pit. Valverde also...
Tucumcari City Commissioner Christopher Arias asked for an amendment to city ordinances to address drag racing on streets. Arias said Thursday during the commission’s regular meeting that drivers are racing on First, Main, Seventh and other streets. He said he observed a motorist go around a corner at high speed “at no regard to life.” He expressed concern that children, pedestrians or law-abiding motorists might be hit. “I think it’s time to focus on quality of life of our residents,” he said while asking for a future work session to discuss...
During a Tucumcari Public Schools board work session last week about student bullying, the superintendent said he would consider adding agenda items about serial offenders and hiking ticket prices for middle-schoolers at the board’s next meeting. Superintendent Aaron McKinney said he would meet with principals and consult with attorneys on possible action items for the board’s regular meeting on Oct. 17. (That meeting was after after the Quay County Sun’s deadline; a report will be in the next edition.) About 15 people, including a few stude...
FORREST - Forrest Community Church held its 100th birthday celebration on Sunday, but the event also served as a homecoming for many former members and residents. The little white church in the sparsely populated village on southern Quay County's caprock typically draws 12 to 18 people for services. But this Sunday, more than 80 people showed up, with more arriving when services began. That forced members to place folding chairs in the back of the Baptist-affiliated church, and more took seats i...
Despite recent rains, Conchas Lake saw only a meager rise in its water levels, according to the manager of the Arch Hurley Conservancy District during the board of directors meeting last week. Arch Hurley manager Franklin McCasland said during his Oct. 11 report the lake’s elevation stood at 4,163.2 feet that morning. That was a rise of one-tenth of one foot from the previous month. McCasland reported the lake received 2,986 acre-feet of inflow in September, with 2,387 acre-feet of evaporation and other losses. Board President Robert Lopez e...
Hope Christian's balanced offense totaled almost 400 yards during a 44-0 district victory Friday over host Tucumcari, but the last few minutes may have provided a sliver of hope to the Rattlers' coaching staff and its struggling young players. After the Rattlers recovered a fumble inside their 20-yard line with about three minutes left, Tucumcari freshman quarterback Nicholas Romero completed consecutive passes of 30 and 34 yards to Daymion Urioste and Luis Archuleta. Those catches gave...
Tucumcari city commissioners and officials signaled a willingness to use lodgers tax executive funds to help pay for lighting at Tucumcari Public Schools’ ballpark redevelopment project. How much money might be awarded remains unknown — at least until the next commission meeting on Oct. 24. The commission during a work session Thursday discussed a possible donation of lodgers tax money for new lights at the soon-to-be-constructed baseball and softball diamonds. The idea first was proposed by city manager Paula Chacon during a Lodgers Tax Adv...
The return of a starting setter from an injury appears to have turned a struggling Ruidoso team into a sudden district contender during a 25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23 victory over host Tucumcari on Saturday during both teams' district volleyball openers. The Lady Warriors sported a 2-10 overall record coming into the match. However, they received a big lift with the recent return of senior setter Savannah Mendez from a fractured foot. "If you have a good setter who can feed your hitters, you'll...
The Quay County Commission on Monday voted to vacate a section of land in the border town of Glenrio so a developer could build a recreational marijuana dispensary and other projects there. Gabrielle Tuschak, managing partner of Amarillo-based Glenrio Properties, requested during a videoconference that the county vacate land on the village’s First Street and an alley because her company was struggling to obtain permits for infrastructure work. Tuschak said her company wants to set up a dispensary. It would be just feet from the Texas border w...
The empty Kmart building in Tucumcari soon will be empty no more. Principals from the Fast TV Network announced at a news conference last week it will move from Albuquerque into the vacant Kmart and convert it into a television and movie production facility, plus a New Mexico Route 66 Association museum and welcome center. In all, the $8 million project eventually will create between 30 and 70 jobs after its soft opening on July 1, 2023, said Mike Lee, Fast TV's president and CEO, during the...