Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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With a festival name like Fired Up, a little heat is assumed. But the heat was a little too much on Saturday. Hot weather probably depressed crowd sizes at the 13th edition of the Tucumcari downtown festival, especially in the afternoon when temperatures reached 97 degrees and remained in the 90s until the early evening. According to Weatherspark.com, that was nearly 10 degrees hotter than the Tucumcari norm for mid-September. Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet that...
LOGAN - With a 25-21, 25-16, 25-20 win on Saturday, the Lady Longhorns avenged an earlier volleyball loss this season to the Lady Rattlers, but it was a somewhat hollow one. That's because Tucumcari (8-2) was without one of its top hitters, senior July Lafferty, after she suffered a sprained ankle early in the Mora match on Thursday. Lafferty still was on crutches Saturday, and THS coach Dana Benavidez estimated she will be out for one to two weeks. Tucumcari's Big Three of Lafferty, sophomore C...
The Falcons were just too much. Loving's front line largely dominated Tucumcari during a 44-3 Rattlers loss Friday in front of a Homecoming crowd of more than 1,000 at Rattler Stadium. The Rattlers (0-4) totaled barely 100 yards in offense and turned the ball over three times on interceptions. Loving defenders made 12 tackles for loss and besieged Tucumcari starting quarterback Nick Goen, who scored his team's only points on a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter. "We had a good week in...
Tucumcari Public Schools faced the prospect of having the state Public Education Department chief choose its next District 1 representative if it cannot break a deadlock between two candidates. The four board members during a special meeting last Monday split their votes between Carlos Romero and Andrea Madrid after they interviewed them and a third applicant, Carmen Maria Gonzalez. The board was scheduled to vote on the candidates again during its next regular meeting on Sept. 16 and possibly if a special meeting on Sept. 23. (The Sept. 16...
Fifty years ago this month, the uniquely designed First National Bank of Tucumcari at 302 S. First St. opened for business. The architect of the bank, now owned by Wells Fargo, wants it designated to the National Register of Historic Places. But he says Wells Fargo is resisting. Save for its "Wells Fargo" sign and other minor modifications, the bank building is little changed since it first opened to the public on Sept. 3, 1974. A Wells Fargo employee wouldn't permit photos of the interior last...
Tucumcari Public Schools faces the prospect of having the state Public Education Department chief choose its next District 1 representative if it cannot break a deadlock between two candidates. The four board members during a special meeting Monday split their votes between Carlos Romero and Andrea Madrid after they interviewed them and a third applicant, Carmen Maria Gonzalez. The board will vote on the candidates again during its next regular meeting on Sept. 16 and possibly if a special meeting is scheduled for Sept. 23. If it cannot settle...
A ceremonial groundbreaking was held Thursday for a new, full-service bank to be built in Tucumcari, though the actual construction began a little less than a week before. The Bank of Tucumcari, a division of The Bank of Clovis, will be built in the 1600 block of South First Street. Randy Harris, chairman and CEO of The Bank of Clovis, said it purchased the vacant lot from the Ronald and Gail Sanders Trust on Aug. 29 and began clearing it the next day. Officials from the bank, the city, the...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board recommended approval of a marketing contract with a company affiliated with News Channel 10 in Amarillo to help publicize Tucumcari tourism before Route 66’s centennial in 2026. The Tucumcari City Commission likely will take action on the recommendation of hiring Gray Digital Media during its regular meeting on Sept. 12. The cost would be $58,582.50 for a nine-month contract, with a $7,250 media asset production cost waived. Brent McClure, vice president and general manager of the station, with John E...
Thursday night's volleyball match was technically a non-district and regular season matchup. But its play and atmosphere resembled more of a postseason clash: West Las Vegas, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by MaxPreps.com, versus host Tucumcari, ranked No. 2 in Class 2A. In the end, the Lady Dons (5-1) made fewer mistakes late in the match and prevailed 20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15, 16-14 over the Lady Rattlers (7-1), who suffered their first loss of the season at a raucous Rattler Gymnasium. Alexis...
GRADY - Logan quarterback Aydin Kotara connected with Marshall Ortega for a 16-yard touchdown pass in overtime to secure a 32-26 victory Friday night over Grady in a key district matchup in six-man football. That pass brought redemption for Kotara, who had lost three fumbles against an intense Grady pass rush. He finished with 97 yards passing and two TDs - the other a 33-yarder to Mason Wallin in the first quarter. "He ran for his life all night," Logan coach Dwayne Roberts said of Kotara. "He...
SAN JON - Members of the San Jon Municipal Schools board appeared to lean in favor of building two new gymnasiums for the forthcoming new school instead of preserving the current ones. Board members had initially wanted to keep the Ed Lee Activities Complex, aka the Ed Lee Gymnasium, and a 1960 gym that's used for plays and the annual carnival. But during a board work session last Monday with architects, project manager Ian Harmon cautioned about the downsides of trying to renovate an old...
Tucumcari residents will recognize many places in the film "On the Run" that recently debuted exclusively on Tubi TV. A production team from MarVista Entertainment earlier this year spent three weeks in Tucumcari and Quay County shooting the crime drama, which at the time had a title of "Unprotected." "On the Run," directed by the award-winning Traci Hays, is the tale of two sisters who learn of their family's involvement in a witness-protection program and go on the run from deadly members of...
SAN JON — More than 30 people chose career technical education as the highest priority for San Jon Municipal Schools when it updates its five-year strategic plan. The school district held a community needs assessment meeting last Wednesday at the San Jon Community Center to hear input on updating the plan. David Chavez, CEO of Cooperative Educational Services, presided over the two-hour session. Chavez let attendees sound off on nearly 30 ideas to improve academics and other conditions at San Jon schools. They then were placed into groups of st...
The Tucumcari girls volleyball team on Saturday captured its second tournament trophy in as many weeks, rallying from a two-set deficit to win 14-25, 20-25, 25-9, 25-22, 15-7 over Raton in the title game of the Tucumcari Invitational. Lady Rattlers named to the all-tournament team were hitters Kyla Lopez, July Lafferty, Cambree Benavidez and libber Nevaeh Montoya. Setter Caylee Benavidez, a four-year starter at THS, was named Most Valuable Player. Tucumcari, ranked No. 2 in Class 2A by...
LOGAN - The Mustangs made it interesting for about 1 1/2 quarters, trailing only 20-19. But Logan's speed and hard-hitting defense wore down Mountainair, allowing the Longhorns to score 53 unanswered points during a 73-19 home-opening victory Friday in six-man football action. The game ended midway through the fourth quarter by the mercy rule. Haden Judd totaled 247 yards receiving and rushing with four touchdowns for the Longhorns (2-0). Mason Wallin also scored four touchdowns - two receiving...
With a projected carryover of more than $11 million in the general fund early in the current fiscal year, Tucumcari city commissioners discussed spending some of that money on beautification - specifically targeting a derelict motel on the city's east side. Commissioners also discussed adding five part-time positions to various city departments. The commission had tentatively scheduled a special meeting for 4:30 p.m. Aug. 29 to approve the fiscal-year 2025 budget that would include the...
An open-records request to the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority revealed an engineering firm’s study that stated treating Ute Lake’s water for a pipeline to the Clovis region would be much more complex and costly than anticipated. That prompted the Quay County Commission to vote unanimously Monday to instruct county manager Daniel Zamora to write a letter on its behalf to the authority’s chairman, Clovis Mayor Mike Morris, urging it to cease construction on the nearly 100-mile pipeline in the county. Village of Logan council membe...
LOGAN - After losing the first game, Tucumcari's volleyball team won the next three against Elida by a 16-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-21 score Saturday in the championship match of the Logan Lady Longhorns Volleyball Tournament. The Lady Rattlers (4-0), seeded second after a so-so performance in Thursday's pool play, knocked off the tournament's two top seeds - Elida and longtime rival Logan. It was the second time in three years Tucumcari won the Logan tournament. Logan (2-1) finished third in its...
For about a quarter Friday, new Tucumcari football coach Doug South and his Rattlers made it interesting against Thoreau during the season-opener for both teams at Rattler Stadium. But after Tucumcari rallied to tie the game 8-8, Rattler mistakes and the Hawks' bigger size led to 30 unanswered points during a 38-8 Thoreau victory. South said the mental mistakes - such as two turnovers and penalties in short-yardage situations - proved costly. "Fundamentally, we're still breaking down," he said....
Tucumcari Public Schools board member Matthew Pacheco recently resigned because he bought a house and moved out of his district. Pacheco, a District 1 representative, informed the board of his resignation during its Aug. 12 meeting. Pacheco did not sit in his usual spot on the podium. He instead sat in in the gallery and announced his resignation at a lectern early in the meeting. He said he purchased a home off Highway 209 south of Tucumcari in District 5, represented by J.D. Knapp. Pacheco sai...
This is the time that local farmers begin to harvest green chile peppers, including Genesis Gardens Homestead, which attained the coveted New Mexico Certified Chile endorsement about three years ago. But that won't happen this summer and fall at Genesis Gardens for the first time in 30 years because of a literal plague of locusts. Grasshoppers descended on the north Tucumcari farm in late June and devoured nearly all of the crops that owners Darrell and Sally Baker were tending, including...
If one of the darkened but vividly decorated rooms at Tucumcari Elementary School looks like a good place to chill, you wouldn't be wrong. The former classroom contains a trampoline, a sensory swing, a tunnel, an interactive light board, a crash pad bed and plenty of colored LED lights. Flooring even is sensory-minded. It's all part of the school's first-ever sensory room for students, said Heidi McEwen, the school's occupational therapist assistant. It is the first such room in the region. The...
A scrimmage last Thursday at No. 1-ranked Texico was a rough way for Tucumcari's football team to prepare for its home opener Friday against Thoreau. But new Rattlers coach Doug South liked what he saw once his team acclimated. "Texico's very physical," South said last Friday morning. "They beat us up pretty good, but then we made some adjustments and fared pretty well. At the end of the scrimmage, we scored a touchdown, which was good. "That was a tough way to start off, with the best team in...
LOGAN — The Longhorns football team have been placed in a new district and a new format as they begin the season Friday with a road game at Magdalena. The Logan Municipal Schools board voted in late 2023 to go from eight-man football to six-man for at least two years due to declining participation in the sport. Dwayne Roberts, in his sixth season of guiding the Longhorns, said 18 are participating in high school football this year, including a couple who didn’t play last season. “It’s an OK number,” he said during an interview Thursday. “It’s n...
After looking out of sorts during losses in the first two sets, Tucumcari's volleyball team rallied to win three straight during a 15-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-12 season-opening home victory Saturday over a stout Fort Sumner team. Sophomore outside hitter Cambree Benavidez, in her first volleyball match since reconstructive knee surgery in January, pounded down a match-high 18 kills, including six in the fifth and deciding set. The Lady Rattlers had hoped their spiking depth would prove...