Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 883 - 907 of 1717
Two lawmakers who represent Quay County told about their few successes and numerous failures and frustrations from the recently completed New Mexico Legislature session. State Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero) of the 67th District and state Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) of District 7 spoke during a legislative forum Thursday, sponsored by the Tucumcari Economic Development Corp., at the Tucumcari Convention Center's Liberty Room. About 20 people attended the event, many of them city or Quay...
Facing a persistent drought, the Arch Hurley Conservancy District’s board of directors on April 13 voted to not allocate any irrigation water to area farmers for the time being. It was the first time since 2017 the district had not allocated water for the beginning of the growing season. District manager Franklin McCasland reported Conchas Lake’s water level had dropped to 4,159 feet, which is more than 15 feet lower than a year ago. The district cannot discharge any water by gravity feed when it is lower than 4,162 feet, though it is pos...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board during a special meeting Wednesday recommended allocating $25,000 to pay for magazine advertisements and a visitors guide for the city. The board also recommended spending $15,000 in executive funds to help Santa Fe musician and actor Carlos Medina produce a scripted video travelogue in Tucumcari, up to nearly $800 to restore a “Motel” neon sign and $3,000 by the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce to purchase additional Tucumcari-branded souvenirs. Most of the recommendations require final app...
SAN JON — The San Jon Municipal Schools board of trustees last week unanimously approved a 2021-2022 extended-learning calendar that adds eight more instructional days and six more in-service days for teachers. Superintendent Janet Gladu said during the board’s April 12 meeting that teachers were polled on which calendar option they preferred. The vote ended in a tie. Gladu said she had no preference on either option, though she said the state’s Public Education Department is encouraging the extended learning time because of lost instr...
In the space of a single day Thursday, Tucumcari’s wrestling team was put through an emotional wringer when New Mexico suspended the sport, then reinstated it hours later. The whipsaw event also served notice to many schools that all prep sports were in a precarious position because of rising coronavirus cases there. The Rattler wrestlers had just boarded the bus Thursday morning to go to their season-opening district match at St. Michael’s in Santa Fe when athletic director Wayne Ferguson informed them the match — and season — were off. “T...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer that would have given the Rattlers a district victory over Dexter and their first of the season overall. Instead, Dexter's Tyler Briscoe became the hero when he sank two free throws seconds earlier to give his team the deciding 51-49 margin on April 13 at the Snake Pit. The Rattlers' loss spoiled a big game for Andrew Henderson-Clark, who scored a game-high 19 points. Dominick Jasper added 14 points for Tucumcari, and Curtis...
A shooting slump in the second half proved fatal to the Tucumcari girls basketball team during a 34-23 district loss Thursday to New Mexico Military Institute. The Lady Colts led just 14-11 at intermission but seized control with an 18-6 scoring run in the third and part of the fourth quarters when the Lady Rattlers could hardly buy a field goal. "We couldn't throw the ball into the ocean tonight," Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson said. "Offensively, we just stood around." The loss left the young...
Tucumcari baseball was scheduled to resume Tuesday after nearly the entire 2020 season was wiped out by COVID-19. The Rattlers played only two games last year before the state shut down schools and canceled spring sports because of the pandemic. On Tuesday, coach Dennis Dysart's young team was scheduled to open the 2021 season at home with one varsity game and one junior-varsity game against West Las Vegas, weather permitting. (The games were after the Quay County Sun's deadlines.) Dysart said...
Legalized recreational marijuana likely is coming to Tucumcari and Quay County. The mayor of Trinidad, Colorado, passed along some advice to the region after the experiencing the effects of legal weed in his community. “Be very careful how many (marijuana dispensaries) you allow in your community,” Trinidad Mayor Phil Rico said in a telephone interview last week. “Be careful how close you put them to educational facilities. Be very careful if you have a historic district and how you control that. Be careful with your application process and m...
Quay County's lobbyists expressed frustration to commissioners with the format and results of the recently completed New Mexico Legislature session, especially with a new law that removes qualified immunity for law enforcement and other governmental entities. Monday's meeting also proved to be the finale for county manager Richard Primrose, who is retiring Friday after 14 years at the helm. Former state senator Clinton Harden, a principal of the Clinton D. Harden and Associates in Clovis, said...
Logan's basketball team found its shooting touch, and Tucumcari is trying to find its primary point guard. That summarizes the Longhorns' 71-36 victory Thursday night over the Rattlers in Tucumcari's home opener at the Snake Pit. Without someone stepping up to run the offense, the Rattlers fell behind by a double digits in the first quarter and trailed 39-15 at intermission. Tucumcari showed life offensively with 18 points in the fourth quarter, but they came primarily against Logan's...
One thing is for sure: The Tucumcari girls basketball team will gain a lot of experience against full-court presses this season. The Lady Rattlers got another bitter taste of that defense Thursday during a 60-14 loss against area rival Logan during Tucumcari's home opener at the Snake Pit. Tucumcari fell behind 15-0 in the first quarter and trailed by more than 20 midway through the second period. The Lady Rattlers committed scores of turnovers and struggled to move the ball past the halfcourt l...
Two events in Tucumcari last week helped get COVID-19 vaccines into the arms of nearly 270 residents as more than one-third of New Mexicans were fully vaccinated against the disease. In addition to the weekly vaccination event each Wednesday hosted by the Quay County Public Health Office, the Quay County Family Health Center also held its own vaccination event Friday, also at the Tucumcari Convention Center. Dozens of people had lined up for a Moderna shot well before the convention center's...
Another video producer asked for funding assistance from the Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board for a proposed travel show during the board’s meeting Wednesday. Santa Fe-based musician and actor Carlos Medina, who performed in the lodgers tax-aided “Bands of Enchantment” music show and played a recent concert at the Tucumcari Zia Club, said he wanted to shoot footage in Tucumcari for a bilingual scripted show, “El Barrio,” that would consist of two or three episodes, including a 47-minute pilot. Medina, who will co-star with Albuquerq...
Of the 14 years Richard Primrose served as Quay County's manager, he said the final one was the toughest. Primrose, who retires April 16, said the past year "absolutely" was his most challenging because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "It was extremely stressful for everybody to try to be safe, especially with the courthouse being a public building," he said during an interview last week in his third-floor office at the county courthouse. "The district court and Quay County did not close, so we still...
Tucumcari has another talented wrestling team getting ready to belatedly begin its season, but there will be a greater sense of urgency with each match this year. That's because of the condensed schedule and a tougher qualification standards for the state tournament. Tucumcari's Eddie Encinias, a Hall of Fame coach in his 20th year of leading the Rattlers, said the New Mexico Activities Association is considering as few as eight and maybe six wrestlers statewide per weight class qualifying for...
New Mexico on Monday opened COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to everyone over age 16 as Quay County health clinics prepared for two vaccination events this week. In addition to the Quay County Public Health Office’s weekly vaccination event from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Tucumcari Convention Center, the Quay County Family Health Center has scheduled one from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, also at the convention center. C. Renee Hayoz, administrator at the Quay County Family Health Center, said her clinic would have about 400 M...
A crew from Elkhorn Entertainment tore down sets and camera setups Saturday at Tucumcari's historic railroad depot after wrapping production on eight episodes of the forthcoming "Bands of Enchantment" music television series. After heading back to their respective locations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, Elkhorn would begin editing the footage from the depot and other locations in Tucumcari so it could air the performances this summer. "It's looking toward June, but it's in review with...
LOGAN - Melrose extinguished any remaining hopes that Logan would gain a berth in the Class 1A state volleyball tournament by defeating the Lady Longhorns 25-6, 25-11, 22-25, 25-23 during the regular-season finale Saturday. Logan, which ended the season 6-5 overall and 5-5 in District 6, was a longshot for a postseason bid but had a chance if it had defeated the district-champion Lady Buffaloes and if Clovis Christian had downed Fort Sumner on Saturday. Neither occurred. Melrose (11-1, 10-0)...
TUCUMCARI — A Tucumcari man last week received a conditional discharge from jail and 18 months of supervised probation in a plea deal struck regarding his sexual-assault case. Jorge Cosme, 39, pleaded no contest in Tucumcari district court March 23 to a lesser charge of attempted criminal sexual penetration in the third degree. Cosme initially was charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration by force or coercion, a third-degree felony that could have led up to three years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. He had been accused of s...
A Tucumcari man implicated in a 2012 fire that destroyed the city’s only veterinarian clinic and killed dozen of animals was jailed last week after being accused of violating the conditions of his release from a separate felony case. Kevin R. Garcia, 29, was issued a no-bond bench warrant March 23 by Magistrate Judge Timothy O’Quinn for the alleged parole violation after Garcia was charged and detained the previous day on one misdemeanor count of use of telephone to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offense. The charge is sub...
Quay County commissioners on Monday unanimously approved an employment contract for its next county manager, Daniel Zamora, who takes over for the retiring Richard Primrose next month. The commission offered Zamora, the county’s emergency manager, the job after a three-hour executive session during its meeting March 8 to interview candidates. Zamora had been the emergency manager for three years. “I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to working with you,” Zamora said just before the vote Monday. All three commissioners stated their...
Four Tucumcari city commissioners during a special meeting Friday evening approved, with one abstention, giving another $60,000 in lodgers tax funds to a production company to help it make four more episodes of the "Bands of Enchantment" music television series. The decision prompted applause from about 20 people at the meeting in the commission's chambers. Elkhorn Entertainment will produce in Tucumcari eight episodes of "Bands of Enchantment," which principals envision as a New Mexico version...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees will go through a shortlist of seven candidates as the college’s next president. Board Chairman Jim Streetman announced the names after a 25-minute closed executive session during the board’s regular meeting March 16. In a follow-up phone interview Wednesday, Streetman said the college’s search committee had winnowed the list from an initial 67 applicants. Streetman said he spent much of Wednesday morning contacting the initial eight candidates. One withdrew at that time due to personal reaso...
Officials during a Tucumcari school board meeting March 15 talked enthusiastically about the district’s first full day of in-person instruction earlier that day. The landmark day followed weeks of the district using a hybrid model of online and in-person teaching because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before then, the middle school and high school used remote learning exclusively for months. The day also marked a reduced number of Tucumcari students opting for online education. Education Secretary Ryan Stewart announced the previous week all p...