Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week reimposed an indoor mask mandate in New Mexico, and one key motivation for that move was made clear during a videoconference meeting one day later with school and state officials - to keep public schools open for in-person classes. The governor also announced during a briefing Aug. 17 the state was requiring vaccinations or weekly negative COVID-19 tests for all workers in hospitals, congregate care facilities, schools and state prisons. The order, which...
A member of the Mesalands Community College board of trustees said he is considering not running for election in November if students, staff members and faculty are required by the state to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. College President Gregg Busch said in the board’s Aug. 17 meeting that Mesalands was one of only two or three higher-education institutions in New Mexico that is not requiring vaccinations. Busch said pressure is growing for Mesalands to impose such a requirement and that it seemed likely the state’s Higher Edu...
The Quay County Commission held a public hearing Monday to discuss its infrastructure capital improvement plan for the next four fiscal years that included a new request from the Quay County Family Health Center’s administrator to pave the clinic’s parking lot. The infrastructure plan essentially exists as a prioritized wish list for the county when the New Mexico Legislature allocates capital outlay funds during its annual January session. The commission likely will approve a finalized plan during its next meeting on Sept. 13. The hig...
The Tucumcari School Board seemed receptive to deeding over land used for the homecoming bonfire to Mesalands Community College but decided against doing so until the college was ready to proceed with constructing student housing on that tract. College President Gregg Busch said early enrollment at Mesalands had risen dramatically from a year ago and that students were taking up a wing of the Best Western Discovery Inn in Tucumcari because of the lack of student housing. Busch said it was becoming “more and more critical” for the college to...
The president of Mesalands Community College last week reported that early enrollment at the college had more than quadrupled compared to the same time last year. According to data provided by Josh McVey, vice president of public relations, a total of 42 students had been enrolled at the college on Aug. 11, 2020. On Aug. 11, 2021, that number had risen to 184 — an increase of 438%. By Aug. 12, the early enrollment number was 220, compared to 51 at the same time a year ago — an increase of 431%. Aug, 12 also was before the college’s main enrollm...
On paper, it appeared Tucumcari should have earned a relatively comfortable victory over Clayton in both teams' football opener on Friday night. Instead, the visiting Yellowjackets made more big plays during a 20-12 decision over the host Rattlers, giving Clayton's Dakota Montoya a victory in his coaching debut. Tucumcari coach Wayne Ferguson described it as a win that got away. "I think we should have won by two touchdowns," he said. The evidence made Ferguson's assessment hard to refute: • T...
Beating a typically tough and talented Melrose team is a tall order for any high-school volleyball team. Beating a Melrose team that plays almost flawlessly is nearly impossible. The Tucumcari volleyball squad found that out during an 8-25, 13-25, 8-25 season-opening loss Thursday against the defending Class 1A champion. The Lady Rattlers never led in any of the games, though they briefly rallied to a 6-6 tie in the second set. Indicative of the Lady Buffaloes' dominance was their 28 kills...
A Tucumcari police officer who was shown last month on a video posted to social media body-slamming a suspect has been cleared after an internal investigation, and he was returned to his job. That didn’t satisfy the suspect’s lawyer, who said he was “outraged” by the police department and its officers and vowed to file a lawsuit. Tucumcari officer Justin Garcia had been placed on administrative leave until a review of the July 17 incident could be completed, stated acting police chief Pete Rivera in an email Wednesday to the Quay County...
The Quay County Fair embraced a youth movement, mostly out of necessity. Earlier this year, the Quay County Fair Board voted to allow 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds to compete in the livestock show and sell their animals at the Junior Livestock Auction. The previous minimum age was 9. Officials acknowledged they took the action so younger exhibitors would boost the overall numbers at the fair, which had been falling in recent years. Shortly after recognizing eight high-school seniors who would age out...
The Logan Board of Education was scheduled to vote on a resolution opposing the state’s mask mandate, but divided board members officially removed it from the agenda early in last week’s meeting before they could take action on it. The board’s Aug. 9 agenda contained an action item listed as “Consider approval of Resolution on Mask Mandate.” Shortly after the meeting began, board member Kene Terry made a motion to strike it from the agenda. Terry, while voicing misgivings about the New Mexico Public Education Department, expressed reservati...
The Tucumcari High School football team played a scrimmage Thursday at Clovis against the Wildcats' junior varsity, and what coach Wayne Ferguson saw gave him encouragement for the upcoming season. "I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't know what to expect," Ferguson said, noting the Clovis JV is roughly equivalent to a team in Tucumcari's Class 3A division. "It was good to go against somebody, and we saw some good things. We saw some other things we need to work on and hopefully get better at."...
The Tucumcari High School volleyball team begins its season with a tough opponent right away when it hosts defending Class 1A champion Melrose on Thursday. The varsity game will start about 6 p.m., after the junior varsity and C-team matches. Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez, entering her sixth season, said facing a perennial power such as the Lady Buffaloes might pay future dividends. "It's rough to meet a team of that caliber right away, but it will help us prepare for the rest of the season....
SAN JON — The San Jon Municipal Schools board voted to not charge admission to sports events the district hosts this school year, but it would open its concession stand for games for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began last spring. Superintendent Janet Gladu said during the board’s Aug. 9 meeting the New Mexico Activities Association was recommending districts use a cashless app to charge admission to games. She said, however, many elderly attendees would be confused or irritated by the app. She suggested a donation box near the...
An "Open" flag sits in a corner of the Apache Motel's well-furnished office, waiting to be used. It appears, however, that flag won't be used anytime soon. Despite earlier pledges by the operator to renovate and revive Tucumcari's long-closed Apache Motel, the Route 66 establishment has been put up for sale. Meanwhile, weeds continue to grow taller in the motel's empty parking lot. The Quay County Sun obtained a June email from operator Wade Dirr sent that stated the Apache Motel at 1106 E....
Quay County's road superintendent told county commissioners Monday it will receive $1.5 million from the state to make safety improvements to the intersection of U.S. 54 and Airport Road northeast of Tucumcari. Road superintendent Larry Moore said the design for the troublesome crossroads would be finished later this year, and bids would be let during the winter. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2022. Moore said improvements would include turn lanes, plus extra lanes for accelerating...
A bigger-than-expected crowd of an estimated 450 to 500 Tucumcari High School alumni descended on the city over the weekend for the 50th edition of the Rattler Reunion. Philip Box, one of the alumni board members, had a registration count of 339 through Friday, which exceeded Reunion Chairman Joe Szaloy's expectations. "With everything considered, we're thinking 450 to 500 people registered online and in-person at the event," Szaloy said during a telephone interview Sunday afternoon, after the...
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted businesses and people's lives throughout the courntry in the last 18 months or so. The ripple effects of the virus also affected agricultural research, including at the Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari. The center on Aug. 3 held its first in-person field day in two years, with 89 people attending to see the latest results of that research. The center held a virtual field day last year because of the pandemic restrictions, but superintendent...
After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Rattler Reunion board was determined not to skip the 2021 edition — mainly because this is the 50th anniversary of the annual event for Tucumcari High School alumni. Tucumcari hosted its first Rattler Reunion in early August 1971. The Tucumcari Daily News at the time reported that Stanley Jennings, the event’s chairman, said the Rattler Reunion “promises to be the highlight of the year.” “We wanted to do our best to have some sort of gathering because this is the 50th year,” Ratt...
For the first time in 16 months, the Tucumcari Senior Center opened to serve meals to its clients inside its facility Monday morning after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Betty Martinez was the first to enter through the northwest door of the Third Street facility at 11:30 a.m. She underwent a temperature scan and was asked several screening questions - including vaccination status - before being allowed to walk to a table, where staff brought a fresh-cooked meal of chicken strips,...
The Logan school board voiced irritation about the prospect of state mask requirements when classes resume later this month but was unwilling to flout any such mandate because of the possible consequences. Katarina Sandoval, deputy secretary for the New Mexico Public Education Department, said via videoconference during a special board meeting Thursday the PED likely would adopt U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 guidelines that recommends all students and staff wear masks regardless of vaccination status. Last week, the...
This week, the owner of the Roadrunner Lodge Motel in Tucumcari embarks on a quest he's planned for about seven years - restoring the west side of a long-closed property that was La Plaza Court motel. Owner David Brenner and his now-former wife Amanda purchased the property seven years ago that contained two Route 66 motels - the Leatherwood Manor motel on the east side and La Plaza Court on the west side. Because the Leatherwood was newer (built in 1964) and had more rooms, they restored that...
The president of Mesalands Community College said last week if he can’t get higher vaccination rates in the student population, he’s resigned to an eventual COVID-19 super-spreader event after classes resume in the fall. He added the college likely will require masks and social distancing. College President Gregory Busch said in his monthly report before the board of directors during its meeting July 20 that about nine of 10 Quay County residents age 18 to 24 remain unvaccinated against the virus. In response to that data, Busch said he wil...
The contracted director of senior citizen centers in Tucumcari and Logan stayed cautiously optimistic those facilities will reopen for meals Monday morning after being closed for almost 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus numbers in Quay County this week continue to be the X-factor of whether Tucumcari Senior Center opens its doors at 11:30 a.m. Monday and the Logan Senior Center opens at 11 a.m. that same day, as planned. Quay County last week remained at a low ebb of COVID-19 cases, though New Mexico in general and many other...
Tucumcari Public Schools' superintendent and its architect during a board work session last week discussed ways to trim costs associated with the district's ballparks redevelopment plan to the original estimate of $3 million. Voters in the school district approved a bond issue of about $3 million during a February 2019 special election for the project. Delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and steep increases in the costs of materials has ballooned the projected cost to at least $4 million, said...
The Quay County Commission officially adopted its 2022 budget during an unusually short meeting Monday. With a short agenda, the meeting lasted just 12 minutes. One of the commissioners, Jerri Rush, was absent, and another, Chairman Franklin McCasland, was forced to attend by phone conference to have a quorum. Robert Lopez was the only commissioner to be there in person. County Clerk Ellen White also was absent; chief deputy clerk Veronica Marez took over her duties to record the minutes. The 2022 budget projects $15.18 million in...