Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Quay County returned to a more modest level of administering COVID-19 vaccines last week, partly because bad weather prevented a shipment of them to one of its clinics. C. Renee Hayoz, administrator of Quay County Family Health Center in Tucumcari, said she anticipated giving 150 booster shots of the Moderna vaccine but instead gave only 110. She said she was anticipating another shipment of vaccine last week, but bad winter weather delayed it. Those 40 patients without their booster shots will have to reschedule, Hayoz said. Hayoz said...
A week after in-person classes resumed for Tucumcari middle-school and high-school students for the first time since March, several school board members asked about the prospect of bringing back a full day of classes and whether traditional physical education and music classes also could resume. The short answer: not likely for the rest of the school year. School board member Bo Wallace asked about bringing back music and P.E. classes, as did board colleague Heather Gonzales during the board’s regular Feb. 15 meeting via Google Meets. Board m...
Mesalands Community College saw about a 20% drop in enrollment during fall 2020 — the college’s first full semester during the COVID-19 pandemic — compared to the previous year. Aaron Kennedy, vice president of student affairs, presented the college’s enrollment report during the board of trustees’ regular meeting Feb. 16. Three metrics to determine student numbers at Mesalands — full-time equivalent students, headcount and credit hours — all showed declines of 19% to 20% during the fall 2020 semester in Kennedy’s report, compared to the...
Barely two hours after Quay County went from red to yellow in the state's bimonthly COVID-19 risk assessment Wednesday afternoon, a waitress at the Pow Wow Restaurant in Tucumcari was arranging silverware and placemats on tables inside. That's because the new designation immediately allowed indoor dining in the county for the first time in more than three months. The Pow Wow and Del's Restaurant, also in Tucumcari, swiftly announced they would host indoor dining that night. Other restaurants in...
Quay County last week saw a big uptick in the number of people vaccinated for COVID-19 not only because of more vaccines shipped to clinics but because of vaccination events in Tucumcari and Logan. The previous week, Quay County had fewer than 5% of its residents vaccinated for the disease and the second-worst administration rate in New Mexico, according to the state's vaccine database. At the end of last week, the county's vaccination rate rose to 17.7%, more than tripling that proportion, and...
The Logan Board of Education said “thanks, but no thanks” to an estimated $50,000 state grant for the district’s preschool for 4-year-olds for the 2022 fiscal year because of accumulating red tape. That preschool program will continue at Logan, but superintendent Dennis Roch said the district would make up the shortfall through its operational fund or using federal Title IX funds. During the board’s Feb. 8 meeting, preschool teacher Angie Medrow detailed the growing burdens the state has added to her and other staff members in exchange for the...
Tucumcari's athletic director finished revisions on the high school's volleyball schedule in anticipation the state will green-light sports resuming next week for the first time since March. The Lady Rattlers' first match is scheduled for March 1 at Elida, with their first home match March 4 against Raton. Because of ongoing health restrictions that forbid public gatherings, spectators wouldn't be allowed at matches. Matches would be live-streamed instead. Athletic director Wayne Ferguson has...
The Quay County Commission on Monday granted Sheriff Russell Shafer’s request by unanimously passing a resolution opposing House Bill 4, known as the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, because of potential insurance costs and liability concerns. The bill, being considered during the legislature’s current 60-day session, aims to provide more accountability to police officers and would allow people to sue public officials if their civil rights are violated. It also would remove qualified immunity from prosecution. Shafer noted the bill had been ame...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday unanimously recommended spending $5,000 for an ambitious plan to expand the current lighted "T" on Tucumcari Mountain to spelling all nine letters of "Tucumcari" in lights on the mesa's north face. The plan goes Thursday to the Tucumcari City Commission, which would make the ultimate decision whether to approve it. The proposal comes with the stipulation that written permission must come from two sets of property owners that would be...
A Tucumcari man caused a stir on social media over the weekend when he flew at his south-side home two flags representing the Nazi Germany era - including one with a swastika. Dave Shine, the owner of the flags, said he simply was honoring his German heritage and "wanted to do something different." Estefanita Garcia, who lives near the same south-side neighborhood, said she was driving by Shine's home on Saturday afternoon when she saw a flag on a pole with a swastika on it. "It stopped me in...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday recommended reimbursing $1,283.99 in expenses from the launch last summer of the Tucumcari Talking Tour. The Tucumcari City Commission will decide during its regular meeting Thursday whether to finalize the recommendation. Tucumcari Talking Tour installed low-wattage radio transmitters at 16 sites in the city. They broadcast a short message on the AM frequency that explains the site’s historic significance and contains a brief promotion for the organization’s donation website to help mai...
Tucumcari and Logan schools are preparing for a partial resumption Monday of in-person classes for middle-school and high-school students for the first time in more than 10 months. Citing a drop in COVID-19 cases statewide and science to lessen the risk of viral spread, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham green-lighted a mix of in-person and online classes for middle-schoolers and high-schoolers during her State of the State address last week. Most schools throughout New Mexico had been using a hybrid model of in-person and online learning for only...
A Tucumcari man accused of drunkenly pointing a gun at a teenage boy without provocation last spring found himself in more trouble last week when he showed up drunk at a court hearing regarding his case. Matthew Hart, 38, was charged in April with abuse of a child (first offense; placed in a dangerous situation) and negligent use of a deadly weapon while under the influence of an intoxicant or narcotic. The child-abuse charge is a third-degree felony that can lead up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The negligence charge is a petty m...
A former Logan resident was sentenced last week to 2 1/2 years in the Department of Corrections and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life after being convicted of charges related to his having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Joshua Lee Roubieu, 34, who now lives in Farmington, accepted a plea deal last month in Tucumcari district court on two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual penetration of a child and one count of criminal sexual communication with a child. In exchange for the pleas, one count of criminal sexual contact...
Tucumcari Public Schools’ superintendent told board members last week the state likely will bring back in-person teaching for middle-school students by late January or early February. Superintendent Aaron McKinney said he was “more hopeful” middle-school students would return to in-person classes in “the next two to three weeks” after the New Mexico Public Education Department recently surveyed districts on that very issue. McKinney said if middle schools reopen to in-person classes, it’s likely the state will require a higher percentage of tea...
More than 87% of Mesalands Community College’s grades issued to students in the fall were passing — which is believed to be the highest rate ever — despite many classes being conducted online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aaron Kennedy, vice president of student affairs, presented the college’s persistence and enrollment report for fall 2020 during the board of trustees meeting Jan. 19. Kennedy said it is the first such report that reflects the full effects of the pandemic. Kennedy said of 1,621 midterm grades issued, a total of 1,421 were pa...
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved a resolution that urges the reinstatement of a state meat inspection program in New Mexico. The resolution states meat animals in New Mexico account for $824 million in cash receipts annually, but about 80% of the meatpacking industry is concentrated among four companies. “For decades this concentration has limited the income of cow-calf producers and others in the food chain,” and “the pandemic of 2020 has pointed out the ills of this pack concentration for meat producers and consumers alike...
Less than two months ago, Paws and Claws Animal Rescue of Quay County was directed to a stray dog just a few hundred feet from its rural Tucumcari facility. The emaciated dog was so weak, it could not stand. A local veterinarian treating him doubted he would survive. Because of his sorry state, the staff nicknamed him Bones. "He was the worst I've ever seen," Paws and Claws President Kathi McClelland said, who's been rescuing pets in all sorts of bad condition for 14 years. On Friday morning, th...
Two area lawmakers talked about their top legislative priorities, the state’s proposed budget, proposed marijuana legalization and security at the Roundhouse as the New Mexico Legislature reconvenes this week for its annual 60-day session. The Quay County Sun reached out to state Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) and state Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero), whose districts encompass all or most of Quay County. Priorities Woods said he’ll be one of at least four lawmakers who will seek to curb the governor’s power during emergencies — an issue t...
More doses of COVID-19 vaccine continued to trickle into Quay County last week, and more are anticipated in the days and weeks ahead. Quay County Family Health Center in Tucumcari on Wednesday received 300 more doses of the Moderna version of the vaccine, which likely will be administered this week to at least 150 people on its waiting list once they’re scheduled. The arrival of the vaccine shipment Wednesday came as a pleasant surprise to clinic administrator C. Renee Hayoz. Two days before, she told Quay County commissioners her request for 1...
The San Jon Municipal Schools board of trustees last week extended its superintendent’s contract by one year to mid-2023. The board approved Janet Gladu’s extension Jan. 11 after a one-hour closed session to discuss personnel matters and her evaluation. Her contract now expires June 30, 2023. Gladu’s salary will be set by the board after the New Mexico Legislature sets its education budget in the coming weeks. She is paid $111,300 a year. She didn’t request a raise last year because of state budget problems, but the board gave her two additio...
Logan Municipal Schools saw some improvement in its student failure rates in recent months but not enough to satisfy its superintendent — another indication of the challenges of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent Dennis Roch said during an academic update in the school board’s meeting Jan. 11 the percentage of middle-school students failing at least one class fell from 43% in October to 34% by December. In the high school, that rate of students failing at least one class fell from 33% in October to 23% in Dec...
Work resumed on the long-closed Apache Motel in Tucumcari this week, and the operator anticipates he'll have it partially open to overnight travelers by early spring. Wade Dirr said in a telephone interview that electricians and plumbers were working on getting the lobby at least eight of the motel's 24 units ready in the coming weeks. "I'm looking at sometime around mid-March that we'll open," Dirr said. "We're heading in the right direction." After the initial opening, Dirr anticipates having...
Longtime Quay County manager Richard Primrose announced his imminent retirement after an executive session Monday with county commissioners. Primrose, 68, submitted to commissioners an official letter of intent to retire after a 90-minute closed session Monday with them to discuss personnel matters, pending litigation and the possible purchase of property. Primrose's last day would be April 10, according to a copy of his resignation letter that Quay County Clerk Ellen White forwarded to the...
The administrator of one of Tucumcari’s healthcare clinics said during a Quay County Commission meeting Monday she’s been turned down once for more shipments of COVID-19 vaccine and anticipates she also won’t get any this week, despite a sizable backlog of patients eligible for them. C. Renee Hayoz, administrator of Presbyterian Medical Services, said her East Main Street clinic received 100 doses of the Moderna vaccine shortly before New Year’s Day and quickly gave them to healthcare workers and frontline first responders. She said her req...