Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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A Quay County sheriff's deputy received a Life Saving Award for his acts on an injured person involved in an accident on Interstate 40. Sheriff Dennis Garcia presented the award to deputy Mario Chavez-Thicc'ums during a Quay County Commission meeting on July 24. The accident occurred the afternoon of July 7. Deputies were dispatched to a motor vehicle crash at mile marker 360 of Interstate 40 east of Tucumcari. Dispatchers informed law enforcement a four-door vehicle involved in the crash had le...
The Odeon Theatre in downtown Tucumcari later this month will host a screening of the documentary “Route 66: The Untold Story of Women on the Mother Road” and a panel discussion after the showing. The screening will be at 2 p.m. Aug. 13 at the historic theater at 123 S. Second St. The event is free, but the organizers are asking attendees to register at shorturl.at/yEQU7. The film explores how women overcame segregation and gender discrimination to build fulfilling lives for themselves and generations to come on “America’s most beloved road....
LOGAN -- A Tucumcari man was shot to death early Wednesday by a Quay County Sheriff’s deputy while police were responding to a domestic dispute at a home in Logan, according to a news release from New Mexico State Police. Matthew Dimas, 38, died at an area hospital after a sheriff’s deputy fired at least one shot that struck Dimas, the news release stated. Sheriff’s deputies and state police responded to a call from dispatchers at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday that a man had fired two shots from the back yard of a Logan home and was threatening to hurt...
Quay County saw spending growth during the January-to-March quarter, largely matching what was observed statewide by the New Mexico Economic Development Department. The county’s matched taxable gross receipts increased 4.4%, or $2.3 million, compared to the previous quarter, according to the department’s quarterly economic summary that was released earlier this month. Quay County’s total of $50.4 million in gross receipts during the January-to-March quarter was 10% more, or $4.7 million, than the county’s eight-quarter average and an 8% incr...
Virtual fencing for cattle, alternate crops and conserving soil carbon are among the topics to be discussed at this year's free field day on Tuesday at New Mexico State University's Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari. The event will begin with registration at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at the science center, located three miles northeast of Tucumcari off U.S. 54. The event is free and open to the public. The keynote presentation and dinner, catered by a Quay County 4-H club as a...
The Quay County Clerk’s Office last week gave notice that a voter registration update or cancellation initiative is underway in New Mexico and in many adjoining States. All 33 counties in New Mexico are sending notices to individuals who are registered but have addresses verified through other agencies that show they may be receiving mail and/or live somewhere else other than what is on file with their county clerk regarding voter registration. Notices are being sent to give voters the opportunity to update their current registration and s...
Two Quay County 4-H members earned high-point honors during the 100th annual New Mexico State 4-H Conference at Las Cruces. Two Quay County teams also finished in the top five at the recent competition at New Mexico State University. MiKayla Klinger earned high-point individual honors in the impromptu public speaking competition, and Ashton Smith was the high-point individual in agronomy. Both received buckles for their strong overall finishes. Klinger also finished fourth in prepared public...
An Amarillo motorcyclist died Wednesday in a two-vehicle accident on Highway 104 near Trementina northwest of Tucumcari. The New Mexico State Police stated in a news release it investigated the fatal crash shortly after noon July 12 involving a motorcycle around milepost 52 of the highway. The initial investigation indicates a 2022 Harley Davidson driven by Damon Herbert, 46, of Amarillo was traveling east on Highway 104 behind a 2008 Dodge pickup truck. As the truck approached a driveway, it slowed to turn left. “For unknown reasons, the m...
The Logan Municipal Schools board during its July 10 meeting extended its superintendent’s contract by one year. Dennis Roch’s pact now expires on June 30, 2025, with him earning a salary of $138,000 — an increase of $13,000 from last year. He received a two-year contract last year. The board’s action last week occurred after a closed executive session to discuss Roch’s contract. Roch, a former representative in the New Mexico Legislature, has been Logan’s superintendent since 2013. The board also unanimously approved a resolution regarding t...
The Quay County municipalities of Tucumcari, Logan, House and San Jon, plus nine rural fire departments, each are receiving annual grants from the state fire marshal’s office. The four cities or villages in the county received a total of $860,000 in grants from the state. The nine rural fire districts received almost $1 million total. The total grants by municipality or fire district are: — Tucumcari, $316,659; — Logan, $274,420; — San Jon, $196,378; — House, $73,347; — Bard-Ended district, $212,474; — Conservancy District 1, $126,822; — C...
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday overturned an appellate court and ruled the public may cross a rancher's private property on a road in Quay County under a "prescriptive easement" established by decades of uninterrupted travel on the roadway. The court's unanimous opinion resolved a dispute over the right to use a 6-mile road - known as Quay Road AI - to access land owned by the state and several other ranchers, including property leased for a solar energy farm near Tucumcari. The...
Tucumcari MainStreet last week announced its artists-in-residency choices for its new Hands on Tucumcari arts incubator pilot program, and one of the artist’s classes sold out just hours after they were announced. Hands on Tucumcari offers creative classes for the community and support for local artists to encourage growth in the local creative economy. Each artist will receive a $500 stipend for workshop instruction, up to $250 for materials, marketing and the use of the Tucumcari Railroad Depot’s east room for workshop sessions in exc...
The Quay County Commission is among 24 counties suing a member of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration, accusing the state of illegally billing them hefty amounts to cover a deficit in a state health benefits fund. The petition for declaratory judgment was filed on June 30 in the 7th Judicial District Court in Socorro County. Attorneys for the New Mexico Association of Counties filed the 29-page lawsuit on the counties’ behalf. The defendant is Robert Doucette Jr., who is Cabinet secretary of New Mexico’s General Services Depar...
Two members of the Tucumcari High School STEM team recently received awards for excellence in their field. Aaron Chand was one of just two high-school students who earned a New Mexico Excellence in STEM Award during a ceremony last month at Q Station in Albuquerque. Also, Sariah Mardo was a central and northern New Mexico winner for the National Center for Women & Information Technology's Aspirations in Computing Award. The annual New Mexico Excellence in STEM Awards laud students, teaches and v...
The annual “Got Shots?” immunization campaign is back to help parents get children ready for school. Participating clinics and medical practices will provide no-cost, back-to-school immunizations through Aug. 31 for all children age 18 and younger regardless of whether they have insurance. “I can’t say enough how successful vaccines have been over decades in greatly reducing once-devastating diseases in the U.S.,” New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen said in a news release last week. “The ‘Got Shots?’ campaign provid...
Two historic businesses in Tucumcari recently went on the market within a week of each other. The owner of the Motel Safari announced on social he soon would list his property after six years of running the Route 66 landmark. Meanwhile, the owners of the Odeon Theatre in downtown said they were advertising the venue being for sale. Both properties will continue to operate while they're on the market. Larry Smith, owner of the Motel Safari at 722 E. Tucumcari Blvd., purchased the property from...
A somewhat divided Arch Hurley Conservancy District board of directors today allocated three inches of water per acre — the first time it had allocated water from Conchas Lake in over three years. The vote was 3-1, with board member Debra Mitchell casting the only dissenting vote after a long pause. Mitchell and other board members — along with numerous ranchers and farmers in attendance — said they were torn between allocating water and preserving it for next year. Board members, however, told the nine farmers and ranchers who attended today...
Quay County’s total damage assessment from the May 25-26 storms stands at $8.7 million — a figure that likely will grow because it received a 30-day extension from the state to report more flood-ravaged roads. County manager Daniel Zamora on Thursday toured 15 damaged sites with three state officials and a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Zamora said he hopes the county will receive a federal disaster declaration from late May’s flash-flooding event. Such a declaration would require the U.S. government to cover...
The Tucumcari Farmers Market opens its season Saturday with a new person in charge of the twice-a-week event. New manager Raine Miller, who owns Wild West Enterprises farm in rural Tucumcari, will oversee the market when sales begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Wailes Park on the city’s east side along Route 66. Opening day typically draws several hundred people, and vendors sometimes sell out well before closing time. Miller said last week he has 13 to 14 vendors lined up to sell their products at the market this season, though not all of them w...
The New Mexico Activities Association implemented what is being called a “two strikes, you’re out” sportsmanship policy after nearly 80% of its members voted for the bylaw change. The new policy will be enacted during the 2023-2024 school year. “We are glad to see our member schools approve this updated bylaw which coincides with our ‘Compete with Class’ initiative and hope this will help eliminate much of the growing bad behavior,” NMAA Executive Director Sally Marquez stated in a news release last week. The updated bylaw specifies the possibi...
Three of Quay County’s Little League baseball teams competed in the recent District 4 tournament in Las Vegas, with the intermediate, age 11-13 team making finishing second. The age 11 to 13 Quay County All-Stars scored a 14-10 victory over Las Vegas but were ousted after consecutive losses to La Plaza during the double-elimination tournament. Johnny Aughtman, one of the squad’s coaches, said the team looked “really sharp” during the tournament. “We lacked experience. That’s probably what cost us,” he said. “But they had a blast.” The Qua...
Responding to water shortages throughout the western United States, the National Center for Appropriate Technology has released a new edition of its popular “The Irrigator’s Pocket Guide” specifically for New Mexico irrigators. “With growing conflict over water supplies and with New Mexico irrigators feeling the pinch to save water, energy and money, we wanted to come up with a concise and super-useful guide to water and energy conservation,” said Mike Morris, NCAT’s Southwest Regional Director, who led the project. Irrigation experts fro...
Better late than never, apparently. Tucumcari’s city manager announced during a city commission meeting Thursday the city’s municipal swimming pool would reopen next month and stay open into the fall. The pool had been closed since 2019. It was shuttered for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remained closed last year after severe leaks were found at the facility. Paula Chacon said during her city manager’s report Thursday the pool would reopen during the third week of July. Her announcement brought a smattering of applause from peo...
A few hours after an Albuquerque woman initially jailed on a litany of charges was released from the Quay County Detention Center, she was accused of stealing a car from one of Tucumcari’s truck stops. Kayln Worker, 36, was jailed again Thursday afternoon at the county lockup on a complaint that included two counts of felony tempering with evidence, one count of unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and one count of resisting, evading and obstructing an officer. The tampering and vehicle theft charges each are fourth-degree felonies that can l...
A Tucumcari native was among five individuals named Saturday to the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Danny Villanueva, born in Tucumcari as the ninth of 12 children in 1937, had several big moments of glory for New Mexico State University and then with the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys in the NFL. Villanueva's family moved from Tucumcari to Phoenix just a few days after he was born. Villanueva later played high-school sports in Calexico, California. He kicked a field goal and two extra poin...