Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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A showdown over parts of Tucumcari’s nuisance ordinance was at least postponed Thursday as the Tucumcari City Commission tabled a public hearing and final vote on eliminating language involving mesquite and dangerous buildings. Without detail, the proposed changes also include repealing of “conflicting prior ordinances” and “all ordinances or parts of ordinances previously enacted and in conflict” with the current nuisance ordinance. The ordinance was given a first reading on June 10. District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya, who proposed the chang...
The Tucumcari Chamber of Commerce building would double as a visitor center in a proposal the chamber’s director sketched out generally Tuesday to the city’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board. Scott Crotzer, the chamber’s director, seeks to remodel chamber headquarters into a tourist center with displays, maps and other features, including distribution of the city’s visitor guide and its mural map. “The idea is to keep them here a few hours longer,” Crotzer said. Crotzer said his plan is to offer a friendly atmosphere to welcome visitors and to add...
I spent the best part of last week in Clovis, where I am taking on temporary editing duties for Clovis Media, the company that owns the Quay County Sun. I live in Tucumcari and the contrast between the two communities is fascinating. I am staying in one of the motels that line Mabry Drive on the east side of Clovis. There is a steady stream of traffic on Mabry before, during and after regular business hours. Mabry is part of U.S. highways 60 and 84, which split at Texico, next to the Texas border. Most of the traffic seems to be coming from or...
CLOVIS — Lakes in central eastern New Mexico have been looking less thirsty as the region has enjoyed a reawakening of the monsoon season. The level rise at Conchas Lake, about 30 miles northwest of Tucumcari, was just short of a foot from June 30 to July 7, according to information from the U.S. Geological Survey, which tracks water depth and lake volume daily. The new water in Conchas was enough to reopen some boat ramps that had been shut down this summer because of low water level, according to Toby Velasquez, deputy director of New Mexico...
Language will be added to Tucumcari zoning laws to accommodate growing, processing and retail sales of marijuana products for recreation, the Tucumcari City Commission decided in a special meeting on Thursday. While commissioners did not specify the wording, the commission decided to keep current city zones in place, especially commercial, agricultural and zones, but to add language that applies directly to cannabis-based production and sales. The commission also decided to include mixed-use zoning that would allow a business owner to live on...
It’s Friday and it has been raining in Tucumcari for three days straight. While I would have welcomed the thrill and sense of risk that comes with a thunderstorm, the rain we’ve been getting for three days is more of what we need, a few days of steady drizzle, enough to soak into the ground and rescue withering crops and replenish the Canadian River. The benefit to me is that the weeds in my weedy yard are easier to pull. The Canadian River replenishes Conchas and Ute lakes. This summer Conchas Lake has looked like a smaller version of the ema...
The Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday hired a new city attorney to replace Randy Knudson, who had served as the city’s general counsel for at least 15 years. The commission's choice and contract terms could not be announced before the Quay County Sun's deadline because of a state regulation that requires such contracts to be kept confidential until all parties have signed, City Clerk Angelica Gray said Monday. After commissioners expressed dissatisfaction with Knudson’s service earlier this year, the city issued a request for proposals to...
I get it. I see the long way we have to go before we achieve race-blindness. We are making progress, and while I can’t stand the term “woke” (with its implication that you belong to this very exclusive club that believes in inclusion), I’d like to think awareness of racial issues, how far we’ve come (which is substantial) and how far we have to go (also substantial) is increasing and is seen as vital to the future of our society. Last week I said I didn’t understand “critical race theory” at all, but since then I’ve done a little reading ab...
The city of Tucumcari faces a deficit of $556,205 for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2022, without some serious budget cuts, City Manager Mark Martinez warned city commissioners at a public work session Thursday afternoon. “The budget is not looking real great,” Martinez said, “but we have to try to get as close to a zero budget as possible.” City finance director Rachelle Arias said the deficit is in the city’s general fund, financed mostly through property and gross receipts taxes, and the funds that receive money fro...
I don’t want to discuss the Biden-Putin talks of last week or critical race theory. I know only enough about Biden-Putin to venture that their chess game will continue, that it won’t be friendly and the stakes are high. I know too little about critical race theory, which is very complex and sensitive, to say anything. Too many who know too little have said too much about it already. On July 1, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared, New Mexico will open up again. This is Lujan Grisham, among the most cautious of her peers on COVID-19 mat...
Water issues, building and zoning codes and distance from churches and schools were among complications involved with establishing a legalized recreational cannabis industry in Tucumcari that were discussed in a Tucumcari City Commission work session before Thursday’s regular commission meeting. Because Tucumcari is along Interstate 40 about 40 miles from the Texas border, city officials are hopeful the city could prosper from out-of-state visits to purchase and consume marijuana and cannabis products. Connie Loveland, a member of the c...
Scientists start with the unknown. Then they apply the known to the unknown, thoroughly. Then, armed with that knowledge, they propose hypotheses, which form the basis of experiments to gain new knowledge of the unknown. If the experiments verify the hypotheses, scientists recognize they may have new knowledge, but scientists review each other to refine new knowledge. If the experiments fail, they start over. Now, what happens when science is called upon to solve an urgent, new scientific problem that endangers life and health, like COVID-19?...
I got some mail last week from the National Rifle Association. They wanted money. I would have been inclined to donate years ago, when I remembered the NRA as the sponsor of my gun safety classes when I was a kid. That was when the NRA advocated for the Second Amendment by emphasizing responsible gun ownership and safe shooting. I apologize for what I am about to say to the NRA members in Quay County, whose guns are for predators who prey on their livestock, for hunting that provides recreation and meat, and for just-in-case, because it can...
Owners of property next to the troubled Second Street construction project in downtown Tucumcari told the city commission Thursday their properties have been damaged by construction crews. Furthermore, the properties owners said, construction supervisors have shrugged off their claims. The project, with an original completion date of Jan. 11, has been plagued by errors in concrete casting, winter weather and doubts about the materials used, city officials said.. "We share your frustration,"...
It occurred to me recently that in five years, our country will be 250 years old. Our successful experiment in representative democracy without rule by birthright seems to have weathered wars with other nations and even among ourselves and emerged victorious — with some scars to be sure. At the root of our success is a 4,400-word document literally sweated out by a group of over-dressed gentlemen who in 1787 huddled in the heat for four summer months in Philadelphia to produce a masterpiece, the U.S, Constitution, which has demonstrated to t...
Yes, a special commission should be to set up to probe what happened before and during the Jan. 6 attempt by rioters supporting former President Donald Trump to usurp the proper functioning of the U.S. Congress. Yes, a special commission should be appointed to determine whether federal crimes were committed before or during the riots that have occurred in major U.S. cities in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and other African Americans at the hands of police. But not the same panel and not at the same time. The incidents are not related....
On a 3-2 vote, the Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday cut the city's allowance for the salary of Patrick Vanderpool, executive director of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation, nearly in half and shortened the contract between the city and the EDC to one year. District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya, District 2 Commissioner Paul Villanueva and District 4 Commissioner Christopher Arias voted to reduce the salary allowance. Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield and Mayor Pro Tem Todd...
Between headlines about back-and-forth name-calling and arguments over which party is engaging in “cancel culture” or “conspiracy mongering,” there has been little attention paid to acknowledging that our national debt is now 28 percent higher than our gross domestic product -- all the stuff we make and the services that we sell. The national debt totaled around $28.3 trillion (that is, thousands of billions, which are thousands of millions) on Sunday, compared with our gross domestic product of $22.1 trillion. In other words, if we put up...
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, declared on April 29 that “America is not a racist country.” Scott is a conservative, so it would normally not register as much as a raised eyebrow, but he is African American, so his statement has caused shock and apoplexy among Democrats. As usual, the statement was reported and repeated without its full context. During the speech in which Scott made his claim, he prefaced the statement by saying he has “experienced the pain of discrimination.” He followed his offending statement with “race is not a pol...
I need to write a column and nothing is grabbing me. So, I have now completed Ernest Hemingway’s first advice on writing when you’re not sure about what to write. “Write one true sentence,” he said. “Write the truest sentence that you know.” I did that. Now what? When you stop, Hemingway said, don’t start until you’ve read again what you’ve already written. OK. So I re-read the first sentence. Now what? Well, now I’m on my own til I quit for the day, so Hemingway says. I can write about Hemingway. There’s another brief, declarative sentence....
The Tucumcari City Commission likely will set up a task force to get ahead of the state’s developing legalized recreational cannabis regulatory structure as it prepares to capitalize on the recent legalization of recreational cannabis. While the commission made no decisions during a public work session before Thursday’s regular commission meeting, the task force idea seemed to resonate among all commissioners who participated in the wide-ranging discussion on how the city can capitalize on a potential legal marijuana industry in New Mex...
Tucumcari city commissioners are acting wisely by preparing to keep up with, and as much as possible, ahead of developments as New Mexico sets up its framework for a new recreational marijuana industry. It’s going to happen, they say, no matter what personal attitudes are toward cannabis use for fun, so let’s make sure it’s done right. If it is done and done right, they see Tucumcari as a potential cannabis boom town. The city is located 40 miles from the Texas border, making it convenient for Texas consumers of marijuana products to pick...
Beyond basic skills and exposure to the required amount of shared knowledge in history and citizenship, education should be something worked for and prized. Making it free, I think, reduces its value. Forgiving up to $50,000 in federal student loans for each student debtor, as some Congressional Democrats have proposed, essentially results in free higher education. If higher education is made free of charge, I am afraid it is likely to become more a necessary commodity than a way to climb above the average through work and talent. As a...
Tucumcari could be poised to prosper from newly legalized marijuana, at least one city commissioner and City Manager Mark Martinez agree. Two factors work in Tucumcari’s favor, District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya said Thursday during a regular Tucumcari City Commission meeting. One is Tucumcari’s location near the Texas border. The other is its convenience to Interstate 40, Moya said. As an owner of property on historic Route 66, Moya said he has received inquiries about possible retail locations for the sale of legalized cannabis. He said loc...
Ex-president Donald Trump’s influence over the disturbing 70-plus million people who voted for him is still powerful. It is disturbing because the party Trump hijacked, the Republicans, now indulges in Trump’s brand of re-inventing the world for their convenience, regardless of demonstrable facts. Currently, the biggest lie the Trump Republicans are perpetuating is that President Joe Biden’s policies alone have caused the current immigration surge on U.S. southern borders. It’s convenient to say that, because it may decrease Biden’s popularit...