Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 1 - 19 of 19
Two more confirmed COVID-19 deaths were reported last week in Quay County, though the region and state continued to see a relative decline in the number of cases. The latest deaths in the county reported by the New Mexico Department of Health were: • A woman in her 50s who was hospitalized; • A man in his 40s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. Both deaths had occurred more than 30 days ago but weren’t reported by the agency until last week. The death toll in Quay County rose to 39 since the pandemic began in spring 2020. A tot...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board authorized the city manager to explore the possibility of hiring an events coordinator by next month. City Manager Mark Martinez said during the board’s regular meeting Wednesday such a position would help nonprofit organizations maintain annual events in the city and create new festivals, including possibly reviving the long-dormant Pinata Festival. The events coordinator also would organize free concerts at the Tucumcari Convention Center. Martinez said an events coordinator also would promote the C...
If it's going to rain, let's squeeze as much precipitation out of those clouds as possible. That's the idea behind a Texas-based company that has proposed seeding rainclouds this spring over Quay County and other parched areas of eastern New Mexico. Seeding Operations and Atmospheric Research, or SOAR, based in San Angelo, Texas, took out legal ads in January in the Quay County Sun and in newspapers in Clovis, Fort Sumner, Roswell, Hobbs and Carlsbad. SOAR is requesting a "weather control and...
Local restaurateur Todd Duplantis recently purchased the Pow Wow Restaurant and Lizard Lounge in Tucumcari from the ownership group that held it for about 20 years. Duplantis said he closed the deal in late January on the buyout of the company, DFL Properties, that held the West Tucumcari Boulevard establishment. DFL consists of Jerry Mares, his brother Daniel Mares and Frank Gillard. That deal closed shortly after he opened another restaurant, The Stone’s Sports Grill and Bar, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which he described as a second v...
Lots of us remember where we were when the planes hit the towers on 9/11. Do you remember where you were the next Sunday? If you’re like a lot of Americans, you were in church. I was preaching at the make-shift truck stop chapel at the old Shell Truck Terminal out west of Tucumcari. We normally got between two and four drivers in there to join us. That Sunday morning at 7 o’clock we had close to 20. I received a report that churches around America experienced, on average, about a 400 percent increase in Sunday morning attendance that weekend. M...
19: Tucumcari native Arthur L. White has become the city’s newest police officer. White lived most of his life in San Jon in business with his father at White Water Well Service before becoming an officer. When asked why he decided to become a police officer, he replied that he had been interested in this type of work for a long time and decided to try it. • Russell Stover’s was advertising Valentine’s Day fancy satin heart candy boxes for $3.95 or red foil candy boxes for $4.25. • The United Department Store was advertising ladies dresses a...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • April 29-May 1 — Tucumcari Rawhide Days. The event will include a Texas longhorn show on April 30, a film festival, cattle drive on Route 66 and more. For more details, go to tucumcarirawhidedays.com. • June 24-26 — Rockin’ Route 66. This event will feature live music, classic cars and more of classic Americana. More details will be announced later at rockinroute66.com. • Aug. 4-7 — Tucumcari Rattler Reunion. This annual event for all Rattler alumni primarily will take place at...
The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center also offer grab-and-go meals to those who qualify. Those interested should call the Tucumcari facility at 575-461-2307 or the Logan facility at 575-487-2287 for more information. Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Bagel, cream cheese, craisins, orange juice, skim or 1% milk; Lunch: Turkey and cheese sandwich, pepperoni pizza, baby carrots, cauliflower, ranch dressing, frozen vegetable cup or Sunbelievables, skim, 1% or chocolate skim milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Whole-grain donut rin...
Quay County sheriff’s deputies last week helped apprehend five juveniles from Texas in a stolen vehicle who briefly led officers on a high-speed chase south of Tucumcari. According to a law-incident report by the sheriff’s office, deputy Larry Cooksey the evening of Jan. 30 was sent to Highway 209 south of Tucumcari to check on a Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle with Texas plates coming from Curry County. The SUV had been stolen from Randall County, Texas, and was believed to be occupied by two male juveniles and three female juveniles, inc...
San Jon Municipal Schools’ superintendent told the school board during a special meeting the district had just received a $243,750 grant to pay for three educational assistants in the classroom through June 2024. Superintendent Janet Gladu said at the start of the Jan. 31 meeting she had been notified about receiving the Educator Fellow Grant. The money, which comes from federal coronavirus relief funds, will cover salaries, licensing, stipends and other expenses for the next 2 1/2 years, she said. “Basically, like like an internship with our...
We join the many New Mexicans and others around the nation who are pulling for a full and speedy recovery for U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján. News on Feb. 1 that the congenial 49-year-old lawmaker from Nambé had suffered a stroke five days earlier shocked New Mexicans and national leaders in Congress, the White House and beyond. Luján’s chief of staff, Carlos Sanchez, says Luján is expected to make a full recovery. That’s very good news. As many New Mexicans know from the experience of their loved ones, strokes are serious diseases that affect...
There is room in this world for many different beliefs, even those that are wrong. Beliefs are only truly incompatible when one of them includes the belief that it’s OK to force others to believe one particular thing. Or, more accurately, to force others to pretend they believe, since belief can’t be imposed. Any such belief discredits itself; no valid belief has to be forced on others. I’m fine with the beliefs of others, even beliefs I think are crazy. It’s only when those believers start trying to force their beliefs on me that I have a prob...
As a professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Dr. L.T. Williams had a way of making history multidimensional. He gave history meaning for the present-day world. As a student pursuing my degree at UALR, I recognized his teaching talents early on. Initially, I took his course in U.S. history up to the Civil War and loved it so much that the next semester I jumped straight into his second U.S. history overview, from the Civil War to the present day, then I delved into both of his Black history classes, and another on the...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team righted itself after a tough district loss earlier in the week with a resounding 46-24 victory Saturday against New Mexico Military Institute at Roswell. The Lady Rattlers led 12-8 after one quarter and 28-11 at intermission. Tucumcari improved to 10-8 overall and 1-1 in Class 3A’s District 4. Alexus Lafferty scored 18 points, and July Lafferty added 10 for the Lady Rattlers. “I was satisfied how the girls played on both ends of the floor,” Tucumcari coach Patrick Benavidez said. “We rebounded well against...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team endured a rough start to their district schedule, losing both games last week on the road at Dexter and New Mexico Military Institute. The Rattlers fell 60-42 on Saturday to NMMI at Roswell, though Tucumcari coach John Span said the game was closer than the score indicated. The Rattlers closed within two points of the Colts in the second half before the host team pulled away. “We were pressing at the end, and we were giving up some easy baskets,” Span said. “That’s the reason they pulled away the way they di...
LOGAN – The Lady Longhorns basketball team suffered a damaging blow for their chance at a district title with a 40-32 loss to Melrose on Friday. Logan went about nine minutes without a field goal late in the first quarter and most of the second. That set up the Lady Buffalos for a 10-0 scoring run and a double-digit lead. Melrose never trailed the rest of the game. Logan (16-5, 3-2) still can tie for first place in Class 1A's District 6, but it will need help from others to catch Fort S...
LOGAN – Better shooting and a shift in defensive strategy turned what was expected to be a competitive game into 77-32 boys basketball blowout Friday for Melrose against district rival Logan. Melrose (13-4, 4-1) stormed to a 25-1 lead in the first quarter and fattened its advantage to 30 midway through the second period and 40 halfway through the third. Logan (6-14, 2-4) didn't tally its first field goal until Park Strong, who led the Longhorns with 11 points, scored an inside bucket with 7...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5: — Heidi Holt, 60, Cave City, Arkansas, criminal damage to property (over $1,000). — Grady Lee Loveland, 24, Springer, contempt of court. — Jedidiah Smith, 44, Tucumcari, disorderly conduct. — Ashley A. Nolan, 39, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Dominick Rodriguez, 29, Tucumcari, residential burglary, aggravated battery (great bodily harm) and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. — John Calbert, 59, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Jo...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Jan. 31 to Feb. 6: Monday — 4:11 a.m.: Domestic disturbance in 700 block of West Sunset Avenue, Tucumcari. — 9:07 a.m.: Theft in 700 block of West Sunset Avenue, Tucumcari. — 10:11 a.m.: Found property in 2600 block of South Adams Street, Tucumcari. — 10:38 a.m.: Trespassing in 200 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. — 10:41 a.m.: Unattended death in 700 block of West Sunset Avenue, Tucumcari. — 11:16 a.m.: Civil dispute in 1700 block of So...