Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Two Tucumcari people made their first appearances in magistrate court Friday after they were criminally charged in the death of another resident who was attacked and killed last week by a pack of dogs. Mary Olimpia Montoya, 50, and her son Kristopher Jaquaris Morris, 27, both of the 400 block of West High Street, each was charged earlier in the week with involuntary manslaughter (reckless) and a dangerous dog (death of a person). The dangerous-dog charge is a third-degree felony that can lead up to six years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine....
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees appointed an acting interim president Tuesday night, but not without testy opposition from the executive staff who labeled the move as “retaliatory” against them and accused the board of violating its own policies. The board also approved a solvency plan of salary and program cuts for the financially troubled college and moved to implement it immediately. The move clears the way for the New Mexico Department of Higher Education’s proposal of issuing up to $4.7 million in emergency funds for M...
New Mexico State Police is investigating an aggravated battery in Logan that has left the victim in critical condition. Early Tuesday, a victim was found with severe injuries consistent with an aggravated battery at 1006 Martinez St. in Logan. Logan Police Chief Rodney Paris said Tuesday the victim was “covered in blood” but did not give any more details, citing the NMSP investigation. The victim was airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, and is in critical condition. This investigation remains active as the New Mexico State Police Inv...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees, acting without its embattled president, approved a solvency plan that imposes progressively deeper pay cuts for higher-earning employees and cuts some programs for the financially distressed college. The board during its special meeting Thursday also approved a request of $4.7 million in state emergency funding to carry Mesalands through the end of the fiscal year in June. Officials there recently learned the college had only enough money to cover one more payroll period. The action followed a...
The Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday accepted a $216,803 state grant to repair the city’s municipal swimming pool that the city manager said she hopes to reopen by summer. The city last month received a Regional Recreation Centers/Quality of Life grant to fix the pool, which has been closed since 2019. It was one of 35 such grants issued statewide totaling $45 million. City manager Paula Chacon said she would start the bidding process for the pool, which has a severe leak under it. When asked by a commissioner whether the repairs would be...
Quay County Assessor Janie Hoffman is stepping down later this year after a total of 14 years in the position. Hoffman announced during a closed executive session with Quay County commissioners on Monday that she was resigning effective June 30. “My husband and I are in the process of purchasing Western Plains Title,” Hoffman explained in a phone interview Monday. She anticipated the transaction would close by the time she resigns. “My interpretation (owning a title company) is a conflict of interest,” she added. “That’s why I’m resigning my...
On this date ... 1973: Construction began this week on the main security vault for the new First National Bank building on First Street in Tucumcari, across from the post office. The walls of the vault are 18 inches thick, using 87,000 pounds of No. 5 steel on the walls and floor as well as 187 yards of concrete. A 7-inch-thick steel door will control the entrance to the main vault, which is about 700 square feet. The main vault will be complemented by two other secondary vaults with approximately 900 square feet. — The regular monthly T...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Bacon and cheese frittata wrap, toast, assorted cereal, graham crackers, fresh banana, orange juice, skim or 1% milk; Lunch: Turkey BLT wrap, barbecued pork riblet hoagie, corn on the cob, cucumber, ranch dressing, fresh strawberries, skim, chocolate skim, 1% or strawberry milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Strawberry and yogurt parfait, assorted cereal, graham crackers, fresh apple apple juice, orange juice, skim, 1% or strawberry milk; Lunch: Ham and egg chef salad, hamburger, french fries, creamy col...
• Monday, March 5 — Little League field cleanup day. Show your support for Quay County Little League players by lending a hand and helping clean up the field to get it ready for the upcoming season. Times for the cleanup will be noon on both days. The field is off South 14th Street in Tucumcari. • Feb. 21 — Women’s United Galentine Paint and Sip Night. Have a glass of wine while you paint with other women looking to make a difference in their community. Linda Griggs will teach the class. The event from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Tucumcari Railroad...
Feb. 14 is Valentine’s Day, which I love as a celebration of love. But there’s a lot about its origin I didn’t previously know. First, there are more than one Saint Valentine and the Feb. 14 holiday honors at least two — one in Rome and one in present day Terni, Italy, and maybe a third in Africa, although numerous martyrs were named Valentine. Some churches honor the different Valentines on different dates. The Romans martyred all of the Valentines for their acts of love and service to God by ministering to persecuted Christians. The Valentine...
Quay County’s risk of community spread of COVID-19 dropped back to the “low” level after a two-week spike. The COVID Act Now website that tracks the disease on Friday dropped Quay County’s risk of community spread from the “medium” level. It was in the “high” level two weeks ago. According to COVID Act Now, the county’s rate of new cases rose rose to 72.7 cases per 100,000 people last week, compared to 48.5 the previous week. COVID-19 admissions in the Curry-Roosevelt Health Service Area, which fueled COVID Act Now’s downgraded ratings...
Four reports of shots-fired incidents in Tucumcari last Tuesday night led to a brief lockdown of Rattler Gymnasium after a boys basketball game. Interim Tucumcari Police Chief Patricia Lopez said Wednesday that police had identified two possible suspects in shots-fired incidents, but no arrests had been made. Lopez said the shots-fired calls came from throughout the city. She said no injuries or property damage had been reported. One of the shots-fired calls was reported near West Tucumcari Boulevard, prompting a precautionary lockdown of...
Executive staff for financially troubled Mesalands Community College and representatives from its faculty and staff senates during a special board of trustees meeting Thursday issued scathing criticism of Mesalands President Gregg Busch, who wasn’t present. The faculty and staff senates also criticized the board of trustees for its alleged lack of oversight over Busch and the recent revelations of the college’s poor finances. Both bodies earlier in the week issued no-confidence votes against the board, as well as against Busch. The exe...
President Joe Biden, his approval ratings underwater for most of the past two years, made his case for a second term last week. It’s doubtful he changed many minds. The 80-year-old Democrat droned on for 73 minutes during his State of the Union address, urging voters to let him “finish the job.” He insisted that all is well, that his economic policies have put the nation on a prosperous path. “Two years ago our economy was reeling,” Biden said. “As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs — more jobs created in two yea...
Term limits can be incredibly liberating, as former Republican Gov. Gary Johnson demonstrated when he professed his love for marijuana shortly after winning reelection in 1998. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has the twin advantages of not having to run again, and going into her second term with financial resources that are beyond the wildest dreams of her predecessors. The state exceeded revenue estimates by $3.6 billion during the last fiscal year. The proposed $9.44 billion budget now under consideration is up by $4 billion from when Bill...
The problem with young people today is no one teaches them history. If they knew what the East German government did to their Olympic women athletes in the 1970s and 1980s, for instance, they might understand why it’s not fair for transgender men to compete against women in sports like swimming, tennis and surfing. It’s ancient news now, but before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, East Germany was arguably the most evil communist country in Western Europe. It wasn’t just the lack of political, economic and social freedom or the fact that half...
Eight members of the Tucumcari High School boys wrestling team qualified for this weekend's state tournament. Five Rattlers initially made the cut Saturday during the two-day, 19-team Region 2-4A Championships at Socorro. The top seven from each weight class earned an automatic berth. Tucumcari's five initial qualifiers: - Fernando Ureste (31-7), who finished a team-best third in the 114-pound weight class and went 4-1 on the day. His only loss was a 7-0 decision to Silver's Kade Aguirre in the...
The Ruidoso boys basketball team overcame a double-digit deficit and foul trouble during a 50-45 district victory over Tucumcari last Tuesday at the Snake Pit. The Rattlers, needing a victory to stay alive in the regular-season district race, made too many turnovers and especially failed to convert free throws down the stretch. Tucumcari went 2-for-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter; Ruidoso went 6-for-6 - all in the last 45 seconds. The Warriors went 11-for-14 from the foul line during...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team vaulted into first place in the District 4 standings with victories last week over Ruidoso and Dexter. Last Tuesday, Tucumcari's press defense and a balanced scoring attack led to a solid 60-34 district victory over a somewhat depleted Ruidoso squad at the Snake Pit. The Lady Rattlers' press forced a bunch of turnovers and held the Lady Warriors to just one field goal in the first quarter. That helped give Tucumcari a 16-2 lead, one they wouldn't relinquish....
The Logan boys basketball team led much of the first half, but state-ranked Fort Sumner outscored the Longhorns 45-21 in the second half to prevail 70-47 in a district matchup Saturday. The Longhorns grabbed leads of 6-0 and 11-6 early against the Foxes and maintained a 26-25 advantage at intermission. The Foxes began to take control with an 8-0 run to start the second half and led 50-37 after the third period. Another Fort Sumner scoring run in the fourth quarter gave the Foxes a 20-point lead. “We played a great first half, but we came out a...
The Logan girls basketball team saw an early lead wither away during a 54-41 district loss Saturday at Fort Sumner. The Lady Longhorns took a 15-11 lead in the first quarter and 21-19 in the second. But the Vixens surged to a 29-24 advantage by halftime and expanded it to 44-27 late in the third period. “Shots were not falling through,” Logan coach Dustin Robertson said. “We shot the basketball terribly. Part of that is, no doubt, because of Fort Sumner’s great defense. “We had spurts in the game that we played really well. But we’ve got...
A Tucumcari teen who died in a Jeep accident last month at Five Mile Park was hanging out the vehicle’s window and wasn’t belted into his passenger-side seat when the crash occurred. The driver had been making tight circles, known as doing doughnuts or drifting, when the vehicle overturned onto its side. Those details were revealed in a recently completed and partially redacted Tucumcari Police Department report compiled by Detective Reyes Gonzales, which the Quay County Sun obtained Friday through an open-records request. Interim police chi...
Pieces of wire brush found in mashed potatoes during lunch Wednesday at Tucumcari Public Schools prompted the district to pull the product off its shelves and alert the manufacturer. Superintendent Aaron McKinney, in a social media post Wednesday to parents, said the pieces of wire brush were V-shaped and about 1 inch long. “We have no report of any students ingesting the wire brushes at this time, but all products have been pulled from the shelves,” he wrote. McKinney said Friday he knew of only a couple of instances where the wire brush pie...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Feb. 6 to Feb. 12: Monday — 6:05 a.m.: Theft in 700 block of South Monroe Street, Tucumcari. — 6:42 a.m.: Arrest warrant in 1000 block of South Monroe Street, Tucumcari. — 8:19 a.m.: Vandalism in 800 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. — 8:28 a.m.: Illegal dumping at Quay Roads AO and 65, Tucumcari. — 11:19 a.m.: Vandalism in 300 block of East Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. — 11:36 a.m.: Theft in 200 block of East Center Street, Tucumcari....
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Feb. 3 to Feb. 13: — Lucrecia Kimberly Ulibarri, 21, Tucumcari, two counts of contempt of court. — Fred A. Chavez, 60, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Singh Paramvir, 28, no address listed, aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug (refusal). — Troy D. Cooper, 43, Tucumcari, larceny ($250 or less). — Pancha Rivas, 19, Tucumcari, felony contempt of court. — Kristopher Jaquarias Morris, 27, Tucumcari, keeping animal known to be vicious...