Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Police arrested and jailed a Tucumcari man after he was accused of injuring two people with a shotgun blast Saturday night after an argument in a south Tucumcari neighborhood. Juan Rubio, 40, has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, all felonies, Tucumcari Police Sgt. Shaun Slate said on Monday. The aggravated battery counts were the most serious charge — a third-degree felony that could lead up to t...
Quay County remained in the coveted turquoise zone in the latest COVID-19 risk assessments announced today by the New Mexico Department of Health despite an upswing in cases since mid-April. Quay County’s latest assessment showed the spike in coronavirus cases. From April 20 to May 3, its daily cases per 100,000 people was 26.4, well above the new metric of 10. Its test-positivity rate was 15.35%, well above the metric of 7.5%. The county had recorded more than 30 cases since April 19, prompting the partial closing or large-scale quarantines a...
Because of recent coronavirus outbreaks, Quay County could lose its weeks-long turquoise status this week despite the recent loosening of standards with the state’s COVID-19 assessment criteria. The possibility of the county dropping into the red or yellow zone when the next assessment is announced Wednesday could lead to more restrictions for businesses, including the closing of indoor dining and bars with the worst-case scenario. The Logan ZIP code has recorded 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since mid-April. San Jon has recorded five in less...
A Quay County jury failed to reach verdict Friday afternoon with a former Logan Municipal Schools teacher’s whistleblower and retaliation lawsuit against the district’s superintendent, resulting in a mistrial. Logan lawyer Warren Frost, representing plaintiff Rhyan Daugherty in the case, said Friday the jury of nine men and three women voted 9-3 in favor of his client, one short of winning the case. The jurors advanced no further after 3 1/2 hours of deliberation inside the Tucumcari courthouse. Barring a settlement, Frost said the lawsuit aga...
Tucumcari High School has been selected as a finalist in the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam challenge with its plan to develop a small-scale and portable emergency alarm button. Lemelsom-MIT InvenTeams are groups of high school students, educators and mentors that invent technological solutions to real-world problems of their choosing. Students rely on inquiry and hands-on problem-solving as they use science, technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM, to develop prototypes. About a dozen previous finalists have earned patents for their...
In my last two columns, I highlighted the Bible’s view of immigrants. That is, they are to be welcomed and loved as brothers. Foreigners in Israel were expected to follow God’s one law, but were not made full citizens until after a process of conversion. This all comports with the original American vision. There is no Constitutional authority given to regulate immigration. In fact, the first restrictive immigration law was not put in place until 1925. Until then, “coming legally” to America...
On this date ... 1971: A 7-year-old child was pronounced dead on arrival at Trigg Memorial Hospital and three family members from Duncan, Oklahoma, were admitted for evaluation after the child apparently asphyxiated from carbon monoxide poisoning. The family was en route to McChord Air Force Base in Washington state in a car they recently purchased. A hospital spokesman said three surviving family members were in good condition. • District Judge J.V. Gallegos ordered the dismissal of two charges of LSD possession against a defendant after t...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Sept. 25 — Fired Up Festival. A variety of booths, live entertainment and a fireworks show are on tap at the Historic Railroad Depot Plaza area of downtown Tucumcari. More details about the festival will be announced later. • Sept. 25 — Wheels on Fire 100. Cyclists take on 50-mile, 100-kilometer and 100-mile courses along Route 66, Highway 469 and Highway 209 in Quay County. Two of the races include cash and prizes. Register at www.bikereg.com/wheels-on-fire-100. To submit items f...
The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center remain closed to the public indefinitely but will deliver meals to those who qualify. Those interested in meal deliveries should call the Tucumcari facility at 461-2307 and the Logan facility at 487-2287 for more information. Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, string cheese, red grapes, 100% apple juice, skim milk, 1% milk; Lunch: Green Frito pie, pinto beans, lettuce salad, fresh tomatoes, picante sauce, fresh orange, skim milk, chocolate skim milk, 1% milk. T...
New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Vigil, the longest-serving member of the court, announced last week she plans to retire at the end of June. Vigil joined the state's highest court in December 2012 and was chief justice from 2014 to 2016. She was a district court judge in the 1st Judicial District of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties from 2000 until her election to the high court. She became chief judge of the district in 2011. For 10 years while on the district court, she presided over Children's Court cases, which...
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday said New Mexico’s red-to-turquoise COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted once 60% of the state’s residents are fully vaccinated against the disease. That is projected to happen by late June. Following guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention earlier in the week, the state also lifted the mask mandate for outdoor exercise. Masks will continue to be required indoors indefinitely. Regarding the projected reopening of the state’s economy, Lujan Grisham said: “We are conquer...
Texas has a lot to celebrate when it comes to growth and prosperity, and we can now add to that celebration the number two, as in two additional congressional seats that the state picked up in the 2020 census. Texas is entitled to the seats because we continue to add new residents to our state, either through birth or through their decision to come to their senses and get here as fast as they could. It’s a testament to reality that people and businesses want to be here. But as we perused the national press, we found more than one story that c...
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....
There’s believing your own press releases. And then, there’s believing your own delusions of grandeur. Joe Biden should look at the mirror every day and see a president elected on the basis of the unpopularity of his predecessor at a time when the country was slammed by a once-in-100-years pandemic. Instead, by every account, he sees a transformative leader with a mandate to change America as rapidly and irreversibly as possible. As the news site Axios noted, Biden wants his next 100 days to be “more audacious” than his first 100, as he seek...
COVID-19 cases cut short the already abbreviated seasons for the Tucumcari and San Jon basketball programs last week. At Tucumcari, one case among a student forced the school district to send 52 students home who were in close contact to quarantine. As a result, the Rattlers’ final two games against New Mexico Military Institute and Dexter — the latter which already had been rescheduled due to a COVID-19 case there — were canceled. A Tucumcari baseball game scheduled at Robertson on Thursday also was canceled. And several district games for L...
The Tucumcari wrestling team salvaged an 18-18 tie against Moriarty on Saturday during a meet at Robertson despite the Rattlers missing five athletes due to a COVID-19 quarantine. Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias was very pleased with his athletes’ performance. “They looked good,” he said. “To be able to take just seven guys and get a tie, that’s unusual. I called them afterwards ‘The Magnificent Seven’; they all did the job they were supposed to. Even in their losses, they didn’t get stuck (with a pin). That helps a lot.” Tucumcari coach E...
LOGAN - The Logan boys basketball team on Friday not only lost a chance to down undefeated and defending Class 1A champion Melrose, but it also lost a chance at its usual postseason berth. Melrose's Tate Sorgen sank two free throws with 31.2 seconds left to provide his team's decisive margin, and Garrett Bollinger's 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have tied the game missed during a 54-51 Buffaloes victory. COVID-19 outbreaks essentially prevented the Longhorns from claiming its usual...
LOGAN - COVID-19 outbreaks took away a sizable part of the Logan girls basketball team's schedule and its head coach on Friday. It also effectively took away its usual postseason berth after the Lady Longhorns lost to defending Class 1A champ Melrose 49-31. Logan head coach Glynna Strand was recovering after contracting the disease last month but didn't feel well enough to guide her team Friday. Assistant coaches Dustin Robertson and Robert Young guided the team instead. Playing their first...
The Tucumcari High School golf teams completed their first tournament of the season Friday at the Texico Tournament at Farwell Country Club in Farwell, Texas, with Dennis Birch finishing 11th overall. Also for the Rattlers, Ayden Otero finished 12th and Billy Otero was 14th. Alexis Miller also competed for Tucumcari, but girls scores were not posted. “They were nervous at first,” Tucumcari coach Donnie Garcia said of his players. “Neither of them have played competitively in high school. Overall, I think they recovered and finished stron...
A district judge has ordered both parties into mediation regarding a former Mesalands Community College president’s whistleblower and retaliation lawsuit after college fired him last year. If mediation fails, John Groesbeck’s lawsuit will go to trial in a Quay County courtroom in February 2023. According to an order filed Wednesday by 9th Judicial District Judge David Reeb Jr., Groesbeck, Mesalands and their lawyers will attempt mediation to resolve the dispute before January and again by the end of November 2022 if the first attempt fai...
The Tucumcari Talking Tour on Saturday launched a fundraiser to help restore the city’s historic neon signs by selling vintage ceramic tile salvaged from the Cactus RV Park that was demolished in January. The Talking Tour stated in a Facebook post it saved 40 almond-colored ceramic tile manufactured before World War II from the motel and RV park, which was razed to make way for an O’Reilly Auto Parts store. The tile will be sold for $25, plus $8.40 in shipping, and come with a certificate of authenticity. A metal stand for the tile also is avai...
A California man accused of robbing convenience stores in Tucumcari and San Jon on Saturday morning was apprehended later that day in Texas. New Mexico State Police said in a news release Monday that Darious Parker, 28, of Eureka, California, and will be charged with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He will be extradited back to New Mexico. The first heist occurred about 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Circle K at 2624 S. First St., near Interstate 40. The Tucumcari Police Department stated on...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from April 29 to May 2: • Adrianna Danielle Romero, 38, no address listed, battery on a household member (third offense). • Misty Soudelier, 41, no address listed, embezzlement of a motor vehicle (first offense). • Ramon Cossio-Reyes, 27, Iowa City, Iowa, driving under the influence of liquor (impaired; first offense), reckless driving, no driver’s license and open drink container. • Jessia Garcia, 34, Mesa, Arizona, criminal trespass (posted). • Ramon Fares Jaramillo,...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from April 26 to May 2: Monday • 11:13 a.m.: Fight in 900 block of South Mountain Road, Tucumcari. • 11:24 a.m.: Disturbance in 900 block of Garcia Street, Logan. • 2:17 p.m.: Arrest warrant at East Tucumcari Boulevard and South Rock Island Street, Tucumcari. • 4:15 p.m.: Civil dispute in 700 block of North Second Street, Tucumcari. • 5:32 p.m.: Trespassing in 3600 block of Quay Road 64, Tucumcari. • 9:41 p.m.: Illegal burning in 1500 block of South Jackson Str...