Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The seemingly far-away coronavirus epidemic suddenly affected virtually all households in Quay County in recent days with closed schools, canceled or postponed events and, most recently, restrictions on bars and restaurants that may persist for several weeks. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week declared a state of emergency, ordered the closing of all public schools through April 3, banned all public gatherings of more than 100 people, and the state's Department of Health ordered nursing...
New Mexico's governor on Wednesday ratcheted up efforts to slow the coronavirus pandemic by ordering restaurants to close their doors Thursday and allow only take-out orders or deliveries, plus requiring hotels to operate at only 50% of capacity. Repeatedly stressing the need for “social distancing” to slow the spread of the virus, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during a news conference Wednesday that bars, breweries and food establishments will be limited to takeout service and home delivery only. Several restaurants in Tucumcari, inc...
Clashes over the city’s marketing efforts and nuisance ordinance marked Thursday’s meeting of the Tucumcari City Commission, as well as an announcement that city employees had filed complaints about public mistreatment by two city commissioners. The complaint likely will become the first test of the city’s ethics ordinance passed in August. It was filed against District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya, who opposed the ordinance, and District 2 Commissioner Paul Villanueva, who was elected to the commission in November, according to an annou...
Neither cold, nor rain, nor coronavirus could stop participants from making molten metal for sculptures Friday during the 22nd annual Iron Pour at Mesalands Community College. Susan Byrnes, an artist from Cincinnati who attended the first Iron Pour during the late 1990s, said the artists paid little mind to the ongoing pandemic that has disrupted the U.S. and much of the rest of the world in recent weeks. "I think, if anything, this was sort of a respite of what's going on in the madness of the...
Citing budget concerns in the wake of plunging oil prices, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week vetoed a $50 million transportation-projects bill that earmarked $215,000 for a roadway maintenance vehicle for Tucumcari. The governor in the same week also line-item vetoed about $110 million worth of capital-outlay projects throughout the state for the same reasons, though $2.06 million in Quay County projects emerged unscathed from those cuts. Quay County manager Richard Primrose said Thursday morning he printed out and...
An inadvertent cable cut led to phone and Internet outages in Tucumcari for several hours Wednesday afternoon. Vince Tyson, a spokesman at Plateau Telecommunications in Clovis, stated in an email a fiberoptic cable was cut about 1 p.m. Wednesday during utility work near its main equipment building in Tucumcari. “Due to the location, it disrupted service to the majority of our fiber customers,” he stated. “We were able to splice in a temporary cable to restore service to the majority of the customers, but some customers near our building remai...
Editor’s note: Some of these events may be postponed or canceled with state and federal recommendations on large gatherings. Readers are encouraged to contact organizers of each event as they near. • April 4 — Spring Hop Along. Join Tucumcari MainStreet, Quay County Extension Service and the Quay County Health Council as we follow the clues to find the Easter Bunny! Contact the Quay County Health Council for more information. The fun begins at 10 a.m. at the Tucumcari MainStreet office. 100 Railroad Ave., Tucumcari. • April 24-25 — Father’s...
Editor’s Note: Quay County schools will be closed through April 3 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center also will be 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 Senior Center Wednesday — Hawaiian pork, tossed salad with dressing, whole-wheat roll with margarine, strawberries with vanilla pudding. Thursday — S...
On this date ... 1970: State Sen. William A. Sego, known as The Flying Fundraiser, of Bernalillo made a stop in Tucumcari today with a fistful of tickets to sell for a GOP fundraiser event, featuring “An Evening with Art Linkletter,” scheduled for April 11 in Albuquerque. Sego said he usually travels to three towns a day in his Piper Comanche plane and will cover a total of 4,000 miles in his fundraising efforts. • Southwest Motors at Fourth and Aber streets in Tucumcari was offering a one-owner 1968 Dodge Dart for $1,595. The car comes with...
A company is recalling cooked butterfly shrimp because it may be contaminated with bacteria that causes illnesses. The product is cooked butterfly tail-on whiteleg shrimp distributed by AFC Distribution Corp. of California. The shrimp may be contaminated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a bacterium that can cause gastrointestinal illnesses. The shrimp has been distributed to groceries in dozens of states, including New Mexico and Texas. Those with questions may contact AFC’s recall team at (866) 467-8744 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time on w...
If it’s on Facebook, it must be true. Right? Wrong. Even though the social media giant has said it’s taking steps to monitor fake news stories, the proliferation of such stories makes it unlikely they’ll be squelched. Older Americans may be more vulnerable to accepting fake news as fact and sharing that false or misleading article. A 2019 study showed fake news is more likely to be shared by older Americans on Facebook than younger counterparts. Older Americans vote more often than younger people, so the impact of false news is magnified when...
The impact of coronavirus has struck locally, even in isolated, rural Quay County, New Mexico. To my knowledge, as of this writing, Quay County has not recorded a case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, but the state of New Mexico is doing everything it can to stop or slow the spread for the time being, and Quay County has not been exempted. Nor should we be. Thanks to our hosting of an iconic segment of Historic Route 66, we draw tourists from all over the world, so Tucumcari cannot claim to be isolated from a world-wide epide...
There’s a virus threatening the health of America, all right. But it’s not new, not from a foreign country and it’s not the coronavirus. The virus Americans need to fear the most today is the political left. The Pelosi-Schumer Democrats and their permanently distraught soulmates in the Trump-hating liberal mainstream media are trying harder than ever to hurt the president at every turn. The president has been doing his best to protect us from the coronavirus without sowing panic in the streets and in the toilet paper aisles at Costco. He acted...
When driving away from home, we generally travel a couple of car lengths east, then make a gentle U-turn westward. Recently as I was pulling away, I noticed two lines of information on my truck’s instrument panel. The first said, “492 MILES TO E,” and the second said, “E 211608 mi.” As soon as I made the U-turn, the top line remained the same, but the second line changed to, “W 211608 mi.” So, I think I probably found the halfway point between “E” and “W” because I was headed west and should arrive at “E” in 492 miles. Certainly by now y...
The mandatory three-week break from classes at New Mexico public schools because of the coronavirus pandemic also means no games and no practice sessions until at least April 6. Tucumcari High School athletic director and track coach Wayne Ferguson said the meets and games affected by the break won't be made up. That trims at least seven games off the Rattlers' baseball schedule, including the previously scheduled home opener against Santa Rosa on March 24. Tucumcari's boys and girls track...
Depleted by injuries, the ninth-seeded Tucumcari girls basketball team reached the end of the line of the Class 3A quarterfinals during a 67-55 loss March 10 to top-seeded and eventual state champion Navajo Prep, despite senior Ashley Shipley’s heroic 38 points for the Lady Rattlers. Tucumcari, which ended its season with a 19-11 record, fell behind 13-0 and 20-2 in the first half during the game at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, two days before the New Mexico Activities Association banned all fans and media from state-tournament g...
The fourth quarter of Saturday's Class A championship game gave an empty feeling to the Logan girls basketball team, and it wasn't just because it was playing in a virtually vacant arena. The top-seeded Lady Longhorns (26-5) failed to score in the last 3 minutes, 45 seconds during a 47-39 loss to second-seeded and district rival Melrose (26-4), which finally earned a crown after losing its previous three state-title games. Though Logan won three of five games against Melrose this season, it...
Two sitting Tucumcari city commissioners will face each other in the Republican primary for Quay County Commissioner District 2 on June 2. District 5 city commissioner Todd Duplantis and District 4 city commissioner Chris Arias each filed for the county's District 2 during the final hour of filing for primary elections March 10 at the Quay County Clerk's Office. They also will face a third primary challenger for the seat, Jerri Rush of Forrest. Current Quay County District 2 commissioner Mike...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from March 9 to March 15: Monday • 9 a.m.: Court order violation in 200 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. • 10:50 a.m.: Court order violation in 200 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. • 12:38 p.m.: Trespassing in 200 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 4:11 p.m.: Arrest in 200 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. • 5:13 p.m.: Citizen dispute in 500 block of East Laughlin Avenue, Tucumcari. • 6:08 p.m.: Lost property in 6400 block of 54...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from March 9 to March 15: • Mark A. Breen, 69, Golden Shores, Arizona, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and negligent use of a deadly weapon near a dwelling or building. • Robert Gallegos, 52, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Joshua Keith, 43, Payson, Arizona, possession of a stolen vehicle, receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles (first offense) and criminal trespass (posted). • Christopher Pender, 40, Tucumcari, failure to comply with specific require...