Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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A Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday barely approved a resolution that asks New Mexico Bank & Trust to rethink the planned closing of its Logan branch later this year. The resolution split by a 3-2 vote in favor of the measure. Commissioners Mike Cherry, Christopher Arias and Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield voted for it. Mayor Pro Tem Ralph Moya and Commissioner Paul Villanueva cast votes against it. The resolution requests Iowa-based HTLF, which owns New Mexico Bank & Trust, to “reconsider” its decision to close its Logan branch. Moya noted banks...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from March 21 to March 27: Monday — 10:38 a.m.: Accident with injuries at milepost 343, Interstate 40, Tucumcari. — 11:40 a.m.: Domestic disturbance in 1100 block of East Main Street, San Jon. — 12:01 p.m.: Child custody problem in 200 block of Carp Street, Logan. — 2:22 p.m.: Fraud in 200 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. — 2:52 p.m.: Trespassing in 400 block of North Fourth Street, Logan. — 4:19 p.m.: Protective custody in 300 block of East Miel de Lun...
CLOVIS — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has called the state Legislature back to Santa Fe for a special session slated to start April 5. Legislators wrapped up their regular session Feb. 17. “We just have to work on three things,” said state Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview. “Funding this special session, introducing a bill, which should be a carbon copy of the funding bill she vetoed with her changes and a rebate for state residents. “They should have this all worked out in advance and we should all be done in about 15 minutes,” Woods said. House...
A South Carolina-based music composer recently was in Tucumcari to soak up inspiration for his forthcoming "Route 66 Suite" orchestral composition. Nolan Stolz said he's found plenty of it in this region. "I have very specific things about Tucumcari that will go into the music," he said. Stolz, an associate professor of music at University of South Carolina Upstate, took a sabbatical in July to travel Route 66 and conduct research for his symphonic piece. He said he tries to stay overnight at...
Semi-retired history professor David H. Stratton was 75 years old when he began his research into the history of Tucumcari, his hometown. Twenty years later, Stratton's book, "Tucumcari Tonite!: A Story of Railroads, Route 66 and the Waning of a Western Town," has been published by University of New Mexico Press and is available for purchase on April 1. Though it took two decades for it to come to fruition, Stratton said he never thought composing the book was tedious. "The writing of it was a l...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Sunday — Wranglers 4-H Club political candidates forum. Quay County candidates have been invited to this forum at the Quay County Fairgrounds Exposition Center. A dessert auction fundraiser will be held for the club that day. 2 p.m. • April 13 — Culpepper & Merriweather Circus. Performances at 5 and 7:30 p.m.; tickets will be available at Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, 404 W. Route 66 Blvd., Tucumcari Historical Museum, 416 S. Adams St., and Tucumcari Welcome Center/...
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: Pancake sausage on a stick, banana, orange juice, skim or 1% milk; Lunch: Ham and cheese chef salad, Beijing chicken, brown rice, California blend vegetables, mandarin oranges, skim, 1% or chocolate skim milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Variety scone, apple, grape juice, skim or...
On this date ... 1972: Local merchants and shoppers again will be given the opportunity to study plans for the downtown area and decide whether they want the present closed-mall design, a modified mall design or leave downtown as it is, with no mall. The meeting (no date has been set up yet) was set up last night during a special meeting of the Urban Development Project Area Committee. Committee Chairman Warren Ackerman said what appeared to be the problem in the previous week’s Urban Development meeting was a lack of communication between t...
This Friday is April Fool’s Day; I hope everyone survives. The origin of this holiday has been widely disputed, and it’s considered an official holiday only in Odessa, Ukraine. I wonder if they have a trick up their sleeves planned this year. Anyway some biblically non-scholars centuries-ago connected April Fool’s Day with Noah releasing the first dove from the ark before the water had receded, stating it occurred on April 1 and calling it a foolish move on Noah’s part. First, the biblical account gives Noah’s reasoning for sending the dove...
Only five cases of COVID-19 were reported last week in Quay County by the New Mexico Department of Health, extending a weeks-long low ebb of the disease. The total number of confirmed cases in the county in the previous week was six. The total number of cases in the county rose to 1,992 since the pandemic began in spring 2020. According to state epidemiology reports, Quay County’s COVID-19 case rate remained at 11.1 new cases per 100,000 people from March 8 to March 21 — the same as the previous reporting period. The county’s test-positivity le...
Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee worked overtime to trip up Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson or capture a gotcha moment for the cameras during her marathon confirmation hearing last week. The spectacle was exhausting to watch, but like the nominees who went before her in recent years, Jackson handled the questions with dignity and aplomb — unlike her questioners. Democrats have also had their share of low-blow attempts to defeat conservative Supreme Court nominees. Two notable examples are Brett Kavanaugh and C...
Life is too short to waste it trying to govern other people. If you’re honest you’ll admit you have enough to keep you busy just controlling – governing -- yourself. Even if you have it all worked out and you are perfect, your perfection collapses the moment you try to govern someone besides yourself. It’s your responsibility to govern yourself. It’s not your responsibility to govern anyone else. In fact, governing others is something no one has the right to do. Nor can you delegate to someone else a right you don’t have. Being in the majorit...
All this national news about Supreme Court judges has me thinking about the judges who make day-to-day differences in our lives, namely, the lower court judges who live and die among us. As a journalist, I’ve known many judges through the years, and have bittersweet memories of one district judge in particular. I came to know him quite well as a reporter in Conway, Ark. His name was Watson Villines, a young man in his 30s who took the higher standards of his job quite seriously. He followed the law in his courtroom, but he also sought to e...
Because an estimate 300,000 people in New Mexico are diabetic and 640,000 are prediabetic, the New Mexico Department of Health is encouraging residents to take a free online test to screen themselves for risk of the disease. Six out of 10 adults with prediabetes are unaware of their condition. Without a diagnosis, those adults are unable to take the important steps to prevent or delay the progression of diabetes. The screening website is at doihaveprediabetes.org. It asks seven questions, then evaluates the test-taker’s risk from a 1-to-10 s...
The Tucumcari chapter of Altrusa International recently set up its fifth site of its Li'l Libraries in Quay County. Altrusa members converted an old phone bank area at the Circle K convenience store at 2624 S. First St. into a sunflower mural and library. The rest of the other sites use old newspaper vending machines to store the books. Altrusa Li'l Libraries provide free books for all ages, focusing on children's books. Anyone can take a book or two; they do not need to be returned. The other...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from March 21 to March 27: • Jonathan R. Baros Y Dow, 31, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Pete Ottis Risper, 47, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Lonnie D. Allsup, 32, Clovis, contempt of court. • Monica Marie Bradley, 41, Tucumcari, aggravated assault against a household member (deadly weapon), criminal damage to property of a household member (over $1,000), trafficking (by distribution) and leaving the scene of an accident (property damage). • Kristopher Jaquarias Morris, 2...
Tucumcari second-grader Trinity Gonzales recently won the Elks Regional Hoop Shoot national semifinals in Texas and is advancing to next month's championship competition in Chicago. Trinity, sponsored by Tucumcari Elks Lodge 1172, made 21 of 25 free throws in the age 8-9 girls division at the Southwest Region championships at R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, Texas. Trinity said she was nervous before the Texas competition but prepared with lots of practice. Her mother, Heather, said...
LOGAN - The Class 1A track and field championships are weeks away, but Logan already appears to be strong contenders. Both of Logan's boys and girls rose to the top in the team standings of the 15-team Logan Varsity Meet on Saturday, with several athletes logging qualifying times or distances for the state meet. "I felt like both teams competed well, considering we were on spring break last week," Logan coach Robert Young said, noting several athletes also improved their times in previously...
The Lady Rattlers softball team grabbed a big early lead, then held on during the last few innings for an 11-8 victory on March 22 to hand Santa Rosa its loss of the young season. Tucumcari (4-3) got big production from the top of the batting order, with Harley McKinney, Haisley Huffman and Alexus Lafferty combining for 10 runs scored and seven stolen bases. They fueled the Lady Rattlers taking a 10-3 lead after three innings. Mireya Estrada earned a complete-game victory for Tucumcari. She...
In a rematch of last season’s Class 1A championship game, the Logan and Gateway Christian baseball teams split a doubleheader Friday at Roswell. Logan, the defending 1A champ, won the opener 4-3, and Gateway took the nightcap 13-3, handing the Longhorns their first loss of the young season. In the opener, Logan scored three in the sixth inning to take a decisive 4-2 lead. Brock Burns went 2-for-3 batting with two RBI. Park Strong, pitching four innings in relief, struck out five and allowed one run. Logan coach Kyle Griffiths praised his team’s...
The Tucumcari baseball team suffered four more losses last week but inched closer to its first victory since 2019. At the West Las Vegas Tournament, the Rattlers (0-5) barely dropped the opener 4-3 to East Mountain on Thursday, then lost a 10-9 decision to Taos on Friday. The Rattlers then fell in the seventh-place game 11-2 to Socorro on Saturday. New Tucumcari coach George Montano was pleased with his team’s performance against East Mountain. The Rattlers rallied with a run to tie it in the top of the seventh inning, and the Timberwolves won...
A Logan softball team that virtually is rebuilding from scratch dropped its season-opening doubleheader to Dora by scores of 17-1 and 27-5 on Friday. The Lady Longhorns played their first game since 2019 after the program took a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Logan also is a young team, with a roster that contains only four seniors and no juniors. Dora improved to 4-1 overall. “Dora is an excellent team,” Logan coach Dustin Robertson said. “The girls are having fun and glad to be playing softball again. We are working hard to ge...