Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Tucumcari resident Richard Lewis has survived diabetes, two strokes, several heart surgeries and even being struck by lightning. Family members say he's showing signs of surviving coronavirus, as well. "He has nine lives, I'm sure," Lewis' former wife, Jennifer Lewis, said Saturday in an interview during a conference call with her adult stepson, Christopher Lewis, also of Tucumcari. They revealed some of the details behind the man who may be Quay County's first confirmed coronavirus case, which...
Warren Frost called him “the consummate farmer and rancher, always on the cutting edge of new developments.” Thom Moore said he was “a man of values. Just an upstanding citizen. A huge supporter of rural eastern New Mexico.” And Lance Adkins said, “He was solid gold. I can’t believe he’s gone.” By all accounts, eastern New Mexico lost one of its finest citizens early Saturday following his diagnosis with coronavirus. Paul Quintana, 76, was hospitalized in Tampa after contracting COVID-19 on a cruise ship. According to a story in early April...
A second case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Quay County, according to a daily news release Saturday afternoon from the New Mexico Department of Health. The person who contracted coronavirus in the county is identified as a male age 40 to 49, according to the health agency. The state typically does not give the name or town where the victim resides. To date, more than 55 people have been tested for the virus in Quay County, with no deaths. Quay County’s first case was reported April 11, also a man age 40 to 49. The total number of C...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees placed the appointment of an interim president on its regular meeting agenda for Tuesday, according to a fax sent by the college Friday afternoon. That means the current president, John Groesbeck, may be fired. Groesbeck was placed on paid administrative leave for unspecified reasons during the board’s last meeting March 17. The agenda also states an executive session will be held at the beginning of Tuesday’s meeting, which is an unusual occurrence. Most closed sessions at previous meetings occ...
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously rejected a request to hold mail-in voting for the June 2 primary election but ordered the Secretary of State and county clerks to mail applications to all the state's voters so they could receive mailed absentee ballots instead. A total of 27 county clerks in New Mexico petitioned the high court to allow the mail-in election because many prospective polling places remain closed and the risks of infection to voters and election workers during the coronavirus pandemic. The Republican Party of...
Superintendents at Quay County schools last week reported a mostly smooth transition to online learning for students at home in the wake of canceled classes across the state because of the coronavirus pandemic. Tucumcari schools superintendent Aaron McKinney said online learning was "going well" during its opening days last week. He said just a few students haven't answered the district's letters or phone calls during a transition to internet-based classes. McKinney said he had another hurdle...
The latest directive Saturday from New Mexico's governor to stem the spread of coronavirus expanded the state's public-gatherings ban to places of worship - one day before Easter. Numerous area churches, mindful of maintaining social distancing during the pandemic, kept their buildings empty and streamed services on Easter Sunday to parishioners over the internet as they had in previous weeks. One exception was First Christian Church in Tucumcari, which held a drive-in service in its parking...
Today is April 15, and your taxes would normally be due TODAY. But, in light of COVID-19, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has extended the filing deadline to July 15, and, believe it or not, there are no extra forms to file for this extension! In fact, some of you already may have received your COVID-19 stimulus funds by direct deposit without having even filed your 2019 taxes because the government can use your 2018 tax return to determine the amount and how to send the funds. Anyway, many areas of our lives have deadlines, such as renewing...
A local woman recently launched a Quay County Adopt-a-Senior group on social media to recognize area high-school seniors whose final academic year was drastically altered because of the coronavirus pandemic. Amanda Conway, a rural Tucumcari resident whose niece, Julianna Garcia, is slated to graduate this spring from Logan High School, said she created the Facebook group April 3, a couple of weeks after New Mexico Public Education Department called off classes for the rest of the school year due to the virus and transitioned to learn-at-home...
Daniel Holguin-Caldera of Tucumcari recently was initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Holguin-Caldera was initiated at Texas Tech University. Holguin-Caldera is among about 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10% of seniors and 7.5% of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students...
On this date ... 1970: SPACE CENTER, Houston (UPI) — The stricken Apollo 13 spaceship is slightly off course and its astronauts will miss the Earth by 80 miles and soar off into a distant, fatal orbit if a steering correction is not made tonight or Thursday, controllers reported today. “If the descent engine does not burn, we cannot bring them back,” said retro officer Thomas Weichel. (Editor’s note: The astronauts returned home safely. The saga became the Oscar-winning film “Apollo 13” in 1995.) • The Tucumcari school board approved thes...
Note: Events subject to change due to the coronavirus pandemic. • June 25-28 — Rockin’ Route 66. This festival in Tucumcari will be packed with live entertainment, a classic car and hot rod show, a vintage and hand-built motorcycle show, a pin-up contest and fashion show, a cruise down Route 66, a Taste of New Mexico, carnie sideshow performances, Kustom Kulture artists and builders, celebrity guests, a Black Collar Markette and more. More may be found at rockinroute66.com. Most events will be at the Tucumcari Convention Center. • Sept. 2...
Quay County schools will be closed through the rest of the school year because of the coronavirus pandemic. For information on children’s meals provided at each school, go to newmexico.gov/education. 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 — Baked pork chop, stu...
These are extraordinary times. They call for extraordinary measures. But let’s not give up our liberty — especially when government’s “help” in trying to save us from ourselves doesn’t make any sense and won’t prove helpful. Recent executive orders from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham are undoubtedly intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But they are not all well-reasoned and won’t stand up to scrutiny when this is over. Take for example the governor’s list of “non-essential” businesses that must close until the virus is under cont...
Some day soon, we hope, we’ll wake up to learn that the COVID-19 viruses have gone to that place in the cosmos where the nanometer-size undead go when they can’t cause diseases any more. “Ah-h,” we’ll say as we stretch and yawn, “back to normal.” “Normal? Not quite,” economists and other business forecasters are scoffing. We’ll recover, all right, they say, but it won’t be the same. “The coronavirus is not only a health crisis of immense proportions,” according to McKinsey economists Kevin Sneader and Shubham Singhal, “it’s also an imminent re...
Right now, America faces greater economic pain than at any time since the Great Depression. Tens of millions of people have applied for unemployment — including tens of thousands here in New Mexico — and millions more face profound uncertainty about how they will support themselves and their families in the months ahead. Given this extraordinary strain, it is understandable that many wonder when we can get back to work. In recent weeks, the debate between reopening the economy and protecting public health has dominated our national con...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday wrestled with a trimmed-down budget because of the coronavirus pandemic when considering assistance requests to events for the 2021 fiscal year. The board indicated more funding might be available in the fall if tax revenue recovers. In the end, the board recommended $61,500 worth of assistance to events or initiatives out of more than $100,000 requested. It recommended the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce run its operations on leftover for several months, then having the lodgers ta...
Several Quay County-area students were among 36 recipients who received over $131,000 in scholarships from the Plateau Education Foundation last week. These area students received $3,000 Banner scholarships: • Jayden Grace Johnson, San Jon High School • Nathaniel Leigh Kneitz, San Jon High School • Jason Clay Knight, Logan High School • Jaide Esmeralda Roberts, Logan High School • Kesleah Jean Shields, Logan High School • Ryen Gabrielle Stone, Logan High School • Chisum Rye Rush, Grady High School Among the alternatives for the Banner schola...
After only 18 months, Mark Martinez again has officially become Tucumcari’s interim city manager. At Thursday's Tucumcari City Commission meeting, Martinez signed a contract to become Tucumcari’s interim city manager after the resignation of Britt Lusk, whose last day in the job was April 5. Two years ago, Martinez was named interim city manager after the resignation of then-city manager Jared Langenegger. Martinez’s new contract to serve as interim city manager covers 90 days, and his pay for that period will be $19,000, he said, which is 15...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from April 6 to April 12: Monday • 2:57 p.m.: Accident with property damage at First Street and Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 4:02 p.m.: Juvenile problem at South Adams Street and East Dohoney Avenue, Tucumcari. • 5:43 p.m.: Domestic disturbance in 300 block of South Fourth Street, Logan. • 7:43 p.m.: Property damage in 200 block of West Mesa Vista Avenue, Tucumcari. • 8:16 p.m.: Disturbance in 800 block of East Main Street, Tucumcari. • 11:37 p.m.: Domesti...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from April 6 to April 11: • Linda Uvalle Romero, 53, Logan, aggravated battery (no great bodily harm). • Gene Anthony Vargas, 35, Santa Fe, interference with bomb or fire control and criminal damage to property (under $1,000). • David Hames, 54, Kenai, Alaska, aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug (0.16 or above) and careless driving (careless, inattentive or imprudent). • Chaz Sherwood, 31, San Jon, battery on a household member...