Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The prospect of a possible five-day work week this fall at Tucumcari Public Schools already is leading to the departure of several educators. Interim superintendent Dave Johnson said during the school board’s regular meeting last Monday at least five to seven teachers or staffers “are not coming back” for the 2024-2025 school year. He said five to seven educators are looking for positions at another school district or another vocation because they don’t want to commute to Tucumcari five days a week. He said some of those teachers reside...
Quay County manager Daniel Zamora said Monday during a budget work session he would advocate a $1-an-hour raises for employees for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, plus additional pay for hard-to-fill positions. Zamora said he considered $2-an-hour raises across the board, but “I don’t see having that wiggle room.” He said he wanted input from commissioners before proceeding. Commission Chairman Robert Lopez agreed with generally keeping raises at $1. He said there were indications that growth in gross receipts tax revenue was beginning to level...
The Tucumcari Film Festival returns Friday and Saturday, and this time all the entries will be screened at the historic Odeon Theatre in what likely will be a last hurrah for the venue's owners. Christy Dominguez, general manager of the Odeon and co-owner with her husband Robert Lopez, said last week they have accepted a local buyout offer for the Odeon, though she wasn't sure when the deal would be completed. Dominguez said they have a second offer awaiting if the contract falls through. This...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Pancake sausage on a stick, assorted cereal, cinnamon graham cracker, fruit cocktail, orange juice, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk; Lunch: Meatball hoagie, turkey and cheese hoagie, french fries, steamed seasoned corn, fresh broccoli, ranch dressing, fruit cocktail, 1%, skim, chocolate skim or strawberry skim milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Assorted cereal, blueberry muffin, string cheese, cinnamon graham cracker, fruit cocktail, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk. Lunch: Pepperoni pizza, ham and cheese san...
On this date ... 1974: State Sen. Jerry Apodaca of Las Cruces, a Democratic candidate for governor, told the Quay County Democratic Women’s Club it cannot assume their candidates will win at the polls in November just because of the Watergate scandal in Washington. “There is a disenchantment with the political system in general,” he said. “Watergate is not the only reason, but the main concern of the people of New Mexico is the creditability of their elected officials. “The No. 1 challenge for the next governor of New Mexico is to improve c...
While traveling back from Albuquerque recently and knowing we’d get home in time for supper for a change, I asked the family whether we should stop along the way or pick something up for supper in Tucumcari. The teenage grandson immediately said he was hungry, which is his typical response, even shortly after lunch. So, we opened the package of beef jerky we keep in the car for such purposes. After finishing the package, I noticed my wife reading the label and asked, “What does it say, ‘Best if used by yesterday’?” After a momentary pause, sh...
The Quay County Clerk’s Office announced last week that voters registered with a major party in New Mexico can request an absentee ballot for the June primary election at nmvote.org or by contacting the County Clerk. All registered major party voters in New Mexico can apply for, receive and vote with an absentee ballot in the primary. This year, voters can opt to be part of the permanent absentee list when requesting their absentee ballot. When a voter chooses this option, he or she will receive an absentee ballot in the mail for every s...
Friday-Saturday — Tucumcari Film Festival. The annual event, themed “Visions of Frontier,” will feature films of adventure, drama and high stakes at the Odeon Theatre. For more information, go to filmfreeway.com/tucumcarifilmfest. May 4 — Quay County rabies clinics. These four locations will offer $15 rabies shots for dogs and cats: Nara Visa fire station from 10:30 to 11:30 Central; Logan city warehouse behind the Annex from 1 to 3 p.m.; San Jon old fire station from 4 to 5 p.m.; and in Tucumcari from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m. at...
Imagine living in a household full of smokers. Whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with each other, so if you want to overcome your problem, you’re going to have do it together. More than one doctor has told you as much, but not everyone in the household believes what the docs say, opting instead for a quack’s opinion that the whole problem is better off ignored. The problem is, you’ve all got to quit together or you will all get sick and die by either first- or second-hand smoking. All that coughing and hacking around the house are obv...
For those too young to fully remember the OJ Simpson trial, it was a television spectacle with all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster. Sex and violence, interracial relationships and marriage, infidelity, alcoholism, sexual deviancy and a host of lurid details that titillated and fascinated the public. Stories covering the trial became daily tidbits, as just about every outlet – from weekly tabloids to highbrow magazines and newspapers – intensely covered the trial. You also had a real life cast of characters that would have been a fic...
“Death to Israel!” “Death to America!” It sounds like something you’d hear chanted by hundreds of brainwashed young people in the streets of Tehran. But as we saw last week, those are the chants of our own children on college campuses. People can agree or disagree on what the Israeli military is doing to the Palestinians in Gaza to punish Hamas for its attack on Oct. 7, or what our State Department is doing wrong in the Middle East. And am I seriously worried about Joe Biden’s weak, confused and destructive foreign policy in the Middle East...
Tucumcari's softball team managed just five hits during an 8-0 district loss Thursday at state-ranked Dexter. The Lady Rattlers trailed 3-0 through four innings, and the Lady Demons scored five in the fifth to seize control. Haisley Huffman went 2-for-3 with two doubles for Tucumcari. Alexis Ramirez, Angel Vasquez and July Lafferty also hit singles for the Lady Rattlers. Tucumcari didn't have many other opportunities against Dexter eighth-grade pitcher Kaylonie Nevarez, who walked one batter...
The Tucumcari baseball team still was searching for its first district win of the season after a doubleheader loss Thursday at Ruidoso by scores of 20-1 and 13-3. The Warriors swamped the Rattlers (3-12, 0-7) with 13 runs in the opening inning of the first game. Ruidoso totaled 26 hits during the contest, while Tucumcari had just three. Pat Garcia went 3-for-3 at the plate and scored Tucumcari’s only run in the third. Logan Sandoval was a one-man wrecking crew for Ruidoso, going 5-for-5 with a home run, a double and seven RBI. Josiah Sanchez p...
GRADY - Look out for the Longhorns. Logan's baseball team dominated formerly No. 1-ranked Grady during a district doubleheader Friday by scores of 14-0 and 12-0, setting up a key clash at district rival and defending Class 1A champion Melrose on Monday. In the first game, the Longhorns belted five home runs - including two each by Mason Wallin and Jace Jackson - and scored in every inning against the Bronchos. Logan ace Kaeden Stoner needed just 55 pitches for a complete-game, five-inning...
The Logan girls track team edged county rival Tucumcari for the team title Saturday at the 19-team Fox-Vixen Relays on Saturday at Fort Sumner. In boys competition, Logan’s Haden Judd won three individual events and was second in another, but the Longhorns finished runner-up in the team standings to district rival Melrose. The Lady Longhorns finished with 75 1/2 team points, while the Lady Rattlers took the runner-up spot with 53 points. The Logan girls had just one individual champion — Makinlee Judd in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 17.4...
The Logan softball team swept a district doubleheader at Pecos by scores of 22-2 and 23-2 on Friday. In the opener, Logan pitcher Zaiyana Grijalva struck out six in three innings and went 2-for-2 with two walks and four runs scored. In the second game, Brookel Smith went 4-for-4 for the Lady Longhorns with two doubles and seven RBI. In the second game, Grijalva struck out six batters again and went 3-for-3 from the plate with three runs scored and two RBI. Kara Bibbs had three RBI and cracked a double that missed being a home run by inches....
The region’s 911 center took another step to moving into new headquarters when it hired an engineer to oversee the transition. The Tucumcari/Quay Regional Emergency Communications Board voted Wednesday to hire WHPacific of Albuquerque, aka NV5, to be the project manager in moving the dispatch center from the Tucumcari Police Department to the former Bob’s Budget Pharmacy building at 511 S. Second St. The contract’s cost would be $51,804, which county manager Daniel Zamora said was below the threshold for more stringent procurement rules for c...
New Mexico’s governor last week announced the appointment of Heidi Adams as district attorney for the 10th Judicial District. Adams’ appointment was effective April 15, according to a news release from the governor’s office. The 10th Judicial District serves Quay, Harding and De Baca counties. Adams, who lives in rural Tucumcari, had served as chief deputy district attorney at the 10th Judicial District since 2015, prosecuting misdemeanor and felony cases. Adams’ appointment to be the region’s district attorney had been expected. Her predecess...
Last fall, the owner of a Tucumcari automotive repair shop offered to crowd-source repairs for a teen's pickup truck for free in exchange for showing the rebuilt vehicle at a street-rod show. He called it "The Dream Build." Nine months later, the teen's parents filed a lawsuit, alleging the repairs hadn't been completed and that the truck be returned. Tony and Rosalee Olguin filed the complaint for return of property and damages on April 11 in Tucumcari District Court against Robert Moore Jr. an...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees during a special meeting last week approved a memorandum of understanding with the Office of the State Auditor regarding the fiscal-year 2023 audit. The audit, which also will cover the college’s foundation, will cost the college $98,280, according to the document. Mesalands interim president Allen Moss said approving the pact could have waited until the board’s next meeting on April 30, but officials “don’t want to be seen as dragging our feet” regarding the audit. The Office of the State Audit...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from April 15 to April 21: — Adrian Julian Rivas, 24, Tucumcari, probation violation. — Seth A. Chavez, 36, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Danford Cross Jr., 38, Tucumcari, battery against a household member. — Daniel Hoffman, 44, Sarasota, Florida, criminal trespass (unposted) and concealing identity. — Nickolas Anson Fragale, 21, Tucumcari, breaking and entering, aggravated battery (no great bodily harm) and criminal trespass (unposted). — Nathan Donald Sims, 39, Tucumca...
New Mexico Supreme Court Justice David K. Thomson last Wednesday was sworn in as chief justice of the court. The justice was elected by his colleagues on the five-member court and will serve a two-year term. He succeeded Justice C. Shannon Bacon, who had served as chief justice since 2022. "I am honored and privileged to assume the leadership of the state's judicial branch of government," Thomson said. "I am grateful to work with all of our committed judges, court staff and judicial partners to...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from April 15 to April 22: April 15 — 7:32 a.m.: Juvenile problem in 200 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. — 8:29 a.m.: Harassment in 200 block of East Center Street, Tucumcari. — 12:57 p.m.: Trespassing in 100 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. — 2:50 p.m. Harassment in 1300 block of East Reed Avenue, Tucumcari. — 3:57 p.m.: Trespassing in 100 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. — 4:41 p.m.: Domestic disturbance in 900 block of So...