Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The Tucumcari Public Schools board last week approved a resolution to pursue a $3 million bond referendum in November to pay for various district improvements. Regina Gaysina, director of the municipal finance department at RBC Capital Markets in Albuquerque, said during the board’s May 15 meeting she recommended the district call a two-mill and general-obligation bond election. Paired with the issuance later this year of a education technology note estimated at $700,000, Gaysina said that would stabilize the district’s property tax rate of...
Daylight on Friday showed the widespread damage from a severe hailstorm and heavy rain that caused flooding late Thursday. The Tucumcari Convention Center, and the Tucumcari Chamber of Commerce building both were closed indefinitely after hailstones broke through and allowed water from torrential rains to pour into those buildings. In the convention center's case, hailstones broke four skylights. The center's accompanying New Mexico Route 66 Museum also was closed due to several inches of water in portions of the building. Tucumcari Police Chie...
Xcel work crews began restoring power in Tucumcari in phases about 2 p.m. today using a big generator in the city, and a spokesman said all homes in the city should have electricity within two hours or so. Xcel workers from Amarillo began to arrive at the Quay County Generating Station in north Tucumcari about 1 a.m. today – about six hours after a severe storm south of Grady knocked out power to the city. Company spokesman Wes Reeves said workers anticipated being able to turn on the generator shortly after arrival but ran into issues. Once t...
Tucumcari Public School’s superintendent and school board members voiced support for the city police chief’s proposal to seek a federal grant that would help pay for a school resource officer. District superintendent Aaron McKinney said during the board’s May 15 meeting that Tucumcari Police Chief Patti Lopez is seeking a $125,000 grant that would cover 50% of the cost of a school officer for three years. The district’s share of the cost would be 25%, or about $62,000, during that period, with the city covering the other 25%. McKinney said the...
The Quay County Commission with little discussion approved its 2023-2024 preliminary budget that includes raises for most of the county’s 79 employees. Many of the budget’s details were recommended by county manager Daniel Zamora before Monday’s meeting, including during a work session the week before. The budget anticipates $15.7 million in expenditures and an ending cash balance of a little over $7 million. Finance director Cheryl Simpson said payroll will see a big increase, with employees receiving a raise of at least $1 an hour, plus...
Monday is Memorial Day, when we remember those who’ve gone on leaving precious memories. We erect tombstones and statues to remember the great people in our lives and history, and since there’s little, if any new knowledge about history, we should respect history for what it is, learn from it and thereby move on to a brighter future. God is big on memorials for us to remember the good and the bad, and that bad can and will be overcome, so those who turn to the good will have the brightest of futures (Jeremiah 29:13-14, I love this passage as...
The San Jon Municipal Schools board of trustees last week approved a 2023-2024 budget that reflects state-mandated 6% raises for its teachers and staff. The district’s operating budget in the next fiscal year will be about $2.77 million. Superintendent Alan Umholtz said in addition to raises, the budget total rose because of higher health insurance costs. Umholtz said the district’s projected cash balance at the end of the fiscal year will be about $300,000, which he described as “very good.” In other business from the meeting: — The board appr...
On this date ... 1973: Residents of Conchas Dam gave up on the idea of leaving San Miguel County for Quay County during a meeting at the Conchas Lodge. Noting Conchas Dam was 32 miles from Tucumcari and 75 miles from Las Vegas, residents had felt they were too far from San Miguel County’s seat for effective governance. Moving the town to another county would have required the unlikely approval of San Miguel County voters. Members of 150 people in a local group called Citizens Committee for Better Government had wanted the change, but the i...
• Saturday — Wheatland School Reunion. This event will be at Lodge Hall in Grady, across from the post office, starting at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Alumni of the school should bring a covered dish. • Monday — Memorial Day ceremony at Tucumcari Memorial Park. VFW Post 2528 will host its annual commemoration at 11 a.m. at the cemetery. The post also will plant flags at veterans’ graves starting at 8 a.m. Friday; volunteers will be welcome. • June 16-18 — Tucumcari Rawhide Days. The annual event that salutes the “Rawhide” TV show will feature roping ev...
Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Chicken tenders, french fries, Mediterranean blend vegetables, whole-wheat roll with margarine, mandarin oranges. Thursday — Lasagna, spinach, salad with dressing, pears with cottage cheese, peanut butter cookie. Friday — Chicken Alfredo, Italian blend vegetables, tossed salad with dressing, garlic bread, pineapple chunks. Monday — Closed for Memorial Day. Tuesday — Fish sticks, tater tots, mixed veggies, bread with margarine, tropical fruit. Logan schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Quesadillas, cereal, fru...
She married her high school sweetheart and best friend on June 23, 1948. Hundreds of people came to her wedding. Most of them had to buy a ticket. The event attracted a fair amount of media coverage. “More than1,900 baseball fans jammed Bell Park Wednesday night to see the Clovis Pioneers win their sixth straight game … and to witness the marriage of Pioneer center fielder Wilcy Moore to Miss Mary Arnold of Muleshoe,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. “The wedding ceremony at home plate was scheduled to get under way at 7:15, but at the tim...
My unsolicited advice for this year’s graduates is simple: Move slow and fix things. In 2014, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg coined the phrase “move fast and break things” to describe the mentality of our new 20-year-old tech-sector corporate leaders who believed all human knowledge gained over the centuries had been made obsolete by quantum computing. “The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough,” Zuckerberg explained. He expounded on the idea during a college lecture. “A lot of times people are ju...
The 2023 New Mexico legislative session was generally disappointing for New Mexicans who wish to see much-needed K-12 education reform. However, it was not a total loss. In fact, one bill did pass that could help thousands of New Mexico families pay for educational options that work best for them. Without a single “no” vote during the 2023 session, HB 342 will soon be the “law of the land.” The bipartisan bill was sponsored in the House by Republican Minority Leader Ryan Lane and by Democrat Majority Leader Peter Wirth in the Senate. It was sig...
Tucumcari residents may have noticed a brighter lighted "T" on the north face of Tucumcari Mountain last week after the sun went down. That's because five members of the Rotary Club Tucumcari last Tuesday replaced 34 solar-powered lights that outline the "T" on the mesa. The effort took about three hours. Robert Hockaday, who led the club's previous installation of the lights in December 2020, said last week they were due for replacement because their lithium-ion batteries wear out after about...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board at a special meeting Wednesday voted to recommend approval of all requests for financial aid as submitted from events and entities for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The recommendations will go on to the city commission, which can accept, reject or modify them. The board scheduled the special meeting to hear from city officials about the upcoming budget before making a decision on funding. Board members in general were swayed by information from city finance director Rachelle Arias, who pointed out the...
More than 330 people attended the annual Diamondback Booster Club Athletic Banquet last Monday, but two who were not present were on the minds of many. A small memorial table near the Tucumcari Convention Center stage was set for Tucumcari High School freshman athlete Jayden Gloms, who died in a vehicle accident at Five Mile Park in January. Amid flowers and candles stood a framed message that stated: "Reserved for Tucumcari High School athlete Jayden Anthony Gloms." A poem with it read: "I'm...
Logan senior catcher Park Strong, Logan senior third baseman Skyler DeLuca and Tucumcari senior outfielder Billy Otero recently were selected to the annual Class 1A-3A Red vs. Green All-Star baseball games organized by the New Mexico High School Coaches Association. Games will be played at 7 p.m. June 2, 10 a.m. June 3 and 30 minutes after the second game at Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho. Strong and Otero will be part of the Red team coached by Robertson’s Leroy Gonzales. Strong hit .565 this season with 39 RBI, a .956 slugging p...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from May 15 to May 18: — David Royce Shivers, 37, Logan, failure to pay tax, remit proceeds to municipality or county. — Daniel Salas, 38, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Michael Sena, 19, Logan, shooting at or from a motor vehicle (no great bodily harm), aggravated stalking (deadly weapon) and contempt of court. — Mark Douglus Padilla, 48, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Leigh-Anna Szaloy, 34, no address listed, contempt of court. — Kenneth Lamb, 37, Nara Visa, contempt of...
Altrusa International of Tucumcari announced its annual scholarship winners for most Quay County’s school districts and its one college. Each of those students received $600 to the college or trade school of their choice, plus alternates were chosen, as well: — Tucumcari: Jade Duplantis, alternate D’Naylia Rivera; — Logan: Skyler DeLuca, alternate Jayden Stewart; — House: Cole Sultemaer; — Mesalands Community College: Wyollah Moses, alternate Nicholas Moreno. No application was received from San Jon High School. Scholarships were awarded bas...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from May 15 to May 21: Monday — 6:17 a.m.: Breaking and entering in 1100 block of South Seventh Street, Tucumcari. — 11:33 a.m.: Accident in 1900 block of South Mountain Road, Tucumcari. — 12:33 p.m.: Harassment in 200 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. — 4:40 p.m.: Theft in 2600 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. — 7:14 p.m.: Civil dispute in 1400 block of South Monroe Street, Tucumcari. — 7:56 p.m.: Disturbance in 800 block of East Center Street, Tu...
Wednesday’s severe storm impacted a transmission line supplying electricity to Tucumcari, causing the outage that has affected all city customers. “It’s unclear at the moment how long power will be out,” Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves said Thursday morning. “We do know that 20 structures have been destroyed on the transmission line feeding the city and repairs will likely continue into (Friday) if not later.” But Reeves also said Xcel Energy has an “infrequently operated backup power station” that is capable of energizing the city. “Power pl...