Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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A panel last week recommended the current district attorney and a Tucumcari lawyer as the top candidates to be the next 10th Judicial District judge. The 10th Judicial District Court Judicial Nominating Committee, through the University of New Mexico School of Law, met at the Quay County Courthouse on Wednesday and chose to recommend 10th Judicial District Attorney Timothy L. Rose and longtime local lawyer Nancy English from three applicants who were interviewed. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will make a decision in the coming weeks with who to...
The number of findings in the fiscal-year 2022 audit of financially troubled Mesalands Community College and its foundation dropped by almost half from the previous year and showed other improvements. The college’s board of trustees gathered for a special meeting Thursday with Donna M. Trujillo of the Office of the State Auditor to approve an exit conference for the audit and an entrance for the FY2023 audit. The number of findings in the college’s 2022 audit totaled nine, compared to 17 in the previous fiscal year. The 2022 audit was a qua...
Residents gave the New Mexico Route 66 Centennial Coordination Group plenty of ideas for the fabled highway's upcoming centennial. The group, established by an executive order from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in September, held its first of several Route 66 stakeholders meetings Thursday morning at the Tucumcari Convention Center. More than 60 people signed in - many of them business owners or officials from Tucumcari or San Jon. Attendees included Tucumcari Mayor Mike Cherry, Quay County...
New Mexico State Parks is proposing significant changes to its fees this summer, including the elimination of day-use fees and annual passes for state residents but significantly raising fees for boats. The proposal would affect all 35 state parks, including Ute Lake in Logan and Conchas Lake northwest of Tucumcari. Mesalands Community College’s wind energy center will host an informational meeting about the proposed changes from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on March 6. “NM State Parks are decades behind surrounding states when it comes to our fees str...
On tis date ... 1974: More than 1,000 Tucumcari residents cast their ballots yesterday in municipal elections. Otis Waterfield was unopposed in his election to District 2 city commissioner. Incumbent District 4 commissioner James Saltz won re-election against challenger Arville Stephenson, and Finis Cornutt was unopposed in District 5. For municipal judge, incumbent Swede Owen edged challenger Sam Shami by 58 votes. — Zia and Mountain View schools in Tucumcari held their science fairs. Among those honored for their projects were Charlotte Fouts...
• March 23 — Second annual Chess Tournament. Preliminary rounds will be in the east room of the Tucumcari Railroad Museum, with the finals in Jackalope Coffee Haus. Beginner, intermediate and advanced players are invited. Some proceeds will go to Paws & Claws Animal Rescue. For more information, call or text (575) 815-4486. • April 26-27 — Tucumcari Film Festival. The annual event, themed “Visions of Frontier,” will feature films of adventure, drama and high stakes. For more information, go to filmfreeway.com/tucumcarifilmfest. • June 14-16 ...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Egg and cheese burrito, Cocoa Puffs cereal, cinnamon graham cracker, fruit cocktail, orange juice, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk; Lunch: Green Frito pie, chef salad, pinto beans, shredded romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa, fruit cocktail, 1%, skim, chocolate skim or strawberry skim milk. Thursday — Breakfast: French toast sticks, syrup, Lucky Charms cereal, cinnamon graham cracker, fruit cocktail, orange juice, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk; Lunch: Meatball sub, turkey with cheese wrap, fre...
I made the mistake of watching some talking heads on a mainstream news channel the other day. When will I learn? My wife’s not holding her breath. Anyway, there was a panel discussion on the scary, new political faction on the scene. Religious zealots have arisen out of nowhere, apparently. The news has dubbed them Christian Nationalists. A pearl-clutching lady pointed out one of the horrifying doctrines of this group. These cultists think that our rights come from God, and not from any government. You may have to read that sentence again. T...
I’m glad I grew up before cell phones were so much of a thing. I think the pressure of having every moment, good or bad, recorded for the world to see would be too much. I already have a blooper reel, in my mind, of all the less-than-smart things I did as a kid. Sort of like having a personal “Ridiculousness” of missteps, trips, and fails. I’m not a fan of having my own photo taken to begin with, especially when it’s for something goofy. Growing up, I would turn out my grandmothers’ jewelry boxes on my bed, and sort through the pieces and...
A Tucumcari man died in a two-vehicle accident last week near Midland, Texas. Zachary Rogers, 31, was a passenger in a Ford F-150 pickup hit by a dump truck at the intersection of Highway 158 and County Road 1150 in Midland County, Texas, at 8:12 a.m. Feb. 26, according to a report from the Texas Department of Public Safety. After the collision, the pickup left the roadway and hit a utility pole. Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the pickup, Cheyenne Lattin, 36, also of Tucumcari, was taken to Midland Memorial Hospital and...
Three Quay County athletes received word last week they had received scholarships from the New Mexico Activities Association Foundation. Camryn Cantrell of Logan received a Mario Martinez Memorial NMAA Extraordinary Participation Scholarship worth $2,000. Hailee Robertson, also of Logan, received a Together We Rise scholarship worth $1,000. Marvin Reese of San Jon received a trade / technical school scholarship from the foundation worth $1,000. About 450 students submitted applications, with a total of $76,000 distributed through 68...
Robert Moore Jr. admits he and his brother's efforts to fix up and eventually reopen four long-closed properties along Route 66 in Tucumcari have been a work in progress. That progress must have been impressive enough for the New Mexico Route 66 Association. On Thursday, Moore and William Cooke received the organization's annual Route 66 Heritage Award. The award recognized their acquisition and cleanup of the Circle S Ranch Court motel (formerly the Relax Inn) at 1010 E. Route 66 (aka...
The New Mexico Department of Health is urging people age 65 and older to receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine dose for enhanced protection against severe effects from the virus. The agency made the recommendation last week after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged such booster shots. “Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people 65 years and older,” Dr. Miranda Durham, chief medical officer for NMDOH, said. “An additional vaccine dose can provide added protection that may have decreased over time...
Back in the 1970s, when dinosaurs roamed the land, I coached basketball in an inner-city league in Nashville, Tenn. Inspired by “The White Shadow” television show at the time, the Black teenagers on my team named themselves the Shadows because I was the only white coach in the league. We lost every game that season. Even though we had a standout team captain who worked the post and led the team with natural skills, a guy we all called J.C., we just couldn’t pull off a single win. Of course, we didn’t lose because I was white. Maybe “white...
Being the ever-menacing carnival barker that he is, former president Donald Trump said the four criminal cases he faces have garnered him significant support from Black voters. Why? He claims due to the historic injustices Black Americans have endured at the hands of the criminal justice system, they can identify with his legal dilemma. “I think that’s why the Black people are so much on my side now because they see what’s happening to me happens to them. Does that make sense?” Trump said at the Black Conservative Federation Gala in Columbi...
OK, Nikki Haley. Sing along with me, the Republican Party and the great Kenny Rogers: You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, know when (NOT) to run. It’s long past time for you to drop out of the race for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination. You’ve been called repeatedly and you’ve still got a losing hand. Donald Trump has humiliated your political butt in primaries across the U.S. But you still don’t know when to throw in your cards and just go away. Ron DeSantis was smart enough to...
Two days after conquering Ruidoso for the district title, the Tucumcari girls basketball team learned Sunday it will play the Warriors again in an opening-round Class 3A home playoff game on Friday. The Logan girls and boys basketball teams earned third and fifth seeds respectively in their Class 1A playoffs. Both will play home games this weekend. Class 3A girls The Lady Rattlers (22-3), winners of 10 in a row, earned the fifth seed in Class 3A tournament pairings announced Sunday by the New Mexico Activities Association. Tucumcari will play...
The third-seeded Logan boys basketball team fell into a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and never could climb back out of it during a 73-66 loss Thursday at second-seeded Melrose in the semifinals of the district tournament. The Longhorns (23-5) trailed 35-28 at intermission, and that gap grew to 54-37 midway through the third period. Logan several times rallied to within six points in the fourth quarter but drew no closer. “We dug ourselves in a hole in the beginning of the third quarter,” Logan coach Kyle Griffiths said. “De...
The Lady Rattlers were in foul trouble during their district tournament championship basketball game against Ruidoso. They solved it by getting the Lady Warriors into even more foul trouble. The result Friday was a 57-41 victory at Rattler Gymnasium for top-seeded Tucumcari, capturing its third straight district tournament title. Caylee Benavidez scored 26 points for the Lady Rattlers, including 11 from the free-throw line. July Lafferty added 16 points. Tucumcari earned a No. 5 seed in the...
The top-seeded Logan girls basketball team used a second-half surge Friday to conquer second-seeded Fort Sumner 58-44 and capture the district tournament title at the Lady Longhorns' gym. The Lady Longhorns (20-7), ranked fourth in Class 1A by MaxPreps.com coming into the game, won their eighth in a row and already had won the regular-season district championship the previous week. Camryn Cantrell scored 17 points and Desta Rose 16 to lead Logan, which outscored the Vixens 32-22 in the second...
The third-seeded Tucumcari boys basketball team struggled to get anything going offensively and were ousted from the district tournament in a 62-37 loss Thursday at second-seeded New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell. The Rattlers trailed 14-7 after the first quarter and 32-17 at intermission. "I'm not sure what happened," THS coach Gary Hittson said. "It was not the same team that played Dexter on Wednesday night. They just got in our face, played good defense and out-physicaled us." Luis...
The Logan FFA parliamentary procedure team recently won the state competition in Portales and will advance to the national competition in October in Indianapolis. The Logan team members were President Braeden Lightfoot, Secretary Kyleigh Philips, Charmaynn Hall, Trinity Grant, Javida Roberts, April Landsdell and alternate member Elizabeth Kanapilly. According to adviser Clay Lightfoot, each team at the state competition took a 25-question multiple-choice written test. The advanced to...
Due to a technicality, an appellate court denied Coronado Partners’ appeal of a case where it hoped to force the New Mexico Racing Commission to issue a horse-racing and casino license in Tucumcari. The New Mexico Court of Appeals on Jan. 31 filed a mandate to the Bernalillo District Court clerk, stating it denied Coronado Partners’ appeal and closed the case. Warren Frost, a Logan attorney and a principal for Coronado Partners, said Saturday he would pursue other avenues for a sixth and final racing license to build a more than $50 mil...
The enthusiasm for a plan to have one director to run the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corp. and the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce appears to have cooled down somewhat. The chamber board is set to vote this week on a proposed memorandum of understanding for one director for both organizations to save costs and due to overlapping responsibilities. Both entities saw their leaders depart last summer. The EDC board meeting last Tuesday lacked a quorum to take any official action. Instead, interim director Kristine Olsen...
The filing day for candidates in New Mexico’s June primary election is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12. The Quay County Clerk’s Office in Tucumcari recently issued a new release, reminding prospective local candidates what they must do to properly file. Each candidate must bring this information: — Declaration of candidacy that’s completed and notarized; — Copy of the candidate campaign committee registration form that’s been completed online; — Nominating petitions (if required); — Filing fee or pauper’s statement (for county candidates...