Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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One of the principals for Coronado Partners that seeks a horse-racing track and casino in Tucumcari told the Quay County Commission on Monday his group would be “more assertive” in pressing its case for a sixth license from the New Mexico Racing Commission. Warren Frost of Logan, who also is county attorney, told commissioners his group recently submitted a revised application to the racing commission for the required license. The proposed Coronado Park racetrack and casino on Tucumcari’s east side would create 500 jobs and millions of dolla...
New Mexico’s COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted July 1 after the governor on Friday apparently deemed the state close enough to its 60% goal of full vaccination against the disease. The state’s online vaccination dashboard reported 59.4% of eligible residents had been fully vaccinated against coronavirus as of early Friday afternoon. “As of July 1, all limitations on mass gatherings will be gone. Businesses, large events and organizations may operate at 100% of maximum capacity, whether indoor or outdoor,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stated...
After years of construction, the new U.S. 54 bridge at Logan will open to traffic June 23 after a morning ceremony to celebrate its completion, according to a state official contacted by the Quay County Sun. A ribbon-cutting will take place at 10 a.m. June 23 at one side of the bridge, according to an emailed invitation Monday from District 4 of the New Mexico Department of Transportation. The opening of the bridge originally had been scheduled for June 18, but recent heavy rains in the region...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees unanimously approved a three-year contract with its new president, Gregory Todd Busch, during a special meeting Thursday. The vote followed a 45-minute closed executive session to discuss personnel matters. According to information provided after the meeting by Mesalands chief marketing officer Josh McVey, Busch will be paid $170,000 annually — the same as predecessor John Groesbeck, who was fired in April 2020 after less than two years on the job. Busch’s contract was effective May 1, the sam...
Water issues, building and zoning codes and distance from churches and schools were among complications involved with establishing a legalized recreational cannabis industry in Tucumcari that were discussed in a Tucumcari City Commission work session before Thursday’s regular commission meeting. Because Tucumcari is along Interstate 40 about 40 miles from the Texas border, city officials are hopeful the city could prosper from out-of-state visits to purchase and consume marijuana and cannabis products. Connie Loveland, a member of the c...
Tucumcari's city manager revealed to the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board during its meeting last week a late-stage draft of a new official city seal that likely will be implemented next month. The city seal is being designed by Leighton Moon, the same Alamogordo firm that designed the city's tourism logo late last year. City Manager Mark Martinez said the seal, which he showed to board members from a laptop computer during their regular meeting Wednesday, eventually will be incorporated into city...
On this date ... 1971: Margie’s Beauty Salon and dress shop at Adams Street and Laughlin Avenue in Tucumcari sustained about $40,000 in damage after a fire gutted the business. Exploding hairspray cans alerted neighbors, and when they looked outside, the business was engulfed in flames. The heat from the fire was so intense, the hangers melted, causing the clothing to be dumped onto the floor. • A rattlesnake bit an employee of Mountain Bell as he buried cable in a ditch at Conchas Lake. Fortunately for him, a doctor happened to be staying at...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Friday — Fired Up Friday. An Open Mic Night will be held for poets and entertainers starting at 6 p.m. Sign up at Tucumcari MainStreet by Thursday to participate. The event also will include games and a storybook stroll. Food trucks will operate from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. or until the food runs out. Tucumcari Historic Railroad Plaza at Second and Main streets. • July 16 — Fired Up Friday. The Quay County Health Council will host a chalk art contest. Food trucks will operated from 11 a.m...
The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center remain 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 or the Logan facility at 487-2287 for more information. Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Beef tips, rice, broccoli, whole-wheat roll, pears. Thursday — Pork butt roast, blackeyed peas, tomatoes with green chile, cornbread, cookie. Friday — Lemon baked chicken, rice, green beans, beets, pudding. Monday — Stuffed bell pepper,...
More than 70% of the New Mexico Judiciary’s judges and employees are fully vaccinated to protect against the COVID-19 virus less than two months after the vaccine became widely available to all New Mexico adults. In the 10th Judicial Circuit that includes Quay, Harding and De Baca counties, that number of judges and personnel vaccinated was 68.4% last week, according to a state spokeswoman. “A highly vaccinated workforce in our courts reinforces the judiciary's commitment to protecting the health and safety of all New Mexicans,” New Mexic...
I’ve spent a couple of columns trying to encourage my brethren in Christ to realize that God has given us the victory. We are not destined, as a worldwide body, to lose. We win. And, that means more than simply “hanging on” until Christ rescues us. It means winning the world in an observable fashion. Today, I want to take a different angle. I want to suggest that a young woman named Heather is, in microcosm, how we win. The victory is ours because what just happened to her keeps on happening, to...
In 2012, Pew Research asked 1,008 Americans to describe then-Vice President Joe Biden in one word. The responses ranged from “Good,” the most common answer, to “Goofy.” But almost five months into his tenure, the word that perhaps most accurately describes him as president is “Shortsighted.” Time after time, Biden has been caught short by consequences of his policies that should have been obvious. Biden should have been able to foresee, for instance, that he would face a crisis at the border in his first year in office. There were already sta...
Scientists start with the unknown. Then they apply the known to the unknown, thoroughly. Then, armed with that knowledge, they propose hypotheses, which form the basis of experiments to gain new knowledge of the unknown. If the experiments verify the hypotheses, scientists recognize they may have new knowledge, but scientists review each other to refine new knowledge. If the experiments fail, they start over. Now, what happens when science is called upon to solve an urgent, new scientific problem that endangers life and health, like COVID-19?...
Joe Biden is taking his first trip overseas as president. After stopping in England he’ll summit with European leaders in Brussels and then move on to his mano-a-mano meet-up with Vladimir Putin in Geneva. I pray to God he does a great job, but I worry Putin will eat Joe alive. Historically, left-wing dictatorships like Russia, China and North Korea have done that to our leaders when they go visiting overseas. When they make deals with us, left-wing countries like to play the geopolitical version of Rodney King’s famous plea “Can we just all g...
SANTA ROSA - Six Tucumcari athletes were crowned district champions Saturday during the District 4-3A meet at Santa Rosa High School, including three who won two championships apiece. Khobie Salvador, a junior, continued his seasonlong strong performances in the discus throw and shot put. He hurled the shot 43 feet, more than 13 feet longer than his next-best competitor. He threw the discus 116-11 1/2, more than 40 feet longer than the runner-up. Based on his best performances this season,...
Both the Logan boys and girls track teams captured district titles during a sizzling meet Thursday at Melrose and will send a total of 30 Longhorn athletes to this week’s Class 1A Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque. The state track meet Thursday for Class 1A begins with field events at 10 a.m. and running events starting at noon. The meet will be at the University of New Mexico Track-Soccer Complex. The Logan boys team easily won the District 6-1A meet at Melrose with 151 points, compared to runner-up Clovis Christian’s 85 poi...
LOGAN - Logan's baseball team exacted revenge after its first loss of the season earlier in the week with a doubleheader sweep Friday of Gateway Christian. In the first game, the Longhorns came from behind with an 11-run fourth inning during a 17-9 victory. In the nightcap, Logan staked an early 7-0 lead and held on for the 11-9 win. The Longhorns improved to 12-1 overall. Gateway Christian, which won a state title in 2019, fell to 8-4. Both teams have a good chance of facing each other again du...
The Tucumcari softball team notched its third win of the season last week when it split a June 8 doubleheader at Estancia. The Lady Rattlers, which ended the week with a 3-10 record, lost the first game 16-6 but won the second 33-19. Sage Knapp was the winning pitcher for the Lady Rattlers in the nightcap, striking out nine and helping her cause with nine RBI. Felicity Lopez also drove in seven runs for Tucumcari, including a hit off the wall. Haisley Huffman hit an inside-the-park home run, stole five bases and drove in four runs. “Catcher A...
Tucumcari’s baseball team continued to search for its first win of the season after a 20-1 district loss Friday against Dexter. Dexter led 17-0 after three innings in a game shortened by the mercy rule. The Rattlers (0-13) managed just five hits during the contest. Joey Dysart, thanks to his two stolen bases, scored Tucumcari’s only run, which came in the third inning. Johnathan Blea also hit a double. Tucumcari used three pitchers and committed 13 errors. Dexter improved to 7-9 overall and 4-6 in District 4/5. East Mountain 13, Tucumcari 0 Eas...
Unemployment claims in Quay County remained elevated during the fiscal-year third quarter of 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels. The New Mexico Economic Development Department released economic reports on all 33 counties last week for the January-to-March period. About 260 jobless claims were filed in Quay County during that quarter. That was less than the peak of more than 300 during the fourth-quarter fiscal year of 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that was an increase of about 40 from the previous quarter. Only...
Tucumcari’s city manager recommended the city’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board change its application processes for financial assistance requests to events and tourist attractions after acknowledging last month’s funding process was “rushed.” A split Tucumcari City Commission on May 27 adopted significant changes urged by City Manager Mark Martinez on funding contributions for festivals and tourism sites two days after the lodgers tax board issued its recommendations. At least two board members said Wednesday they initially were taken aback by...
State health officials reported six confirmed cases of coronavirus Friday in Quay County after a mostly quiet week. All the cases were reported in the Logan ZIP code. After reporting no cases since late May, two were reported in the county on June 7 — also in Logan — along with the six on Friday. The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 369 in Tucumcari, 102 in Logan, 23 in San Jon, 11 in House, nine in McAlister, four in Nara Visa, five in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and four in Bar...
Despite recent rainstorms that raised the level of Conchas Lake, the Arch Hurley Conservancy District board of directors voted again last week to not allocate water for its irrigation system because lake levels still are too low. Franklin McCasland said in his manager’s report during the June 8 board meeting the lake’s elevation stood at 4,159.8 feet that day — more than 10 feet lower than a year ago. McCasland reported Conchas Lake received 4,840 acre-feet of inflow during the month of May. In that time frame, it experienced evaporation or ot...
The investigation of a report of a wrong-way driver on Interstate 40 east of Tucumcari turned up a missing or endangered man from Los Lunas. According to a report from the Quay County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were sent the morning of June 8 to mile marker 336 on I-40 to investigate an elderly wrong-way driver going east on the westbound lanes. The vehicle eventually exited and began traveling east in the correct lanes. Officers stopped the vehicle at mile marker 369 of I-40. The driver was identified as Walter Spencer of Las Lunas. A check o...
A bullet damaged a window at the Quay County DWI Office in downtown Tucumcari last week. According to a report by the Quay County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was sent June 8 to investigate vandalism at the office at 113 E. Main St. Andrea Shafer, who runs the office, told the deputy a window had been shot out. The deputy found a hole in the window, and Shafer handed him what appeared to be a blank .22 short round she said she found in a bowl on an office table. The deputy took photographs of the round and the damage. No arrests regarding the v...