Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Since recent current protests, rioting and sometimes extreme police responses affect just about everyone, they should be viewed more as phenomena of human behavior than of politics. And psychologists are weighing in. Demonstrations have been triggered by recent deaths of African-Americans at the hands of whites and the police, especially the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, whose neck was pinned under a white police officer’s knee. “That all these things happened literally within days may have created a perfect storm,” said James Jones...
The state Department of Health on Thursday reported Quay County's first confirmed case of coronavirus in more than a month. A spokesman for the agency said the victim is a woman in her 20s. He said there was no evidence of community spread. It was the first reported case in the county since May 12. Quay County now has a total of five cases, with one death, since the pandemic began in the United States early this year. The state removed one case from the county's total last week after officials determined the victim actually resided in Arizona....
Getting rid of the police. Now there’s a brilliant, progressive way to improve the criminal justice system. There’s no question there are systemic problems with the way we police our cities that we need to address and fix. But when Black Lives Matter and its allies begin demanding that cities like Minneapolis “defund the police” or get rid of their police departments altogether, it’s obvious they haven’t thought through what comes next. What will happen in the real world of cops and robbers if the police are gone? Apparently, you’ll call...
As protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer continue across the country, police procedures and budgets everywhere are being scrutinized. Our advice is focus on a few facts. We need the police even as we also need to address underlying issues in how communities are policed and how and why progress leaves some communities behind. So beyond the rhetoric, proposed reforms shouldn’t center on disbanding police departments, but what they can focus on is reducing confrontations that too often end in violence w...
The Tucumcari Public Library reopened June 9 for the first time in almost three months after being shut down by the coronavirus. Those who showed up found a different-looking library inside. Library director Linda Gonzales noted the library's bookshelves in the adult section were moved to the north part of the facility, giving the appearance of more space for chairs and tables and more flexibility for future events. "If we need a program, all we have to do is move things this way," Gonzales said...
The San Jon Municipal Schools board of trustees set a graduation time of 6 p.m. July 11 at the high-school gym with a maximum of 25 people allowed for each of its three graduates to comply with an anticipated state public-gatherings limit of 100. Superintendent Janet Gladu said during the board’s June 8 meeting the district would enforce social distancing of six feet of space between chairs and in the bleachers during the ceremony. Protective masks also would be required. The school’s seniors had held out holding a graduation ceremony for wee...
A state senator whose district encompasses much of Quay County said spending cuts to address a state budget deficit won’t be too difficult during this week’s legislative special session, but he fears tax increases might be likely within the next two fiscal years to address that shortfall. State Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) said he doesn’t expect too much acrimony from lawmakers when they meet Thursday at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe to tackle an estimated $2.4 billion loss of revenue over two years caused by plunging oil and gas prices, plus...
On this date ... 1970 • A reporter at the scene of an accident at Center and Rock Island streets between a cement truck and a car carrying two people said it illustrated citizens’ complaints about ambulance service in Tucumcari. A dispatcher could be heard frantically trying to send an ambulance driver to the wreck. The dispatcher made the call at 12:08 p.m.; the ambulance arrived at 12:20. One bystander said: “We could get the San Jon ambulance before this one.” The same day, the city commission learned during a special session the New Mex...
The athletic director at Logan High School detailed the restart of athletic practices in the coming weeks as outlined by the New Mexico Activities Association. Athletic director Billy Burns gave a report about those plans during the Logan Municipal Schools board of education's regular meeting June 8 at the Nara Visa Community Center. The NMAA's eight-page "Guidance for Return to Play" indicates the state is in the midst of Phase One in prep sports emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. It...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from June 8 to June 14: Monday • 1:53 a.m.: Domestic disturbance in 1800 block of South Seventh Street, Tucumcari. • 6:53 a.m.: Property damage at Section Line Road and 540 Loop, Logan. • 1:13 p.m.: Noise complaint in 400 block of Osage Drive, Logan. • 3:10 p.m.: Theft in 100 block of North U.S. 54, Logan. • 3:17 p.m.: Property damage in 400 block of East Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 4:07 p.m.: Theft in 200 block of East Center Street, Tucumcari....
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from June 9 to June 13: • David Sandoval Jr., 42, Tucumcari, public nuisance. • Gabriel Anthony Perez, 21, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Lela Ann Marie Ross, 34, Logan, contempt of court. • Breysen K. Billings, 24, Tucumcari, probation violation. • Gabriel Anthony Perez, 21, Tucumcari, battery against a household member and injuring or tampering with a motor vehicle. • Samuel Angel Braziel, 31, Tucumcari, criminal damage to property (under $1,000) and falsely obtaining s...
(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 and the Logan facility at 487-2287 for more information.) Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Bean burrito, Spanish rice, beets, oatmeal cookie, Jell-O with fruit. Thursday — Italian chicken, broccoli with cheese, carrots, whole-wheat bread, pudding. Friday — Sour cream enchilada, Spanish rice, pinto beans with green chile...
Local students graduate at ENMU Five Quay County students recently graduated from Eastern New Mexico University of Portales in spring 2020. Those who graduated are Alexis Quintana of San Jon, Leah Taylor and Sonya Reid of Logan and Ethan Rodgers and Reagan Runyan of Tucumcari. The virtual commencement ceremony was televised May 30 and is archived on the school website at enmu.edu. In addition to the virtual ceremony, ENMU is giving spring and summer 2020 graduates the opportunity to walk in the fall 2020 commencement ceremony in December....
Police jailed a Tucumcari man after he was accused of sexually assaulting a Colorado woman visiting a friend in the city. Jorge Cosme, 38, is charged with three counts of criminal sexual penetration by force or coercion, a third-degree felony that could lead up to three years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. Cosme’s name also was listed as George Cosme in booking records. Magistrate Judge Timothy O’Quinn on June 8 found probable cause in the case and ordered Cosme held without bond. According to a complaint filed by Tucumcari Police Det...
Construction should start in “a week or two” on the long-awaited Second Street improvement project in downtown Tucumcari after the city commission on Thursday signed a contract with J&H Services of Albuquerque for construction of the project. Vicki Strand, director of Tucumcari’s Community Development Department, said arrangements are in process to start construction on the nearly $1.8 million project, and it should start in a week or two. According to contract documents, work will include installation for a new sidewalk, asphalt pavement, curb...
I avoid big words. They draw attention to themselves, like politicians. However, like politicians, they are a necessary evil. Today’s needed big word is “epistemology.” It means the study of knowledge itself. How do we know what we know? At the beginning of the COVID-19 event, I told my congregation that this was going to test our epistemology. Months later, that’s been confirmed. To a large extent, what you believe about the coronavirus is a function of your own estimation about where truth comes from. Are the experts telling you the truth? Ar...
A weeklong wildfire that burned almost 23,000 acres and briefly threatened the village of Mosquero was brought under control by Sunday. Mosquero Mayor Victor Vigil said Sunday afternoon the fire was "pretty well out," and dozens of firefighters who'd battled the blazed the blaze for a week were heading back home. Vigil said he saw no evidence of smoke in the area Sunday, and state forestry officials were keeping an eye on it for flare-ups. A New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural...
CLOVIS — Hello, Curry County Expo. See you next year, Curry County Fair. Curry County commissioners said both things, and plenty more during a 45-minute conversation in a Wednesday special meeting. Commissioners said they felt their hands were tied by the prospect of continued mass gathering restrictions for a fair that normally draws more than 25,000 people over five days, and unanimously approved two motions: • Postponement of the fair to 2021 due to limitations on gatherings pursuant to state public health orders. • Schedule a Curry Count...
CLOVIS — Independence Day fireworks, courtesy of your local governments. With city officials stressing the decision was a one-time deal, the Clovis City Commission voted 6-1 in a Friday special meeting to provide $10,000 in lodgers tax dollars for a 9 p.m. July 4 fireworks display. The show will be fired from what officials hope is a mostly empty Greene Acres Park. “It is not the Smoke on the Water event we all know and love,” Mayor Mike Morris said in opening the 18 minutes of discussion. “It is a fireworks display the city wants to bring....
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday ruled a Portales man’s conviction for fleeing law enforcement was correctly overturned. That’s because the Curry County Sheriff’s Office vehicle involved in the pursuit wasn’t adequately marked. The case of the late Roy Montano was combined with a similar case against William Daniel Martinez of San Juan County. Montano and Martinez were charged for aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Both defendants argued the sport utility vehicles that chased th...
New Mexico in recent days lifted some coronavirus restrictions on breweries but not bars, leaving Quay County residents without a watering hole to drink alcohol for a while longer. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced during a briefing last week the state would allow 50% occupancy at breweries’ outdoor patios on Friday and their indoor operations at 50% occupancy starting Monday. Because Quay County has no breweries, the new edict had little effect there. Tucumcari taverns such as the Tristar Inn Xpress and Lizard Lounge remained closed, t...