Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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An investigation into a deputy’s missing duty weapon has led to theft charges, other criminal allegations and the loss of the deputy’s job at the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office. Chris McCasland, 34, was arrested twice last week, accused of stealing a snowmobile and other items when he was a police officer in Angel Fire about six years ago. McCasland has ties to Tucumcari. McCasland’s attorney said he’s innocent of all the charges and allegations, that this is all the result of a custody dispute with his former wife involving their two childr...
Quay County added another confirmed coronavirus case Sunday, bringing the total to 31 since the pandemic began. The number of total cases in the county on June 26 was six — a more than fivefold increase in one month. The New Mexico Department of Health reported on its website the latest case was a male age 10 to 19 in the Tucumcari ZIP code. The number of cases in Tucumcari rose to 26, with three in Logan and two in San Jon. Logan and San Jon each reported new cases Saturday. Twenty-six of the coronavirus cases in Quay County remained active t...
The state's Department of Health on Saturday reported two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Quay County, and the state sent its rapid-response team to address a case at Love's Travel Center in Tucumcari. The latest coronavirus cases brought the total to 30 since the pandemic began. They were the 22nd and 23rd cases in the county in a 30-day span. One of the latest cases was reported in the Logan ZIP code; the other was in the San Jon ZIP code. According to a database maintained by New Mexico Environment Department, rapid response teams were...
New Mexico's governor announced Thursday the delay of in-person classes at public schools through Labor Day because of a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said schools would resort entirely to online teaching when the year begins in mid-August until at least Sept. 8 – the first day in-person classes would resume. After Labor Day, she said the goal was to have schools phase in a hybrid model of in-person and online classes. She said in-person classes would begin first with kindergarten through f...
The state's Department of Health on Wednesday reported two additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Quay County, bringing the total to 28 since the pandemic began. They were the 20th and 21st cases in the county in a 27-day span. The number of confirmed cases in the county has more than quintupled from one month ago. Quay County totaled five coronavirus cases on June 22. The DOH reported the latest cases were males: age infant to 9 and 40 to 49. Both were in the Tucumcari ZIP code. It was the second time in two days a young child in the...
The New Mexico Department of Health on Tuesday reported two more confirmed cases of COVID-19 – including a young child – in Quay County, bringing the total to 26 since the pandemic began. They were the 18th and 19th cases in the county in a 26-day span. The DOH reported the latest cases were age infant to 9 and age 30 to 39. One was female; one was male. Both were in the Tucumcari ZIP code. Twenty-two of the coronavirus cases in the county remained active through Tuesday. Three have been deemed as recovered from the virus, and one death of a Q...
Virtually all the paperwork has been signed. All that remains for Tucumcari MainStreet to take over operations of the Tucumcari Railroad Museum is an act by the New Mexico Secretary of State's office. The last remaining deed is to dissolve the nonprofit organization that ran the museum at the city's historic depot. Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, said the Secretary of State could do that as soon as this week. Though the Tucumcari Railroad Museum remains closed...
The self-guided Tucumcari Talking Tour debuted Wednesday afternoon with a brief live message on social media at the New Mexico Route 66 Museum. The tour's creator, Tracy Johnson, drove her blue 1965 Ford Mustang in the museum's parking lot during the Facebook Live feed. On her car's AM radio, the brief message about the museum and other sites in Tucumcari came through loud and clear. "We've got 16 locations (on the tour)," Johnson said. "Everybody's up and running and sounding great." She...
An Eddy County judge late Monday morning issued a restraining order against the New Mexico governor's amended health order, allowing restaurants and breweries to reopen to indoor dining at 50% capacity for 10 days. Fifth District Court Judge Raymond Romero stated in his order the state had not responded to the request by an 11 a.m. Monday deadline after the initial filing July 15. As a result, the health order reverted to the previous version that allowed restaurants and breweries to be partially open to indoor service. Todd Duplantis, who owns...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Aug. 12-15 — Quay County Expo. Young exhibitors from across the county and beyond will gather to show livestock. The carnival was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Stay tuned at https://quayextension.nmsu.edu/quay-county-fair.html as more details become available. Quay County fairgrounds, Tucumcari. • Sept. 25-27 — Nara Visa Cowboy Gathering. Hear cowboy poetry and songs in the Nara Visa Community Center. Activities also include a chuckwagon steak dinner, cowboy church and more...
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 — Baked fish, tartar sauce, green beans, hushpuppy, chocolate pudding. Thursday — Meatballs, wild rice, California blend vegetables, breadstick, fruit, yogurt. Friday — Santa Fe chicken, rice, broccoli with cheese, buttered carro...
Justice Michael E. Vigil was sworn in Wednesday as chief justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court. He was elected to the position by colleagues on the five-member court and will serve a term ending in April 2022. He succeeds Justice Judith K. Nakamura, who had served as chief justice since 2017 and is retiring. Vigil took the oath of office during a remotely conducted online ceremony attended by other members of the court, judges from across the state and judicial employees. He was in Albuquerque with his wife, Terry, and outgoing Chief Justice...
On this date ... 1970: The Tucumcari All-Stars advanced in Little League baseball play with two victories at Raton. They defeated La Plaza of West Las Vegas 7-1 behind the pitching of Tommy Darnell. In the second round, Tucumcari downed the East Las Vegas All-Stars 6-0 behind the pitching of David Ortiz. Tucumcari will host the Clovis-area winner Aug. 1 for the district title. Joe Dominquez is Tucumcari’s coach. • A professional industrial development team will be in New Mexico later this month to choose finalists for the Blue Ribbon Cit...
Few life stories are as humbling as that of John Lewis, a civil rights icon and longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia who died Friday at age 80. Hoping to provoke this country to renounce the oppressive discrimination against Black Americans, he walked into certain confrontations with racist cops, Ku Klux Klansmen, hate-spewing citizens and unjust institutions, unarmed and armored only with the nobility of his cause. And even after being beaten, jailed and threatened with worse, he did it again and again, determined to stay on the path...
The question of opening schools is one of the most troubling we have ever faced. On one hand, President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are pressuring states to pack the kids into classrooms right away. In support of that idea, pediatricians have said the danger in keeping kids out of school is potentially greater than the hazard of contracting COVID-19, and educators know kids learn better in classrooms. On the other hand, the nation’s most prominent expert on pandemics, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says that with COVID-19, we are not o...
Can we all agree the kids living in our biggest cities don’t get a good education? Can we all agree it’s a travesty that upwards of 75 percent of the kids in our inner-city schools aren’t able to read, write and count at grade level? Can we all agree that if we don’t open our schools this fall the group that will be hurt the most are the poor kids of every color in our inner cities? I’m glad we all agree. The trouble is, the teachers unions and the educrats who run the public school system in Los Angeles and elsewhere say they don’t want to reo...
Six more confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in six days in Quay County, bringing the total to 22 overall since the pandemic began. The 13th, 14th and 15th cases in the county were reported Friday during a 22-day span. The New Mexico Department of Health reported the three latest cases were two people age 10 to 19 and one person age 30 to 39. Two were females; one was male. All were reported in the Tucumcari ZIP code. Eighteen of the coronavirus cases in the county remained active through Sunday. Three have been deemed as recovered from...
The superintendent of San Jon Municipal Schools said late in the school board’s meeting last week she doubted schools would reopen to in-person classes in mid-August. Superintendent Janet Gladu said in her opinion, schools in New Mexico would have to open to online classes when the school year begins next month because of a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the state. Gladu weeks earlier had expressed optimism San Jon schools would reopen normally because class sizes would be under the required 50% occupancy rate, with an additional bus r...
The Logan Municipal Schools board last week approved a fall reopening plan but rejected an option for additional instruction time if schools close because of COVID-19 and the district is forced to online teaching. The New Mexico Public Education Department offered districts up to 10 more instructional days if they have to resort to virtual learning because of the pandemic. Logan superintendent Dennis Roch said the district’s continuous learning plan used when schools closed in March showed high participation and no loss in academic c...
The New Mexico Activities Association on Wednesday released its radically altered sports calendar for the coming school year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As expected, almost all sports will have condensed seasons of 10 to 12 weeks each. Cross country and golf will begin their seasons first in mid-September, with volleyball starting in early October. Basketball season begins Jan. 4 and football season Feb. 22. Wrestling season won't begin until early April. Baseball and softball...
An informal proposal from San Jon High School’s track coach to refurbish the school district’s track received favorable reaction from board members during their meeting last week. Brad Bryant, a first-year head track coach at the high school, said he floated the idea before the board to gauge their initial reactions. He estimated the total cost of renovating the track that circles the football field would be up to $150,000, but probably less. Bryant said he has lined up an in-kind donation to haul away old asphalt on the track. He expressed con...
The former president of Mesalands Community College filed a lawsuit against the college after his firing there in April, alleging whistleblower violations and retaliation. In the eight-page suit, John Groesbeck stated he confronted the college’s foundation members, many whom also are on the board of trustees, at a board meeting March 3 about allegations of improper distribution of federal grant funds, fraudulent property leases and improper appropriation of money to the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum. Two weeks later, Groesbeck was placed on i...
It’s not too late for New Mexico farmers and ranchers to apply for financial relief from the coronavirus pandemic. The deadline to apply for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program is Aug. 28. Applications from New Mexico producers should be submitted through USDA Farm Service Agency New Mexico offices. Contact information for local offices may be found at www.farmers.gov/cfap by scrolling to the bottom of the page. “We want to make sure New Mexico producers are aware of this much-needed progr...
We’ve heard a lot lately about peaceful protests and riots that were relatively unhindered, including looting and destruction, with First Amendment constitutional rights claimed to do whatever they want vs. health orders prohibiting mass gatherings that included limiting in-person church attendance, which have been relatively obeyed. The Constitution’s purposes include establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility and providing for the common defense. Every U.S. resident should read and study the entire Constitution as they should the...
Tucumcari Donuts will reopen by early August under a new name and manager after it closed more than 18 months ago and its previous operator was accused of stealing its equipment. Rotha Chhin, an immigrant from Cambodia who became a U.S. citizen about six years ago, in recent days has been preparing the building at 600 E. Tucumcari Blvd. He said last week he was awaiting a health inspection and additional equipment before he reopens it as a Donut Pro. Chhin also is a manager of a doughnut shop in San Angelo, Texas, and recently sold another...