Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The president of Mesalands Community College said last week if he can’t get higher vaccination rates in the student population, he’s resigned to an eventual COVID-19 super-spreader event after classes resume in the fall. He added the college likely will require masks and social distancing. College President Gregory Busch said in his monthly report before the board of directors during its meeting July 20 that about nine of 10 Quay County residents age 18 to 24 remain unvaccinated against the virus. In response to that data, Busch said he wil...
The contracted director of senior citizen centers in Tucumcari and Logan stayed cautiously optimistic those facilities will reopen for meals Monday morning after being closed for almost 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus numbers in Quay County this week continue to be the X-factor of whether Tucumcari Senior Center opens its doors at 11:30 a.m. Monday and the Logan Senior Center opens at 11 a.m. that same day, as planned. Quay County last week remained at a low ebb of COVID-19 cases, though New Mexico in general and many other...
Tucumcari Public Schools' superintendent and its architect during a board work session last week discussed ways to trim costs associated with the district's ballparks redevelopment plan to the original estimate of $3 million. Voters in the school district approved a bond issue of about $3 million during a February 2019 special election for the project. Delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and steep increases in the costs of materials has ballooned the projected cost to at least $4 million, said...
The city of Tucumcari will uphold its part of the joint powers agreement that provides emergency communications service to Quay County and parts of Harding County. Under the agreement, city pays 45% of the cost, as does Quay County. Logan and San Jon pay the remaining 10%. The Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday approved renewal of the joint powers agreement. The commission also approved renewal of a permit that allows Plateau Communications to keep a tower on the city’s former landfill site to extend the range of broadband internet s...
In the second verse of King David’s prayer of repentance, Psalm 51, the sinner cries out, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” We miss the original force of this wording because our English doesn’t do a great job of conveying the feeling that is present in David’s Hebrew. As every decent writer (and editor) will tell you, our exclamation point is pretty weak in this regard. David’s actual words convey the idea of “multiplication,” as in, “again and again, as muc...
Quay County recently gained a new member of the state’s leadership team, as a 4-H ambassador. Jenna Lopez of the Wranglers 4-H Club will help plan and host several 4-H events for novice, juniors and seniors during the 2021-2022 year. Lopez was required to give a presentation, interview and financial support from the Quay County 4-H Council to be considered for the position. Quay County also recently participated in the state conference by hosting a workshop session open to all attendees on podcasts. Last year several 4-H members worked with F...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Friday-Saturday — Quay County 4-H Rodeo. Competition begins at 5 p.m. daily. This event remains Quay County 4-H’s biggest fundraiser. Quay County Fairgrounds, Tucumcari. Events will include bronc riding, steer and bull riding, goat tying, pole bending, barrel racing, flag racing, tiedowns, ribbon roping, breakaway roping, stepdown roping, team roping, steer stopping and steer wrestling. • Aug. 5-7 — Rattler Reunion. The committee plans to hold annual events for Tucumcari High Scho...
The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center remain closed to the public through at least Aug. 2 but will offer grab-and-go meals to those who qualify. Those interested in grab-and-go should call the Tucumcari facility at 461-2307 or the Logan facility at 487-2287 for more information. Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Oven fried chicken, green beans and potatoes, carrot raisin salad, whole-wheat bread, peanut butter cookie. Thursday — Fideos con carne, salad and dressing, mixed vegetables, flour tortilla, orange and pineapple mix...
On this date ... 1971: The Tucumcari-Quay County Chamber of Commerce held a special meeting yesterday with the Quay County Fair Board and Cowboys Club in an effort to coordinate schedules and prevent conflict with the annual fair and Pinata Festival, the latter which will be held Sept. 9-11. Officials noted the New Mexico Municipal League and the New Mexico Urban Renewal organization also were set to hold their conventions in Tucumcari that weekend. In addition, the Tucumcari High School Rattlers football team was hosting a game at that time....
New Mexico lawmakers, in the words of Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, “have got ourselves in a really tough predicament.” Richard Anklam, executive director of the nonpartisan New Mexico Tax Research Institute, gave legislators a presentation this month showing what that predicament looks like — and how it is hitting consumers in the pocketbook and making it tougher for businesses to compete. Testifying before the legislative Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee, Anklam said rising gross receipts taxes statewide over...
There seems to be an element of the blind leading the blind in how state and local governments will regulate legalized recreational marijuana when the state starts issuing licenses to cannabis-based businesses on Sept. 1. City and county governments in Roosevelt and Curry counties have expressed confusion, especially because they face a choice of passing local laws while the state is still rustling up its own regulations on or before Sept. 1, or being subject to state regulations if they don’t come up with alternatives by that date. It’s con...
No one is trying to topple the Alamo quite yet, but a new revisionist book on the foundational event of Texas history partakes of the iconoclastic spirit of our time. The book, titled “Forget the Alamo,” is a harsh call for Texans, and Americans, to get over a battle deeply etched in our popular memory. According to the authors, the Texans (then the Texians) were foolish to try to defend the indefensible. Some of the defenders tried to make a run for it. Santa Anna, the Mexican general central to the story, wasn’t so bad. And given the impor...
The Quay County Commission officially adopted its 2022 budget during an unusually short meeting Monday. With a short agenda, the meeting lasted just 12 minutes. One of the commissioners, Jerri Rush, was absent, and another, Chairman Franklin McCasland, was forced to attend by phone conference to have a quorum. Robert Lopez was the only commissioner to be there in person. County Clerk Ellen White also was absent; chief deputy clerk Veronica Marez took over her duties to record the minutes. The 2022 budget projects $15.18 million in...
The director of Mesalands Community College's wind-energy program said last week he had a lead on acquiring a hub to go with a donated wind-turbine nacelle that wind-technology students use in classes. Jim Morgan, who also is vice president of campus affairs and external relations, said during the board of trustees meeting July 20 a former FieldCore wind-energy trainee at the college who acquired the nacelle for Mesalands two years ago also has acquired a hub from a wind turbine from the Minco...
Four Quay County communities recently received the first installment of federal American Rescue Act funds from the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration. Here are the local allotments: • Tucumcari, $598,923; • Logan, $114,784; • San Jon, $25,218; • House, $6,304. The total money distributed statewide was $63 million. According to federal guidance, funds may be used to provide assistance to households, cover the cost of pay for work performed during the public health emergency, replace lost revenue and make investments in water,...
New Mexico high-school students, along with their teachers, staff and volunteers, will not be required to wear masks at school this fall if they show they’re fully vaccinated, according to new guidance issued Monday by the New Mexico Public Education Department. Masks, however, will, continue to be required in elementary schools for everyone regardless of vaccination status. Masks also will not be required outdoors for any individual. The decision to ease the universal mask mandate at secondary schools was made in collaboration with the Departm...
Logan Municipal Schools superintendent Dennis Roch last week was named 2021 New Mexico Superintendent of the Year by his peers. The award was presented during the annual conference of the New Mexico Coalition of Educational leaders. “I humbly share this award with the outstanding students and staff at Logan Schools … for my success is THEIR success,” Roch wrote in an email to the Quay County Sun. “Plus, I'm very grateful to my wife & kids, who sacrificed much so that I could help lead NM education leaders through the historic challen...
For the first time since 2019, New Mexico State University's agricultural science center in Tucumcari will host an in-person field day Tuesday. Last year's field day took place in a virtual setting due to COVID-19 restrictions. Although this year's field day will take place in person at the Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center at Tucumcari, COVID-19 safe practices will be respected. Presentations will also be posted to the center's Facebook page. "While we did our best in 2020 to do a virt...
The Quay County 4-H Rodeo, which returns to the Quay County Fairgrounds Arena on Friday and Saturday, will test the skills of local cowboys and cowgirls. Among the events are barrel racing, pole bending, breakaway roping, calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling. The rodeo opens each evening at 5. Trophy saddles are awarded to the all-around winners in three age groups. Trophy buckles also are awarded to the runners-up in the all-around, and buckles are given to event winners in three age...
Quay County last week experienced two confirmed cases of COVID-19, continuing its weeks-long low rate of the disease. The county so far was bucking a state and national trend of an upswing in coronavirus cases, mostly due to the more-contagious Delta variant infecting unvaccinated people. One case last week was reported in the Tucumcari ZIP code; the other was in the Logan ZIP code. It was the first case in Tucumcari in weeks. The county's overall case total rose to 543, with 11 deaths, since the pandemic began in spring 2020. The breakdown of...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from July 16 to July 25: • Alexis Diorio, 25, Williamsburg, probation violation, distribution of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon and receiving stolen property (firearm). • Patrick Anthony Quintana, 36, Tucumcari, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and felony contempt of court. • Jaime Angel Rivas, 23, Tucumcari, probation violation, distribution of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm or destructive device by a...
The Logan Board of Education last week unanimously voted to extend the school district superintendent’s contract to June 2023. The action by the board followed a nearly 90-minute closed session to discuss limited personnel issues, including superintendent Dennis Roch’s quarterly evaluation, according to the board’s agenda for its regular July 12 meeting. The board gave Roch a 1.5% pay increase, to $108,450 a year, with the contract extension that expires June 30, 2023. “I am pleased to have the full confidence of the board, and I welcome...
The daughter of a deceased Tucumcari city commissioner has filed suit against her sister and her father’s estate, alleging she suffered debilitating injuries during an apparent spat in her dying father’s home three years ago. Shannon Lumpkin filed a complaint in Tucumcari district court on June 25 for declaratory judgment and damages against American Strategic Insurance Corp., the estate of former District 4 city commissioner Robert Lumpkin and her sister, Bobbie Sandoval of Tucumcari. She has requested a jury trial to determine the amount of...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from July 12 to July 25: July 12 • 9:48 a.m.: Property damage in 1500 block of South Rock Island Street, Tucumcari. • 10:10 a.m.: Juvenile problem at East Evans Avenue and South Rock Island Street, Tucumcari. • 1:06 p.m.: Threat in 1400 block of East Heman Avenue, Tucumcari. • 2:17 p.m.: Domestic disturbance at North Lake and East Main streets, Tucumcari. • 4:27 p.m.: Domestic disturbance in 100 block of U.S. 54, Logan. • 6:23 p.m.: Arrest warrant in 300 block...