Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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This month’s coronavirus regulations will be like last month’s. New Mexico's governor on Thursday extended the current health order through Aug. 28 with the hope the number of cases would fall. She said that would allow students to return to schools after Labor Day and prompt the easing of some restrictions that month, as well. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during her briefing that current health restrictions that would remain in place include occupancy limits for many businesses and churches, bans on public gatherings, recommendations of...
The state announced new guidelines that would allow family members to have outdoor visits with residents of long-term care facilities in 21 counties, including Quay, as soon as next week. Earlier in the day, the state also added exemptions to its quarantine rules for New Mexicans who have to travel out-of-state for medical and parenting reasons. Katrina Hotrum-Lopez, New Mexico's secretary of Aging and Long-Term Services, announced the new long-term care visitation guidelines during Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's weekly COVID-19 briefing...
Quay County recorded a confirmed coronavirus case for the third straight day Tuesday, bringing the total to 34 since the pandemic began. The number of cases in the county on July 4 was six. According to the state's Department of Health website, Tuesday's case was a female age 70 to 79. Monday's case was a male age 30 to 39. Both were in the Tucumcari ZIP code. Five in the county have been designated as recovered from the disease, with one death in April to resident who contracted the virus in Florida. A total of 1,262 tests for the virus have...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees apparently had a lot to discuss Wednesday during a two-hour, behind-closed-doors special meeting — including replacing one of its recently deceased colleagues. Trustee Craig Currell died July 25 after an extended illness. Board Chairman Jim Streetman acknowledged after the meeting replacing him was one of the topics of discussion Wednesday and would be during future meetings. The official meeting agenda included discussion of limited personnel matters and litigation for the closed session. T...
Despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, governmental entities in Quay County continue to see minimal impacts on gross receipts tax revenue. Quay County manager Richard Primrose said during a recent county commission meeting the July report on gross receipts taxes that reflect sales in May showed a strong increase. “It surprises me that gross tax receipts are up so well,” he said during the meeting. During a follow-up phone interview last week, Primrose said gross receipts tax revenue to the county collected in May was about $22...
The New Mexico Department of Agriculture has received reports of residents who have been mailed unsolicited foreign seeds not clearly labeled as seeds. The seed shipments may be obscured as jewelry items. If you receive one of these seed packets, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture asks you not to plant them. If the seed has been planted, collect the seed before germination or destroy any emerging plants. The agency is working closely with the United States Department of Agriculture,...
While it’s been exceptionally hot, I was asked recently about the wind by someone who thought spring had been relatively calm and June seemed very windy. The historical weather data showed they were right. In fact, January through May had well-below-average wind speeds (4.4 vs. 5.0 mph average wind speed for January through May and the 115-year average, respectively), while June was in the top 10 windiest Junes on record at 6.1 mph vs. the 115-year average of 4.8 mph. July and August typically are our calmest months averaging 3.4 mph, but J...
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 — Pork posole, mustard greens, flour tortilla, pumpkin spice cookie. Thursday — Chicken ‘n’ rice, broccoli, peas ‘n’ carrots, roll, oatmeal cookie. Friday — Baked dill fish, corn and peppers, breadstick with margarine, pears, yogurt...
On this date ... 1970: A 79-year-old Tucumcari woman was in fair condition at Trigg Memorial Hospital after two 16-year-old boys from Oklahoma robbed her of $95.39. The robbery took place on Laughlin Avenue behind the post office when the boys jumped from a pickup camper, grabbed the woman’s purse and shoved her. Police apprehended the boys 12 miles west of Tucumcari on Interstate 40 after spotting a vehicle that matched a description given by the victim. The woman, hands on her hips, scolded one of the boys during his arrest before she l...
New confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported Sunday and Monday in Quay County by the state’s Department of Health, bringing the total to 33 since the pandemic began. Sunday's case was the first confirmed case in the county in a week after recording 24 cases in 20 days. The total number of cases in Quay County in early July stood at six. No rapid response referrals to COVID-19 cases with employees of businesses or entities in Quay County have occurred since July 24. A total of five referrals occurred during the month. According to the a...
Tucumcari begins its volleyball season with a road game at Pecos on Oct. 10, with its home opener Oct. 13 against Santa Rosa. The Rattlers football team doesn’t begin its season until March 6, with a 2 p.m. road game at Raton. Tucumcari is scheduled to hold its home opener against Santa Rosa at 7 p.m. March 12. Both teams have shortened seasons under the radically revamped calendar announced by the New Mexico Activities Association last month in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Not counting the postseason, Rattlers volleyball would play fe...
The Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari will hold its annual field day virtually this year Thursday in response to coronavirus restrictions that forbid public gatherings. Presentations start at 7 p.m. Find the event by searching @tucumcarisc on Facebook. No registration is necessary. The online presentation would include a welcome, announcements, keynote presentation, research updates and a cooking demonstration in lieu of the annual meal. Leslie Edgar, New Mexico State University’s College of Agriculture, Consumer and E...
The Nyoka Marimba Band and elementary music program at Tucumcari Public Schools are receiving a $5,849 grant from New Mexico Arts Awards. According to a list of grants from the agency, Tucumcari’s elementary music program and the Nyoka Marimba Band received the grant. Grades from kindergarten to fifth grade at Tucumcari are included in daily music classes. The marimba band meets after school, comprising students in fourth and fifth grades. The Nyoka band's instructor, Andrew Kesten, has directed the band during performances at various v...
Let’s get out of here. Who hasn’t thought that at some point in the past four months, as we hunkered down in our homes, brooding and restless but with no place to go? The pandemic shuttered our offices and made the idea of venturing anywhere more ambitious than a grocery store seem like a perilous journey. Any trip that required a flight or a stroll among the masses — even masked — seemed an unreasonable risk. So is it any wonder, in our longing to get away from this virus-riddled existence, that we have found an escape in space? We have hi...
It comes up again and again. Hydroxychloroquine (which I will refer to as HCQ to save space and keystrokes) as a potential treatment or cure for COVID-19. President Donald Trump, who has yet to admit error in any part of his life, let alone his chaotic presidency, still insists that HCQ is effective in treating COVID-19, even while doctors and medical studies worldwide repeatedly conclude it is not. HCQ combined with azithromycin, a powerful antibiotic, does not work either. Evidence that a combination of the two drugs might, emphasis on...
I have good reasons to be worried about catching the coronavirus. I fit the demographic profile for the most typical victim — I’m 75 and I have a serious medical precondition. And here in Los Angeles, where about 4,500 of the state’s 9,000 coronavirus deaths already have occurred, the pandemic is still hanging around. My immediate family members and I haven’t had so much as a sniffle or cough in four months, but the virus has claimed a few people around me. The brother of our housekeeper died of the coronavirus in Guatemala. So did his son. Th...
The San Jon school board voted last week during a special meeting to delay the first day of school from Aug. 10 to Sept. 8. San Jon’s new school starting date is the same day a new order by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that allows in-person teaching of elementary students goes into effect. Superintendent Janet Gladu said San Jon would hold classes in-house that day for children from kindergarten through fifth grade. Students from sixth to 12th grades would begin classes online until the state deems it safe to resume in-person classes. Those i...
Construction of a new O'Reilly Auto Parts store in Tucumcari still is planned after several delays, but an official with the company said it probably wouldn't open until the second quarter of 2021 at the earliest. A 7,200-square-foot O'Reilly Auto Parts store No. 5437 is slated at 1316 E. Tucumcari Blvd., site of the now-abandoned Cactus RV Park. O'Reilly filed a business license with the city in early 2019. Such stores typically employ about a dozen people. O'Reilly's online planning room...
The Logan school board last week approved a detailed, phased-in reopening plan for students that includes in-class instruction for students from kindergarten through second grade starting in mid-August and the rest of the student body taking online classes until at least after Labor Day. The plan, drafted by superintendent Dennis Roch with consultation from staff and board members, comes with the hope all students would attend classes at Logan schools by early October if they wished. The full plan is on the school’s website at t...
The state of New Mexico has lost about 30,000 tourism jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a state official during a webinar Thursday. Tourism Secretary Jen Schroer said to hasten the state’s recovery and bring back or retain some of those jobs, businesses should adopt practices in the NM Safe Certified program to help reassure travelers during the COVID-19 era. Schroer said she had seen encouraging signs with the program. She said more than 300 business had completed it, and about 400 motels were being trained on it. “We hav...
Two candidates for the job of Tucumcari city manager were interviewed Thursday by the city commission and interim city manager Mark Martinez, according to Martinez. Martinez said the commission set no timetable for the hiring of the next city manager. Martinez signed a 90-day extension on July 9 to stay on in his acting manager role. The next city manager will replace Britt Lusk, who left the job April 5 after serving for nearly two years in the position. Lusk's salary started at $82,500 per year. The next city manager will be the city’s f...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from July 27 to Aug. 2: • Kristopher Jacquarias Morris, 24, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Vera Dawn Ortiz, 44, Tucumcari, driving while license suspended or revoked. • Robert N. Sandoval, 28, Tucumcari, parole violation. • Mark Martin Bingman, 29, Albuquerque, driving while license suspended or revoked and speeding (over 16 to 20). • Mark A. Brabant, no address listed, 62, pedestrian on roadway, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and concealing identity. • Geovann...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from July 27 to Aug. 2: Monday • 12:48 a.m.: Noise complaint in 400 block of East Center Street, Tucumcari. • 9:27 a.m.: Disturbance at East Nobles Avenue and South Monroe Street, Tucumcari. • 10:36 a.m.: Theft at unlisted address, Tucumcari. • 11:24 a.m.: Recovered property in 3300 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 11:59 a.m.: Breaking and entering in 4400 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 12:44 p.m.: Domestic disturbance...
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled the governor is authorized to impose stiff fines for violations of the state’s public health order during the coronavirus pandemic. The decision from the bench arrived after about an hour of deliberation by the justices following 75 minutes of arguments and questioning of each sides’ lawyers during a videoconference in the court’s chambers in Santa Fe. The decision fends off a legal challenge to the state’s enforcement power as it seeks to continue a ban on indoor dining at restaurants and impose...