Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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An Albuquerque judge rejected a lawsuit by Coronado Partners against the New Mexico Racing Commission to force it to issue a sixth and final license for a horse-racing track and casino in Tucumcari. District Judge Nancy Franchini on Friday morning issued an 18-page ruling in favor of the commission. Citing state law, Franchini ruled the New Mexico Legislature ultimately authorized the racing commission to grant or reject licenses. Franchini noted in her ruling the commission’s conduct “is not commendable” regarding Coronado’s application, “the...
A state senator is urging Eastern New Mexico University and financially troubled Mesalands Community College to consider a partnership or make the Tucumcari school a branch campus of ENMU. One area lawmaker said he would oppose such a partnership or merger of Mesalands. The presidents of both educational institutions said they are open-minded to Sen. George Munoz’s proposal. Munoz, D-Gallup, in late July wrote separate letters to the ENMU board of regents and the Mesalands board of trustees. The Quay County Sun obtained the letters and other c...
Tucumcari Mayor Ralph Moya wants the New Mexico Legislature to toughen criminal penalties against those who provide illegal drugs to mentally ill patients. If that doesn’t happen, he’ll urge the city to pass stricter ordinances against such dealers, including jail time. The city commission took step in that direction during its regular meeting July 31 by unanimously passing a resolution shepherded by Moya, a longtime mental health counselor. Resolution 2023-27 “promoting awareness and protecting the mentally ill and vulnerable from the dange...
When a $4 million low water bridge east of San Jon will be rebuilt after flash flooding destroyed it in May remains in limbo because the contractor apparently didn't carry builder's risk insurance for the project, alleging the architect didn't require it. The contractor, the architect and Quay County had been scheduled to meet Thursday in the county courthouse in Tucumcari with a mediator in an effort to resolve at least part of the matter. However, that meeting was canceled, and the county...
Crowds for the 51st annual Rattler Reunion appeared to be significantly higher overall during the entire three-day event around Tucumcari. Kathy Segura, treasurer of the Tucumcari Rattler Alumni that organizes the reunion, reported that a total of 438 people paid to get in to the varying events. "It was way up" compared to the previous year, she said Monday. "We were extremely happy with it, and everyone seemed to have a good time." Last year, inflation and a local flare-up of COVID-19 cases...
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, he gave it a set of rules. Beginning with the Ten Commandments, he spelled out a constitution for the new nation, a law by which they were to govern themselves. The New Testament calls this the “perfect law of liberty.” In this law of liberty, there were no entitlement programs. Neither businesses nor poor folks received any handouts from the central authority. (This is because there was no taxation. Without this, the government had nothing to “generously” give to anyone.) This doesn’t mean the new const...
CLOVIS — A 9th Judicial District Court jury last week found former Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher McCasland not guilty of felony child abuse. The jury handed down the verdict on the second day of a two-day trial in Portales before Judge Drew Tatum. McCasland, 37, a Tucumcari High School graduate, was charged on March 1, 2022, with child abuse not causing great bodily injury, a third-degree felony, in Roosevelt County Magistrate Court. New Mexico State Police Agent Justin Tiemann charged in an arrest affidavit that McCasland abu...
You’ve got your standard New Mexico centennial license plate, your standard red and yellow plate and your standard chile plate. That last one’s really pretty and it won the America’s Best License Plate Award in 2017. But did you know the Land of Enchantment has almost five dozen sanctioned license plates, including one that just hit the road last month? Travel with me here … There’s the standard centennial personalized plate, the red and yellow prestige vanity plate, and the Las Cruces plate, because, well, we all know about Las Cruces dr...
There are probably many Americans who thought this day would never come. More than a few people, myself included, were skeptical that Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice possessed the strength and courage to overcome their traditional habit of risk aversion. Instead, the criminal justice system is going to do battle against one of the most devious and horrendous conspiracies in the history of the nation. The latest indictment of Donald Trump, brought by special counsel Jack Smith, are the results of a tedious, laborious,...
“In the eight years that my father was President of the United States I never once sat in the room with business associates and called him on the phone. If I had, the Democrats would have skewered me.” When I posted that tweet the other day, it got a huge response. As we know from last week’s big whistleblower news, over the course of 10 years – while Joe Biden was vice president and when he was out of power – Hunter Biden put his father on speaker phone at least 20 times during meetings he was having with foreign business people. That bombshel...
The Quay County Fair this week is seeing an uptick in the number of livestock exhibitors. Dallas Dowell, president of the fair board, said in a phone interview Friday the number of livestock exhibitors is “up a little bit” overall. Dowell said the fair voted in 2021 to allow livestock exhibitors as young as 6 years old, “which helped some” with numbers this year, he said. The previous minimum age was 9. “This year, all participants with a large animal — goat, sheep, hog, steer — are eligible to make the sale,” he said of the latest change....
Quay County on Monday officially hired Hull Consulting Government Relations of Albuquerque as its lobbyist and declined to renew its pact with a Clovis-based firm for the first time since 2017. The county commission’s approval of the contract came with no discussion. The county will pay Hull Consulting $12,000 a year, plus gross receipts taxes, over a one-year period. The county is splitting the cost of Hull’s fee with the Village of Logan. The county once held a lobbying contract with Clinton D. Harden & Associates of Clovis, which rec...
The old adage is everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. That's not the case with the ZiaMet weather monitoring project, which aims to greatly increase the amount of weather data available in New Mexico, especially in rural areas. State climatologist David Dubois talked about ZiaMet, a service of the New Mexico Climate Center, as a keynote speaker Aug. 1 during the Rex E. Kirksey Agriculture Science Center at Tucumcari's annual field day. About 90 people attended...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory board unanimously recommended the use of more than $16,000 in motel tax funds so Mesalands Community College could erect three billboards to promote its dinosaur museum. The measure goes on to the Tucumcari City Commission, which could accept, reject or modify the recommendation. Josh McVey, the college’s chief communications officer who made the presentation in front of the board Wednesday, said the number of billboards for the museum had been reduced to one. Subsequently, he said, attendance at the museum s...
Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Swiss steak, baked potato, steamed cabbage, whole-wheat dinner roll, mixed fruit. Thursday — Spaghetti and meatballs, green salad, Italian mixed vegetables, garlic bread, pineapple tidbits. Friday — Salisbury steak, parsley potatoes, spinach, dinner roll, fruit salad. Monday — Green chile chicken enchiladas, pinto beans, Spanish rice, strawberries. Tuesday — Stuffed pepper, pinto beans, broccoli spears, whole-wheat roll, tropical fruit. Logan Senior Center Wednesday — Beef fajitas with lettuce and tomatoe...
On this date ... 1973: The City Hall reporter for the Tucumcari News reported disgruntled swimming enthusiasts have criticized the “deplorable” condition of city swimming pool at Five Mile Park and whether a new pool was needed. “While city officials do not want to quarrel with arguments that there are shortcomings in the physical condition of the pool, they maintain that in all fairness the pool is and has been in this deteriorating shape for many years,” he wrote. Some city officials said the 1930s pool and its buildings were beyond repair...
Wednesday-Saturday — Quay County Fair. The annual fair featuring all sorts of livestock and home contests will take place at the Quay County fairgrounds in west Tucumcari. The fair on Saturday will offer an itty-bitty rodeo, pet parade, horseshoe pitching contest, scavenger hunt, The annual junior livestock sale will be at 6 p.m. Saturday. Pick up a free fair book from the extension service for a full schedule. Sunday — “Route 66: The Untold Story of Women on the Mother Road” screening and panel discussion. This free event at 2 p.m. at the Ode...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from July 31 to Aug. 5: — Kala Lea Meguire, 38, Tucumcari, two counts of contempt of court, two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance (narcotic drug) and possession of drug paraphernalia. — Zachary Hurd, 28, Tucumcari, distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit distribution of a controlled substance, bringing contraband into jail and conspiracy to commit bringing contraband into jail. — David Royce Shivers, 37, Logan, contempt of court. — Dev...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from July 31 to Aug. 6: Monday — 6:37 a.m.: Breaking and entering in 1100 block of East Turner Avenue, Tucumcari. — 2:28 p.m.: Narcotics in 300 block of South Third Street, Tucumcari. — 2:43 p.m.: Runaway juvenile in 500 block of South Second Street, Tucumcari. — 8:56 p.m.: Breaking and entering in 1600 block of South Third Street, Tucumcari. Tuesday — 12:39 a.m.: Prowler in 400 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. — 8:56 a.m.: Child abuse in 300 block of Ea...
The staff of U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez will hold open office hours on Aug. 22 at the Tucumcari Public Library. Constituents can come to get their questions answered and address concerns from 10 a.m. to noon at the library at 602 S. Second St. Leger Fernandez, a Democrat, serves the 3rd District of New Mexico that includes Quay, San Miguel and Curry counties, plus a chunk of eastern New Mexico and most of the northern part of the state....
A former Pecos High School basketball coach was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to five counts of coercion and enticement of minors. Joshua Rico, 27, of Pecos pleaded guilty to the five counts on Dec. 22, according to a news release last week from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque. Upon his release from prison, Rico will be required to register as a sex offender and serve a 20-year term of supervised release. A federal grand jury indicted Rico on May 12, 2021. According to court documents, as e...
A board wanting to restore the long-closed Princess Theatre in downtown Tucumcari advocated requesting $1 million in capital outlay funds from state Sen. Pete Campos and the New Mexico Legislature during the 2024 session. Also, city manager Paula Chacon and board member Matt Monahan will negotiate with Stantec Engineering to reduce the cost of the first two phases in assessing the theater and renovation designs so it is “shovel ready” for the construction phase. The City of Tucumcari during the 2023 legislative session received $250,000 in cap...