Serving the High Plains
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HOUSE — New Mexico’s secretary of education paid a visit Wednesday to House Municipal Schools after the district’s elementary students improved from a “D” to its first “A” grade in one year in the state’s school report card. Christopher Ruszkowski, appointed to the secretary of education position by Gov. Susan Martinez in August 2017, and other Public Education Department officials were fanning out across the state on the agency’s New Mexico True Straight A Express to applaud A-graded schools. L...
The number of features at Fired Up grows each year. Thanks to social media and with fingers crossed for good weather, Tucumcari MainStreet’s executive director thinks Saturday’s eighth edition of the free festival also can grow past the 4,000 mark in attendance. Last year’s Fired Up at the historic railroad depot plaza at Second and Main streets in Tucumcari drew almost 3,400 people. Tucumcari MainStreet executive director Gail Houser said he’s hopeful a social-media campaign in the Albuque...
NARA VISA — The annual Nara Visa Cowboy Gathering over the weekend served as a tribute to a changing or disappearing way of life — not just cowboy culture, but Nara Visa itself. About 15 poets or musicians traded prose or songs Saturday afternoon in the auditorium of the Nara Visa Community Center, formerly the town’s school. Proceeds from the event help maintain the 1921 building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. A few poems or tunes brimmed with humor or silliness (incl...
The following individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Sept. 17 to Sept. 24: • Jimmy Armstrong, 48, complaints of aggravated fleeing a law-enforcement officer, reckless driving, driving while license suspended or revoked, unlicensed off-highway motor vehicles, no proof of insurance, lack of obedience to signal indicating approach of train, driving on wrong side of the road and failure to wear eye-protective devise while riding. • January Wood, 40, warrant on three counts of intentional child abuse (no death or gre...
Wednesday-Saturday — “Art on Fire” exhibit and sale. Vote with pennies for your favorite art piece in the Art on Fire exhibit. All art is on sale. Raffles at 4, 5 and 6 p.m. Saturday. Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. Closed Wednesday and Sunday. The Gallery Etc., Tucumcari. Friday-Saturday — Challenge Quilt Show. Join the Fired Up celebration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. For questions, call Diana Beck at 575-461-2342 or download forms a...
Sept. 26, 1968 • The local Elks Club will sponsor a luau Friday for all Elks and their out-of-town guests. The meal will include roast pig, ham or butterfly shrimp with all the trimmings. A dance featuring the Al Rogers Islanders of Amarillo will provide the music. Tickets are $3 a person, which includes the meal, dance, leis and hats. • A large number of residents went through Tucumcari stores in search of their Treasure Hunt number, with three people finding their $10 Treasure cer...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday: Breakfast: Egg and cheese muffinwich, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Walking taco, zesty Spanish rice, pinto beans, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, fruit, milk. Thursday: Breakfast: Savory sausage breakfast pizza, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Cheese pizza, fresh garden salad, baby carrots, fruit, milk. Monday: Breakfast: Blueberry muffin and string cheese, cereal, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Chili dog, ham and cheese sandwich, tater tots, baby carrots, fruit, milk. Tuesday: Breakfast: Denver muffinwich, cereal, fruit,...
Who do you know who is the same person now as he or she was in high school? No one? I think that’s the usual answer. Most of us remember things we did as teenagers — our minds clogged with hormones, rebellion, desperation for acceptance by peers and careening emotions — that we now regret. Especially when they hurt other people. Dumb and dangerous pranks and stunts, group shunning, bullying, and yes, being too forward in sexual advances. We grow up to be different people. We put bad adolescent memories behind us, perpetrator and victim alike...
New Mexico boasts 9 million acres of national forest land and roughly 13 million acres of land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. And our state has multiple ski areas, bike races and hiking trails. Two southern New Mexico lawmakers and several others want to create a state office of outdoor recreation to help New Mexico capitalize on those amazing resources and tap into a lucrative industry. Sen. Jeff Steinborn and Rep. Nathan Small, both Las Cruces Democrats, are joined by Farmington Mayor Nate Duckett, Red River Mayor Linda...
Quay County learned Sept. 19 it landed a $750,000 Community Development Block grant it will use to repair a section of road west of Tucumcari. County manager Richard Primrose said the money will be used to repair and improve 1 1/2 miles of Quay Road AR. He said the county will stabilize the road’s base “so it can last longer” after repairs and address drainage issues near Pajarito Creek. He said Quay Road AR is “potholed” and has needed repairs for some time. Primrose said he hopes to begin work by next summer after finishing paperwork...
An affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library soon will offer to mail free books each month to children up to 5 years old in Quay County. Loren and Barbara Nelson of the Silver City-based Imagination Library of Grant County have been named fiscal sponsors of the Quay County book program until a local sponsor — a 501c3 nonprofit group or a school district — is enlisted to take over the program. The couple will run a booth at Saturday’s Fired Up festival in Tucumcari to sign up children for the program. The Nelsons said Quay County familie...
After Tucumcari suffered a 25-20, 19-25, 20-25, 16-25 home loss Thursday to Fort Sumner that dropped the Lady Rattlers to 1-11 on the season, coach Dena Benavidez again said she no longer was fretting about her team’s regular-season win-loss record. Fort Sumner’s coach can relate. Vixens coach Michelle Bonds said in the last week, she no longer knew what her team’s record was (it’s 3-4) and instead told her players to consider upcoming matches as if they were season-openers. “We had a rough str...
Logan defeated Grady/San Jon 25-17, 25-11, 25-13 in an opening district matchup Friday between two area volleyball powers. Logan improved to 9-3, while Grady/San Jon dropped to 7-4. Lady Longhorns coach Robert Young was pleased, and not just because his team won. “As a team, we played really well,” he said. “We served and hit the ball well, and our blocks are getting better. “And we didn’t have many unforced errors, which helped a lot.” Lady Bronchos coach Rebecca Burns, whose team lost to Logan on Sept. 8 at the Tucumcari Invitationa...
San Jon/Grady emerged triumphant in its first district matchup by defeating Roy/Mosquero 55-24 in a six-man football game Friday at San Jon. Ethan Short and Chad Becerra each scored two touchdowns for the Coyotes (3-1). But the key play was by Chisum Rush, who returned an interception for a touchdown to forge a 26-12 Coyotes lead late in the second quarter after Roy/Mosquero (0-4) threatened. San Jon/Grady coach Adrian Jones said his team concentrated on defense in practice during the week leading up to the game, and it paid off. “We know w...
Santa Rosa’s Stephen Sanchez ran for four touchdowns and more than 200 yards — mostly in the first half — as the Lions drubbed rival Tucumcari 46-0 on Friday night at Rattlers Stadium. The Lions, 4-1 and ranked third in Class 2A, totaled 386 yards rushing and didn’t throw a pass except for a broken play on a two-point conversion attempt. Elijah Velasquez added 94 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Lions. Santa Rosa made six running plays of 25 yards or more. The Rattlers (1-4) let a good...
KINGSVILLE, Texas — For the first time all season, Eastern New Mexico’s football team found itself with a lead. And just like last year’s version of the Green and Silver, this year’s knew exactly what to do with it. The Greyhounds took advantage of a pair of short fields early in the first quarter, then survived a Texas A&M-Kingsville rally for a 31-14 victory to finally get one in the W column and even their Lone Star Conference record to 1-1. Eastern New Mexico (1-3 overall), coming off a 21-11 loss to top-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce in a ga...
More results by Quay County participants at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque: New Mexico Bred Pig Show • Kaden May, fourth place, cross Hog Kia Classic Lamb Show • Garret Bollinger, fifth place, light finewool lamb • Kyle Hamilton, third place, light finewool lamb New Mexico Bred Heifer Show • Kyle Knight, Grand Champion Heifer New Mexico State Fair Junior Market Goat Show • Amber Rivera, third place goat • Amber Rivera, fifth place goat New Mexico State Fair Junior Market Hog Show • Addie Lafferty, Grand Champion hog overall with...
Josh Chavez and Erin Encinias were the top Tucumcari boys and girls runners respectively during the Ron Valdez Invitational cross-country meet Saturday in Pecos. “The Pecos course is one of the toughest courses in the state; you run at over 6,000 feet (elevation),” coach Gary Hittson said Saturday. “Very proud of the team; they ran with a lot of heart today.” Chavez finished 27th of 109 runners in the varsity boys race. His time over the 3-mile course was 19 minutes, 17 seconds. Other Tucumcari runners included Manny Hernandez (52nd, 20:15), Ch...
San Jon high-school athlete Dustin Bryant earned All-America honors when he finished seventh in the high jump in the Hershey National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. Bryant, a freshman, cleared 5 feet, 8 3/4 inches at the meet in late July. He also qualified for the nationals in the triple jump and long jump after advancing at the state and regional levels. He finished 12th nationally in the long jump with a distance of 18-11 1/4. In the triple jump, he finished 15th with a distance of 37-3. Bryant...
The state's Department of Health announced last week the first cases of influenza in New Mexico for the 2018-2019 season were reported. All three were in Quay County. The agency reported the flu cases — conformed by a laboratory — were in children ages 13, 11 and 8 who reside in the county and reported no out-of-state travel. David Morgan, public information officer for the agency, stated by email he could not be more specific on where the flu-afflicted children lived in Quay County. “We encourage New Mexicans to get their seasonal flu vacci...
The following are calls made to the Tucumcari-Quay County Regional Emergency Communications Center from Sept. 17 to Sunday: Sept. 17 • 11:12 a.m.: Trespassing in 2000 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 2:46 p.m.: Rape in 700 block of Fox Drive, Logan. • 4:07 p.m.: Traffic accident with damage in 1100 block of South Seventh Street, Tucumcari. • 4:26 p.m.: Theft in 1200 block of South Fourth Street, Tucumcari. • 4:28 p.m.: Theft (fuel drive-off) in 200 block of South U.S. 54, Logan. Sept. 18 • 7:54 a.m.: Harassment in 1200 block...
Political candidates at a Sept. 18 forum hosted by the Tucumcari Convention Center frequently agreed on state and national issues but just as often diverged with their proposed approaches. The two-hour forum, sponsored by the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation and the Coalition of Renewable Landowners Associations, allowed candidates to give brief statements and answer written questions from about 30 people. Attending were: n Jack Chatfield, a Republican from Mosquero, and Mark...
Is the state or county responsible for repairs on a damaged cattle guard near a U.S. highway? That was the subject of discussion during the Quay County board of commissioners meeting Monday. District 1 commissioner Sue Dowell brought up the issue after a resident told her about a recently damaged cattle guard on County Road AF on state right-of-way near U.S. 54. She described the inability for an entity to take responsibility for the repairs as “a standoff.” County manager Richard Primrose said the county maintains all cattle guards it ins...
The ninth of the Ten Commandments is this: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16). Although this does in fact outlaw all lying, slander, gossip, and similar things, it has special reference to the justice system, in which witnesses are relied upon to provide truthful testimony. The 16th Century reformer, John Calvin, saw this as a vital component to a civilized society. Everything is thrown into chaos when we try to investigate and punish crimes, but the witnesses are lying. One false witness in the wrong pla...