Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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State health officials reported three more confirmed deaths of COVID-19 in Quay County last week, bringing the total to 17 since the pandemic began last spring. The New Mexico Department of Health reported these coronavirus deaths in the county: • A man in his 80s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions; • A woman in her 70s who was hospitalized; • A woman in her 70s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. More than half of the county’s deaths have occurred since late May. According to the DOH, the women’s deaths oc...
The New Mexico Department of Health on Monday announced it is enacting crisis standards of care for the state’s healthcare systems because of widespread nursing shortages and stubbornly high cases of COVID-19, mostly among unvaccinated people. The announcement means the state’s healthcare facilities will suspend non-medically necessary procedures for at least a month. Crisis standards of care also were imposed for several weeks during the pandemic’s peak last winter. During an online briefing Monday, New Mexico Health Secretary David Scras...
Two candidates are facing off against each other for District 3 in the Tucumcari school board in the Nov. 2 election. Cassie Huffman, 40, a mental health counselor, and Robert Lucero, 62, a retiree, are vying for a four-year term in the district, which comprises of much of the west and southwest portions of the city. They will replace current board President Leif Gray, who chose not to run for re-election. District 2 incumbent Jerry Joe Lopez is unopposed for re-election. The Quay County Sun sent each of District 3 candidates a form with three...
A sitting member of the Logan school board is facing a challenger in the Nov. 2 election. Position 5 incumbent Tom Humble, 57, a signal maintainer for the Union Pacific Railroad, is being opposed by Toby Jon Willis, 45, owner of the Autumn Blessings assisted-living facility in Logan, for a four-year term. Board President Scott Osborn, who represents Position 4, is unopposed for re-election. The Quay County Sun sent Humble and Willis a form with three questions about their candidacies. Their answers are lightly edited for clarity. What prompted...
A homicide suspect from South Carolina was apprehended early Friday after being the subject of a search for several hours near San Jon. Arrested was David Banacek Tracy, 45, on South Carolina charges of attempted murder, discharging a weapon into a vehicle and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to a news release Friday from New Mexico State Police. According to the release, state police were contacted about 5 p.m. Thursday by the sheriff’s office of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, requesting assistance in finding t...
A woman with Tucumcari ties recently earned a commendation medal from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps for meritorious conduct during COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Kristen Earle, a 2010 graduate of Tucumcari High School and daughter of T.J. and Kim Rich, received the honor in August. According to the commendation, Earle was a team leader at a COVID-19 vaccination off-site naval hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, from January to May 2021. “Petty Officer Earle led one of the first COVID-19 vaccine mass vaccination off-site locations across the D...
Winston Churchill said we should, “never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense.” Giving in often leads to giving up. Our recently retired preacher taught from the Book of Hebrews about why people give up. The lesson didn’t pertain specifically to COVID, but the disease’s effects have led to a lot of giving up, especially due to the restrictions on in-person worship. The first step in giving up is neglect, giving in to matters contrary to our convictions (Hebrews 2:1-4). During COVID, many became accustomed to online worship...
On this date ... 1971: Capt. William A. Oakley, staff training assistant for the Tucumcari unit of the New Mexico Army National Guard, will be leaving with his family to a new home in Santa Fe. Oakley accepted a position as examiner with the headquarters of the state National Guard. Capt. Marty Dunn and his family will be moving to Tucumcari in the near future to take over staff training assistant duties. Dunn was born in Portales and served in the U.S. Army for two years in the late 1950s. He joined the National Guard in 1962. • The T...
The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center also offer grab-and-go meals to those who qualify. Those interested should call the Tucumcari facility at 461-2307 or the Logan facility at 487-2287 for more information. Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Mini blueberry pancakes, fresh banana, orange juice, skim or 1% milk; Lunch: Ham and cheese chef salad, corn dog, fresh fries, cherry tomatoes, fresh apple, skim, 1% or chocolate skim milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Banana muffin, string cheese, red grapes, apple juice, skim or 1% mil...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Wednesday — Free concert. National Park Radio, an indie-folk, husband-and-wife power duo from the Ozark Mountains, will play a show at the Tucumcari Railroad Plaza at 6 p.m. 100 W. Railroad Ave., Tucumcari. • Friday, Saturday and Oct. 22-23 — Mayhem, Mystery and Murder — Main Street Haunted Walking Tours. The Tucumcari ghost tour will meet at 6 p.m. at the Tucumcari Railroad Depot, where your guide will take you on a twilight stroll of the city’s historic district. Listen to stories...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday scheduled a work session for 10 a.m. Oct. 27 at city hall to make a final recommendation on higher user fees for the Tucumcari Convention Center. During the board’s previous meeting in September, Chairman Matt Bednorz recommended higher rental fees for the facility, noting Tucumcari’s was considerably cheaper than similar facilities in Santa Rosa and Clovis. Booking the facility for a wedding is $400. Rates at the Tucumcari Convention Center have not changed since 2015. “I think that...
Trigg Memorial Hospital will hold a drive-through flu-shot clinic Saturday morning for everyone age 12 and older at the Quay County fairgrounds in Tucumcari. The free clinic will be from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Vaccines will be given while people are in their cars. Only four people per vehicle or one person per vehicle window will be accepted. Those participating should wear a short-sleeve shirt for easy access to the arm. Masks are required and should cover participants’ mouths and noses at all times. Valved masks, neck gaiters or bandanas will not b...
As they prepare to spend $1.2 trillion on a bipartisan infrastructure deal, along with a vastly larger sum on a party-line social-policy bill, Democrats might be expected to defend their ambitions on the merits. Instead, progressive leaders seem to be focused on fiscal gimmickry. Their goal is to advance a $3.5 trillion initiative known as Build Back Better. With moderates balking at the bill’s scope and cost, efforts are underway to deliver a slimmer version that might command broader support. Unfortunately, these seem to be concentrating n...
Every four years, Americans flock to the polls in droves to elect a new president. Last year, more than 155 million people cast their ballots, most of them just happy that the campaign was finally over, at least for a minute. Two years later, we have the midterm elections, where we elect a new governor, and all members of both the state and U.S. House are up for re-election. Next year, voters will get to weigh in for the first time on the governor’s aggressive public health order to combat COVID-19. In odd-numbered years like this one, we g...
“Progress” is a word liberals grabbed to avoid the “liberal” label that those on the right have soiled so effectively. Feel free to call me either; better that than to embrace the stagnation of conservative thinking. The reality is, we all want progress. OK, there are exceptions - like the Proud Boys, who prefer supremacy to equality and anything over liberalism - but for the rest of us, we want our society moving forward. The divisions come when it’s time to talk about what that really means. By definition, “progress” is simply “forward moti...
Mesalands Community College crowned one outright champion and saw another athlete earn a co-champion title during the finals Saturday night of its Grand Champion Region intercollegiate rodeo at the Quay County Fairgrounds rodeo arena. Mesalands bareback bronc rider Cooper Filipek, who hails from Rapid City, South Dakota, secured his title with a 77 score Saturday - the best of the night - after a successful ride on Mohawk. His cumulative score of 151 points over two days earned him a...
Logan returned to its winning ways with a 52-22 district victory Friday at Mesilla Valley Christian School in eight-man football action in Las Cruces. The Longhorns blew open a close game that was tied 6-6 at halftime with 46 points in the second half. Hayden Judd and Christian Kotara each scored three touchdowns for Logan, and Park Strong added two TDs. Logan, recovering from a 46-0 loss the previous week at Fort Sumner, improved to 7-1 overall and 1-1 in the district. Mesilla Valley fell to 3-3, 0-3. Longhorns coach Dwayne Roberts said his...
RAGLAND - On the edge of the caprock, a father and his teenage son built a makeshift set of goalposts that doubled as a pasture gate behind the village's general store. It was here the boy, Lewis Reagan, practiced his placekicking for the Tucumcari Rattlers football team. Those practices paid off when, as a senior, he kicked a state-record 58-yard field goal - one of three that split the uprights that night - during a 22-20 upset victory on Oct. 23, 1981, over Lovington. Nearly 40 years later, t...
The Lady Rattlers pulled off a rarity in volleyball – all 11 players on the varsity roster registered a kill during a dominating 25-10, 25-14, 25-9 victory Thursday against visiting Pecos. Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez knew her team had spread the wealth against the Lady Panthers, but didn't know how thoroughly until she checked the statistics the next day. "I was just like, that has never happened where every player reported a kill," the sixth-year coach wrote in a text Friday. Amber Owen, ove...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Oct. 4 to Oct. 10: Monday • 1:19 a.m.: Threat in 1100 block of South Second Street, Tucumcari. • 2:16 a.m.: Disturbance in 1100 block of South Monroe Street, Tucumcari. • 7:44 a.m.: Threat in 1100 block of South Second Street, Tucumcari. • 8:30 a.m.: Accident with injuries in 33500 block of Interstate 40 east, Tucumcari. • 9:28 a.m.: Arrest in 300 block of South Third Street, Tucumcari. • 9:39 a.m.: Arrest in 300 block of South Third Street, Tucumcari....
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Oct. 4 to Oct. 9: • Matthew Joseph Dimas, 36, Tucumcari, public nuisance. • Joy Estes, 42, Roswell, contempt of court. • Matthew Howell, 30, Roswell, two counts of contempt of court. • Lawrence Pancho Rivas Sr., 46, Tucumcari, felony contempt of court. • Joseph James Aragon, 36, Tucumcari, probation violation. • Christopher Jacob Cordova, 21, Tucumcari, two counts of felony contempt of court. • Aaron Rodriguez, 41, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Joey J. Trujillo, 38, T...
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved a memorandum of agreement with a Federal Emergency Management Agency program that would send alerts to every cellphone, television and radio in the county during a mass emergency. The system is part of FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System program. County manager Daniel Zamora, who previously was the county’s emergency manager, said such mass emergencies would include wind-blown wildfires threatening a town, train derailments involving hazardous chemicals, or an accident on Int...