Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The Quay County Commission on Monday unanimously approved the official canvass for last week’s general election after the clerk proclaimed it “the easiest we ever had.” County Clerk Ellen White said the election in the county contained no provisional ballots, no late ballots and no ballots that required “curing,” or correction. After previous elections, county commissioners spent time — sometimes up to 45 minutes — during their meeting approving or rejecting provisional ballots. White estimated a portion of an estimated 800 inactive voters woul...
New Mexico will begin a two-week "shelter in place" status Monday and take a county-based approach for reopening against worsening COVID-19 infection rates. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the changes during a Friday news conference. The new public health order will require "non-essential businesses" to close and "essential businesses" to reduce operations and in-person workforce to the greatest extent possible. “You should stay at home,” Lujan Grisham said, “except for only the most essential trips for health, safety and welfa...
Quay County set a record Saturday with eight confirmed cases of coronavirus in one day – all in the Tucumcari ZIP code. It was the most since Aug. 20, when the county saw seven cases. The COVID-19 cases brought the Tucumcari area's total to 100 since the pandemic began. A total of 41 cases have been reported in the county in November. The latest cases in Quay County, according to the DOH database, were four females and four males. The age breakdowns were one age 9 and younger, three age 30 to 39, one age 40 to 49, one age 50 to 59 and two a...
The New Mexico Department of Health on Wednesday reported two more confirmed cases of coronavirus in Quay County – both in the House ZIP code. The new cases in House came two days after House Municipal Schools announced its closure until Nov. 30 because of at least one confirmed case with a student or employee there. Students are undergoing virtual learning until that time while the school is disinfected and people in close contact with the infected finish a 14-day quarantine. The state's COVID-19 rapid-response database also referred to two c...
Three more confirmed coronavirus cases – all in the Tucumcari ZIP code – were reported Thursday by the New Mexico Department of Health amid another record-breaking day in the state. Quay County also failed to meet the criteria for to expand school reopenings, but it had plenty of company. All but three counties in New Mexico missed at least one of the criteria. The latest cases in Quay County, according to the DOH database, were two females and one male. The age breakdowns were one age 10 to 19, one age 20 to 29 and one age 30 to 39. The total...
Area voters decided to retain 10th Judicial District Judge Albert Mitchell Jr. to his post, according to unofficial results Tuesday night from Quay, De Baca and Harding counties. Results in conservative-leaning Quay County contrasted the strong finish by Democrats in New Mexico's overall results, including the presidential race and a locally contested state senate seat. Quay County fell just short of a record with 64% turnout at the polls. The record is 65%, set during the 2008 general...
Despite record numbers of early voting, Quay County fell just shy of record overall turnout during this year's general election. A total of exactly 3,900 people cast their ballots in the county. With 6,093 registered voters, that is a turnout of 64% - short of the record of 65% reported during the 2008 general election, according to data kept by County Clerk Ellen White. New Mexico broke a record when more than 920,000 people voted in the general election for a 68% turnout, according to...
This Wednesday is Veterans Day. While veterans are specially honored on Nov. 11, they should be honored at all times. So, thank you multiplied times over, American veterans, for serving our nation to protect our peace and constitutional freedoms. Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day, ended the “War to End All Wars.” Here’s part of what President Woodrow Wilson said at the first celebration of Armistice Day in 1919: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in...
The state of New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last week launched expanded COVID-19 testing efforts across the southern part of the state with the goal of driving down positivity rates, turn “red” counties to “green” and restore the region’s economy. On Thursday, the Department of Health established 12 new testing sites, including in Clovis and Portales, across southern counties where positivity rates are rising. “We are working around the clock to expand New Mexico’s testing capacity,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham...
On this date ... 1970: A Veterans Day ceremony at Tucumcari Junior High School honored Pete Dowell, a veteran of World War II and Korea and a teacher at the school from 1960 to 1970. Other veterans in the school’s faculty also were recognized. • The Tucumcari school board approved a code of ethics for its members. The measure noted that members had no legal authority outside of school-board meetings and they should “resist every temptation to benefit myself or others, apart from the school district.” • The Odeon Theatre in Tucumcari was scree...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Thursday — Virtual Christmas Cash Mob at Mesalands Dinosaur Museum. This event will be broadcast on Facebook Live from 6 to 7 p.m. at the museum. Tucumcari MainStreet is partnering with the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce and local businesses as part of Very Merry Tucumcari festivities to bring fun and boost local shopping. Participants bid on items, arrange payment and socialize during the session. Hosts entertain and educate as they sell items and encourage viewers to...
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. Some area schools are using a hybrid model of online and/or in-person teaching. Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Chocolate filled crescent roll, applesauce cup, orange juice; Lunch: Chicken and gravy, brown rice, peas and carrots, fresh pear, chocolate skim m...
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2528 will not organize a Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday because of the state public health order’s ongoing ban on public gatherings. The state several weeks ago reduced the maximum number of people in a public gathering from 10 to five amid sharply rising numbers of COVID-19 cases. Post Commander Slik Knapp said even without a ceremony, residents should consider veterans’ sacrifices. "During this time of uncertainty throughout the year 2020, we need to remember our veterans, that they have made the sac...
Not only did a Logan family suffer the misfortune of a residence fire, but items were stolen from their property several days later. According to a news release from the Logan Police Department, a fire heavily damaged a home at 216 Planet St. the morning of Oct. 26. The house was described as a complete loss, though some of the belongings there were salvageable. On Nov. 2, it was discovered that one or several people entered the home and stole items that included firearms, a small motorcycle and other items. “The victims had not been able to g...
The New Mexico Department of Health reports prescription opioid overdose deaths went down last year but illicit substance overdose deaths went up. Overdose deaths caused by prescription opioids other than fentanyl decreased from 193 to 177 in 2019. However, total overdose deaths among New Mexicans rose 13%, from 537 in 2018 to 605 in 2019. This exceeds the previous high of 540 deaths in 2014. The increase last year is attributed to the use of illicit substances including methamphetamine, fentanyl and heroin. Methamphetamine was involved in 44%...
When Americans woke up last Wednesday, they still weren't sure who had won the presidential election as ballots were still being tabulated in several pivotal states. But New Mexico was not one of them. Despite rhetoric raising concerns of absentee balloting fraud, untallied or discarded absentee ballots, a Postal Service overwhelmed with mailed ballots, vulnerable drop boxes, long lines that would discourage in-person voting and not enough polling sites in general, the election went smoothly in New Mexico. By 7:34 a.m. last Wednesday, the...
Watching the election returns trickle in as vote counts drag on is like waiting for a root canal to be over even with two people and four hands working as fast as care allows on a tooth the size of pea. But all the networks and news organizations predict winners, usually quite accurately, before the counts are done. I’m writing this on Friday when we still didn’t know if we’d be congratulating a president or a president-elect. So, how do the prognosticators practice their magic? It’s not magic. It’s science, statistics and probabili...
Honor, dedication, sacrifice and trust are a few words that come to mind when you think about someone who has given so much for not only people they know and love but for millions of other they have never met. Veteran is too simple of a word; unfortunately, in the almost 250 years we have been a country, no one has found one that can incorporate everything it means. When someone signs up to be in the military, they agree to give everything to honor and serve our country. They wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America that...
Quay County election results * means overall winner in state President Hawkins/Walker (G) 17 Jorgenson/Cohen (L) 41 *Biden/Harris (D) 1,170 Tittle/Sandidge (C) 5 Trump/Pence (R) 2,634 LaRiva/Freeman (S) 6 U.S. senate Bob Walsh (L) 91 Mark V. Ronchetti (R) 2,543 *Ben Ray Lujan (D) 1,214 U.S. representative, District 3 Alexis M. Johnson (R) 2,554 *Teresa Leger Fernandez (D) 1,212 State senate, District 7 *Pat Woods (R) 2,145 State senate, District 8 *Pete Campos (D) 228 Melissa Kay Fryzel (R) 789 State representative, District 67 *Jack Chatfield...
The New Mexico Department of Health on Monday reported six more cases of COVID-19 in Quay County, all in the Tucumcari ZIP code. The agency has reported 16 coronavirus cases in the Tucumcari area in three days. Quay County has recorded 28 cases in November alone. According to the DOH's website, the latest cases were four males and two females. The age breakdowns were one age 9 and under, one age 10 to 19, two age 30 to 39, one age 50 to 59 and one age 70 to 79, The total number of cases in the county grew to 135, with two deaths, since the pand...
New Mexico’s governor didn’t sugarcoat the seriousness of a steep rise in coronavirus cases during a press briefing Thursday and said she might impose “drastic” restrictions this week if the state’s pandemic didn’t show signs of slowing. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during a Zoom videoconference from the governor’s mansion it was “a hard truth to hear,” but November was shaping up to be “rough on all of us.” On Thursday, the state broke a daily record with 23 COVID-19 deaths. Hospitalizations from the disease have nearly doubled in two...
Officials from New Mexico MainStreet and a graphic designer made a videoconference presentation Wednesday of a late-stage prototype of the city's new tourism logo to the Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Board. New Mexico MainStreet and revitalization specialist Leighton Moon of Alamogordo consulted with Tucumcari MainStreet and surveyed residents on a rebranding of the city's logo and setting up a tourism style guide. New Mexico MainStreet offered the service, which ordinarily would have cost thousands of...
Members of the Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Board brainstormed ideas to boost tourist spending in town, including inserting coupons into a forthcoming visitors guide. Board member Matt Bednorz began the discussion during the board’s meeting Wednesday by noting a Fox Business story that reported Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is paying visitors $100 to visit the town through Nov. 30. The first 1,000 visitors who qualify would receive $100 in Glenwood Gold Community Currency on arrival. To qualify, visitors must complete an application, book at least a t...
FORT SUMNER — A Fort Sumner woman wanted on allegations she killed her grandfather was captured Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida, according to the New Mexico State Police. Candy Jo Webb, 27, was taken into custody without incident by U.S. marshals and is in a Florida detention facility awaiting extradition to New Mexico. Webb faces charges of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of her grandfather, A.J. Harden, whose body was found in an abandoned tool chest in Fort Sumner. According to an Oct. 28 arrest warrant, W...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Nov. 2 to Nov. 9: • Scott Cain Garcia, 21, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Phillip Justin Latham Jr., 38, Tucumcari, felony contempt of court. • Terry Reck, 63, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Johnathan James Martinez, 27, Tucumcari, charge not listed. • Samantha Alexis Montano, 26, Tucumcari, failure to register vehicle, no proof of insurance, false evidence of title and registration (after), no driver’s license and warrant from other counties or states. • Seth A. Chave...