Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Police cars and ambulances swarmed to the Pizza Hut in Tucumcari after a shooting there Friday night that left two Tucumcari men dead in an apparent murder-suicide. New Mexico State Police on Sunday identified the dead as Jimmy Chavez, 37, a manager of the restaurant at 2402 S. First St., and assailant Flip Anaya, 23. State police stated in a news release Sunday the shootings began about 9:13 p.m. Friday. "When officers arrived, they located two male subjects outside within close proximity to...
An ordinance designed to encourage preservation of Tucumcari’s neon-lit Route 66 history was rejected before it could receive further consideration Thursday as Tucumcari City Commissioners voted to scrap it without first publishing it and holding a public hearing. The ordinance was rejected on a 3-2 vote, with District 5 Commissioner Todd Duplantis, District 4 Commissioner Chris Arias and District 2 Commissioner Amy Gutierrez voting to reject the ordinance. Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield and District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya voted against the r...
A new Christmas event - if a horse-drawn carriage can be called new - mixed with an old favorite, the annual Parade of Lights, over the weekend in Tucumcari. A total of 25 lighted floats, vehicles and even animals registered for the parade Saturday evening down Route 66, a tradition that goes back decades in Tucumcari. Other non-judged entries also entered the caravan that went from the old Kmart parking lot to the Tucumcari Convention Center. Carmen Runyan, who helped organize the event,...
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved an agreement with the county’s adult detention center and Mental Health Resources Inc. of Tucumcari that likely will add thousands of dollars in costs to the county. Chris Birch, an administrator of the jail who recommended the agreement, said Mental Health Resources once provided mental health care to inmates for free but not longer can do so. The pact states the fee schedule will be $98.54 an hour for the initial evaluation by a therapist , $110.59 an hour for an initial evaluation by a p...
Veteran state Sen. Pete Campos foresees a lot of new infrastructure spending by a cash-flush New Mexico Legislature when its 30-day session resumes in January. Campos, D-Las Vegas, who's served in the Legislature for nearly 30 years, shared his thoughts about the coming session at an event hosted Thursday by the Quay County Democratic Party in the Liberty Room of the Tucumcari Convention Center. Campos' 8th District includes part of northeast Tucumcari as well as Logan and Ute Lake in Quay...
The crew from the History Channel's "American Pickers" is asking for leads in Quay County for its reality-television show when it comes to New Mexico in February. Carmen Runyan, executive director for the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, said producers from the show contacted her by phone last week, asking about rare and valuable antique collections that hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz can examine. "I know there are a lot of people here who have antique collections," she said. Runyan...
On this date ... 1969: The Tucumcari Daily News appealed to the public to buy undergarments and other small gifts for 23 developmentally disabled women at the Peterson Home. The newspaper set up a Christmas tree in its front office so people could bring their gifts to the women before Dec. 23. • Tucumcari police officers participated in a shotgun-firing course at the city’s firing range. Two FBI agents taught the course. • The Safeway in Tucumcari advertised whole fryers for 29 cents a pound, ground beef for 53 cents a pound and a 12-ou...
• Friday — Night of Praise. The Father’s Forge Church will have a children’s performance, an ugly Christmas sweater contest, music and refreshments starting at 7 p.m. 622 S. Lake St., Tucumcari. • Saturday — Wreaths Across America. Christmas wreaths will be laid at veterans’ graves at Tucumcari Memorial Park cemetery starting at 10 a.m., with a short ceremony at noon. Quay Road Ap 0.6 and Western Drive, Tucumcari. • Saturday — Tucumcari Historical Research Institute field trip. A bus tour will leave from and return to the Tucumcari Histori...
Few things are more private than a person’s medical history. Yet without the consent of patients or their doctors, America’s second-largest health care system and Google are cooperating to share personally identifiable medical information on 50 million patients. Regardless of the intentions to improve health care, this is a violation of privacy that may require action from regulators or Congress to correct. First reported by the Wall Street Journal, Ascension, a chain of Catholic nonprofits with hospitals and nursing homes in 21 states, mad...
At the workshop before the Thursday meeting of the Tucumcari City Commission, Ralph Lopez, a project manager in the city’s Community Development Department, announced it costs $138,835 per city block to resurface streets. Assuming eight blocks in a mile, that would mean about $1.1 million per mile. City Manager Britt Lusk pointed out that figure does not include the cost of replacing or repairing utility infrastructure like water and gas lines that lie under some streets. In its Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan for years 2021 to 2025, t...
Impeach! Impeach! Impeach! Removing Donald Trump from office before he can get re-elected is the only thing in Washington that Democrats and the national media really care about. But while Thelma Pelosi and Louise Nadler speed down their constitutionally crooked backroad to impeachment, the Trump administration has been quietly tackling issues like education that are actually important for Americans. Covered by the constant media glare of impeachment, for instance, Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is doing a great job of fixing our b...
A Tucumcari man avoided a conviction on a felony animal-abuse charge after a Quay County jury deadlocked and failed to reach a verdict Wednesday during a trial in 10th District Court in Tucumcari. The jury of nine women and three men deadlocked 9-3 after more than four hours of deliberation. It wasn't known whether a majority of jurors favored conviction or acquittal because District Judge Albert Mitchell Jr. didn't poll them individually. But when quizzed by Mitchell on whether the prosecutor...
TEXICO - Opening night is always a special time for any sports team. Fresh start, 0-0 record, all that. For the Texico boys basketball team, with a new head coach and so many new players, it was filled with even more anticipation Tuesday night at Texico High School, and even more excitement after the Wolverines pulled away from Tucumcari for a 74-50 victory. "Opening night, it's amazing," Wolverines junior post David Davalos said. "It's a thrill to play here for Texico, it's a blessing,...
TEXICO - As opening nights go, Tuesday's could have gone better for the Texico girls basketball team. And yet, head coach Richard Luscombe wasn't overly disappointed. Considering it was just one game in and his team had to replace some key starters from last season and wasn't even at full strength Tuesday, Luscombe thought losing only 37-35 to Tucumcari at Texico High School, especially after trailing by seven at halftime, wasn't too bad a start. "With the team that we have this year and with...
Defending Class 1A champion Melrose prevailed in a 70-59 battle against Grady / San Jon during the championship game Saturday of the Melrose Tournament. Bronchos coach Jonathan Langan said the Buffaloes jumped out to a 20-point lead early. “We stayed the course in the second quarter and knocked down a lot of big shots and eventually took the lead,” he said. “(Melrose) did a jog job making halftime adjustments and applied a lot of ball pressure, which we didn’t handle well.” Langan said his Bronchos behind by four points early in the fourth qu...
The Logan girls basketball team rallied from behind to defeat Lordsburg 44-40 Saturday in the championship game at the Dora Tournament. Coach Glynna Strand said her Lady Longhorns (4-0) were down 15 points at one point in the game but “slowly worked out way back” with the help of their press defense. “Free throws won the game,” Strand said, noting Karli Webb went 7-for-7 from the foul line to end the game with 15 points. “The last four points were free throws.” Webb earned Most Valuable Player honors in the tournament. Kassi Foote, who scored...
The Tucumcari wrestling team went 3-2 in season-opening dual matches against much larger schools Saturday at Los Lunas, and those losses might have been victories if not for forfeits at two weight classes the Rattlers were unable to fill. Tucumcari coach Eddie Encinias didn’t have exact scores, but he said his team defeated Bernalillo by 20 points, downed Rio Grande by 16 and defeated Albuquerque Academy “handily.” The Rattlers’ losses were to Kirtland Central by 20 and Albuquerque High by eight — both which might have been closer if had Tucum...
Two Logan players made the all-state team in eight-man football, including one at three positions. Park Strong made the first team as a punter, placekicker and outside linebacker. Teammate Nick Brown earned a first-team spot as a running back. On the second team for the Longhorns were Brown at defensive lineman, Wyatt Wright at defensive lineman and Ryan Fair at inside linebacker. Logan (6-5) finished third in a district that included the state champion and runner-up. The Longhorns advanced to the state semifinals, falling to Tatum. The other...
Bill Maddox, a Tucumcari graduate who became a longtime news anchor in the Lubbock, Texas, television market, died Dec. 3. He was 81. According to a story by his longtime employer, KAMC-TV in Lubbock, he anchored the news in Lubbock on KLBK in 1964. He switched to the new KSEL-TV, now KAMC, about four years later. Maddox retired in May 2013. La Nell Evetts, a sister of Maddox’s who lives in Tucumcari, said during a telephone interview her brother graduated from Tucumcari High School in 1956 and began his broadcasting career as a teenager at K...
Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board vice president and secretary Al Patel made a formal proposal during its meeting Wednesday to reallocate the board's promotion and executive funds that would free up more money to support events in Tucumcari and possibly establish a Tucumcari Visitors Center on Route 66. Patel's document also floats several other new ideas on what to do with that additional money, including hiring a social-media coordinator, expanding the number of billboards and creating a new, big event in Tucumcari. Motel tax funds...
There are fewer than 14 shopping days left before Christmas! Are you ready? I am — that is, if a replacement present arrives in time. You see, I had my wife’s present delivered well ahead of time, but it was delivered to our house (along with several packages she’d ordered) instead of my office, which was the address on the label with my name on it and she opened it accidentally. That was nobody’s fault but the delivery service’s, as my wife would never want to spoil Christmas surprises. Still, I felt I needed to get her another gift, and...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Strawberry yogurt parfait, cereal choice with cinnamon goldfish graham cracker, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Ham and cheese chef salad, chicken nuggets, honey wheat roll, mashed potatoes, country gravy, baby carrots, diced peaches, milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Bagel with strawberry cream cheese, ultimate breakfast round, cereal choice with cinnamon goldfish graham cracker, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Cheeseburger, French fries, romaine lettuce, fresh tomatoes, dill pickle chip, fresh strawberries, milk. Mon...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Dec. 3 to Dec. 9: • Bernadine Gutierrez, 57, Logan, felony contempt of court. • Jose Juan Quintero-Garcia, 44, Tucumcari, driving under the influence of liquor (impaired; first offense), driver’s license not in possession and open container. • Caleb Stanley, 36, Tucumcari, warrants from other counties or states. • Francis Zanoth, 74, Logan, warrant from other counties or states. • Amanda N. Garcia, 33, Tucumcari, driving under the influence of liquor (impaired;...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Dec. 2 to Dec. 8: Monday • 12:23 p.m.: Drug or narcotic paraphernalia at Eighth Street and Laughlin Avenue, Tucumcari. • 1:33 p.m.: Trespassing in 1400 block of East Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 3:26 p.m.: Traffic accident with damage in 900 block of South 10th Street, Tucumcari. • 3:49 p.m.: Theft (fuel drive-off) in 2300 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. • 4:23 p.m.: Theft in 600 block of East Laughlin Avenue, Tucumcari. • 5:25 p.m.: Shots...