Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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A long-awaited coronavirus vaccine arrived Friday in Quay County when about two dozen health workers at Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari were injected with the Pfizer version of it. The first person at Trigg to receive the vaccine was registered nurse Sandi Missildine of Tucumcari, who provides care for COVID-19 patients at their homes. The first people in New Mexico to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which received emergency approval Dec. 11 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, are...
The director of Mesalands Community College’s wind-energy center outlined efforts to add to the college’s drone and alternative-energy education curriculum, including adding 700 solar panels to its grid. Jim Morgan, director of the college’s North American Wind Research and Training Center, described during the board of trustees meeting Dec. 15 the center’s future forays into solar and microgrid technology along with its existing wind-energy offerings. Morgan said the college also might add hydroelectric energy and geothermal. Morgan said the c...
Tucumcari Public Schools superintendent said last week required surveillance testing of COVID-19 of all school employees would double when classes resume next month after winter break. Superintendent Aaron McKinney said during the school board’s regular meeting Dec. 14 more than 10% of district workers would take a new saliva test for coronavirus that promises results within 48 hours. Some in-person classes were scheduled to resume Jan. 18 after the New Mexico Public Education Department extended the winter break for all public schools, f...
Residents and travelers in Tucumcari were treated to a surprise sight Friday night - lights glowed brightly on on the big "T" of Tucumcari Mountain's northwestern face for the first time in many months. The sight also signaled a stronger possibility the faded whitewash on the big "T" would be refurbished soon after the mesa's previous part-owner had blocked access for several years. The "T," formed from rocks and boulders, had been repainted annually by Tucumcari High School students since at...
Most Americans would agree this has been one of the most, if not THE most stressful year for our country and possibly the entire world. The ongoing political strife worsened this year due to the presidential and congressional elections, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place for about nine months also have kept us from joyfully celebrating any holiday since Valentine’s Day. Have you realized if Jesus actually was born on Dec. 25, Mary’s travail of pregnancy occurred in the same tim...
The City of Tucumcari on Friday morning via a 38-second video on its Facebook page officially unveiled the community's new tourism logo. The video stated the logo "was inspired by community input, reflecting our past, reflecting our present, reflecting our people." The clip showed several examples of the logo that began with "City of Tucumcari, New Mexico" and variations available in different color schemes: • "Experience Tucumcari, New Mexico" • "Nostalgic Tucumcari, New Mexico" • "Savor Tucum...
The Environmental Improvement Board, the rule-making body of the New Mexico Environment Department, on Friday approved an amendment to workplace safety law requiring employers to report COVID-19 cases among employees within four hours of being notified of the positive case. The amendment codifies the reporting requirement that had been in place since an emergency amendment was adopted by the Secretary of the Environment Department in August and readopted in early December. The amendment passed by the board will replace the emergency rule when...
On this date ... 1970: Rex Martin, a patient at Van Ark Nursing Home in Tucumcari, in a photograph shows a Christmas card he received in the mail from President Richard Nixon. • The Tucumcari City Commission approved four bids for construction of a new public library. Among the winning bidders were Currell Lumber, Bowen Electric, Birch & Smith and Al’s Plumbing. The work is expected to cost a total of about $32,000. • The Odeon Theatre advertised a double feature — the animated “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” and the science fiction thriller “C...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Dec. 31 — 2020 Must Die Livestream Bonfire. The Roadrunner Lodge Motel is burning memories of 2020 during a livestream event on Facebook Live beginning about 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve (one hour before the ceremonial New Year’s Eve ball drops in New York City). Mail disposable mementoes with your name and your written dedication to: 2020 MUST DIE, c/o Roadrunner Lodge Motel, 1023 E Route 66 Blvd., Tucumcari, NM 88401. The dedication will be read as the memento is placed in the fire. P...
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. All area schools are on winter break for in-person instruction through Jan. 18. Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Round steak with mushroom gravy, cauliflower, potluck roll with margarine, peaches. Thursday — Closed for Christmas holiday. Friday — Closed for Chris...
The state of New Mexico on Wednesday amended its emergency public health order to accommodate slightly increased capacity inside essential retail spaces. The changes in the graduated green-to-red zones of coronavirus risk spread for each county state that essential retail spaces: • May operate at 50% of maximum occupancy in green-zone counties; • May operate at 33% of maximum occupancy in yellow-zone counties; • May operate at 25% of maximum occupancy in red-zone counties. Previously, essential retail spaces could operate with a limit on maxim...
Yes, we’re all tired. Tired of the isolation, the restrictions, the lines, the shortages, the rude people and the ignorant ones who don’t understand safety practices, the cumbersome way we must operate, the dull routine and inability to socialize and travel. It shows in our state’s positive case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths. To make matters worse, Thanksgiving came along and people hit the apathy button and traveled against health officials’ recommendations. Add to that the good news of a vaccine arriving any time, which has lulled...
Merry Christmas. The year is almost over. President Trump will soon be free to watch right-wing TV and overload Twitter without the burden of responsibility. The best thing he will leave us with, however, is Operation Warp Speed, which just might make the COVID-19 pandemic manageable without economic shutdowns by the end of 2021. The vaccines alone make 2021 worth looking forward to. The end, or at least the weakening, of COVID-19 will bring an economic explosion that has seldom been matched, I think. When the planet-size river of pent-up deman...
With a pandemic bearing down, Christmas is a bit subdued this year. That makes it a good year to curl up in bed with a Christmas book or plop down on your couch for a magical Christmas movie. I must admit I’ve read very few Christmas books, except as a young daddy. That’s when I delved into certain children’s classics such as “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” or one of the many Berenstain Bears’ holiday stories out there. Of the few Christmas-centric “chapter books” I remember reading, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” is undoubtedly my favo...
The New Mexico Department of Health last week reported the sixth coronavirus death in Quay County since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the volume of COVID-19 cases was falling in the state and the county, though officials cautioned there might be spikes after Christmas and implored residents to refrain from holiday gatherings that would make the spread of the virus more likely. The latest casualty in the county was a woman in her 70s who was hospitalized, according to an email Wednesday from the agency. Identities of those killed or infected by...
As expected, Quay County stayed in the red zone during the latest county-by-county COVID-19 risk evaluations announced Wednesday by the state. The next evaluation is Dec. 30. Quay County wasn’t alone in the red zone. All 33 of New Mexico’s counties landed in the worst rating of the graduated red-to-green criteria that determine how much their individual counties can reopen their economies during the pandemic. Even neighboring San Miguel County, which had been placed in the yellow zone earlier, fell into the red Wednesday. Signs of imp...
Annie McCauley outgrew the travel trailer she used for her Blanco Creek Boutiques clothing and jewelry business. So she recently opened a less mobile but roomier location in downtown Tucumcari. Blanco Creek Boutiques opened Dec. 11 in its new digs at 209 S. Second St. in the former Spin Digity gym that closed in November. McCauley owns the business, and Jessica Gonzales offers her New Mexico Ranch Wife Designs jewelry in the shop, as well. McCauley initially opened her business in the travel...
Two wastewater projects received action Thursday from the Tucumcari City Commission, along with agreements for monitoring the city’s old and current landfills. The commission also approved a change order that reduces the cost of the Second Street reconstruction and remodeling by more than $135,000. The commission acted unanimously to approve an agreement with CDM Smith of Albuquerque for $347,679 for evaluation and survey services for a city’s wastewater reuse project. The $5.2 million project would channel treated wastewater to a spr...
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Saturday the appointment of Julie J. Vargas to the New Mexico Supreme Court, closing the vacancy left by the Justice Judith K. Nakamura, who retired. The governor selected Vargas from the list of candidates provided by the Judicial Nominating Commission after conducting interviews. “Judge Vargas has demonstrated her quality as a consistent and conscientious jurist,” Lujan Grisham said in a news release. “She is a fair, trustworthy and thoughtful representative of New Mexico’s judicial system, and I know Ne...
More than half of Logan’s middle-school students were considered low-growth academically in assessment tests during a period from December 2019 to December 2020, illustrating the challenges of remote-learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent Dennis Roch during his academic update presented the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, data to Logan Municipal Schools board members during their virtual regular meeting Dec. 14. Roch showed student data divided into four quadrants — high achievement and high growth, low ach...
Students at San Jon High School earlier this month were among the winners of the New Mexico Governor’s STEM Challenge for the second straight year. San Jon juniors Saisravya Bandla and Jenna Lopez, sponsored by San Jon math teacher Raj Bandla and science teacher Sharla Rusk, designed a solar-powered recycling device that electronically sorts aluminum cans and dispenses coins to donors. Saisravya is Bandla’s daughter. A total of 33 high-school teams competed in the contest. Eighteen teams, including San Jon’s, were declared winners. Each stude...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees last week approved an annual auditor’s report that refutes some allegations made by the college’s former president in a whistleblower and retaliation lawsuit. Marty Mathisen, principal for the Atkinson & Co. auditing firm in Albuquerque, reviewed via videoconference the audit during the board’s regular meeting Dec. 15. The audit briefly addressed the lawsuit, and he also remarked about it during his presentation to the board. The audit noted the lawsuit filed by former president John Groes...
A new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy ranked New Mexico 24th nationwide in energy efficiency, a move upward of nine spots from 2019’s report card and the biggest increase. Work to implement the Energy Transition Act and the state’s recent adoption of the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code are responsible for the upward jump in ranking, according to a news release from the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The report analyzes policies and programs relating to energy effic...
At least three Mexican wolf pups once in captivity have been successfully cross-fostered into wild packs in New Mexico this year. The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team captured and placed radio collars on seven of this year's cross-fostered wolf pups, a record success for the program. The Mexican wolf remains the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America. Last spring, members of the field team and the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan cross-fostered 20 genetically diverse wolf pups...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Dec. 14 to Dec. 19: Monday • 10:15 a.m.: Fraud at South Sixth Street and West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 10:42 a.m.: Theft in 6200 block of Quay Road AQ, Tucumcari. • 12:08 p.m.: Accident in 400 block of U.S. 54, Logan. • 1:59 p.m.: Threat in 100 block of East High Street, Tucumcari. • 3:27 p.m.: Threat in 200 block of East Estrella Avenue, Tucumcari. • 4:30 p.m.: Threat in 3600 block of Quay Road 63, Tucumcari. • 11:11 p.m.: Shots fired in 700...