Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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COVID-19 taketh away, but it also giveth in the local real-estate market. Two agents in Tucumcari with a total of more than 30 years of experience in the sector recently said the past year or so is the busiest they ever have seen for home sales. Both largely credited the pandemic for bringing new interest and new potential property owners to the region. Tonya Ridgon has worked as an agent at Trousdale Real Estate in Tucumcari for 11 years. She and a colleague with more than 20 years in the market said the past year was unprecedented in sales. ...
The New Mexico Department of Health last week reported the 27th and 28th COVID-19 deaths in Quay County since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020. The latest victims: • A woman in her 50s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions; • A woman in her 60s who had underlying conditions. Both deaths were reported Dec. 20. Twenty deaths — or more than 70% of the total — have occurred in the county since late May. However, Quay County continued to show signs of a decline in the spread of the disease. The DOH reported a total of 31 new...
The COVID-19 pandemic continued to be a big story in Quay County during the first half of 2021, though it was the loosening of health restrictions that dominated local storylines instead of the crackdowns seen in the previous year. Due to a waning of a winter COVID-19 spike and a rollout of vaccines, New Mexico's state government essentially called an uneasy truce with the virus early in the first half of 2021. First, middle- and high-school students were allowed to resume in-person classes in...
On this date ... 1971: Tucumcari city attorney Bob Rowley handed in his resignation, effective Jan. 1. Rowley stated he will have completed 20 years as city attorney and was entitled to draw his retirement Dec. 31. He could be rehired by the city at a later date without affecting his benefits. • The Quay Bridge, which had been closed for repairs for some time, reopened mid-afternoon on Dec. 28. Bob Nelson, who he said had used the bridge daily for 25 years, was the first to drive across the reopened span. • Tucumcari volunteer firefighters wer...
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 575-461-2307 or the Logan facility at 575-487-2287 for more information. Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Italian chicken, broccoli with cheese, carrots, whole wheat bread, vanilla pudding. Thursday — Pork butt roast, blackeyed peas, tomatoes and green chiles, cornbread, peaches. Friday — Closed. Monday — Closed. Tuesday — Barbecued sausage, wild rice, cauliflower, whole-whe...
The Family Dollar store in Tucumcari and an employee are being sued for negligence after a now-deceased woman tripped and was injured because the store’s walkway allegedly was obstructed. Sharon Valencia of Tucumcari filed the complaint Dec. 15 in Tucumcari district court on behalf of the deceased Frances Chavez, her mother. Megan Salazar was identified in the lawsuit as a store employee at the time of the accident. The lawsuit states Chavez was visiting the Family Dollar on Nov. 27, 2020, and that the store and Salazar failed “to exercise ordi...
New Mexico’s governor last week signed a bill that appropriates an additional $20 million to the Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department for improvements to state parks, including Conchas Lake State Park north of Tucumcari and Ute Lake State Park in Logan. According to a news release, the enacted House Bill 2 “will make significant investments in state parks allowing EMNRD to address a backlog of facilities and infrastructure maintenance.” Susan Torres, public information officer for the Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Depar...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees last week approved a revision to a policy that would allow firearms on campus if the college president permits them. Mesalands President Gregg Busch said during the board’s regular Dec. 21 meeting the current policy restricted the carrying of firearms to law-enforcement personnel and law-enforcement students. Busch said he wanted the college’s new security chief, former New Mexico state police officer Chester Bobbitt, to be allowed to carry a firearm. Busch noted current New Mexico law all...
It’s been a rough month for several families in our little congregation. We are grieving deaths, fighting illness, and mourning other heartaches. Others, though, are adjusting to life with new babies, while a few cruise along pretty normally, doing business as usual and enjoying the holidays. We are a single church with members who seem to be walking radically different paths, at least in some ways. The commonality with us all is that, as it says in Psalm 25:10, “All the paths of the Lord are st...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Dec. 20 to Dec. 26: Monday • 4:39 a.m.: Noise complaint in 700 block of West Sunset Avenue, Tucumcari. • 3:57 p.m.: Unattended death in 500 block of North Third Street, Tucumcari. • 4:45 p.m.: Civil dispute in 700 block of North Second Street, Tucumcari. • 7:02 p.m.: Fraud in 1900 block of South Mountain Road, Tucumcari. • 11:22 p.m.: Domestic disturbance in 700 block of West Hancock Avenue, Tucumcari. Tuesday • 11:02 a.m.: Illegal burning in 400 block o...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Dec. 20 to Dec. 21: • Jesus Montoya, 31, no address listed, contempt of court. • Felix Sanchez, 20, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Tina Molina, 25, Tucumcari, driving while license suspended or revoked and failure to yield. • Jesus Robles, 41, Grand Junction, Colorado, contempt of court. • Rachel Romero, 31, Tucumcari, contempt of court and felony possession of a controlled substance (narcotic drug). • Neil Vanwyck, 43, Tucumcari, making a false report. These individuals...
When Joe Biden took over as president, millions of Americans were relieved to finally have a leader who could be counted on to consistently shepherd the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in a coherent and fact-driven way. But Biden’s record has been far from spotless. Yes, any president was going to struggle with a political movement that bizarrely conflates getting vaccinated against a deadly disease with surrendering personal freedom, and whose leaders include the governors of the second- and third-most populous sta...
Once upon a time, the word “liberal” was used to describe people who were “generous,” “open-minded,” and “accepting of other opinions.” It was closely related to the word “liberty.” This description no longer applies to political liberals. Describing their backward-thinking as “progressive” or their nightmarish denial of reality as “woke” is equally ridiculous. This doesn’t mean they are always wrong. I agree that everyone has value, but their value has nothing to do with superficial features like sex, race, or ethnicity. They have value be...
Seems to me, 2021 began on Jan. 20. That’s when Joe Biden was sworn in as president. Because of Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results, opposition to Biden’s election turned into an attempted coup on Jan. 6, followed by the most hurried and justified presidential impeachment in U.S. history (that’s what should happen whenever a sitting president tries to remain in office by force). By the time Biden’s inauguration came around, Washington, D.C., was a fortress of security — the violence had been quelled and the nation bega...
The Guadalupe County Commission on Dec. 16 approved an agreement with De Baca County to reserve up to 24 beds for Guadalupe's adult inmates. Guadalupe County Sheriff Lorenzo Mata said the agreement applies to the new jail that De Baca is building. Construction is expected to be complete in January or February. “It's going to be my main area” for housing county inmates, Mata told the commissioners. Mata and County Manager Rose Fernandez told commissioners the contract was initially for a full year, but De Baca County pulled it back to a six...
The coach of a forthcoming a video-game sports program at Mesalands Community College said in a board of trustees meeting last week he wants to field a varsity team by fall 2023. Larry Wickham, director of institutional technology and coach of the future esports team, acknowledged a team competing by next fall was "ambitious." Esports is a form of competition using video games and is fast-growing at the high school and collegiate level. Wickham also laid out his vision for an eventual esports...
The 1986 hit movie "Hoosiers" depicted a small-school Indiana basketball team that improbably won the state championship, defeating bigger-enrollment schools along the way. Forrest in southern Quay County can boast a real-life version of "Hoosiers," except the Pirates won the state title twice in the early 1930s and might have done it a third time if misfortune hadn't struck. Forrest's state title treks might sound like the stuff of fiction. However, tangible evidence of those feats remain in a...