Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The New Mexico Department of Health on Sunday reported tw0 more confirmed cases of coronavirus in the county, both in the Tucumcari ZIP code. The latest cases were two young males — one age 10 to 19, the other age 20 to 29. No cases were reported in the county Monday – the second time in a week no cases had been reported. The total number of cases in the county stood Monday at 331, with six deaths. A total of 159 people in the county have been deemed by the state as recovered from the virus. The latest breakdown by ZIP code since the pandemic b...
The state’s Department of Health on Saturday reported six coronavirus cases in Quay County, all in the Tucumcari ZIP code. According to the agency’s website, four men and two women were affected. The age breakdown of the latest cases are one age 20 to 29, one age 30 to 39, two age 40 to 49, one age 60 to 69 and one age 70 to 79. It was the largest single-day report of COVID-19 cases in the county since Dec. 11, when eight were reported. The number of cases in the county rose to 338 since the pandemic began, with seven deaths. A total of 176 peo...
Quay County remained in the red zone in the latest evaluations Wednesday on the statewide COVID-19 map but landed on the shortlist of greatest improvement in its per-capita and test-positivity rates for the virus. All but one of New Mexico’s counties – Catron – also remained in the red zone in the evaluation from Dec. 15 to Dec. 28. Catron County improved to the yellow zone, which allows it to reopen restaurants to 25% capacity in indoor dining and other relaxed restrictions. Quay County’s per capita rate of coronavirus cases was 16.7 daily c...
Quay County appeared to be tantalizingly close to improving from the red zone to the yellow zone when the latest two-week COVID-19 risk evaluations are reported Wednesday for all New Mexico counties. Being in the yellow zone would loosen health restrictions in the county, especially for restaurants that could resume some indoor dining. Quay County will fail one of the evaluation metrics — daily cases per 100,000 people. Quay County can tolerate only 10 confirmed coronavirus cases during a two-week period. It had recorded 21 cases from Dec. 14 t...
Though it didn't make its effects known until March, there's little doubt what story dominated the Quay County news cycle in 2020 - the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus created widespread ripple effects in all corners of the county - and America - with quarantines, disrupted routines, closed school buildings, canceled festivals and sporting events, restricted commerce, gatherings by Zoom and everyone being required to wear masks. The virus also infected more than 300 people in Quay County and...
The New Mexico Department of Health announced last week the launch of a website that enables New Mexico residents to receive notice when they qualify for COVID-19 vaccine. That website is available at cvvaccine.nmhealth.org/. New Mexico is offering vaccine doses to healthcare workers and staff and residents of long-term care facilities in Phase 1a of vaccine distribution. New Mexicans who work in these settings may sign up to receive vaccine during this phase: Healthcare workers who have direct contact with patients; Workers in other...
What do Christians mean when we say that humans are created in the image of God? Ask 10 theologians and you'll get 11 different answers. What does “the image of God” mean in our lives? It can't have anything to do with our physical appearance, since the Bible reveals God as an invisible spirit, without body, parts, or passions, as our Presbyterian friends say. Other things are proposed though, that supposedly separate humanity from the lower animals and reflect something of our divine origin. Is...
On this date ... 1970: Mrs. Victor Arguello led her three small children to safety after their camp house at Randalls Ranch in Montoya caught fire. They could not open their front door and instead exited the burning home by breaking a window. The mother suffered a cut arm and singed hair. Firefighters said an explosion of a water heater caused the fire. • David Cargo, who ends his four years as New Mexico’s governor at midnight, said he improved the “climate of government” during his tenure but came up short of a desired reorganization of stat...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Thursday — 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 — Chicken spaghetti, beets, breadstick, peaches. Thursday — Meatballs in marinara sauce, wild rice, carrots with peppers, breadstick, fruit yogurt. Friday — C...
More than 5,000 years ago, the warriors of Babylonia painted their fingernails with kohl to go to battle. More recently, A-list actor Brad Pitt wore nail polish, apparently just for the heck of it. Yet for some reason, it’s a showstopper when a 17-year-old male in Texas wears nail polish to school? Granted, women have been practically the only ones decorating their nails for the last few centuries. But custom and convention are no reason for nail polish to be an exclusively female style — witness how earrings have become commonplace for men...
For what it’s worth, here are my public affairs resolutions for 2021: I will take the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as I can get it. I will continue to wear masks as much as possible in public, wash hands and maintain distance as long as is necessary, which is likely to be long after the shots. I will continue to treat the pandemic the same as I would an invasion by a foreign power Would COVID-deniers stand on London streets defending their rights during the Nazi bombing in World War II? I don’t think so. How can they see mounting death rates, ove...
Former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel’s famous axiom is that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. It’s an even worse thing to manufacture. Although President-elect Joe Biden obviously disagrees. Creating an unwarranted sense of drama and urgency around climate change is central to his approach, in order to catalyze action unsupported by the facts or common sense. In announcing his climate and energy team the other day, Biden declared climate change a crisis requiring a “unified national response.” Going even further, he called it “an exi...
Jobless claims in Quay County fell slightly during the July-to-September quarter but still were high compared to the same quarter a year ago, according to state economic data. Initial unemployment claims in the county fell to about 300 during the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, a drop of about 10 from the previous quarter, reported the New Mexico Economic Development Department earlier this month. However, the report shows the county’s jobless claims in that July-to-September quarter still were about 10 times higher than during the same q...
The minimum wage in New Mexico is set to rise again Friday, as another annual increase allowed by 2019 state legislation is due to take effect. Most employers now pay $9 an hour for hourly jobs and $2.55 an hour for tipped employees. Starting Jan. 1, the minimum wage in the state will increase to $10.50 an hour. Tipped employees earning at least $30 a month in tips are due to receive $2.88 an hour as base pay, although their tips and the hourly wage combined are required to meet the minimum wage rate. Twelve categories of exceptions to the mini...
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Tucumcari restaurateur Todd Duplantis to make adjustments to the fourth annual Operation Thank You for the Christmas holiday. Instead of taking cookies, brownies and thank-you cards to soldiers at a New Mexico air force base, this year he gave them to first responders in the region. Duplantis, who owns Cornerstone First Edition, Kix on 66 and Vaquero Asador restaurants in Tucumcari, said in an interview Wednesday at Kix that he usually distributes his bags of six...
The Family Dollar in Tucumcari will begin extensive renovations in mid-January that will close the store for two months but would add more than 2,500 square feet to its footprint. Kayleigh Painter, a manager, investor and media relations representative for Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, stated in an email to the Quay County Sun on Thursday the renovations to the Tucumcari store at 112 W. Tucumcari Blvd. would increase its space from 9,385 square feet to 11,931 square feet. "The...
CLOVIS — Funeral homes across New Mexico and West Texas have had a 15% to 18% increase in services they provide since June, according to Legacy Funeral Group Regional Director Bill Vallie. About 50% of the recent deaths being handled by Legacy in Roswell, Hobbs and Ruidoso are related to COVID-19, while 80% in the West Texas region of Midland and Odessa are COVID-related, according to Vallie, who said Legacy's Clovis location, Steed-Todd Funeral Home, has seen less of an increase but still has been busier than usual. “It might have been June be...
San Jon Municipal Schools soon will upgrade its phone system for less money and also comply with two laws. The district’s board of trustees voted Dec. 21 to enter into a three-year agreement with Plateau to improve its phone system. The cost, which includes the district’s fax service and internet, would be $470 a month. San Jon presently is paying $502 a month. The phone upgrade also conforms with Keri’s Law and Ray Baum’s Act before the deadline of February, or else the district would have faced an initial fine of $10,000, plus $300 a day, it...
New Mexico residents now may order free, at-home and self-administered COVID-19 saliva tests that will have accurate laboratory-confirmed results returned within 24 to 48 hours after the sample is received. The tests are available to New Mexicans regardless of their exposure risk. Any resident with access to the online video-conferencing Zoom platform can receive a test at home, self-administer the test with a virtual testing supervisor through a secure video link and mail it back for laboratory processing, all free of charge. The new option...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Dec. 20 to Dec. 27: Dec. 20 • 4:20 a.m.: Accident in 200 block of South U.S. 54, Logan. • 8:34 a.m.: Vandalism at South Third Street and West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 12:14 p.m.: Vandalism in 7500 block of Highway 209, Tucumcari. • 2:25 p.m.: Trespassing in 1300 block of East Heman Avenue, Tucumcari. • 8:49 p.m.: Accident at East Tucumcari Boulevard and South Saratoga Street, Tucumcari. • 8:51 p.m.: Noise complaint at South First Street and...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Dec. 21 to Dec. 27: • Champaigne Herrera, 31, Kermit, Texas, warrant from other counties or states. • Keith Laurence, 35, Grants, warrant from other counties or states. • Danny McCaughtry, 47, Tucumcari, two counts of harassment. These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Dec. 21 to Dec. 27: • Jessica Berardi, 39, Albuquerque, to other jail. • Danny McCaughtry, 47, Tucumcari, own recognizance. • Rebecca Nials, 36, Albuquerque, court order...
The New Mexico Department of Health on Wednesday reported the seventh death in Quay County because of COVID-19. According to a news release, the latest victim was a man in his 70s who was hospitalized. The agency does not identify confirmed cases or casualties of the disease. It was the second coronavirus death reported this month in the county. Three deaths were reported in November. The total number of confirmed cases in the county since the pandemic began remained at 331 for a third straight day Wednesday, another signal the pandemic was slo...