Some local businesses opening up again

Melissa Morrison knew something had changed when she started receiving phone calls Thursday afternoon almost until midnight.

That's because her business, K-9 Design Grooming and Boarding, and a few others in the area had been cleared by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to reopen Friday morning after being closed for weeks by the state's emergency health order to combat the coronavirus pandemic. People were calling her to make appointments to groom their dogs.

"It feels like I'm a brand-new groomer again," she said Friday afternoon during a break from trimming a schnauzer mix.

Morrison said 15 dogs were booked for grooming Friday, when a typical day would be nine. She said K-9 already was nearly booked for the entire month of May.

During the extended break, she said she visited a sister in Las Cruces. Her husband and co-owner Charlie did some maintenance around the facility.

Melissa said she was ready to return to dog-grooming duties.

"I was champing at the bit," she said, laughing.

In addition to pet services such as K-9, the governor announced these once-closed businesses could reopen Friday:

• Non-essential businesses with curbside or delivery service;

• State parks on a modified day-use-only basis if staffing permits. Camping and visitors centers still would be closed;

• Veterinarian clinics;

• Golf courses for golf-playing only; and

• Gun stores by appointment only.

Lujan Grisham's stay-at-home order remains in effect through May 15. Restaurants and bars still can operate only on a curbside or delivery basis. Malls, gymnasiums, theaters and casinos will remain closed. The ban on mass gatherings also remains in effect.

If efforts to contain the virus still are working by mid-May, Lujan Grisham said she would announce:

n All retailers would be allowed to reopen at 20% fire-code capacity with COVID-19 safety measures;

n Restaurants would be allowed to reopen at 50% occupancy but with no stool or stand-up service;

n Gyms, hotels, salons and churches would be able to reopen in a limited fashion.

The governor warned she would "take a different course" on the reopening last this month if the state was "backsliding" on coronavirus cases.

The state's Economic Recovery Council issued a statement Thursday endorsing Lujan Grisham's phased reopening of the economy. The council consists of 15 business and labor leaders from around the state. It is led by Christina Campos, administrator of the Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa, and Brian Moore, co-owner of the Ranch Market in Clayton.

"We think this first step will provide a sorely needed morale boost to people across the state," Moore stated in a news release. "It will also give businesses their first taste of recovery and help them put procedures in place in order to provide services in a way that is safe for their employees and their customers."

Another public health order Thursday allows polling locations to open with limits. The order stated no more than four voters or 20% of capacity may be inside a polling place at a time; mobile voting units may have no more than two voters.

A third public health order Thursday allows medical facilities to gradually resume non-essential but medically necessary procedures (including ambulatory and inpatient surgery) based on guidelines from the Department of Health that are designed to prevent a shortage of personal protective equipment and ensure the health of patients and healthcare workers.

Another once-closed area venue that reopened Friday was Tucumcari Municipal Golf Course.

Manager Rex Maddaford said the so-called Noon Group of regulars showed up that day at the 18-hole course west of town. In all, he said about 15 played on the links during the first day of reopening.

Maddaford said golfers wouldn't be able to use electric carts, however, for the next two weeks because it lacks equipment to disinfect them.

As a result, he said he doesn't expect as many golfers as usual during that time. He said players also are expected to maintain social distancing while on the links.

Ute Lake State Park in Logan partially reopened for day use only Friday. The Mine Canyon and Rogers area and the park's south side remained closed. No swimming was allowed, and park officials required social distancing, no gatherings of more than five people and 10 feet between boats.

Conchas Lake State Park northwest of Tucumcari will remain closed through May 16, according to a manager who answered the phone there Friday. He said it would reopen to day-use-only at that time.

Gar Engman, owner of Tee Pee Curios along Route 66 in Tucumcari, said he was considering whether to set up an online store or an outdoors table as some sort of curbside service for his closed non-essential business.

"I don't know how practical that is," he said. "It's possible I'll do that."

Engman said he the weeks-long closure has cost him "substantial thousands of dollar" in sales.

He said he'd make a decision early this week whether to reopen or wait until the possible full reopen May 15.