Year in review: Pandemic dominates news cycle

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 killed at least six by year's end.

The Quay County Sun is presenting an overview of the first six months of 2020 in this issue. A review of the second half of the year will be printed in the Jan. 6 edition.

Jan. 8

Tucumcari native slain

A Tucumcari native was Albuquerque's first homicide victim of 2020. Vicente Christopher Romero-Lopez, 23, of the Albuquerque area died about 2 a.m. New Year's Day in the driveway of a townhouse after he was shot to death. Romero-Lopez was buried in Tucumcari days later.

Jan. 8

Branding Iron closes

The Branding Iron Restaurant served its last meal at the Quality Inn hotel after more than a half-century there. The closing of the dinner-only restaurant 3716 E. Tucumcari Blvd. left five workers without jobs.

Jan. 15

Tucumcari cheerleaders perform in London

Tucumcari High School senior Mariah Ruvalcaba-Vasquez, also the school's cheer captain, and sophomore Alan Jimenez were part of a group of American cheerleaders called Varsity Spirit that performed at London's New Year's Day Parade in front of an estimated 10,000 people.

Jan. 22

Former Quay County Sun publisher dies

Michael Rindahl, a former publisher of the Quay County Sun during the 1980s and early '90s, died in North Carolina after a lengthy bout with cancer. He was 66. The Sun won numerous awards from the New Mexico Press Association in the bi-weeklies division during Rindahl's tenure.

Jan. 22

Minnesota couple is Russell's 1 millionth customer

Arlo and Pat Sell of Windom, Minnesota, were feted as the 1 millionth customer at Russell's Travel Center in Endee with a balloon drop, a free Russell's T-shirt and ballcap, a certificate to mark the occasion and a free steak-and-shrimp dinner from its diner.

Jan. 29

Three new school board members sworn in

Three new board members took the oath of office and were seated during the Tucumcari Public Schools board of education's meeting. Magistrate Judge Timothy O'Quinn administered the oath of office for Jerry Lopez, Matthew Pacheco and Bo Wallace.

Jan. 29

Mama T's reopens in Road to Ruin building

The century-old Road to Ruin building along Logan's main drag was rechristened as Mama T's Road to Ruin restaurant. Mama T's moved from its previous location a few hundred feet down U.S. 54.

Jan. 29

Tucumcari girl wins county spelling bee

A Tucumcari fifth-grader represented Quay County at the New Mexico Spelling Bee after winning the county championship. Neriah Rodgers successfully spelled the word "abundance" to win the bee in San Jon after surviving several rounds.

Feb. 5

Tucumcari couple dies in house fire

Richard Urioste Sr., 75, and Ann Urioste, 74, died in a blaze that gutted their home at 1910 S. Rock Island St. Their son, Richard Urioste Jr. of Clovis, said investigators told him a cigarette near an oxygen cylinder caused the fire.

Feb. 5

House students win state journalism awards

Two House High School students recently brought home awards from a state journalism competition. Evelyn Garrett, a junior, won first place in newspaper photojournalism, and Gilbert Swaim, a sophomore, finished third place in sportswriting at the New Mexico Activities Association/New Mexico Scholastic Press Association State Scholastic Publications Competition in Albuquerque.

Feb. 5

Tucumcari Farmers Market earns award

The Tucumcari Farmers Market was honored as the Farmers Market of the Year during the New Mexico Food & Farms Day and School Nutrition Day Awards in Santa Fe.

Feb. 5

Tax board rejects tourism contract

The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board unanimously voted to recommend the city commission not renew its contract with an Albuquerque marketing firm, Sunny505, for its tourism efforts, citing long-simmering dissatisfaction with the company. The commission subsequently voted to end the contract.

Feb. 12

Tucumcari city manager announces resignation

Tucumcari City Manager Britt Lusk announced his resignation and gave the city commission his 60-day notice at a regular meeting of the commission. Lusk accepted a position as the city manager of Pilot Point, Texas.

Feb. 19

Voters approve ballpark redevelopment

Voters in the Tucumcari school district approved by more than a 2-to-1 margin a $3 million bond issue for a proposed redevelopment of baseball and softball diamonds that would include a building that would house a commercial kitchen and restrooms.

Feb. 19

City passes sign ordinance

The Tucumcari City Commission passed by a 3-2 vote an ordinance designed to help the city keep historic neon signs in place. The ordinance applies only to sign owners who volunteer to participate but imposes fines and possible jail time on those who do volunteer but later violate the ordinance's terms.

Feb. 26

Tucumcari's Garcia finishes third at state wrestling

Colt Garcia finished third in the Class 3A 182-pound weight class at the state wrestling tournament, the only Tucumcari wrestler to earn a medal out of 11 Rattlers who qualified. Garcia's pin on West Las Vegas' Eric Gallegos notched third-place finish.

March 4

Longtime lawyer Donald Schutte dies

Donald Schutte, a longtime lawyer and a former assistant district attorney and district court judge in Quay County, died at 72. Attorney Roger Bargas, with whom Schutte shared a law office in Tucumcari, said he suddenly took ill at his home near Las Vegas, New Mexico.

March 11

Tax board approves tourism committee

The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Board approved Chairman Larry Smith's plan to form a local tourism committee in place of an Albuquerque marketing firm, but not before an argument between him and outgoing City Manager Britt Lusk prompted Lusk to walk out of the meeting.

March 11

County chairman asks for U.S. 54 resolution

The Quay County Commission's chairman asked road superintendent Larry Moore to draft a resolution requesting safety improvements at U.S. 54 and Airport Road. Problems at the intersection had been discussed at previous commission meetings.

March 11

State hoops tournament goes on without fans

Amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus, it was announced the New Mexico State Basketball Tournaments would proceed without the general public being allowed to attend.

March 11

Governor announces three-week closing of schools

All New Mexico public schools will be closed for three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. It also means all sports events would be canceled or rescheduled during that period. Health officials confirmed that coronavirus had infected a total of six people in New Mexico.

March 11

'Red flag' resolution approved

During a Quay County Commission meeting so crowded with spectators it was moved to a district courtroom upstairs, commissioners unanimously approved the sheriff's request for a resolution that declares the county's opposition to the New Mexico's newly enacted red-flag gun law. The law allows household members and law enforcement to ask a court for an order to temporarily take weapons and ammunition from someone making violent threats against himself or others.

March 18

Coronavirus measures affecting area

The coronavirus epidemic suddenly affected virtually all households in Quay County with closed schools, canceled or postponed events and restrictions on bars and restaurants that was initially was forecast to persist for several weeks.

March 18

Logan girls fall to Melrose at state title game

The fourth quarter of the Class A championship game gave an empty feeling to the Logan girls basketball team, and it wasn't just because it was playing in a vacant arena because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The top-seeded Lady Longhorns (26-5) failed to score in the last 3 minutes, 45 seconds during a 47-39 loss to second-seeded and district rival Melrose (26-4).

March 25

Governor issues stay-at-home order

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham instructed New Mexicans to stay home if they didn't work in essential fields and dropped the maximum number of people in public gatherings from 10 to five in an effort to slow the coronavirus pandemic.

March 25

Mesalands president placed on administrative leave

Mesalands Community College President John Groesbeck was placed on indefinite paid administrative leave after a lengthy executive session by the college's board of trustees.

March 25

Public schools closed rest of school year

New Mexico's secretary of education announced the state's public schools would be closed for the rest of the academic year to slow a coronavirus pandemic. Education Secretary Ryan Stewart, acknowledging it was "a painful decision," said the number of cases of COVID-19 had spread in the state and "hadn't reached a peak."

April 1

Spring sports canceled

Area teams felt the sting disappointment at the cancellation of all spring sports for the rest of the school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team that probably felt that anguish the most was Tucumcari's softball team. The Lady Rattlers had 10 seniors returning from a team that finished 17-5 and qualified for the Class 3A state tournament.

April 1

Tucumcari Talking Tour planned

A new Tucumcari resident, Tracy Johnson, says she hopes the Tucumcari Talking Tour she expects to launch eventually leads to a secondary benefit - restoring neon lighting to historic signs along Route 66. Tucumcari Talking Tour will set up AM radio transmitters at up to 14 sites to broadcast messages about the site's history in a one-block radius.

April 1

Housing Authority agrees to surrender property

The Tucumcari Housing Authority board agreed to surrender its property and management responsibilities to the Eastern Regional Housing Authority of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, based in Roswell.

April 8

Signs of life for Apache Motel

Workers had been seen scurrying around the long-closed Apache Motel on Tucumcari's Route 66 corridor. It turns out the motel, aka the Apache Inn landed itself new owners about a year ago who are renovating it and plan to reopen it.

April 8

First COVID-19 case reported in Quay County

Quay County has its first official case of COVID-19. State officials reported a confirmed positive case of the coronavirus during its emailed briefing. The case occurred two days after management for the Quay Apartments in Tucumcari sent a letter to all residents warning of a resident who was exposed to the virus or tested positive for it.

April 15

Easter observed at a distance

The latest directive from New Mexico's governor to stem the spread of coronavirus expanded the state's public-gatherings ban to places of worship - one day before Easter. Area churches, mindful of maintaining social distancing, kept their buildings empty and streamed their services on Easter Sunday to parishioners over the internet.

April 15

High court rejects mail-in primary

The New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously rejected a request to hold mail-in voting for the June 2 primary election because of the pandemic but ordered the Secretary of State and county clerks to mail absentee-ballot applications to all the state's voters.

April 15

Local COVID-19 victim remembered

Eastern New Mexico lost one of its finest citizens after he contracted coronavirus. Paul Quintana, 76, of rural Tucumcari was hospitalized in Tampa after contracting the disease on a cruise ship. He had been in critical condition for weeks. Quintana's death is the first in the region attributed to COVID-19.

April 22

Former House superintendent dies

Lecil Richards, former superintendent of House Municipal Schools, died. He was 69. Richards, retired from the district in 2017. He had been battling cancer.

April 22

Mesalands board fires president

The Mesalands Community College board of trustees fired its president and hired its vice president of academic affairs, Natalie Gillard, as an interim replacement.

April 22

County officials approve reopening resolution

The Quay County Commission approved a resolution urging the governor and state to "reopen immediately" non-essential businesses that implement the same coronavirus safeguards as essential businesses and demanded rules that "recognize different situations" during the pandemic.

April 29

Reopening resolution gets narrow approval

A resolution asking New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to consider allowing businesses in the state's rural cities to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic received approval at a regular meeting of the Tucumcari City Commission by a 3-2 vote.

May 6

Woman raises money for senior banners

A Tucumcari woman is raising money for banners of the high school's 58 graduating seniors that will be installed the city's light poles. Michelle Jaynes has been using local fundraising and a GoFundMe.com page to collect money.

May 6

Commissioners cleared of ethics charges

In the first test of the Tucumcari's new ethics ordinance, Tucumcari City Commissioners Ralph Moya and Paul Villanueva were cleared of charges they had improperly aimed criticism a city employee in public after a public hearing. City Finance Director Rachelle Arias filed the charges in March based on events that allegedly occurred at the Feb. 13 and Feb. 27 meetings of the commission.

May 6

Ride advocates for reopening businesses

About 40 people participated in the Freedom Ride in Tucumcari that saluted small, nonessential businesses closed by the governor's emergency health order and urged their reopening.

May 6

Mask use low in Tucumcari

Less than one-fifth of customers at several businesses - including Tucumcari's only grocery - were observed protective masks to slow the spread of coronavirus, despite weeks-old recommendations from state and federal health officials to wear them.

May 13

Resident lands songwriting honor

Tucumcari resident Levi Mericle landed his second songwriting honor since 2018. His composition, "All Mama Does Is Cry," was one of nine runner-ups in the Demo Your Lyrics category of the 2019 International Songwriting Competition.

May 13

Mask mandate misinterpretations

A random check of Tucumcari restaurants along the Route 66 corridor found employees at six of seven restaurants weren't following the governor's day-old mandate to wear masks against the coronavirus pandemic. Several apparently misinterpreted a poorly constructed sentence during Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's press briefing about the new rules for restaurants. Others said they weren't notified about it.

May 13

June festival canceled

The promoter for the Rockin' Route 66 festival in June canceled the event after Tucumcari's acting city manager, Mark Martinez, recommended doing so because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

May 13

Retailers, non-essential businesses allowed to reopen

All retailers and non-essential businesses in Quay County will be able to reopen, but customers were required to wear masks there and in other public places to blunt the spread of COVID-19.

May 20

Historic house burns

A vacant century-old house at 523 E. Main St. burned to the ground. The home once was owned by Alex Street, one of Tucumcari's founders, its former mayor and Quay County's first sheriff.

June 3

City approves preliminary budget

The Tucumcari City Commission passed a preliminary city budget for fiscal year 2021 that will leave a $489,000 deficit in the city's general fund.

June 3

Gallery Etc. will not reopen

The coronavirus pandemic claimed a longtime business in Tucumcari. The Gallery Etc., closed since mid-March because of mandated shutdowns of non-essential businesses due to the virus, will not reopen and is dispersing its artwork back to its creators.

June 3

Tucumcari High School holds virtual commencement

Tucumcari High School's virtual commencement exercise was held outdoors on a stage erected in the high school's bus lane instead of its traditional spot inside Rattler Gymnasium. The ceremony brought new wrinkles for its 58 seniors, including shooting fireworks from the parking lot and confetti cannons near the stage after each received their diplomas.

June 3

Mesalands holds virtual commencement

Because of coronavirus, Mesalands Community College conducted its first-ever virtual commencement ceremony for 65 students who received certificates or associate's degrees.

June 3

Rush, Lopez win primary elections for county commission

Jerri Rush and Robert Lopez easily captured their respective Republican and Democratic primary nominations for open Quay County Commission seats amid higher-than-usual voter turnout, mostly because of a record number of absentee ballots.

June 10

Good Samaritans aid truck driver after crash

After a big truck ran off the road and wrecked west of Tucumcari, nearly a dozen Good Samaritans lifted the mangled cab off the driver, gave him first aid and comfort, then cleared a path through the debris so first responders could airlift the man to a hospital.

June 10

Four fire districts battle wildfire near Mosquero

Four rural fire districts in Quay County battled a massive brush fire north of Mosquero that jumped Highway 39 and burned at least 23,000 acres. The fire, started a lightning strike near the San Miguel-Harding county line, was exacerbated by wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph.

June 17

Tucumcari Library reopens

The Tucumcari Public Library reopened for the first time in almost three months after being shut down by the coronavirus restrictions.

June 24

Group negotiating to acquire museum

A Tucumcari MainStreet official revealed during a Quay County Commission meeting the organization is negotiating to acquire the Tucumcari Railroad Museum in as soon as 30 days.