Week of October 16, 2024
Week of October 16, 2024
An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Tucumcari restaurateur and city commissioner accused of taking more than $50,000 in kitchen equipment encumbered by a loan from the closed Pow Wow restaurant. Todd Duplantis, 56, is charged with one count of disposing of encumbered property, a second-degree felony that could lead up to nine years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Magistrate Judge Noreen Hendrickson issued the no-bond warrant on Oct. 1, the same day the charge was filed. Duplantis...
Tucumcari city manager said organizers have set the date for a drag-racing event on city streets in 2025 before a bigger one during Route 66’s centennial in 2026. Paula Chacon told the city’s Lodgers Tax Advisory Board on Wednesday that one of the organizers, Doug Woodward, scheduled the so-called “soft event” for April 26, 2025. Woodward said at an earlier meeting he wants the 2026 event — tentatively set for September or October — to have 300 vehicles. Organizers want to pattern it after the annual Kingman Route 66 Street Drags...
The deadlock at TPS has been broken. New Mexico Public Education Secretary Mariana Padilla chose Carlos Romero to be the next representative for District 1 on the Tucumcari Public Schools board. Padilla was forced to make the choice after four TPS board members deadlocked twice in their votes for Romero or the other finalist, Andrea Madrid. "You have been identified as a person recommended to carry out these important responsibilities, and the determination has been reached to appoint you as...
A bridge on Old Route 66 east of San Jon destroyed by flash flooding last year won’t be replaced in time for the highway’s centennial in 2026. Quay County manager Daniel Zamora delivered that news to Tucumcari’s Route 66 Centennial Task Force during its meeting at City Hall on Oct. 8. The county is suing the architect and contractor after it found the multimillion-dollar bridge carried no insurance coverage. Severe flooding in May 2023 washed out the span just days from completion. Zamora said negotiations on a possible settlement were...
Members of the Princess Theatre Task Force on Thursday received a glimpse of several possible facade improvements as part of an incremental plan to bring the long-closed Tucumcari venue back to life. Artist renderings of the reimagined facade were well-received by task force members. But news that morning of a break-in and damage at the theater cast a pall over the meeting, as did some pointed back-and-forth talk over a lack of communication about the draft of the plan. The city, which has...
A Tucumcari city commission work session Thursday about municipal codes for water and sewer service prompted the mayor to request a change about the city’s responsibilities with such infrastructure. After hearing the property owners are responsible for sewer and water lines within their property lines, Mayor Mike Cherry recommended codes be changed so a homeowner is responsible only from the city curb to the back fence line. He noted property lines often go from the middle of a street to the middle of an alley. Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Lopez...
The Quay County Commission on Monday approved a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy informing the agency it must inform the public before taking action over proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors in the county. The letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was written by Commissioner Jerri Rush and signed by Commission Chairman Robert Lopez. Rush wasn’t present in the commission chambers during Monday’s meeting due to illness, but she attended by videoconference. The DOE states on its website the Federal Power...
On this day of Oct. 16, 1974: Tucumcari voters rejected a bid to recall Mayor James Saltz and two city commissioners from office over their controversial annexation decision. About 55% of the city’s voters cast their ballots against recalling Saltz and the commissioners, according to unofficial results. Residents had gathered 600 signatures for the recall petition after they voted to annex the land, setting up a decision by Judge Stanley Frost to call for the election. On a related note, voters also rejected an annexation of 110 acres south...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Oct. 7 to Oct. 13: — George Nickolas Molinas, 25, Albuquerque, warrants from other counties or states. — Mark Vernon Lawrence, 42, Logan, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, driving while license suspended or revoked, speeding, no insurance and no evidence of registration. — Christopher Alfredo Sandoval, 51, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Angela Madrid, 55, Truth or Consequences, intentional child abuse (no death or great bodily harm). — Dalton...
With water orders staying strong, the manager of the Arch Hurley Conservancy District stated he anticipated its canals would remain open until their usual seasonal closing of Oct. 31. District manager Franklin McCasland stated in his report to the board of directors at its Oct. 8 meeting that water orders were remaining above 30 cubic feet per second — the criteria it set during its September meeting before closing its canals to Conchas Lake. McCasland stated he anticipated orders would remain above 30 cfs if the weather remained warm....
Friday-Saturday — “History Alive: Ghosts of the Old West.” Gather around a campfire to hear stories and legends from the Bell Ranch and Beyond. Storytelling begins at 6 p.m. at the Anchor Chuckwagon the Quay County Fairgrounds. The Tucumcari MainStreet office will have tickets for sale at (575) 461-3701, or they can be obtained at https://square.link/u/WBEiKASq. Saturday — Arf City pet event. Art City in Tucumcari at 10134 Highway 104 and Paws & Claws Animal Rescue of Quay County will host an event of wiener dog races, canine costume...
These are results from Quay County entrants at the recent Eastern New Mexico State Fair in Roswell. Poultry Ashton Smith: Champion Production Hen Pen, third overall Production Hen Pen, fourth overall Production Hen Pen, first place Leghorn Hen, first place Barred Rock Rooster. Lizzie Kanapilly: Grand Champion, Baker Rabbit. Market Swine Addie Lafferty: Sixth place Yorkshire, sixth place, Heavy Cross Braden Lightfoot: Eighth place Heavy Hampshire, sixth place Class 12 Cross Market Goat Charmaynn Hall: Second place (third overall), Class 4...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Apple spiced muffins, blueberry overnight oats, string cheese, pear, apple juice, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk; Lunch: Chicken patty sandwich, buffalo chicken wrap, potato wedge fries, seasoned peas, fresh broccoli, fruit cocktail, 1%, skim, chocolate skim or strawberry skim milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Whole-grain donut ring, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, cinnamon graham cracker, banana, orange juice, 1%, skim or strawberry skim milk; Lunch: Beef and bean Frito pie, ham and cheese sandwich, green leaf...
Tucumcari's volleyball team won its district opener Thursday against Santa Rosa in part because of the return of a starter from an injury and the emergence of another starter as a hitter. Sophomore Serenity Savala registered eight kills as the Lady Rattlers (10-4) commanded a 34-16 advantage in that over the Lady Lions (3-11) during a 25-22, 25-21, 25-15 victory at a raucous Rattler Gymnasium. Savala had been used primarily as a blocker this season. During the team's nearly two-week break, THS...
Raton made sure Tucumcari’s potent passing didn’t go wild as it did the previous week. The Tigers stifled the Rattlers’ air attack for most of the game and seized a three-touchdown lead that stood up during a 51-25 district victory Friday at Raton’s Homecoming. Tucumcari quarterback Nick Goen, who amassed more than 350 yards passing and six touchdowns during the previous week against Estancia, managed just 101 yards on 15-of-29 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions against Raton. Tigers defense flooded the deep zones and...
Only one Mesalands Community College athlete advanced to compete in Saturday's final of the 16th annual Grand Canyon Region Intercollegiate Rodeo at the Quay County Fairgrounds arena. That finalist, bareback bronc rider Logan Carpenter of Alamogordo, quickly was bucked off Saturday for no score. MCC's Rachel Sova of Newell, South Carolina, on Friday finished just one spot out of Saturday's finals. She finished 13th in the standings in breakaway roping; only the top 12 advanced. Mesalands...
The Logan boys cross-country team finished a respectable eighth of 15 teams Saturday at the Los Lunas Invitational. Nearly all of the teams the Longhorns, in their inaugural season, competed against were schools with much higher enrollments. Logan finished with 240 team points. Organ Mountain won the team title with 24 points, while host team Los Lunas was runner-up with 71 points. Taos finished third with 76 points. Kale Griffiths was Logan’s top runner, finishing 46th in 20 minutes, 21.34 seconds on the 5,000-meter course at the Los Lunas...
Over the past few months, Donald Trump has stoked the flames of white resentment on the campaign trail. Speaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt last week, the former president — who once referred to himself as a “gene believer” and has a known obsession with genetics and bloodlines — accused migrants coming to the southern border of being “criminals” and having “bad genes.” It’s the latest in a long line of bigoted and xenophobic statements from Trump, ranging from immigrants migrating from “s—hole nations” to...
Jeeze. In just one day everyone in the country saw why the people in charge of the Democrat Party want to keep Kamala Harris off TV. And in just one day everyone in the country saw why Donald Trump wants our sitting vice president on TV as much as possible. The Trump campaign wants Harris to make a hundred more unscripted appearances on her media tour – even on safe, friendly and embarrassing liberal political places like “The View,” the Howard Stern radio show and “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” On “The View” Harris...
Set aside for a moment the devastation that has hit the Southeast after back-to-back hurricanes. Turn instead to what’s happening in our little corner of the planet. Studies suggest the human body can’t survive outdoors in sustained temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit or more. And yet, Phoenix, Ariz., just endured a summer that included 56 days of 110-degree temps. And here it is October and they’re still cooking under 100-degree days. Over here in New Mexico, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported August was...
A documentary filmmaker, Mark, went to Hawaii to capture the stories of pearl divers. These guys make unassisted dives to retrieve oysters. By “unassisted,” we mean they have no oxygen tanks. They’re diving in the skin God gave them, holding their breath. This is a feat that takes years of training and is never without danger. Mark interviewed an older pearl diver, Mr. H, in the elderly man’s small home. Mark heard the tragic story of Mr. H’s son, who died one day after diving too...