Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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We lost a legend last week. Bill Kelly, one of our region’s best offensive-minded college football coaches of all time, died Saturday. The Amarillo Globe-News reported Kelly, 75, died in Amarillo after an extended bout with pneumonia. The North Carolina native will be most remembered by many for his three seasons coaching at then-West Texas State University, from 1985 to 1987. His Buffs went 18-13-1 before Kelly stunned many in the sports world by switching careers at age 40. He spent his last four decades as a criminal defense attorney. I...
I’m told ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence tool that can answer questions. So I gave it a try. Me: Who is David Stevens, publisher of The Eastern New Mexico News? ChatGPT: David Stevens is a journalist and the publisher of the Eastern New Mexico News, a daily newspaper based in Clovis, New Mexico. He has been with the newspaper since 1998 and has served as publisher since 2011. Fact check: The Eastern New Mexico News is not a daily paper. It publishes twice a week. I started working here in 2001, not 1998. I became publisher in November 2...
Whether you call it the “Capitol protest,” the “insurrection” or the “riot,” it seems those who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are deservedly and appropriately being punished for their actions. Most of those charged are being sentenced to probation, fines or a few weeks in jail. About two dozen have been sentenced so far. Former Clovis physician Leonard Gruppo, for example, expressed remorse and received 24 months probation and a $3,000 fine after pleading guilty to charges that he illegally entered the Capitol during the melee. That...
You know government is out of control when different entities start talking about suing each other over the best way to control people. Freedom lovers are outraged, for example, over the latest COVID-19 vaccine mandates announced by President Biden last week. Biden declared that businesses with 100 or more employees will have to require workers to be vaccinated. Employees who decline the vaccine will have to be tested at least weekly for COVID-19. Texas Republicans immediately urged Attorney General Ken Paxton to file a lawsuit in hopes of...
Major League Baseball has decided it won’t play its annual all-star game in Atlanta this summer. That’s because, it alleges, Georgia lawmakers are engaged in voter suppression. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott planned to throw out a ceremonial first pitch last week, but changed his mind when he heard the news. “I was looking forward to throwing out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers’ home opening game until @MLB adopted what has turned out to be a false narrative about Georgia’s election law reforms,” Abbott tweeted. “It is shameful that America’s pas...
By this time next year, pot will be legal and openly for sale across New Mexico. The Legislature approved cannabis legislation in a special session last week and the governor is expected to sign it any minute now. There are plenty of reasons marijuana is a bad idea, as Republicans, and a few Democrats, have argued: It can result in impaired driving, workplace injuries, delayed brain development, and it may be a gateway to more serious drug addictions, which can result in lifelong health problems and death. But of course you are not required to...
Don’t blow it, Texas. The eyes of the nation are on the Lone Star State these next few months after its governor, Greg Abbott, lifted mandates on face coverings and restrictions on how many people can enter businesses and other facilities. We’re about to find out if individual responsibility might gain credibility as an option in a land where government control grows bigger every day. It’s important to note what Abbott actually did when he made his announcement to “open up Texas,” starting Wednesday. Liberal media and some Democrats would hav...
Longtime readers have seen this editorial before, so please excuse the repetition. But it’s important: Our newspaper does not endorse political candidates. That’s primarily because few reflect the core values of limited government. Those seeking office on Nov. 3 are mostly well-intentioned people. Their hearts are usually in the right place, but their goals are seldom to make government smaller and individual responsibilities greater. Try asking candidates, “What is the purpose of government?” The answers almost always prove disappo...
An investigation into a deputy’s missing duty weapon has led to theft charges, other criminal allegations and the loss of the deputy’s job at the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office. Chris McCasland, 34, was arrested twice last week, accused of stealing a snowmobile and other items when he was a police officer in Angel Fire about six years ago. McCasland has ties to Tucumcari. McCasland’s attorney said he’s innocent of all the charges and allegations, that this is all the result of a custody dispute with his former wife involving their two childr...
A few thoughts on the pandemic, the state’s latest directives, and being responsible for ourselves: • The governor last week announced she’s relaxing more of her public health orders aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19. Most retail businesses can open again, with limits on capacity. Also, the governor says everybody has to wear a mask in public unless they’re eating, drinking or exercising. To be clear, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s one-size-fits-all commandments have been irresponsible and devastating to small business owners who may n...
These are extraordinary times. They call for extraordinary measures. But let’s not give up our liberty — especially when government’s “help” in trying to save us from ourselves doesn’t make any sense and won’t prove helpful. Recent executive orders from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham are undoubtedly intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But they are not all well-reasoned and won’t stand up to scrutiny when this is over. Take for example the governor’s list of “non-essential” businesses that must close until the virus is under cont...
We can probably all agree hand washing and social distancing are key to preventing the spread of COVID-19. But there’s another safety component some officials around the state seem to not understand: Information should be shared, especially information that might help us avoid infection. New Mexico health officials are telling us daily the number of positive tests by county. Sometimes we’re told approximately how old the patient is and whether they are hospitalized, especially if they die. That helps keep the topic in the news, but it’s not m...
Some New Mexico lawmakers are supporting a proposed “red flag” law they hope will protect us from crazy people. No, thank you. The idea that government can protect us from anything is crazy enough. Senate Bill 5 — which is being debated in the Legislature this month — would allow law enforcement to obtain a court order to take guns from people who might be dangerous. It would allow close acquaintances and law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily take weapons and ammunition from somebody making violent threats. “It would secure ou...
Temperatures hovered near zero. Visibility was about the same. Actor Jimmy Stewart was flying the first plane he’d ever owned from Kansas City to Los Angeles when he had to set it down at Tucumcari. “Clouds and snow and fog and ice,” Stewart told reporters when asked why his flight was delayed. Tucumcari is a good place to sit and wait for celebrities, thanks mostly to its location along historic Route 66. Paul McCartney, William Shatner, Red Skelton, Danny Thomas and Morgan Freeman are just a few spotted on the Mother Road through the years...
Carol Nash has a question. The Clovis woman perhaps best known as the pronouncer at local spelling bees for years is also the granddaughter of a Quay County newspaper publisher and a regional history fanatic. She wants to know which area communities still have evidence they were once part of a Los Angeles-to-New York aerial mail service that planned to establish itself in 1920. She has reason to believe San Jon had a landing field associated with the National Air Lines Association project....
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel last week recommended President Trump fire an aide for “persistent, notorious and deliberate Hatch Act violations.” Trump said no, he would not fire Kellyanne Conway, his former campaign manager, for that. Most casual political observers probably assumed this was partisan politics as usual. That would be incorrect, just as it would be incorrect to assume the 1939 Hatch Act — authored by Democratic Sen. Carl Hatch of Clovis — had little opposition from Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his sup...
“I am a lineman for the county “And I drive the main road “Searchin’ in the sun for another overload …” — Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman” They gather annually to compete for fun, climbing 40 feet up with raw eggs in their mouths, or rescuing 165-pound mannequins from atop utility poles. These linemen rodeos are usually held in the sunshine with tolerable weather and supporting family members and friends cheering them on. That’s mostly how we’ve learned to appreciate their considerable skills, through those competitions. It’s fun to watch the a...
Many New Mexicans are outraged because the state’s Democrats are about to pass the largest tax increase in the state’s history. A news release from House Republicans reads: “Democrats passed House Bill 6 which siphons over half a billion dollars from the wallets of New Mexico’s families to fund a Santa Fe agenda. House Bill 6 raises income taxes, car registration fees and tobacco taxes all of which are directly aimed at working families across New Mexico.” All this at a time when the state has a surplus of more than $1 billion, thanks to a good...
The concept seems so ... un-American. Government can decide how much a Mom and Pop shop has to pay its employees? That has to be unconstitutional, doesn’t it? But just as we’ve allowed government to tell restaurant owners whether smoking is allowed in their place ... Just as we’ve allowed government to decide whether alcohol can be sold on Sundays ... Just as we’ve allowed government to determine who can host horse races — and who can’t ... ... It seems we simply have accepted the idea that Big Brother knows best when it comes to how we oper...
Longtime state Sen. Stuart Ingle, the Republican from Portales, reminds us as often as he has the opportunity: We’re never safe when the Legislature’s in session. That’s never been more true than right now. The Democrat-controlled body of lawmakers is eager to spend our money the next two months like there’s a bottomless pit of it. The budget “surplus” of $1 billion-plus may not be enough to meet all the “needs” we’re hearing about, from expanding film subsidies to the continual showering of money on public education because Johnny still can...
When the United States entered the Great War against Germany in April 1917, Tucumcari’s Isaac Kirkpatrick was attending law school at Valparaiso, Indiana. He withdrew from school immediately and went to Chicago to enlist in the military. The Army wouldn’t take him at first. “On account of his eyes he was turned down,” the Tucumcari Daily News reported. But Kirkpatrick persisted and “tried at another place,” to enlist. Again, he was turned away. “He had been using his eyes too much at studies and could not get by,” the paper reported. It’s...
We don’t know much about Charles Franklin Petitt. He was from Cleveland, Tennessee, he’d apparently gone to Tucumcari, and his mother was worried about him in the fall of 1937. Ray H. Smith was secretary of the Tucumcari Chamber of Commerce at the time. Smith tried to help after receiving this note from a Petitt family friend: “Somewhere near Tucumcari, during the time of the earthquake around 6 years ago ... there lived a boy by the name of Charles Franklin Petitt. His mother would like to know if he survived the earthquake and if you can l...
Warren Frost has long been convinced the race for New Mexico’s sixth racetrack/casino is between Clovis and Tucumcari. He is even more convinced now that the New Mexico Racing Commission has announced only five groups met last week’s deadline to apply for the racino license — three from Clovis, one from Tucumcari and one from Lordsburg. “This is all about Tucumcari and Clovis,” said the Quay County attorney who for more than a decade has been advocating for a racino in Tucumcari. “Lordsburg is much like Raton ... They are on the border of Arizo...
TUCUMCARI — He was always joking. He had the kindest heart. He was a legend around Quay County. The tributes to Thomas Garcia could fill a newspaper. The longtime senior writer for the Quay County Sun died Saturday afternoon following a brief illness. His legacy, according to dozens of friends, will be his sense of humor, dedication to community, and friendly disposition. "He took his job seriously. But he was the office joker, no doubt," said Veronica Montano, a co-worker who's known Garcia h...
CLOVIS - Lonnie Allsup first became interested in retail grocery sales when he was 10 years old in his hometown of Morton, Texas. "He used to stand on a box to stock and bag. Allsup liked the fast part of the grocery store business and taking care of the customer," reads the Eastern New Mexico High Plains History book published in 1979. The passion continued for the rest of his life, his name linked to hundreds of Allsup's convenience stores across Texas and New Mexico. Allsup died Sunday at his...
