Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1688
The superintendent of Logan Municipal Schools announced last week he is retiring at the end of the year to return to politics. Dennis Roch, 51, a former state representative, told the school board and staff on Wednesday he was retiring effective Dec. 31 so he can become the caucus chief of staff for New Mexico Senate Republicans. Roch sent the Quay County Sun a copy of the retirement letter he submitted to the board. "I've been blessed to served the students, staff, and families of this...
Mesalands Community College received an unmodified opinion — the best attainable — in its recently completed audit for fiscal-year 2023. Though the audit’s number of findings edged up from nine to 10 in the 2023 audit, its unmodified (or “clean”) opinion signaled a marked improvement from the disclaimer, or second-worst, opinion from the college’s FY2022 audit. It was a sign Mesalands is emerging from its fiscal crisis that came to light early last year. During the Nov. 19 board of trustees meeting, board Chairman Richard Primrose said he’d a...
Tucumcari Public Schools’ new community liaison had been on the job for only two weeks, but he already received praise from principals and the superintendent. Charles Newman was hired to the position of community engagement specialist, aka community liaison, shortly after superintendent Carl Marano announced its creation during the board’s October meeting. Marano said he saw the position as a way to address students who are chronically absent from school. During the board’s Nov. 18 meeting, elementary school principal Deanne McKinney said...
Tucumcari city commissioners seemed to come to a consensus it needs to hire a structural engineer to determine whether the long-closed Princess Theatre can handle planned facade improvements and other long-term renovations. Commissioners discussed the Princess Theatre with two members of the venue's task force during a work session Thursday. Art City owner Matt Monahan, one of the leaders of the Princess Theatre Task Force, said the city has spent about $200,000 to remove lead and asbestos from...
LOGAN - Logan now boasts a new sport where it's won a state championship. The top-seeded and undefeated Longhorns dominated No. 2-seeded Grady 54-14 Friday in the finals of the New Mexico six-man football tournament. Logan had captured state championships in volleyball, boys track, girls track and both boys and girls basketball. But its first title on the gridiron proved elusive until Friday. Longhorns senior running back Haden Judd ran for 178 yards and three touchdowns in 10 carries....
RIO RANCHO - Logan had conquered Gateway Christian, Roy-Mosquero and Pine Hill, and it didn't have to worry about facing longtime rival Melrose again at the Class 1A volleyball tournament. But Logan couldn't get past an upstart Quemado squad. The third-seeded Eagles stopped the top-seeded Lady Longhorns 25-20, 25-20, 25-18 in the 1A title game Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. Quemado (24-4) rarely trailed in any of its sets, winning its first volleyball state championship since 1977....
Quay County will have a new commissioner and a new assessor after Republican challengers triumphed over current officeholders Tuesday during the general election. Republican challenger Dallas Dowell, a rancher and retiree from NuStar Energy, won by nearly a 2-to-1 margin over Democratic incumbent District 1 Commissioner Robert Lopez, a farmer who also is serving as chairman of the body. Dowell gained 2,311 votes to Lopez's 1,233 in unofficial results announced by the Quay County Clerk's Office...
LOGAN - Nearly two years after receiving a multimillion-dollar state grant for the project, Logan village officials and contractors broke ground Friday for a recreational complex not far from the shores of Ute Lake. In as little as 18 months, the village could have a new softball or Little League field, a multiuse sports field, a large building that contains concessions and a pavilion, courts for pickleball and other amenities. With large earthmoving equipment serving as a backdrop, about 50...
One of the organizers for a drag-racing event in Tucumcari said he is optimistic he still can host an event on Route 66 in October 2025 - with a state senator's help - before a bigger event during the highway's centennial in 2026. Those developments were revealed during a visit Thursday by state Sen. Pete Campos (D-Las Vegas) at Quay County Democratic Party headquarters in Tucumcari. About 25 people - many of them business owners or local officials - attended. Campos, who has served in the...
SAN JON — State officials signaled they were receptive to a proposal from San Jon school officials and their architectural firm to build two full-size gymnasiums instead of preserving the two existing gyms for a new school. Several members of the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority chatted by videoconference with San Jon school board members and administrators, plus two representatives from Formative Architecture, during a work session Wednesday. Voters in the San Jon district last fall approved a $250,000 bond issue, making it e...
LOGAN - After spotting eighth-seeded New Mexico School for the Deaf an opening-possession touchdown, No. 1-seeded Logan tallied eight unanswered scores during a 62-7 victory Friday in the quarterfinals of the six-man football state tournament. The game ended midway through the third quarter due the 50-point mercy rule. The Roadrunners, which lost to the Longhorns 54-0 the previous week in a regular-season game, ended their year with a 3-6 record. The Longhorns (10-0) will host fourth-seeded...
Tucumcari's volleyball team captured another district championship with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 victory Saturday over Raton during an often-emotional final home match for THS this season, especially its seniors. The Lady Rattlers (17-4 overall, 8-0 in district) won their second straight district title and third in four years. Tucumcari has won eight in a row and is ranked fourth in Class 2A by MaxPreps.com. Sophomore Cambree Benavidez's match-high 14 kills paced a THS attack that totaled 39 kills...
The newest member of the Tucumcari Public Schools board was sworn into office a few minutes earlier than anticipated before its regular meeting on Oct. 21. Because two members were absent, the board would have lacked a quorum to do business. The swearing-in ceremony for new District 1 board member Carlos Romero had been scheduled as the third item on the board's agenda. But because of the lack of a quorum, Quay County Clerk Ellen White administered the oath of office to Romero a few minutes...
Tucumcari now has a visual plan for its proposed Hometown Heroes Park, and all it needs is about another $13,000 to begin construction on it. Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, and Anthony Kent, who proposed the Hometown Heroes Park more than two years ago, in early October received renderings of the proposed park from Anthropopulus Design & Planning of Albuquerque. Anthropopulus formerly is Groundwork Studio, which facilitated the city's wayfinding plan. The...
Quay County’s road superintendent told county commissioners Monday that repairs on a flood-damaged, eight-mile stretch of Quay Road M may begin as soon as early November. Road superintendent Stephen Salas said $750,000 in state disaster funds earmarked for the May 2023 flash floods recently were approved. Salas said the forthcoming work by Pacheco Construction of Tucumcari would use up most of that money. Quay Road M runs from north of Bard to the caprock in the southern part of the county. Salas said he would request another $750,000 in s...
LOGAN - The Longhorns completed an undefeated regular season, won a district title and nabbed the No. 1 seed in the six-man football playoffs with a 54-0 victory Friday over New Mexico School for the Deaf. The game ended in the third quarter due to the mercy rule. While pleased with the district crown and the top seed in the postseason, Logan coach Dwayne Roberts wasn't about to rest on his team's accomplishments. "It's been a great season, but we're still not where we want to be," he said....
Tucumcari's volleyball team dispatched of a depleted Estancia squad on Thursday by a score of 27-25, 25-14, 25-16, all but eliminating the Lady Bears from district contention. The Lady Rattlers dominated the Lady Bears 34-21 in kills during their annual Think Pink game where the players wore specially made black-and-pink jerseys. Sophomore Cambree Benavidez, celebrating her 16th birthday that day, led THS with 12 kills. July Lafferty, apparently recovered from an ankle injury in mid-September,...
In a wide-ranging discussion with Tucumcari city commissioners, the code enforcement officer and police chief acknowledged the nuisance ordinance needs changes to eliminate confusion and get tougher against scofflaws. Code enforcement officer Maria Carmen Gonzalez and Police Chief Patti Lopez sat with commissioners during a work session Thursday to discuss nuisance issues. Gonzalez said some owners and landlords don’t take responsibility for neglected properties. “I have to write that citation before they clean that place,” she said. Lopez...
SAN JON — Members of the San Jon Municipal Schools board learned last week it would be nearly $7 million cheaper to build two new high-school gymnasiums than renovate its current facilities. The board and administrators discussed by videoconference their gymnasium options during a work session Oct. 14 with two members of Formative Architecture, which is tasked to design a new school for the district. Weeks ago in discussions with architects, board members were inclined to preserve the existing Ed Lee Activities Complex and a 1960 gym on c...
Tucumcari's volleyball team vaulted into sole possession of first place in its district with victories last week over Clayton and Raton. The Lady Rattlers breezed to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-13 home victory Saturday over an overmatched Yellowjackets squad, which has only one victory this season. Tucumcari's win improved it to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in district play, with a one-match lead over runner-up Santa Rosa at 3-1. Raton and Estancia each were 2-2 in district play. The Lady Rattlers are ranked...
Tucumcari's air attack might have enabled it to keep up in a shootout Friday with district foe Santa Rosa, but center-snap problems short-circuited that possibility during a 55-7 loss. Bad snaps in the shotgun formation repeatedly lost yardage or threw off the rhythm of quarterback Nick Goen. One snap that sailed over his head led to a Santa Rosa defensive touchdown as the Lions staked a 28-0 lead during the Rattlers' last home game of the season. Goen went 14-for-28 passing for 125 yards and...
In the wake of a 14% increase in enrollment this fall, Mesalands Community College’s vice president of student affairs presented an updated five-year enrollment management plan that seeks to avoid an “enrollment cliff” many colleges and universities are forecast to encounter. Many higher-learning institutions are bracing for when the number of high-school graduates is expected to peak in 2025 or 2026, then decline for many of the following years. The U.S. saw a falloff in its birthrates after the 2008 recession. Josh McVey told the college’s bo...
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...
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 judge sentenced a Tucumcari man to life in prison after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the May 2022 shooting of another local man after an argument at a high-school graduation party. Judge Drew Tatum, labeling the killing of Michael Arellano, 46, as "inhumane" and "tragic," delivered the sentence Thursday to Tyje Garrett, 44, after a jury of seven women and five men took just over two hours to come to a verdict in the Quay County Courthouse after a four-day trial. "I'm tired...