Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 1559
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board recommended approval of a $7,840 request from Mesalands Community College to host a concert by country artist Joe Peters at the nearby convention center on March 20. The city commission can accept, reject or amend the board's recommendation, though it typically approves such requests. The concert, which begins at 7 p.m., is part of a celebration by Houston-based Impact Wind setting up an office and wind turbine certification courses on the Mesalands...
About a dozen employees of Tucumcari Public Schools weighed in on what they want from their next superintendent during a special board meeting. Many ideas were voiced during the March 4 session, but a consensus emerged of wanting someone who is invested long-term in the community and not someone who views Tucumcari as “a stepping stone” to another school-administration job. The board ultimately will pick a replacement for superintendent Aaron McKinney, who retired in January after 18 years at the helm. Interim superintendent Dave Johnson said a...
It's road-trip time for the Lady Rattlers. The fifth-seeded Tucumcari girls basketball team advanced to the Class 3A quarterfinals with a solid 54-32 victory over 12th-seeded Ruidoso in a first-round playoff game at Rattler Gymnasium. In four games against their district foe, the Lady Rattlers' performance Friday was the most dominating of the lot. Tucumcari grabbed an early lead from the outset, never trailed and commanded a 20-point advantage by the third quarter. Ruidoso ended its season...
LOGAN - After a closely fought first half, the big men on the Logan boys basketball team asserted their will on Roy-Mosquero in the second half during an 81-66 victory Saturday in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs. Six-foot-6 forward Hayden Bruhn scored 24 points, and 6-foot-4 center Mason Wallin added 23 - mostly in the critical second half when the Longhorns led by as much as 23. Point guard Brock Burns totaled 21 points. Fifth-seeded Logan (24-5) advanced to the quarterfinals, where...
Home, sweet home - even if it's a new home. Last season, the Tucumcari High School baseball team played all its home games in Logan while a new field was being constructed from a voter-approved $3 million bond issue in 2019. Since about Feb. 1, the Rattler players have been practicing on their new diamond. Hopes are high with them and third-year coach George Montano. "I'm happy I got a field this year, you know?" Montano said. "I couldn't be more grateful. I know Logan's not far away, but it...
With a half-dozen girls still playing basketball this week, Tucumcari High School softball coach CJ Oglesby will have precious little time to prepare his team for its season-opener Saturday at Raton. Oglesby, in his sixth season, said he's been training about eight non-basketball players in the meantime, and he hasn't been taking it easy on them. "We're just trying to condition them a little bit more," he said. "In previous years, we haven't been too conditioned should we get to the state...
SAN JON - The San Jon Municipal School board approved a new logo that will be used by the school's sports teams and merchandise. The board also voted Wednesday to continue to keep the boys and girls sports teams on junior-varsity schedules for the next two years. Business manager Stormi Sena, speaking on behalf of absent athletic director Bobby Kandel, said a logo committee met with a designer a few weeks ago regarding the design that took elements from drafts by two San Jon students. Sena said...
The number of findings in the fiscal-year 2022 audit of financially troubled Mesalands Community College and its foundation dropped by almost half from the previous year and showed other improvements. The college’s board of trustees gathered for a special meeting Thursday with Donna M. Trujillo of the Office of the State Auditor to approve an exit conference for the audit and an entrance for the FY2023 audit. The number of findings in the college’s 2022 audit totaled nine, compared to 17 in the previous fiscal year. The 2022 audit was a qua...
Residents gave the New Mexico Route 66 Centennial Coordination Group plenty of ideas for the fabled highway's upcoming centennial. The group, established by an executive order from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in September, held its first of several Route 66 stakeholders meetings Thursday morning at the Tucumcari Convention Center. More than 60 people signed in - many of them business owners or officials from Tucumcari or San Jon. Attendees included Tucumcari Mayor Mike Cherry, Quay County...
The Lady Rattlers were in foul trouble during their district tournament championship basketball game against Ruidoso. They solved it by getting the Lady Warriors into even more foul trouble. The result Friday was a 57-41 victory at Rattler Gymnasium for top-seeded Tucumcari, capturing its third straight district tournament title. Caylee Benavidez scored 26 points for the Lady Rattlers, including 11 from the free-throw line. July Lafferty added 16 points. Tucumcari earned a No. 5 seed in the...
Tucumcari Public Schools interim superintendent Dave Johnson said last week he received “eight or nine” applications from those seeking be the district’s next superintendent, with still time in the application window. Board members during their Feb. 19 meeting tentatively set work session dates of March 4 and March 29, both at 5:30 p.m., to meet the candidates. Johnson said a selection committee for the new superintendent would be formed. He said a survey to the community also would be drafted, asking what they want from TPS’ future leader....
Tucumcari’s city commission on Thursday delayed action on purchasing and installing new laptops for police vehicles until they receive more clarity on city finances. Police Chief Patti Lopez presented a $130,621.24 quote from Enchanted Technology Solutions of Albuquerque to buy and install Panasonic laptop computers on her department’s vehicles. Lopez advocated splitting the cost with cannabis sales tax revenue and about $92,000 in money saved from vacant sergeant and patrolman positions. City manager Paula Chacon said the city received nea...
The Quay County Commission on Monday accepted and approved its FY2023 audit that contained three findings faulting the county’s retired finance director. Farley Vener, a principal at the Hinkle & Landers accounting firm in Albuquerque that performed the audit, appeared by videoconference for the exit conference Monday. Vener said the county had about $30 million in assets and just $10 million in liabilities. The county had three new findings in the audit, which was an unmodified opinion — the best available. The audit found a material wea...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees last week approved contracts with two businesses that are opening offices on campus, including a fast-growing wind-energy firm that will train technicians. The training program agreement between Mesalands and Houston-based Impact Wind LLC is subject to final approval by the college’s attorney, though Mark Martinez, executive director of operations and procurement, anticipated it would involve only minor wording changes. Lawrence Uresti III, Impact Wind’s executive vice president, told the board...
The Tucumcari girls basketball team captured its second straight district title Friday night, but it wasn't easy. Trailing for much of the game, the Lady Rattlers gathered themselves to put together a 14-1 scoring run in the fourth quarter to take the lead, then hung on for dear life during a 54-52 victory over fellow district contender Ruidoso. Kyla Lopez scored 12 of her team-high 15 points during that key fourth quarter as the Lady Rattlers, ranked sixth in Class 3A by MaxPreps.com, improved...
For a little while, it appeared the Tucumcari boys basketball team might act as spoilers in Ruidoso's quest to capture a district championship. However, a scoring drought in the second quarter, plus red-hot shooting from behind the 3-point line in the third quarter by the Warriors, foiled the Rattlers' plans in a 60-42 loss Friday at Rattler Gymnasium. Ruidoso (14-11) captured the regular-season district title with a 5-1 mark and landed the No. 1 seed in this week's district tournament. The...
RIO RANCHO - Tucumcari senior Antonio Gonzales had conquered every opponent in his 172-pound weight class during the Class 4A state wrestling championships. But at the finale, Highland junior Amiri Mumba stood in his way - again. Gonzales (30-6) lost a 6-2 decision to the top-seeded Mumba (31-2) in the finals Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. It was Gonzales' fourth loss to Mumba this season, though Saturday's was his closest against him. Mumba scored a takedown and near-fall in the...
SAN JON - The San Jon girls basketball team had one player in particular to worry about during its game Friday against Corona-Vaughn, and it was impossible to not notice her. That player was 6-foot-5 freshman center Harper Dunn, who stands literally heads and shoulders above teammates and opponents. She is believed to be the tallest girls player in New Mexico. She has attracted recruiting attention from national contenders Louisiana State University and Iowa, to name a few. During Friday's...
SAN JON — The superintendent of San Jon Municipal Schools said he recently learned the state waived a local match requirement to design a new school, saving the district more than $1.2 million. Superintendent Alan Umholtz said during the school board’s meeting last Wednesday the New Mexico Public Schools Capital Outlay Council board approved an award of $4.14 million to pay for a design for a new school at San Jon. The action included the waiver of a 31% local match, or more than $1.28 million, from the district. Umholtz said he ant...
A felony suspect who barricaded himself in a van in the middle of the busy South First Street corridor in Tucumcari after a low-speed chase Friday was apprehended by police nearly five hours later. After two flash grenades detonated near the suspect's van had no apparent effect, a New Mexico State Police robot rolled up to the vehicle and held a canister containing a teargas variant into its driver's side window. The suspect crawled out of the window, where he was grabbed and detained by a slew...
The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board unanimously approved a recommendation to amend the city’s contract with the chamber of commerce that would give a part-time worker more hours at the visitors center through June. The recommendation goes on to the city commission, which can amend, approve or reject it at a future meeting. Kristine Olsen, representing the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, told the board during its Feb. 14 meeting the chamber’s existing contract allows $1,000 a month, or 15 hours a week, for a part-time worker to...
A district title is there for the taking for the Tucumcari girls basketball team. After a 57-13 drubbing of Dexter at the Lady Rattlers' home gym on Friday and a 12-point victory over Ruidoso earlier in the week, Tucumcari stands alone in first place in the standings with a 4-0 mark. The Lady Rattlers can secure the district title this week with wins at New Mexico Military Institute on Tuesday and a home game against Ruidoso on Friday. "We're in the driver's seat," THS coach Patrick Benavidez...
The Tucumcari boys basketball team wasn’t going to let Dexter’s CJ Granados ruin its night again. Granados, a freshman strong forward, almost single-handedly in the final minute of play led his team to a 67-66 comeback win over the Rattlers on Feb. 2. On Friday at Rattler Gymnasium, Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson assigned junior forward Julian Griego to shadow Granados, who also drew a double-team defense near the paint. “We changed up our defense just because of No. 10,” Hittson said. “Julian...
Quay County manager said a bill in the New Mexico Legislature contains $10 million to help build a new Dr. Daniel C. Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari. Daniel Zamora told commissioners during their meeting Monday if the bill passes this week with the hospital funding intact, he will apply for a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that would complete funding for the project. The Legislature’s session ends Thursday. During a break in the meeting, Zamora said he was hopeful ground would be broken for the new hospital by s...
It took two tries, but the Tucumcari City Commission eventually approved by a 4-1 vote a change order for the Aber Addition water and street project after prodding by the city manager. The change order by Pacheco Construction & Trucking called for an additional $49,400 to add a water line extension. City documents state an existing water main on East Laughlin Avenue was found to be 2-inch pipe. The city wanted to extend 6-inch pipe to the end of an existing 4-inch main. The order also called for pavement patching over water-line trenches, a...
