Serving the High Plains

Articles written by Steve Hansen Qcs Managing Editor


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  • Tucumcari, 2 Local Brothers, Featured in VW Bus Documentary

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|Jun 5, 2013

    It's a tale of new social media, old Volkswagen mini-buses, new friends and old-fashioned doing things for other people, even strangers—and old Route 66. And then there's the movie. The movie was the whole point. Christian and Levi Mericle, two Tucumcari brothers, found themselves in the thick of all this, and they're attending the premiere of the movie on Sunday. The movie is called Circle the Wagen. It's about social media, old Volkswagen mini-buses, and the rest. It premieres at 4:30 p.m. at Albuquerque's Guild Cinema on Central Avenue, A...

  • Prosecutor says he's pressing for September homicide trial

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|Jun 4, 2013

    Tenth District Prosecuting Attorney Tim Rose said he is ready to start the trial of Tony Day, the Tucumcari youth accused of killing his adoptive mother and stepsister on Nov. 26. Rose said he is pressing for a September trial. "We're ready now," Rose said. The defense, however, continues to ask for more time. In recent court records, Jeffrey Buckels, the public defender representing Day, said the defense may not be ready for trial until January. Court records indicate that Rose and Buckels have been consulting with Judge Albert Mitchell on a...

  • New facility likely aided lower unemployment numbers

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|Jun 4, 2013

    Quay County's 5.3-percent unemployment rate for April, the lowest reading recorded in nearly four years, is likely due to the addition of 20 part-tme jobs at the new Kodiak Produce facility in Tucumcari, preparation for the tourist season, and some new highway construction projects on Interstate 40 in the county, state and local sources agree. Tracy Shaleen, an economist with the state Department of Workforce Solutions, said Quay's employment pattern this year mirrors the pattern across the state. April is one of the lowest unemployment...

  • Official: Not much change in county budget

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|Jun 4, 2013

    The first draft of the county's fiscal 2014 budget shows an expectation of very little change from the fiscal 2013 budget, according to County Manager Richard Primrose. QCS Photo: Steve Hansen Quay roads 64 and AI are the only two in the county that are fully paved, County Manager Richard Primrose says. Quay Road 64 was paved last year with federal block grant funds. Quay Road AI is where Tucumcari Airport is located. Primrose presented the budget to the Quay County Board of Commissioners on May 28. The proposed budget calls for about $8...

  • Schools face decrease in revenues

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|Jun 4, 2013

    Tucumcari schools will be operating with about $400,000 less for the 2013-2014 school year, according to budget documents. The decrease in revenues represents about 3 percent of 2012-2013 revenues that totaled $13.7 million. The amount of revenues budgeted for 2013-2014 is about $13.3 million. The total revenue is expected to decline even as operational revenues, most from state tax funds under the State Equalization Guarantee, are expected to increase to about $8.8 million from $8.5 million in 2012-2013. That's an increase of about $316,000 do...

  • Distribution center booming

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|Jun 4, 2013

    QCS photo: Steven Hansen Carolyn Birch of Tucumcari wheels boxes into place for loading. Blueberries, corn, mangoes, bananas and other fruits and vegetables bound for destinations in the Midwest and Southeast are stopping in Tucumcari twice a week to change trucks at a rate of 10,000 to 15,000 cases a day at the new Kodiak Produce distribution center, Plant Manager John Perry said. The Tucumcari distribution center for Kodiak, a Phoenix-based produce distributor with about $10 million in annual revenues, is operating in earnest and has been...

  • Logan community aids family made homeless by fire

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|May 31, 2013

    Others in the Logan area have joined the Logan Fire Department in collecting household items and cash for a Rosebud-area (Harding County) family of eight whose home was destroyed by fire on May 25. The fire destroyed the home of Jason Gorham, his fiancee Trina Escalante, and their six children ages 2-7. "I want to express my gatitude to the people of Logan," Gorham said on Thursday. "The Fire Department has been helpful. My kids' teachers...everybody in Logan. The way they all came together to help, it's amazing." Since the fire, Gorham said, t...

  • Unemployment rate lowest in four years

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|May 28, 2013

    Quay County's unemployment rate for April, 5.3 percent, is the lowest the county has seen in four years. The last month that showed a lower unemployment rate was May 2009, when the rate was at 5.2 percent, New Mexico Dept. of Workforce Solutions reports show. In April of that year, the unemployment rate was even lower, at 4.9 percent. For April 2013, Quay County's unemployment rate jumped down eight tenths of a percentage point from March's 6.1 percent reading. The April rate was a full 2.6 percentage points lower than the 6.9 percent rates rec...

  • Contract awarded to improve Whitmore Street

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|May 28, 2013

    The Tucumcari City Commission unanimously awarded to Versatile Construction Co. of Tucumcari a construction contract to improve nine blocks of Whitmore Street between College Avenue and the U.S. 54 frontage road at its meeting on Thursday. As currently planned, work will consist of removing and replacing pavement and installation of wheelchair ramps at intersections, according to bid documents. Work on the project is expected to start in June, Donvil Worthington, an engineer for the engineering contractor, Forgrens Associates of Albuquerque,...

  • Health officials plan to start home visitation program

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|May 28, 2013

    Some time in July, Quay County health officials expect to start operation of a home visitation program, in which expectant parents and caregivers of young children up to age 5 can receive visits from qualified advisors to learn about infant and child health and ways they can prepare children for school. The program has been in planning for nearly a year by a committee made up of public health, social service and education professionals and community leaders, acting on an initiative from the state's Children, Youth and Families Department, Alida...

  • New rules require registration of dangerous dogs

    Steve Hansen QCS Managing Editor|May 28, 2013

    Tucumcari City Commissioners on Thursday enacted new requirements requiring registration of dangerous dogs. The ordinance passed unanimously with no discussion. City Commissioner Robert Lumpkin was absent. The new set of conditions puts the city in compliance with the state's dangerous dog act, according to the new ordinance. The eight conditions the owner of a dangerous dog must meet to register the dog in the city under the new ordinance are: - The owner is able to keep the dog under control at all times. - A license, if applicable, has been...

  • Bird's nest causes power outage

    Steve Hansen QCS managing editor|May 25, 2013

    A total of 3,256 customers, basically the entire city of Tucumcari, lost power from 7:06 to about 8:30 Saturday morning. Xcel Energy spokesperson Wes Reeves said the outage occurred because pieces of a bird's nest made contact with circuit protection equipment at the Tucumcari substation on Campbell Avenue....