Serving the High Plains

Articles from the January 29, 2020 edition


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  • Boat raises heated discussion

    Steve Hansen|Jan 29, 2020

    "Miss Kristy" is the name of an orphaned pontoon boat that has haunted Tucumcari Streets for several years, and it produced heated accusations and rebuttals at Thursday's Tucumcari City Commission meeting as well as plans to reconsider the city's nuisance ordinance. Miss Kristy rests in crumbling condition, with peeling metal siding, exposed wood and faded interior upholstery, on city property off Whitmore Avenue. The exchanges Thursday began when Gilbert Pacheco, a Tucumcari resident, accused...

  • Church may split from denomination

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    The Logan United Methodist Church likely will split from that denomination if the members vote at its general conference in May to diverge from that sect’s Book of Discipline doctrine and allow gay marriages and gay ministers. The Rev. John Barrett, pastor of that church and Center Street United Methodist Church in Tucumcari, also said last week he would leave the denomination, as well, if the main, 52-year-old domination adopts more of a pro-gay stance. The United Methodist Church will hold its general conference in Minneapolis on May 5-15 to...

  • Tucumcari girl wins bee

    Staff report|Jan 29, 2020

    A Tucumcari fifth-grader will represent Quay County at the New Mexico Spelling Bee in March after recently winning county championship. Neriah Rodgers successfully spelled the word "abundance" to win the Jan. 15 county spelling bee in San Jon after surviving several rounds. Neriah advanced to the state spelling bee March 21 at Albuquerque. Neriah is the daughter of Christina Rodgers of Tucumcari. The runner-up was Kyle Terry, a fourth-grader at Logan Elementary School. Kyle will be Quay...

  • Mesalands to consider name change

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    The change, if it happens at all, won’t occur for a while, and it may be subtle. But Mesalands Community College’s president asked the board of trustees during its meeting Jan. 21 to consider altering the college’s name. The meeting agenda that day listed under new business “Discussion on the Name of the College” that was not an action item. College President John Groesbeck suggested changing the institution’s name — one proposal he offered was Mesalands College — for marketing purposes and to reflect its efforts to draw more students from o...

  • Geneva Bible: Obey God, resist tyrants

    Gordan Runyan|Jan 29, 2020

    Search online for the definition of tyranny and you’ll have pages of dictionary entries in an instant. Words like “oppressive,” “cruel,” and “unfair” will be littered throughout those definitions. However, another word, one that might surprise us, is also prominent there. That word is “arbitrary.” A tyrannical rule is not only a malicious one, but is fundamentally unpredictable. The random use of force to get his will is the mark of a tyrant. He will have his people walking on eggshells because...

  • Calendar - Jan. 29

    Jan 29, 2020

    • March 8-14 —22nd Iron Pour. Mesalands Community College will host its 22nd annual Iron Pour workshop. Meet sculpture artists and make your own creation from molten metal. The actual iron pour will take place Friday, March 13. For more information, call (575) 461-4413, Ext. 138. Building D, 911 S. 10th St., Tucumcari. • April 24-26 — 20th annual Chuck Wagon Cook Off. Chuck wagons will cook a meal in Dutch Ovens over hot wood coals. Meal consists of chicken fried steak, potatoes, beans, bread and fresh apple cobbler. Meal tickets are $15. Ut...

  • Menus - Jan. 29

    Jan 29, 2020

    Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Sausage and cheese breakfast bagel, Honey Nut Cheerios, cinnamon graham cracker, fruit, milk, juice; Lunch: Salisbury steak, ham and cheese hoagie, mashed potatoes, honey wheat roll, salad mix, fresh tomatoes, baby carrots, ranch dressing, fruit, milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Baked peach pear oatmeal, Trix cereal bar, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Pepperoni pizza, salad mix, fresh tomatoes, cucumber, cauliflower, ranch dressing, fruit, milk. Monday — Breakfast: Apple cinnamon muffin, assorted cereal, string c...

  • Trucker honored for aid in Quay

    Staff report|Jan 29, 2020

    The Truckload Carriers Association named a Wisconsin-based truck driver a Highway Angel for helping a motorist pinned under his wrecked vehicle east of Tucumcari off Interstate 40 several weeks ago. The Highway Angels program honors drivers who display exemplary kindness, courtesy and courage while on the job. Charles Jasewicz, a trucker for H.O. Wolding of Amherst, Wisconsin, was driving through New Mexico in November from California to Lebanon, Tennessee, according to a story for Land Line magazine. Jasewicz was about 10 miles east of...

  • Pages past - Jan. 29

    Jan 29, 2020

    On this date ... 1970: Michael Lee Sharer, 22, of Monroe, Wisconsin, was bound over in Tucumcari district court by a magistrate judge as a suspect in the stabbing death of Clayton Howard Potts, 62, of east rural Tucumcari. Potts’ body was found in his burned trailer. Later reports stated papers belonging to Potts were found on Sharer after his arrest on a charge of drunkenness. Sharer later was convicted of second-degree murder and paroled in 1975 from a sentence of 10 to 50 years in prison. • The Tucumcari boys basketball team was ranked eig...

  • More info needed before giving raises

    Jan 29, 2020

    You can predict it like a Valley shower following a thunderstorm forming over the Jemez Mountains. When there’s a state budget surplus, teacher unions come begging for more money for teacher salaries. While they’re long on sob stories and promises of better education for students, they’re always short on data that demonstrates any student improvement following past raises. Recently columnist Sherry Robinson pointed out most New Mexicans are ignorant to what teachers are actually paid. They’re just used to hearing “pay raise!” chanted ove...

  • Re-election may not survive impeachment

    Steve Hansen|Jan 29, 2020

    Well, are we going to have an orange president at the end of the impeachment trial? I say yes. Our orange-est president ever will keep his standing reservation to the Oval Office after the trial. With flying colors? I don’t think so. I think the orange paled and the MAGA red faded as House Democrats last week masterfully presented a detailed chain of fact-based evidence to support their accusation that President Donald Trump violated his oath of office by attempting to extort a personal, political favor from a vulnerable and valuable foreign a...

  • Democrats forgetting their history

    Michael Reagan|Jan 29, 2020

    I must have said it a dozen times since the Democrats’ impeachment miniseries took over our televisions, but I’ll say it again. The Democrats and their allies in the liberal media think history began this morning when they rolled out of the left side of their beds. It happened again during the Democrats’ opening impeachment tirades in the Senate. Democrats are still wasting our time — and ignoring their jobs — trying to prove that President Trump should be impeached because he abused the power of his office and because he obstructed Congress...

  • Quay Day draws bigger-than-usual crowd

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    The annual Quay Day on Wednesday morning before the start of the New Mexico Legislature’s 30-day session drew one of the biggest crowds in the history of the event, according one longtime local official who attended. Because the state remains flush with money from oil and gas revenue, local leaders stated their optimism the region would receive more money in the coming year for roads and other projects. The state for the first time had a $7 billion budget last year, and some projections have added another half-billion to that this year. C...

  • Mama T's to reopen in Road to Ruin building

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    LOGAN - The century-old Road to Ruin building along Logan's main drag will hold its grand reopening 5 p.m. Saturday, rechristened as Mama T's Road to Ruin restaurant, with a face behind the scenes familiar to many Tucumcari diners. Todd Duplantis, who owns the Cornerstone First Edition and Kix on 66 restaurants in Tucumcari, signed a lease a few weeks ago to operate the Logan eatery at 103 U.S. 54. He's joined forces with Brian Cox, who was general manager of Mama T's at its previous location a...

  • Logan victorious over Melrose

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    LOGAN - Senior power forward Karli Webb scored 11 of her game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter to rally the top-ranked Logan girls basketball team to a come-from-behind 54-47 district victory Thursday over No. 2 Melrose. The Lady Longhorns, ranked atop the MaxPreps.com and coaches polls in Class 1A, improved to 15-3 overall and 2-0 in District 6. Kyndall Ragland added 10 points for Logan. Melrose, which had been ranked No. 1 until Logan defeated it in double overtime at the EPAC Tournament...

  • Melrose boys defeat Logan

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    LOGAN - The defending Class 1A champion Melrose boys basketball team lived up to its No. 1 ranking by taking a double-digit lead three minutes in the game en route to a 74-55 district victory Thursday over Logan that wasn't as close as the score indicated. The Buffaloes (16-1, 2-0 in Class 1A's District 6) led by 20 early in the second period and by 30 less than halfway through the third quarter. Only an 8-0 run to end the game kept the Longhorns (11-7, 1-1), ranked fifth in Class 1A by...

  • Tucumcari boys lose to Bosque

    Staff report|Jan 29, 2020

    The Tucumcari boys basketball team fell to yet another highly touted team during a 66-39 loss Saturday at Bosque. The Bobcats (12-2), ranked No. 2 in Class 3A by both the coaches’ poll and MaxPreps.com last week, blitzed the Rattlers by taking a 23-10 lead in the first quarter, 43-18 at intermission and 61-22 at the end of the third quarter. “They really shot the ball well against us,” Tucumcari coach John Span said of his opponent. “We didn’t match up well with their speed. They were just quicker than we were. That didn’t help any.” The Rattle...

  • Girls take victory over Bobcats

    Staff report|Jan 29, 2020

    The Tucumcari girls basketball team turned a close game into a blowout in the second half en route to a 71-39 victory Saturday at Bosque. The Lady Rattlers (13-5) nursed a 31-24 lead in the first half. They outscored the Bobcats 22-9 in the third period to increase the advantage to 53-33, then out-tallied their foes 18-6 in the final quarter. “We jumped on them in the first (quarter) and stopped playing defense in the second,” Tucumcari coach Gary Hittson said. “We need to play a full game and stop looking at the scoreboard.” Jasmine Jones s...

  • Three wrestlers finish in top four individually

    Staff report|Jan 29, 2020

    Three Tucumcari High School wrestlers finished in the top four individually during the prestigious, 20-team Cardinal Classic tournament at Las Vegas. A’leaya Lucero at 145 pounds finished second in the first-ever girls bracket at the two-day event, despite her going against heavier wrestlers at times. Julian Vargas at 138 pounds and Caleb White at 152 each finished fourth in their weight classes. Colt Garcia (182 pounds) finished fifth, Zach Bradfield (113) finished sixth and Charles Prieto (120) was seventh for Tucumcari. Tucumcari finished 1...

  • Three new board members take oath of office

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    Three new board members took the oath of office and were seated during the Tucumcari Public Schools board of education's regular meeting Jan. 20. Magistrate Judge Timothy O'Quinn administered the oath of office for Jerry Lopez, Matthew Pacheco and Bo Wallace at the meeting's start. Lopez defeated incumbent Fernando Ureste of District 2 in the Nov. 6 election. Pacheco and Wallace were unopposed for their seats in Districts 1 and 5, respectively, after board members Carlos Romero and Corinne...

  • Police blotter - Jan. 26

    Jan 29, 2020

    These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26: Monday • 12:54 p.m.: Fire at milepost 348, U.S. 54, Nara Visa. • 1:12 p.m.: Illegal dumping in 1000 block of East Heman Avenue, Tucumcari. Tuesday • 4:56 a.m..: Property damage in 2600 block of South Adams Street, Tucumcari. • 9:50 a.m.: Search warrant at unlisted address, Logan. • 10:26 a.m.: Search warrant at 800 block of Garcia Street, Logan. • 11:26 a.m.: Search warrant in 200 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. • 1:13 p.m.: Vanda...

  • Jail log - Jan. 26

    Jan 29, 2020

    These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Jan. 22 to Jan. 26: • Albert Santiago Lucero, 31, Tucumcari, charge not listed. • Arthur Martinez, 56, Tucumcari, three counts of contempt of court. • Louis Engel, 36, Tucumcari, two counts of contempt of court. • Carl Joseph Gomez, 37, Durango, Colorado, attempt to commit a felony (burglary of a vehicle) and disorderly conduct. • Chaz Sherwood, 31, San Jon, encouraging violation of probation, parole or bail. • Joey J. Trujillo, 36, Tucumcari, disorderly conduct. Th...

  • Couple dies in Tucumcari house fire

    Ron Warnick|Jan 29, 2020

    A house fire Friday claimed the lives of a Tucumcari couple that was supposed to move their son’s home in Clovis later this month. Richard Urioste Sr., 75, and Ann Urioste, 74, died in a blaze that gutted their home at 1910 S. Rock Island St. on Friday afternoon, said their son, Richard Urioste Jr. of Clovis. He was at the remains of the house Saturday afternoon to retrieve his parents’ personal papers and other belongings. Quay County Sheriff Russell Shafer on Friday afternoon confirmed at lea...