Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Quay County entities are in line to receive $1.84 million in capital-outlay allocations from the just-completed session of the New Mexico Legislature, including more than $1 million to the City of Tucumcari that includes some street repairs and renovations to the long-closed Princess Theatre. What was notable was what the county didn’t receive — namely, up to $30 million to build a new Dr. Daniel C. Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari. The county didn’t go empty-handed. It is due to receive state allocations for EMS radio improvements and r...
Embattled Mesalands Community College President Gregory Busch last week submitted a formal resignation letter, effective March 10. Busch’s three-page resignation letter, which stated it was sent from Tucson, Arizona, was received March 14 through his attorney, stated Mesalands director of communications Josh McVey in a news release. The Mesalands board of trustees accepted Busch’s resignation after a one-hour closed executive session Thursday. They also voted to make acting president Allen Moss as college’s the interim president. (See other...
The Mesalands Community College board of trustees on Thursday approved making Allen Moss the college's interim president, effective immediately, during the board's first in-person meeting in three years. Moss, formerly executive director of corrections and dual enrollment at the college, was appointed ass acting president in mid-February after the previous president, Gregory Busch, left town following no-confidence votes by the executive team, faculty senate and staff senate. The board didn't...
Quay County commissioners apparently couldn’t resist the prospect of a 2-for-1 situation in hiring an assessor. Commissioners on March 13 unanimously chose the county’s geographic information system mapper, Dana Leonard, as its next assessor. They interviewed five candidates for the position. Leonard, interviewed in his office the day after he was hired, said he would continue to hold down his mapping duties when he takes over the assessor position in June. Leonard noted Daniel Zamora previously held his spot and as emergency manager bef...
As a volunteer pastor, I’ve come to believe that the No. 1 threat to my congregation is fear. As it turns out, though, I’m not their only preacher. The other ones are broadcast at them. Twenty-four-hour news channels bombard them with reasons to be terrified. What’s coming next? A new virus? Conflict with Russia? China? Remember when the “murder hornets” were coming for us? Part of my answer to all that is this: Jesus fed 5,000 men and their families with a few pieces of bread and a plate of fish in Mark 6. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying th...
I am against the Ute Pipeline project. In fact, I am convinced that if it goes on as planned it will be the biggest waste of taxpayer money in New Mexico history. When you realize that I am a Logan resident and business owner your first reaction will probably be that you can’t listen to my opinion because I am not objective. Although that is true -- I am not objective -- hear me out. Facts are still facts regardless of where they come from. I acknowledge that Curry and Roosevelt counties need water. The problem is they are about to spend m...
The Logan Municipal School board approved a calendar for the 2023-2024 school year that’s largely the same as in previous years but complies with an expanded-instruction bill expected to become law. Superintendent Dennis Roch said during the board’s March 13 meeting the bill compels districts to expand its number of instruction hours per school year. He said under Logan’s existing schedule, that would put the school year past Memorial Day — a “non-starter” among the district’s staff and faculty. Roch said in the elementary school, much...
On this date ... 1972: Firefighters were called to extinguish a blaze in the east wing of the Sheraton Inn motel in Tucumcari. The fire, believed to be electrical in origin, started in a utility room and spread to the attic. Water and smoke damage was reported in the utility room and adjacent rooms. A resident said he heard an explosion and saw the flames. About the same time, an Air Force couple traveling in the area saw the flames, made a U-turn and went to the motel to report the fire. — Ken Rasmussen, dean of the Eastern New Mexico Universi...
• Saturday — Fish fry for Tucumcari STEM Club. This 6:30 p.m. event at the Tucumcari Elks Lodge will help defray the team’s travel expenses for the MIT robotics competition in Boston. The $14 plates include Cajun catfish and all the fixings. • April 1 — Easter egg hunt at Dunn Park, Tucumcari. This free event from 10 to noon will be for children from kindergarten through fifth grade only. The Pure Elegance Car Club and Tucumcari Disc Golf Club are organizing it. The clubs are asking for donations, with a $500 goal, to help put on the hunt. • Ap...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Closed for spring break. Thursday — Closed for spring break. Monday — Breakfast: Cinni mini, assorted cereal, graham crackers, fresh apple, orange juice, skim, 1% or strawberry milk; Lunch: Turkey and cheese sandwich, corndog, tater tots, peas, baby carrots, fresh mixed fruit, skim, chocolate skim, 1% or strawberry milk. Tuesday — Breakfast: Cinnamon ultimate breakfast round, graham crackers, Lucky Charms, fresh orange, apple juice, skim, 1% or strawberry milk; Lunch: Ham and egg chef salad, beef taco, pinto b...
Public officials and employees love transparency in the abstract. In reality: not so much. Transparency in government is a crowd-pleasing election promise that gets set aside in practice. It happens in part because openness takes effort. It takes a daily commitment by public entities to provide access to records, to inform the public as to what is going on, and to allow participation. Transparency also invites scrutiny, and not all public officials and employees want that. Open government also suffers because public officials often choose to...
What is going on with Tucker Carlson? In private messages unearthed by lawsuits against Fox News, the fiery host was a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump, even as he continued to praise and defend him on television. “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” Carlson wrote in one message, adding, “I truly can’t wait.” “We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump,” Carlson wro...
Banking must have been next on the to-do list of the things the Biden administration is planning to destroy. In two years, President Biden and the wrecking crew of crazies, wokesters and career incompetents he has put into his government have screwed up every corner of America. Everything from the economy and our military to our kitchen gas stoves has already been wrecked or is under threat from the Biden White House. Even the entire world is in danger, thanks to the wizards in his state department. They did nothing to deter Putin from invading...
HOUSE - House Muncipal Schools Superintendent Bonnie Lightfoot was placed on paid administrative leave last Tuesday by the school board. Parents said the move was in response to the handling of an alleged threat made by a student, but school board members would not confirm. The unanimous vote to place Lightfoot on paid leave followed a 2 1/2-hour executive session. Lightfoot left the board's meeting room with board members but was not with them when they returned to the meeting room from the...
The Arch Hurley Conservancy District board of directors voted last week to not allocate water into its irrigation canals for now but remained hopeful they might do so after rainier weather this spring. Board Chairman Robert Lopez said during the March 14 meeting the water-allocation vote was a formality for crop-insurance purposes, though a lack of water had been apparent for months. District manager Franklin McCasland reported Conchas Lake’s water elevation that morning was 4,162.4 feet, which was 0.2 feet lower than the previous month. The d...
The Tucumcari Public Schools board last week accepted a state grant of up to $34,303.96 to help the district form a five-year facilities master plan. The district’s share of the plan would be $28,066.88, with the total cost to not exceed $62,370.84, according to a letter from the New Mexico Public School Capital Outlay Council. During the board’s March 13 meeting, superintendent Aaron McKinney said having a five-year plan in place is required for the district to receive capital-outlay money and other funds. McKinney also said the plan also hel...
A Tucumcari man filed a lawsuit against the city, police department and two officers over his being body-slammed during a 2021 arrest that was captured by a bystander’s video. Pete Apodaca filed a complaint for damages on March 6 in Tucumcari district court. The defendants are the City of Tucumcari, Tucumcari Police Department, former TPD corporal Herman Martinez and officer Justin Garcia. Margie Rutledge of the Harrison, Hart & Davis law firm in Albuquerque filed the seven-page suit on Apodaca’s behalf, and it demands a jury trial. Acc...
The Tucumcari baseball team swept a doubleheader Friday from visiting Clayton, including a come-from-behind 8-7 victory in the second game. The Rattlers, taking advantage of a nine-run first inning, prevailed 12-2 in five innings over the Yellowjackets in the opener. Josh Griego hit two triples and drove in a game-high four runs for the Rattlers. Xzander Garcia totaled three RBI. Griego also excelled on the mound, striking out 11, walking two and allowing five hits to earn the win. In the nightcap, Tucumcari trailed 7-4 in the bottom of the...
The Tucumcari girls and Logan boys captured team titles Saturday during the season-opening, 23-team Rattler Relays track and field meet at Tucumcari's Rattler Stadium. The Lady Rattlers and their 87 points comfortably prevailed over rival and runner-up Logan's 57 points in the team standings. San Jon, the other Quay County school at the meet, finished 15th with four points. In the boys standings, the Longhorns and their 94 points topped runner-up Legacy Academy by a nearly 2-to-1 margin....
Tucumcari’s fielding errors proved costly during a 19-13 softball loss Saturday to Estancia in the championship game of the Santa Rosa Invitational. The Lady Rattlers committed five errors against the Lady Bears, leading to five unearned runs for Tucumcari starting pitcher Juli Rivera. Rivera struck out seven, walked one and allowed 10 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. “Juli’s a gamer … that competitive attitude you love in a player,” Tucumcari coach CJ Oglesby said. “She also hit the ball really well for hardly getting any batting practice....
Two area basketball players earned second-team all-state honors form the New Mexico High School Coaches Association. Three others were honorable mentions. Tucumcari senior point guard Alexus Lafferty took second-team honors in Class 3A girls basketball. She averaged a team-high 15.1 points, 3.4 assists and 3.7 steals per game for the 20-7 Lady Rattlers, which advanced to the state quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Tohatchi. Brock Burns, a junior point guard at Logan, earned second-team honors in Class 1A boys basketball. Burns...
The Tucumcari High School cheerleading squad finished sixth overall in Class 3A at the New Mexico Activities Association’s spirit championships Saturday at The Pit in Albuquerque. The Rattlers squad scored 69.83 in their first performance and 60.53 in their second for a total of 130.37 points — less than two points behind fifth-place finisher West Las Vegas and its 132 points. Raton won the Class 3A state title with 165.13 points. Ruidoso was runner-up with 150.1 points, and Cobre finished third with 148. Members of the THS cheer squad are D’N...
Just one confirmed case of coronavirus was reported in Quay County last week, down from three during the previous week. Last week’s sole case brought the total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began to 2,565. Quay County has reported weekly single-digit numbers of COVID-19 for much of the winter. According to the COVID Act Now website that tracks the disease, the county’s rate of new cases dropped to a low level of 36.4 cases per 100,000 people. That compared to 84.8 the previous week. Quay County’s risk of commu...
One of the suspects in a fatal dog-attack case in Tucumcari landed back in jail last week on an unrelated case in Curry County. Kristopher Jaquarias Morris, 27, of Tucumcari, was booked into the Quay County Detention Center last Monday after Curry County Magistrate Judge Stephen Whittington on Feb. 14 issued a bench warrant for his arrest. According to online court documents, Morris failed to pay almost $500 in fines related to charges of failing to register a vehicle and failing to secure a transfer of registration. Morris was transported...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from March 13 to March 19: Monday — 6:14 a.m.: Trespassing at U.S. 54 and Quay Road K, Logan. — 8:22 a.m.: Arrest warrant in 300 block of South Third Street, Tucumcari. — 8:58 a.m.: Arrest warrant in 200 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. — 9:14 a.m.: Domestic disturbance in 1300 block of South Adams Street, Tucumcari. — 10:02 a.m.: Arrest warrant at South Fourth Street and West Hancock Avenue, Tucumcari. — 12:29 p.m.: Breaking and entering in 500 block o...
