Serving the High Plains

Articles from the March 23, 2022 edition


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 23 of 23

  • MCC to host Paulita's pilot plant

    Ron Warnick, QCS Senior Writer|Mar 23, 2022

    Paulita’s New Mexico will use Mesalands Community College’s armory building as a pilot manufacturing and worker-training facility while it looks for a more permanent site to relocate in Tucumcari. Those plans by the Rio Rancho-based food company were revealed last week during the college’s board of trustees meeting last week, with more details from a Mesalands official on Wednesday. During a board of trustees meeting March 15, Mary Beth Busch of Mesalands’ Center for Workforce Development said Paulita’s New Mexico will use the gymnasium...

  • Logan bank closing delayed to December

    Ron Warnick, QCS Senior Writer|Mar 23, 2022

    New Mexico Bank & Trust announced Friday it would extend the closing date of its Logan branch by another six months, giving local leaders more time to find another banking tenant there. A spokeswoman for New Mexico Bank & Trust’s main office in Albuquerque stated in an email the closing of its Logan branch along U.S. 54 would occur Dec. 14 instead of the previously planned June 10. Local leaders had lobbied New Mexico Bank & Trust to reconsider its decision or delay the closing the Logan site. The shuttering of the Logan branch would leave the...

  • Mesalands OKs four-day week

    Ron Warnick, QCS Senior Writer|Mar 23, 2022

    Mesalands Community College will move to a four-day week for employees and students after spring graduation. The Mesalands board of trustees during its March 15 meeting voted to approve the four-way week for its 2022-2023 academic calendar on the urging of President Gregg Busch. Employees and students would have Fridays off, generally with working hours from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The four-day week takes effect May 16, after spring commencement. Busch advocated the four-day week because it would give the college an edge to...

  • Mountain View School may be given to state

    Ron Warnick, QCS Senior Writer|Mar 23, 2022

    The superintendent of Tucumcari Public Schools said he was considering donating or selling for a nominal sum the Mountain View Elementary School property to the State of New Mexico on which a day-care center operates there. Superintendent Aaron McKinney said during the school board's March 14 meeting that Eastern Plains Early Head Start rents the former school building on South Rock Island Street for $1 a year. He said it costs the district thousands of dollars a year for upkeep on the structure...

  • Jesus Christ our model for marriage

    Gordon Runyan, Religion columnist|Mar 23, 2022

    In the Bible book of Ephesians, the apostle famously (or infamously, depending on your outlook) tells wives to submit to their husbands (5:22-24). That instruction would not have shocked any resident of the first century Middle East. But what Paul says next would have, or should have. He goes on to explain how a husband should love his wife, which, on the surface, is not terribly shocking. But he paints a word picture to illustrate his instruction, and if we read it right, we’ll see that it’s a picture of – brace yourself – submission. Of cour...

  • Lodgers tax board receives $117K in aid requests

    Ron Warnick, QCS Senior Writer|Mar 23, 2022

    The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Advisory Board last week received more than $117,000 in aid requests from tourism entities or festival organizers for the 2023 fiscal year and heard pitches from two of them during a work session Wednesday. Aid applications the board has received: • $38,200 from the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce; • $43,575 from the Tucumcari Historical Museum; • $25,000 from the Rockin’ Route 66 festival; • $9,000 from the Fired Up Festival by Tucumcari MainStreet; • $2,000 from Down at the Depot events. Tucumcari Rawhide D...

  • Pages past - March 23

    Mar 23, 2022

    On this date ... 1972: Most of the 30 to 40 business owners at a meeting of the Urban Development Board voiced opposition to an approved plan to build a closed mall in downtown Tucumcari. Merchants said they would rather have a main street with parking on front of their businesses. Board Chairman Frank Baum noted public hearings had been held about the closed-mall plan and notices about them were published in the newspaper and broadcast on local radio. Only nine people attended a previous hearing on the issue. The merchants claimed they were...

  • Menus - March 23

    Mar 23, 2022

    The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center also offer grab-and-go meals to those who qualify. Those interested should call the Tucumcari facility at 575-461-2307 or the Logan facility at 575-487-2287 for more information. Tucumcari schools Wednesday — No school; spring break. Thursday — No school; spring break. Monday — Breakfast: Bagel-fuls, applesauce cup, orange juice, skim or 1% milk; Lunch: Ham and cheese sandwich, pancakes, syrup, cheesy scrambled eggs, tater tots, baby carrots, orange, skim, 1% or chocolate skim milk. Tuesd...

  • Calendar - March 23

    Mar 23, 2022

    Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • April 13: Circus. Performances at 5 and 7:30 p.m.; tickets will be available at Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce, 404 W. Route 66 Blvd., Tucumcari Historical Museum, 416 S. Adams St., and Tucumcari Welcome Center/Old Town House Motel, 901 E. Route 66 Blvd. Cash only; tickets for adults are $12, children 2-12 and senior citizens (65 and older) are $7. Show-day tickets will be $15 and $8. Circus will be off 11th street on the Mesalands Community College campus. This event i...

  • Only six COVID-19 cases reported last week

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    Confirmed COVID-19 case numbers continued to percolate at a low level in Quay County last week. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Quay County last week was six. That compares to eight the previous week. That kept the county in the orange risk of community spread of the virus. Only 11 of 33 counties in New Mexico — including neighboring Harding, Guadalupe and San Miguel — remained in the red zone. The total number of cases in the county rose to 1,987 since the pandemic began in spring 2020. According to state reports, Quay Cou...

  • Rescued climber had been denied access

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    A Tucumcari man rescued from a steep ledge on Tucumcari Mountain after becoming stranded there for hours last week had been denied access by one of the mesa’s owners earlier that day. Daniel W. Pennison, 43, was booked into the Quay County Detention Center on March 14 on charges of criminal trespass and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer. Both are misdemeanors. According to a criminal complaint filed in Tucumcari magistrate court, the Quay County Sheriff’s Office was informed about 4:30 p.m. March 14 about a man being stuck on Tuc...

  • Pandemic should still be treated with concern

    Las Vegas Optic, Syndicated content|Mar 23, 2022

    Almost exactly two years after the entire world shut down due to the initial threat of COVID-19, the state of New Mexico’s Department of Health has made it clear it no longer views it as a priority. Recently, acting Health Secretary David Scrase told the media that the staff that has been tasked with compiling daily COVID-19 data will be reassigned to their previous responsibilities, and COVID-19 updates will be provided by an automated system. Daily numbers will no longer be broken down county-by-county. Instead, that will be part of a l...

  • 'Law' always benefits the elite

    Kent McManigal, Local columnist|Mar 23, 2022

    It’s aggravating that New Mexico’s Supreme Court decided the petitions aimed at possibly holding the New Mexico governor accountable for her COVID overreach were “legally invalid.” Aggravating, but not surprising. Somehow the “law” always benefits the elite political class and their schemes at the expense of the rest of us and our liberty. Whenever mere people try to hold government accountable and make it stay within its clear boundaries, the state finds a way to brush their concerns aside. It finds those boundaries to be the ridiculous compla...

  • Reading great education contribution

    Tom McDonald, Syndicated content|Mar 23, 2022

    I firmly believe that the greatest contribution to my daughters’ education wasn’t in helping them get through high school or even college. It was in teaching them a love for reading. Often it came as bedtime stories by Dr. Seuss, or one of the tales of the Berenstain Bears, or through a Japanese children’s book I couldn’t read but their mother could. Whatever it was, they came to look forward to it every night and their love for books grew with time. As parents, we didn’t teach them to read, but by the time they were old enough for school th...

  • Man sentenced for high-speed chase

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    A Tucumcari man was sentenced Wednesday to six years in state prison, with all but nine months of that suspended, in a plea deal after he was accused last summer of speeding dangerously on city streets during a police pursuit with two adults and three children in the vehicle. Marcus Pacheco, 30, initially was charged and jailed on 19 criminal counts, including six felonies. According to court documents, Pacheco pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse (no death or great bodily harm), one count of aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement...

  • Logan board OKs school re-entry rules

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    The Logan Municipal Schools board last week approved revised re-entry school procedures that reflect waning case numbers in the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent Dennis Roch said masks no longer are required in school, but he noted a few teachers and students still wear them. Masks also are no longer required on school buses. The rules also scale back testing of staff members, though self-health screenings still are encouraged. Roch said one significant change is the Logan school district soon will reopen its weight room to the public for the...

  • 3 Rattlers named all-district in hoops

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    Three Tucumcari boys basketball players recently made the first team on the all-district selections. The 8-17 Rattlers, which won their district tournament and qualified for their first postseason berth since 2016, saw senior center Andrew Henderson-Clark, senior guard Dominick Jasper and junior guard Curtis Gonzales each earn first-team district honors. Henderson-Clark averaged 19.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots per game. He also played in the Red/Green All-Star Game for Class 1A to 3A players. Jasper averaged 9.9 points, 3.5...

  • Logan captures Rattler Relays

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    The Logan boys and girls track and field squads showed they'll be a regional power again by besting 17 other teams and winning the season-opening Rattler Relays at Rattler Stadium on Saturday. Host team Tucumcari finished a strong fourth in both the boys and girls divisions. Tucumcari was buoyed by a double-champion Khobie Salvador in the weighted field events for the boys, along with champion Delilah Acosta in the girls discus. The Longhorns totaled 87 points, edging runner-up Pecos with its 76...

  • Four Lady Rattlers earn all-district honors

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    Four players from the Tucumcari girls basketball team earned all-district honors in District 4 of Class 3A. Three players from Logan and two from San Jon also were named to the all-District 6 team in Class 1A. For Tucumcari, junior guard Alexus Lafferty, freshman forward Caylee Benavidez, freshman guard July Lafferty and eighth-grade forward Kyla Samaniego each were given all-district honors. The Lady Rattlers finished with a 13-11 record, won their district tournament and earned a postseason berth. Alexus Lafferty averaged a team-high 15.5...

  • Lady Rattlers go 3-2 during week

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    The Tucumcari girls softball team salvaged a so-so showing during the Santa Rosa Tournament with a 24-5 victory Saturday over Estancia after two narrow defeats. The Lady Rattlers (3-3), which won three of five last week, lost a 16-13 decision Thursday against Mora and fell 15-12 to Dora on Friday. Against Estancia, Tucumcari scored nine runs in the first inning and 19 in the second to seize control. The game ended after three innings due to the mercy rule. During the Dora game, Tucumcari coach...

  • Tucumcari games suspended by rain

    Staff report|Mar 23, 2022

    Umpires on Thursday suspended Tucumcari baseball's home-opening doubleheader against Mora after one inning due to persistent rain. The games will be resumed at a later date, with the score tied 3-3 after one inning in the opener. Tucumcari coach George Montano said the head of the umpiring crew suspended the games after a 20-minute rain delay due to heavy mud and standing water on the field. Freshman Josh Griego started the game for Tucumcari. Mora raced to a 3-0 lead in part because right field...

  • Police blotter - March 23

    Mar 23, 2022

    These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from March 14 to March 20: Monday — 2:22 a.m.: Accident in 2000 block of South Mountain Road, Tucumcari. — 9:39 a.m.: Property damage at North Third and Martinez streets, Logan. — 11:45 a.m.: Fraud in 100 block of South Cherokee Street, Logan. — 1:44 p.m.: Theft in 2300 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. — 2:21 p.m.: Vehicle fire at milepost 59, Highway 209, McAlister. — 2:53 p.m.: Littering at South First Street and East Gamble Avenue, Tucumcari....

  • Jail log - March 23

    Mar 23, 2022

    These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from March 14 to March 19: — Daniel W. Pennison, 43, no address listed, criminal trespass (posted) and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer (arrest). — Robert Lee Chavez, 47, Santa Rosa, warrant from other counties or states. — Skyler Cail Copeland, 22, no address listed, contempt of court and negligent use of a deadly weapon (unsafe handling). — James Gibson, 21, Seneca, South Carolina, aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug (0....