Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Here are some first-person accounts of what it’s like to go through COVID-19. Bottom line: You should stay home or do whatever you can to prevent its spread. A Korean man told Vice.com that three days after what started as a mild sore throat, he could no longer breathe properly. He went for a test and while standing in line, he fainted. When he got medicine and oxygen, he said, “I felt better to breathe, but (it) felt like having a heavy metal plate on my chest.” U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, told CNN, “I feel like I have a belt around...
New Mexico’s secretary of education announced in an online conference Friday morning the state’s public schools would be closed for the rest of the academic year in an effort to slow a coronavirus pandemic. Education Secretary Ryan Stewart, acknowledging the announcement was “a painful decision,” said the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had spread in the state and “hadn’t reached a peak,” noting there also was evidence of community spread of the illness in some cases. Stewart also said the state was following U.S. Centers for Disease Cont...
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday will announce an extension of the closings of all public schools in the state because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a post Thursday on Twitter from the state's Department of Public Education. “The final determination of the extent of the closure period will be made this evening after reviewing extensive cross-Agency plans,” the PED's tweet stated. New Mexico's public schools previously had been scheduled to be shuttered from March 16 through April 3 in an effort to slow the virus' spread and...
Tucumcari’s district attorney says he was held in contempt of court after “heeding the governor’s declaration of a public health emergency” and failing to attend a hearing in Carlsbad earlier this month. Timothy Rose is asking the state Supreme Court to require Judge Lisa Riley to rescind the contempt order, which was issued after Rose’s request to attend the hearing by phone was denied. Tenth Judicial District Attorney Rose had agreed to take on a case in the 5th Judicial District, which prosecutors there were unable to accept because of a con...
We celebrated Sunshine Week (March 15-21) by looking at the disgraceful manner in which our state’s budget is produced. The process by which the state’s budget is finally formed is a complicated one, punctuated with many committees and sub committees of both the House and Senate. When the Fiscal Year 2020-21 $7.6 billion budget was approved Feb. 20, it was only after a select group of staff and legislators met in secret for weeks. The fruit of those many secret meetings was 160 amendments cutting $160 million from the budget. The public can...
(Quay County schools will be closed until early April because of the coronavirus pandemic. For information on children’s meals provided at each school, consult newmexico.gov/education. The Tucumcari Senior Center and Logan Senior Center also will be closed to the public indefinitely but will deliver meals to those who qualify. Those interested in meal deliveries should call the Tucumcari facility at 461-2307 and the Logan facility at 487-2287 for more information.) Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Green chile chicken enchilada, pinto bea...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from March 17 to March 22: • Mary Francis Espino, 42, Tucumcari, charge not listed. • Jose Keith Eversole, 24, Las Vegas, New Mexico, contempt of court. • Jimmy Rodgers, 35, Humble, Texas, possession of a stolen vehicle. • Chaz Sherwood, 31, San Jon, two counts of contempt of court. • Larissa Anaya, 25, Tucumcari, battery against a household member and criminal damage to the property of a household member (under $1,000). • James Joseph Apodaca, 42, contempt of court. • Ha...
A specter haunts progressive America — the possibility that a company might make too much money solving the world’s coronavirus problem. At the last Democratic debate Bernie Sanders called the leaders of the pharmaceutical industry “a bunch of crooks,” who are telling themselves in the midst of the epidemic, “Wow, what an opportunity to make a fortune.” Op-eds have sprung up warning, “Drug Companies Will Make a Killing From Coronavirus” (The New York Times) and “How Big Pharma Will Profit From the Coronavirus” (The Intercept). This wo...
April 24-25 — Father’s Forge Daughters of the King Ladies Conference. The session begins at 7 p.m. Friday, April 24, and resumes from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 25. The free conference will offer refreshments. For more information, call (575) 461-4200. 622 S. Lake 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. Ute Lake State Park, Logan. June...
Four Tucumcari girls basketball players were named first-team all-district after their advancement to the Class 3A quarterfinals. Logan, which finished runner-up in the Class 1A tournament, also had four players earn all-district honors. For the Lady Rattlers, first-team honorees in District 4 were senior guard Ashley Shipley, senior center Jasmine Jones, senior power forward Aaliyah Brown and sophomore guard Reece Goldston. Shipley held team-highs in points per game (21.1), rebounds (9.2),...
Three Tucumcari boys basketball players were named to the all-district team in Class 3A’s District 4. Sophomore guard Jesus Ramos, sophomore forward Andrew Henderson-Clark and senior wing Alexander Lujan each made the first team from a squad that went 9-16 during the season and finished third in the district. Ramos averaged a team-high 19.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.4 steals per game. Henderson-Clark averaged 10.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Lujan averaged 9.1 points per c...
Years ago, there was a popular bumper sticker that you were likely to see on pickup trucks driven by young men. It simply said, “No Fear!” One pastor responded with this: “Stick around, kid. We can teach you.” The world God made has a marvelous power to instruct us in the ways of fear. In fact, learning to fear the right stuff is part of learning to live successfully. The man who truly has no fear is most likely a psychopath, who is headed for a more abrupt end than he imagines. I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with stage four ca...
March 25, 1970 • Alvin Woodburn of Clovis donated 75 rose bushes to the Tucumcari Parks and Recreation Commission so they could be planted at the new South Fourth Street park where Quay County Hospital once stood. The location is now Dunn Park. • The Tucumcari Does are raising funds for a German measles immunization clinic for small children. The club’s goal is $500, which would cover the costs for all preschool children in Quay County. • The Odeon Theatre was screening “Doctor Doolittle” and was giving away an Easter bunny with each show....
It has been another busy week here in New Mexico tracking COVID-19 cases and we are promoting social distancing everywhere. The Lujan Grisham administration is doing everything we can to protect New Mexicans. But the majority of questions that get emailed, phoned and texted to us are not technical questions about social distancing — “Are we supposed to stay 6 feet or 6 meters apart?” — but rather, “Should I get tested?” and “Where can I get tested?” Should I get tested? First, do you have symptoms? If the answer is no, then you do not need to...
Editor’s note: Jodi McGinnis-Porter is communications director for New Mexico’s Human Services Department. The Q&A that follows is unedited and complete. The op-ed she references is published here. Q from The Eastern New Mexico News: How many coronavirus test kits are available in area counties? A from McGinnis-Porter: We don’t have those numbers but testing has been happening all across the state. Let’s get clear about testing and taking swab samples. A swab sample can be taken by an individual’s provider, local area hospital, or clinics t...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from March 16 to March 22: Monday • 8:10 a.m.: Traffic accident with damage at Monroe Street and Dohoney Avenue, Tucumcari. • 10:43 a.m.: Theft in 1100 block of South Seventh Street, Tucumcari. • 12:35 p.m.: Arrest in 200 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. • 2:01 p.m.: Trespassing in unlisted block of South Shore Drive, Logan. • 2:43 p.m.: Unattended death in 6500 block of Quay Road AR, Tucumcari. • 8:15 p.m.: Traffic accident with damage at Cemetery Ro...
A closer examination of the much-discussed U.S. 54 and Airport Road intersection northeast of Tucumcari reveals it to be multifaceted problem because of usual and unexpected traffic volume, design quirks and other factors. Quay County Commissioner Sue Dowell repeatedly has brought up constituents’ concerns about U.S. 54. The commission during its regular meeting Friday may consider passing a resolution asking state or federal authorities to make safety improvements on the highway. A Quay C...
Rachelle Arias, the city of Tucumcari’s finance director, has filed a complaint with city manager Britt Lusk accusing two city commissioners of violating three sections of the city’s Governmental Code of Conduct ordinance. The complaint will be the subject of a public hearing tentatively scheduled for April 30, the commission decided at its March 12 meeting. Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield announced the grievance and the need for a hearing during the March 12 meeting. The Quay County Sun received Arias’ complaint from the city through an Inspe...
Mesalands Community College's president was placed on indefinite paid administrative leave March 17 after a nearly 90-minute executive session by the college's board of trustees. The board placed John Groesbeck on leave after meeting behind closed doors with several of the college's administrators at the end of an otherwise routine meeting. The approved motion states Groesbeck is not allowed on campus and not allowed any contact the college's staff, faculty or the Mesalands Community College Foundation. Groesbeck also is forbidden access to...
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday instructed New Mexicans to stay home if they didn't work in essential fields and dropped the maximum number of people in public gatherings from 10 to five in an effort to slow the coronavirus pandemic. Lujan Grisham, citing her legal authority as governor, said she would suspend the operations of non-essential businesses effective Tuesday morning. The full list of essential businesses is at the state Department of Health's website at cv.n...
