Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Melissa Morrison knew something had changed when she started receiving phone calls Thursday afternoon almost until midnight. That's because her business, K-9 Design Grooming and Boarding, and a few others in the area had been cleared by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to reopen Friday morning after being closed for weeks by the state's emergency health order to combat the coronavirus pandemic. People were calling her to make appointments to groom their dogs. "It feels like I'm a brand-new groomer...
New Mexico's governor on Tuesday ordered all restaurant employees to wear protective masks starting Wednesday and workers at all essential businesses to wear them starting Monday. Before her orders, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during a health briefing Tuesday afternoon urged residents to continue social distancing and wearing masks to slow the spread of coronavirus. She said the additional safety requirements and subsequent signs of COVID-19 mitigation would enable her to order the partial reopening of nonessential businesses by May 15 as...
Less than one-fifth of customers at several businesses - including Tucumcari's only grocery - observed by the Quay County Sun last week wore protective masks to slow the spread of coronavirus, despite weeks-old recommendations from state and federal health officials to wear them. Out of 15 employees seen at those stores, one was seen wearing a mask. Tucumcari's mayor and an assistant manager at the grocery also expressed frustration last week at some residents for failing to consistently use...
An estimated 40 people participated Saturday morning in the Freedom Ride in Tucumcari that saluted small, nonessential businesses closed by the governor's emergency health order and advocated for their reopening. Organizers were reluctant to call it a parade because they didn't have a city permit or insurance policy for that. Instead, they called it a cruise down old Route 66, Main Street and First Street along with a few side trips to salute businesses shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic. Abo...
File this under, “If I had a nickel for every time…” I have stressed that the Bible does not teach the people of God to shut up and do what they’re told, if the civil government is telling them something. Rather, we should be willing to submit ourselves to human authorities, up to the point at which their directives are in opposition to God. (Those are very different stances to take.) In fact, the Bible is filled with stories in which the heroes were the ones offering varied forms of resista...
On this date ... 1970: Grave concerns were expressed about planned pesticide use on 2 million acres in the region. Attendees at the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce meeting worried whether the pesticide would be harmful for fish at Ute and Conchas dams. The chamber asked for more research on the spraying plan. • Conchas Dam was flushed for the first time since 1965. Dam operators opened six gates, draining two feet of water from each. The flushing will allow more water capacity at the dam by removing sediment and debris from its b...
Quay County schools will be closed through the rest of the school year because of the coronavirus pandemic. For information on children’s meals provided at each school, go to 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 — Beef stew, cabbage, cor...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • June 18-20 — Asavet Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic. Cost for each surgery is $40. Applications are available at Best Care Pharmacy, Tucumcari Subway, Logan Subway and the Paws and Clubs Animal Rescue of Quay County website at pawsandclawsanimalrescueofquaycounty.com. Applications must be mailed before June 1 to Paws and Claws, P.O. Box 143, Tucumcari, NM 88401. Payment also may be mailed there. Applicants will be notified one week before the event. • June 25-28 — Rockin’ Route 66....
Board members of the Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corp. last week discussed ways the region could recover quicker in the COVID-19 era, including its wide-open spaces offering opportunities for crowded urban-dwellers and the city’s airport providing a safer alternative for travelers. They also briefly discussed a long-term plan by the Southern Rural Development Center, but Tucumcari Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield cited the need to “come up with something now” for businesses that soon will reopen — especially with a lack of protect...
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has repeatedly said: “We’re all in this together.” Our first-term governor, enmeshed in the biggest crisis facing the state in a century, has sought to instill a collective spirit to fight the virus by encouraging, cajoling, ordering and even threatening all to stay home — save for essential errands and essential jobs. But when it comes to reopening New Mexico’s economy, the governor has decided she and a handpicked group can do it all by themselves — behind closed doors. A sp...
The COVID-19 pandemic is as big as planet Earth, but it’s because of what it does at the individual level that is interesting and a little frightening. Most of what follows is freely translated from an article entitled “How does the coronavirus work?” in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technology Review. For starters, a coronavirus could run a lap around a human hair and it would be the equivalent of a three-mile run. COVID-19 viruses are usually portrayed as little balls crowned, that’s the “corona” part, with nubs made of stick...
California was well down the road to becoming a Bernie Sanders-model socialist state when the coronavirus crisis came along. But fighting COVID-19 and slowing its spread gave “liberal” Gov. Gavin Newsom a perfect excuse to unleash his inner dictator and greatly expand his power over the social and economic lives of his subjects. Like other authoritarian Blue State governors across the country, he quickly ordered the shutdown of all nonessential activity in the entire state and issued stay-at-home orders for 40 million Californians. Almost 4 m...
In the first test of the Tucumcari’s new ethics ordinance, Tucumcari City Commissioners Ralph Moya and Paul Villanueva were cleared Thursday of charges they had improperly aimed criticism a city employee in public after a public hearing. City Finance Director Rachelle Arias filed the charges in March based on events that allegedly occurred at the Feb. 13 and Feb. 27 meetings of the commission. The commissioners decided in two 3-0 votes Thursday to exonerate Moya and Villanueva. District 4 Commissioner Christopher Arias abstained in both votes,...
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Quay County remained at four Monday, but two areas to the east and west along Interstate 40 continued to be hit hard by the disease. East of Tucumcari, Amarillo’s mayor announced Saturday the federal government would send a COVID-19 task force to fight the spread of the disease there. The team was scheduled to arrive early this week. Amarillo’s public health department on Monday reported more than 1,000 active cases of COVID-19 in the metro area that includes Potter and Randall counties. Nearly 400...
Don't think the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum is gathering dust during its coronavirus-mandated closing. Museum director Loni Monahan and Axel Hungerbuehler, its curator and a natural sciences faculty member at the college, have been busy during the museum's down time making overdue upgrades, including a new display of 350 rare or colorful minerals from a renowned collector. "We had the opportunity to paint all the public spaces for the first time in 20 years," Monahan said in her office last week....
A Tucumcari woman is raising money for banner portraits of the high school's 58 graduating seniors that will be installed the city's light poles. Michelle Jaynes has been using local fundraising and a GoFundMe.com page at gofundme.com/f/class-of-2020-salute to collect money for the effort. The estimated cost is $4,500 for the banners and bracket repairs or parts needed to install them. She said she's collected about $2,200 in pledges and about $850 in GoFundMe donations as of Monday morning....
Voters in Quay County can make a decision in the coming weeks on two contested seats for county commission for the June 2 primary election, and those candidates have weighed in with their stances about issues facing the county. In District 1, Daniel Garcia, 78, a retiree, is competing against Robert Lopez, 56, a farmer and business owner, for the Democratic nomination for the seat. No Republican filed for candidacy in for that slot. The winner would replace current county commissioner Sue Dowell, who is term-limited, if an independent...
Confusion over the status of the Chaparral Apartments on Thursday led the Tucumcari Housing Commission to delay turning over the 24-unit complex to the Eastern Regional Housing Authority, though the housing commission turned all other housing authority properties to the regional authority. The decision to delay turning over the Chaparral units while authorizing the turnover of other properties passed on a 4-2 vote. The housing commission includes all Tucumcari city commissioners and Timothy Durkin, a public housing resident. Commissioners...
A Tucumcari man was booked into the county jail on two felonies after being accused of fleeing police in a car on city streets at speeds approaching 100 mph while a child was inside the vehicle. Dillon Carmichael, 20, was charged with aggravated fleeing a law-enforcement office, abuse of a child (first offense; placed in a dangerous situation), speeding, no insurance, driving while license suspended and failure to register vehicle. The child-abuse count is a third-degree felony that can lead to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The...
A Tucumcari man awaiting a second jury trial this summer on an animal cruelty charge was booked into the county jail last week after being accused of abusing a second dog and resisting police during his arrest. Ralph Fletcher Jr., 30, is charged with extreme cruelty to animals and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer (fleeing, evading or attempting to evade). The cruelty count, which alleges Fletcher “did intentionally or maliciously torture” an animal, is a fourth-degree felony that can lead up to 18 months in prison or a $5,000 fin...
A Tucumcari man was booked into the county jail last week on a felony charge after being accused of drunkenly pointing a gun at a teenaged boy. Matthew Hart, 37, was charged with abuse of a child (first offense; placed in a dangerous situation) and negligent use of a deadly weapon while under the influence of an intoxicant or narcotic. The child-abuse charge is a third-degree felony that can lead up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The negligence charge is a petty misdemeanor. According to a complaint filed in magistrate court by Tuc...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from April 27 to May 3: Monday • 1:16 a.m.: Shoplifting in 1900 block of South Mountain Road, Tucumcari. • 2:41 p.m.: Disturbance in 900 block of Garcia Street, Logan. • 2:58 p.m.: Theft in 200 block of East Center Street, Tucumcari. • 5:08 p.m.: Accident with property damage in 6300 block of Quay Road Ap, Tucumcari. • 6:37 p.m.: Noise complaint in 700 block of East Rankin Avenue, Tucumcari. • 7:05 p.m.: Trespassing in 100 block of West Gamble Avenue, Tuc...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from April 27 to May 2: • Dillon Carmichael, 20, Tucumcari, aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer, child abuse – negligently cause (no death or great bodily harm), speeding, no insurance, driving while suspended or revoked and failure to register vehicle. • Timothy Lloyd Clem, 30, Amarillo, contempt of court. • Ralph Earl Wayne Fletcher, 30, Tucumcari, extreme cruelty to animals and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer (arrest). • Martin Calbert, 59, Tucumcari...
