Serving the High Plains

Articles from the August 7, 2019 edition


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  • Database breach may affect 183,000

    Ron Warnick|Aug 7, 2019

    About 183,000 patients and health-plan members for Albuquerque-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services may have been affected by database breach in early May that came to light Thursday. Presbyterian Healthcare operates nine hospitals, including Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari and Plains Regional Medical Center in Clovis, plus a statewide health plan and a medical group. According to a news release Friday from Presbyterian, “unauthorized access was gained through a deceptive email to some of Presbyterian’s workforce members sometime aro...

  • No racino license to be awarded

    Ron Warnick|Aug 7, 2019

    The New Mexico Racing Commission issued a big “no” on awarding a sixth racing license — not just to Tucumcari, but to everyone else who’d applied for one. A principal member of an investment group that wants to build a “racino” in Tucumcari said he’d appeal to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to intervene to have the commission reconsider. The commission announced during its first regular meeting in more than two months Thursday it would not approve a sixth license. Applicants from Tucumcari, Clovis and Lordsburg had been jockeying for one for m...

  • Reunion attendance up

    Ron Warnick|Aug 7, 2019

    The annual Rattler Reunion over the weekend saw a healthy increase in alumni attendance over the previous year, undoubtedly to the appreciation of the Tucumcari restaurants and motels that hosted those attendees. Kathy Segura, a member of the Tucumcari Alumni Association's board of directors, didn't have a final count of people who attended the banquet Saturday night at the Tucumcari Convention Center because a few walk-ins still were arriving. But she said she was pleased with attendance, regar...

  • One year later, a look back

    Ron Warnick|Aug 7, 2019

    The past year revealed what it's like to land a dream job in the worst way possible. Before I moved to Tucumcari, I'd subscribed to the Quay County Sun. I dreamed what it would be like to work at the newspaper at a town I'd grown to love. But I'd grown cynical about journalism, where I'd spent much of my adult life. I dabbled in other areas, such as Internet marketing. I hadn't done regular reporting in decades and doubted whether I still could. Once I'd moved to Tucumcari in January 2018, I...

  • Menus - Aug. 7

    Aug 7, 2019

    Tucumcari Senior Center Wednesday — Hawaiian pork, tossed salad with dressing, whole-wheat bread, strawberries and vanilla pudding. Thursday — Pepper steak, baked potato with margarine, California vegetables, roll, cherry cobbler. Friday — Turkey breast, pasta with Alfredo, spinach with margarine, breadstick with margarine, orange. Monday — Pork stir-fry, stir-fry vegetables, salad and dressing, whole-wheat roll with margarine, apple cobbler. Tuesday — Italian chicken, broccoli salad, carrots, cheesy Italian bread, peach pound cake. Logan Sen...

  • Calendar - Aug. 7

    Aug 7, 2019

    • Wednesday — Tucumcari Elementary School registration. Register your children for school at the Tucumcari Elementary School gym from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The school-supply list includes Clorox wipes, facial tissues, hand sanitizer, dry-erase markers and backpacks. 1701 S. Ninth St., Tucumcari. • Monday, Tuesday and Aug. 15 — Got Shots? immunization clinic. The New Mexico Department of Health will host a back-to-school immunization clinic from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (which this week includes lunch hour from noon to 1 p.m.). The immunization clinic...

  • Twenty-five local positions on ballot Nov. 5

    Staff report|Aug 7, 2019

    The Quay County Clerk’s Office reported last week that 25 local positions would be on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election. The filing day for all candidates will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 27 at the clerk’s office at 301 S. Third St. in Tucumcari. Packets for prospective candidates will be available at the clerk’s office starting Monday. The following entities and positions will be on the local election ballot: • City of Tucumcari: Districts 1, 2 and 3, four-year terms; District 4, two-year term; municipal judge, two-year term. • Tucumcari...

  • Ratcliffe not fit or qualified for intelligence post

    Aug 7, 2019

    The impending departure of Dan Coats as director of national intelligence is unfortunate. Whether the topic was Russia, Syria, North Korea or Iran, Coats consistently presented fact-based assessments even if they were at odds with President Donald Trump’s public proclamations. Coats’ downfall was that he did his job. As his replacement, Trump has proposed Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe. That’s troubling — not least because Ratcliffe’s most pertinent experience is his six-month stint on the House Intelligence Committee. Ratcliffe, who was elect...

  • Appreciating leisure since I have it

    Steve Hansen|Aug 7, 2019

    OK, the Republicans are excusing the most excessive acts of Donald Trump, our most excessive president, and the Democrats might come up with such a toxic stew of unpopular policies that even Trump’s excesses might seem preferable. It’s time to write a column about something else, now that summer is drawing to a close. School starts within a week of this column’s publication. School starting to me still means summer is over, even if outside temperatures still exceed 100 by day until September, when school used to start. Summer is called a time...

  • No overnight fix for NM education

    Tom McDonald|Aug 7, 2019

    Up until recently, it’s been pretty much a seamless takeover. Worn out by Susana Martinez’s can’t-do/won’t do policies as governor toward issues like clean energy, full marijuana legalization and public education, voters made their voices heard in New Mexico with the resounding election of Michelle Lujan Grisham last year. Since then she’s been pushing the state in a far more progressive direction — touting education reform as her top priority. Last month, however, Lujan Grisham took an unexpected turn when she fired her Public Education D...

  • Tucumcari sounds out tourism spending

    Steve Hansen|Aug 7, 2019

    The city of Tucumcari can reap $76,869 in advertising and promotion benefits for the current fiscal year while paying $29,836, according to Joanie Griffin, a principal in Sunny 505, the marketing firm the city has hired to help promote tourism in city. Electronic media advertising and promotion through Facebook and other social media, internet radio, websites and email are expected to dominate the spending, Griffin said in a public work session for the Tucumcari City Commission on July 25, but the plan includes advertisements in the New Mexico...

  • Downtown sign getting work done

    Ron Warnick|Aug 7, 2019

    Don't worry - the "Old Downtown" arrow that's stood at Tucumcari Boulevard and Second Street for decades hasn't disappeared for good. It's getting a new paint job, plus additional signs underneath to point out other attractions. The sign was taken down Thursday morning so local rancher Jerry Koile and other volunteers and artists can refurbish it on behalf of the Tucumcari MainStreet program. With luck, the big arrow - along with new and smaller ones attached to the pole underneath - will be...

  • Second man sentenced in home invasion

    Ron Warnick|Aug 7, 2019

    A second man implicated in a home invasion in October in rural Tucumcari where an elderly man was beaten was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison in Tucumcari district court. Setheria Kolyer, 19, of Tucumcari pleaded no contest to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, felony larceny, tampering with evidence and distribution of marijuana. Charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, conspiracy to commit larceny,...

  • Woman jailed on felony counts

    Ron Warnick|Aug 7, 2019

    Police jailed a New York woman on multiple felony counts after she was accused of threatening and holding a Tucumcari hotel employee against his will at knifepoint. Kelsey J. Killian, 26, of Buffalo, New York, was booked July 28 into the Quay County Detention Center on complaints off second-degree kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor larceny. Second-degree kidnapping is second-degree felony that can lead up to nine years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The imprisonment and assault counts are...

  • Museum event to honor military history

    Staff report|Aug 7, 2019

    The Tucumcari Historical Museum on Saturday will host its final special event to mark its 50th anniversary this year with “Honoring Military History.” All veterans are invited to the day’s activities from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The day will begin with a color guard from Cannon Air Force Base of Portales. Immediately after the ceremony, Tucumcari Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield will read a proclamation thanking Cannon personnel for their efforts in repainting the F-100 jet on the museum’s grounds during 105-degree heat last month. Local resident Gregg S...

  • Pages past - Aug. 7

    Aug 7, 2019

    On this date ... 1969: Roy Rumbaugh, administrator at Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari, announced an $800,000 special bond election for Aug. 19 to build an extended care and nursing-home facility addition, which would be attached to the current hospital. At present, there is no skilled nursing home or extended-care facility in Quay County. • David Snider, vice president of Trans Central Airlines, and Tony Elias, chamber chairman out of Las Vegas, New Mexico, met with the Tucumcari Chamber of Commerce at noon yesterday to discuss the p...

  • Running a hands-free operation

    Leonard Lauriault|Aug 7, 2019

    I read signs and often find some rather interesting, if not outright funny. I saw one once on the back of a tractor-trailer saying something like, “We drive with lights on, hands-free and text-free.” I’m sure we all understand that was a safety promise about the driver keeping his or her hands on the steering wheel rather than messing with a cellphone; however, when I saw that, my first thought was, “Look Mom! No hands!” Most of us (guys, anyway) can remember yelling that the first time we rode our bike past the house after we learned h...

  • Mesalands holding 'Stampede Day'

    Staff report|Aug 7, 2019

    Mesalands Community College will hold its “Enrollment Stampede Day” for new and returning students from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 15 in the commons area of the campus’ Building A. This event is designed to speed application and enrollment for students. Students may take a tour of campus, apply for admissions and complete a placement exam. Faculty advisers will be available to help students develop a course schedule. To apply for financial aid, students will need to file a free application for federal student aid at fafsa.gov as soon as possi...

  • School immunization clinic being held

    Staff report|Aug 7, 2019

    The New Mexico Department of Health’s Quay County Public Health Office will host a back-to-school immunization clinic Aug. 12, 13 and 15 at 310 S. 2nd St. in Tucumcari from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 6 p.m. Immunizations will be given at no cost. Parents should bring a copy of their child’s shots record and their insurance card, including Medicaid, with them. The clinic is part of the Got Shots? campaign. The Department of Health, New Mexico Immunization Coalition, New Mexico Primary Care Association and healthcare providers from across the...

  • Police blotter - Aug. 7

    Aug 7, 2019

    These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from July 29 to Aug. 4: Monday • 10:13 a.m.: Embezzlement in 500 block of East Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. • 11:56 a.m.: Child custody dispute in 200 block of East Center Street, Tucumcari. • 1:16 p.m.: Arrest in 100 block of West Center Street, Tucumcari. • 1:52 p.m.: Child custody dispute in 200 block of East Center Street, Tucumcari. • 6:13 p.m.: Disturbance in unlisted block of Ragland. • 6:57 p.m.: Juvenile problem in 700 block of East McGee Avenu...

  • Jail log - Aug. 7

    Aug 7, 2019

    These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from July 29 to Aug. 3: • Antoinette Molinas, 36, Tucumcari, residential burglary. • Amber Osborn, 27, Logan, assault against a household member. • Raymond Holliday, 30, Tucumcari, criminal trespassing (posted). • Mark Douglus Padilla, 44, Tucumcari, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge. • Joseph Michael Martinez, 40, Tucumcari, contempt of court. • Jesse Robert Walls, 35, Alto, New Mexico, felony possession of a controlled substance (narcotic drug). • Dino Arellano, 44,...

  • Silver alert canceled for Tucumcari hotel visitor

    Staff report|Aug 7, 2019

    An 85-year-old man who wandered away from a Tucumcari hotel Tuesday evening and became the subject of a Silver Alert was found safe Wednesday afternoon. Jim Swick on Tuesday evening walked away from the La Quinta Inn in Tucumcari. An emergency radio message that night said Swick was suffering from dementia. It was believed he was trying to get to Surprise, Arizona. New Mexico State Police announced shortly after noon Wednesday the Silver Alert had been canceled. A dispatcher at the Tucumcari/Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center said...