Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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The Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday approved a contract for a new city manager who is a resident and a longtime local public servant. Commissioners approved a three-year deal for Paula Chacon, a former county manager for Quay County from 2001 to 2004 and a former county manager in Union County, as well. Chacon was sitting in the gallery of the commission chambers as her contract was approved. According to the contract, she will be paid $84,718.40 a year. She begins her city manager duties on Aug. 23. Chacon serves as a business...
The Tucumcari City Commission on Thursday submitted to the state an Infrastructure Capital Improvements Plan for fiscal years 2024 through 2028 with extensive revisions, including constructing a new cell at the landfill as its top priority. Interim city manager Mark Martinez, noting the current cell at the landfill has less than a year left in its lifespan, recommended a new cell be No. 1 on the city’s wish list. The estimated cost of the cell is $2.1 million. The ICIP list not only can make projects eligible for annual capital outlay funds f...
Two Quay County Fair exhibitors donated almost $11,000 of their earnings from the Junior Livestock Auction on Saturday night to a Nara Visa couple seriously injured in a traffic accident. Those acts brightened a diminished fair that saw fewer exhibitors both in the livestock barns and exposition hall, smaller crowds and, for a third straight year, no carnival due to COVID-19 restrictions or scheduling difficulties. Anthony And Amanda Egerton suffered serious injuries in a rollover of their...
Quay County coronavirus cases spiked again Quay County, with 67 confirmed infections reported by the state’s Department of Health the week as the region became a hotspot for the disease. According to the COVID Act Now website that tracks the pandemic, Quay County totaled almost 500 cases per 100,000 people last week – the worst rate in New Mexico. That outpaced the second-worst county, McKinley, by a sizable margin. Last week’s infection numbers more than doubled, compared to 26 cases the previous week. Last week’s total also surpassed a spike...
The board for Logan Municipal Schools approved a resolution and lease-purchase agreement of $335,000 worth of education technology equipment after a brief special meeting on Aug. 8. Participating in the videoconference during the special meeting were representatives from Cuddy & McCarthy of Santa Fe, the board’s legal firm, and the district’s financial adviser, RBC Capital Markets of Albuquerque. Both guided the board through approving an Educational Technology Note as described by the Education Technology Equipment Act. Logan sup...
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 — Breakfast: Biscuit with sausage gravy, cinnamon graham cracker, reduced-sugar Cinnamon Toast Crunch, red grapes, orange juice, skim or 1% milk; Lunch: Turkey and cheese sandwich, hot dog, broccoli, baby carrots, ranch dressing, pineapple, skim, 1% or chocolate skim milk. Thursday — Bre...
Note: Events are subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Aug. 27 — Down at the Depot. This event will feature live music, food trucks and arts and crafts booths in the Tucumcari Historic Railroad Depot near Second and Main streets. Festivities begin at 4 p.m. • Sept. 17 — Free Museum Day. Take part in free admission at the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, Tucumcari Railroad Museum, Tucumcari Historical Museum and New Mexico Route 66 Museum, all in Tucumcari, from 1 to 4 p.m. • Sept. 17 — Tucumcari Rotary Club Golf Tournament. Proceeds fr...
With the country’s current struggles — inflation, a lingering pandemic, a possible housing crisis — parents are struggling. Add school supplies, new shoes, and lunch money for their kids, and parents surely feel some stress. As students return to school, it might be tempting to shelter them, to limit their dreams, in case they aren’t fulfilled, or to communicate too much (or too little) about the current struggle now. This is a mistake. Despite the last few turbulent years, kids are still overcoming odds and making their dreams come true. A...
Have you realized yet that the U.S. federal government is waging a one-sided war against you? The IRS plans to hire around 87,000 new armed IRS employees -- the exact number is disputed; what they are being hired to do is not. The job posting, before they edited it, said new hires must be willing to use deadly force -- against you. Think about it: they will only be hired if willing to use deadly force against their bosses. They are being hired to “Sheriff of Nottingham” you into destitution. A government that is on your side wouldn’t do this....
Heroes are easy to find but hard to keep. Especially when we’re young, we need our heroes, or positive role models if you prefer, as examples of what courage, sacrifice and success are all about. We typically start with our parents, superheroes in our young eyes, while our imaginations gravitate toward mythical beings like the Man of Steel, the Dark Knight or, yes, that proverbial cowboy riding through a time when right was right and wrong was wrong and what you did, not what you said, was who you were. Parents and action figures are just t...
New Tucumcari High School football coach Donnie Garcia was mostly pleased with what he saw last week during a scrimmage at Texico – a hopeful sign for his Rattlers when they go on the road to face Jal for their season opener on Thursday night. Garcia said the first bit of good news from the scrimmage was his players suffered no injuries. The second bit was the Rattlers defense performed better than expected and didn't allow any scores. "Our defense definitely is ahead of our offense, although w...
The Tucumcari High School volleyball team may be in a rebuilding mode with its offense, but it has a lot of bricks from which to choose in that rebuild. About 35 girls were competing for a varsity spot during the first official practices last week. Not only can Tucumcari amply fill a varsity and junior-varsity roster, but it also can field a full "C" team. "We have a lot of depth, which is great," head coach Dana Benavidez said during an interview last week. "You can fill rosters for positions y...
Tucumcari city commissioners on Thursday at long last approved the donation of city land to Tucumcari Public Schools for the latter’s ballpark redevelopment plan. Interim city manager Mark Martinez, saying the donation was “long overdue,” said the deal involved not only city land near the convention center, but also county land. He said some of the property lines were not accurate, further complicating surveying of the site. TPS superintendent Aaron McKinney, seated in the gallery during the meeting, said surveying costs for the project swelled...
SAN JON - Alan Umholtz presided over his first meeting last week of the San Jon school board about a month after being hired as superintendent, and he promptly delivered favorable news - a rise in enrollment. During his superintendent's report at the board's Aug. 8 regular meeting, Umholtz said the number of prekindergarten through 12th-grade students at San Jon totaled 127, an increase of 13 from a year ago. "That's very good news," he said. "Great things are happening at San Jon." Umholtz said...
A Dexter man died in a one-vehicle crash Saturday near the intersection of U.S. 54 and Airport Road northeast of Tucumcari. According to a report from New Mexico State Police, the rollover accident killed Earl D. Kemmer, 71, of Dexter at 4:55 p.m. Saturday. State police stated in a news release that Kemmer’s Jeep Wrangler was traveling north on Airport Road at a high rate of speed when, for reasons unknown, the vehicle left the roadway, went airborne across the highway and rolled. Kemmer, who was not wearing a seat belt at the time, was t...
People occasionally get the best of me and, recently, I was bested big-time by a teenager. Another teen was holding a younger child and said, in jest, she was going to kidnap her, likely because the “kidnappee” was so cute and sweet, but I asked about the ransom. The “kidnapper” quoted $1 million, which I thought wasn’t nearly enough. When I asked the “kidnappee” what she was worth, she didn’t answer. So, I said, “She’s worth Jesus, after all God sent his only begotten son as the ransom for each person; therefore, even the single worst of sin...
The GOP's candidate for governor missed quite a gathering Saturday morning sponsored by the Quay County Republican Party. Well over 100 people crowded into the Pow Wow Restaurant in Tucumcari for a pancake breakfast to greet and hear local and state candidates angling for residents' votes for the November election. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti had been scheduled to show up at the event, but aides for other candidates said he begged off because he was preparing for an...
On this date ... 1972: The Tucumcari-Quay County Chamber of Commerce Pinata Festival Committee urged all children planning to enter the Pinatamobile race to return their entry blanks. The grand prize for the soapbox derby-style race was a new bicycle for the speediest boy and girl. This year’s Pinata Festival in early September will be dedicated to the multiple cultures of New Mexico. The festival committee is asking for participants to decorate themselves and their parade floats with the style of early settlers of whatever origin. • City pol...
Conchas Lake finally is rising, but not enough for the Arch Hurley Conservancy District board to vote to discharge water into its irrigation canals. District manager Franklin McCasland said during the board’s Aug. 9 meeting the lake had gained about 900 acre-feet of net inflow in July and estimated another 5,000 acre-feet flowed into it during the first week of August. Conchas Lake’s level has risen more than two feet in the last month. He said most of the flow was coming from the Mora and Garita areas. However, the lake’s elevation of 4,161...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Aug. 8 to Aug. 14: Monday – 12:01 a.m.: Domestic disturbance in 700 block of West Sunset Avenue, Tucumcari. – 1:38 a.m.: Disturbance in 600 block of East Laughlin Avenue, Tucumcari. – 6:10 a.m.: Theft in 200 block of East Estrella Avenue, Tucumcari. – 12:17 p.m.: Theft in 100 block of West Tucumcari Boulevard, Tucumcari. – 2:53 p.m.: Accident at milepost 332, Interstate 40, Tucumcari. – 4:50 p.m.: Reckless driving in 700 block of West Sunset Avenue, Tuc...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Aug. 8 to Aug. 14: — Jesseka Martinez, 48, Tucumcari, reckless driving and expired registration plate. — Tiffany A. Bruhn, 29, Tucumcari, two counts of felony contempt of court. — Aaron Keith Martinez, 21, Tucumcari, charge not listed. — Albert Andrew Gutierrez, 42, Tucumcari, probation violation. — Gaberiel M. Montoya, 30, no address listed, no proof of insurance, driving while license suspended or revoked and use of plate or registration on another vehicle. — Jesse V...