Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Two people died Friday night after the car they were riding was struck by a freight train between Tucumcari and Logan, reported New Mexico State Police. The accident occurred at 7:07 p.m. at a rail crossing on Quay Road Ad, just off U.S. 54. According to a news release Monday from state police, a Toyota Camry was traveling north and was going over the railroad tracks as the train approached and was struck. The driver and one passenger were pronounced deceased at the scene by the Office of the...
Republican candidate Brian Fortner cruised to an easy win over Democratic challenger Tommy Wallace for the Quay County District 3 commission seat in unofficial election results Tuesday. Fortner, 63, a retired schoolteacher, coach, broadcaster and rancher from rural Tucumcari, won by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. He gained 1,982 votes in the county compared to 997 for Wallace, 62, a third-generation rancher near Grady. Fortner prevailed in every precinct in the county. Wallace stood nearby Tuesday night as Quay County Clerk Ellen White announced the...
The City of Tucumcari’s 10-months-late audit for the 2021 fiscal year was publicly released by the state last week, and the city manager “guaranteed” during a city commission work session Thursday the FY2022 audit would be submitted to the state by the usual Dec. 15 deadline. The work session went over details of the forthcoming FY2022 audit via videoconference with officials from Axiom CPAs and Business Advisors of Albuquerque. The auditors said they would perform fieldwork at City Hall for about a week starting Nov. 14, then hold an exit...
An estimated crowd of more than 1,000 people descended into Tucumcari High School's gymnasium to listen to a speech Wednesday by Thomas H. Begay, one of the last three surviving Navajo Code Talkers from World War II. Busloads of schoolchildren arrived from as far away as Bushland, Texas, and Des Moines to witness what an attending congresswoman described as "living history." In a rare occurrence, school officials unfolded all the gym's bleachers to accommodate the throng. THS principal Nicole Br...
Quay County Clerk Ellen White said Friday she was seeing "average" turnout in early voting for this week's midterm election. At the end of early voting Saturday, a total of 1,245 Quay County voters had cast their ballots before Election Day on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Republican candidate for governor and a Democratic congresswoman made stops in Tucumcari during the final week before the election. (Election Day results were reported after the Quay County Sun's deadline. A report on the election...
On this date ... 1972: Officials broke ground for the new site for First National Bank of Tucumcari at First and Aber streets. The Tucumcari High School band played music as bank President G. Wilbur Jones presided over the ceremony, which included a small donkey named Rickey assisting with the groundbreaking. Jones said the original bank occupied a small wooden building in 1902. A two-story brick building was built at that location about a year later. He said the new First National Bank, which would require about one year of construction,...
Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Sausage breakfast pizza, assorted cereal, graham crackers, red grapes, skim, 1% or strawberry milk; Lunch: Turkey and cheese sandwich, hamburger steak with gravy, breadstick, baked potato, fresh broccoli, baby carrots, ranch dressing, fresh banana, skim, chocolate skim, 1% or strawberry milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Egg, cheese and potato breakfast burrito, salsa, assorted cereal, graham crackers, fresh apple, skim, 1% or strawberry milk; Lunch: Ham and cheese chef salad, cheese pizza, pepperoni piz...
Note: Events subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Friday — Veterans Day ceremony. Officers with VFW Post 2528 will hold a ceremony at 11 a.m. at Veterans Park at Railroad Avenue and Main Street in Tucumcari. The post at 105 E. Main St. will host a lunch afterward. • Saturday — Veterans appreciation breakfast. All veterans are invited, and this event is open to the public from 7 to 9 a.m. No charge to veterans. Spouse and guests are $5 per person. Sponsored by Tucumcari Elks Lodge 1172 and Tucumcari Daughters of the America...
Previously, I’ve written that I tried to keep my little stretch of road clean by picking up the trash a couple of times each year. So, I developed a keen eye for trash. Even a small piece sticks out like a sore thumb. Sometimes, I find treasures, including a nice pair of work gloves I found about 10 years ago that actually fit me. I also have found gloves that made a pair, although noticeably mismatched. While the nicer gloves had been lost or misplaced by their original owner, by finding them before the highway right-of-way was mowed, I b...
I found myself in Tucumcari at the very beginning of 2021, having decided to leave Albuquerque, but unsure of how the next part of my life should go. I had wandered between Las Cruces and Amarillo, searching for a decent, affordable place to live and just that amicable feeling or sense of where I should be. I was looking for something between the cracks in the sidewalks, or behind the faces of ordinary people I would see at the grocery store. I had been through here earlier but decided against it; and then, having left Amarillo still unsure,...
The Quay County Health Council’s Intimate Partner Violence Task Force with United Way of Eastern New Mexico is hosting holiday communication workshops to share information on how to deal with different situations. This month’s workshop is “Surviving Holiday Stress,” presented by Dr. Marcus Smith, director of Counseling and Advising/Student Life/Government Relations at Clovis Community College, with assistance from Casey Peacock, volunteer coordinator with United Way of Eastern New Mexico. “Our hope is to share information, give participa...
Stone Ranch Steakhouse, located in the old K-Bob's building in Tucumcari, had one heck of a soft opening Wednesday. Faye Kolman, chief financial officer and vice president of Albuquerque-based 19twelve Holdings LLC that owns the restaurant, said it served 165 customers in three hours during its debut. She said about the same number dined there on Thursday. "About 30% are travelers, and about 70% have been locals so far," Kolman said. "Being within walking distance to five hotels, that's been...
For a nation torn apart politically, a cure is emerging, of all places, in Alaska. On Tuesday, voters in the 49th state went to the polls to elect a U.S. senator and representative in a new way. The system, called “final four voting,” is aimed at choosing public officials — of any party — who will focus not on tearing down their opponents but on getting things done. Alaska’s system, approved by the electorate in 2020, directly targets America’s greatest political challenges: how to get government to produce real solutions and, at the same ti...
Why would anyone bother confronting politicians? Do they really believe politicians matter in their daily life? You protect your rights by exercising them -- by putting them into practice -- not by begging others to respect them. I’m not going to a politician’s office to try to convince them of anything. Not to beg them to stop violating my rights nor to ask them to violate someone else on my behalf. You won’t find me at a protest, a political rally, or in a voting booth for the same reason I’m not going to go to an inner city to beg the violen...
Sometimes I feel like an optimist in search of a reason to still feel that way. I want to believe in what’s good about this world, but writing about the issues of our time can be depressing. I’m penning this column in advance of this year’s general election results, so I don’t know who won and who lost. I’ve already written about my frustrations with this election cycle, including all the fears that have been espoused on both sides of the political divide, so even if I were to spin some optimism into the mix, you wouldn’t buy it. Win, lose o...
Quay County’s number of confirmed coronavirus cases fell somewhat last week, while cases and hospitalizations continued to rise in New Mexico. The number of COVID-19 cases in the county last week totaled seven, compared to 10 the previous week and six the week before that. The county’s weekly cases had dropped to as low as two in early October. The COVID Act Now website kept Quay County’s risk rating for community spread of the disease at “low.” Quay County’s rate of new cases remained at 121.2 cases per 100,000 people last week, the same as...
These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6: Monday — 12:13 a.m.: Disturbance in 700 block of West Sunset Avenue, Tucumcari. — 6:58 a.m.: Accident at Quay Roads AR and 62.9, Tucumcari. — 8:20 a.m.: Accident at milepost 311, Interstate 40, Tucumcari. — 8:23 a.m.: Breaking and entering in 700 block of South Fifth Street, Tucumcari. — 8:48 a.m.: Domestic disturbance in 100 block of West High Street, Tucumcari. — 10:44 a.m.: Found property in 4000 block of East Tucumcari Boulevard,...
These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from Nov. 1 to Nov. 5: — Danny Martinez, 59, Tucumcari, charge not listed. — Adam Lee Starks, 27, Gilbert, Arizona, aggravated assault (deadly weapon). — Gerald B. Baca, 27, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Leticia Lee Vigil, 31, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Ricardo Chavez, 44, Tucumcari, contempt of court. — Thomas Tietjen, 58, Tucumcari, public nuisance, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer and battery upon a peace officer. — Brian Douglas Clark, 60, no address li...
Tucumcari landed the No. 11 seed in the Class 3A volleyball tournament and open play against sixth-seeded Bosque on Thursday morning. The Lady Rattlers (16-7) will battle the Bobcats (15-8) at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. This is Tucumcari’s third berth to the state tournament in four years. “We are super excited to be in the tournament,” Tucumcari coach Dana Benavidez said Sunday after the seedings were announced. “We came on very strong at the end of district. This group of girls has been working hard since July, and I’m...
MELROSE - Melrose's unbeaten volleyball team already had won a district title before its regular-season finale Saturday against arch-rival and state-ranked Logan. Regardless, the Lady Longhorns were looking for an upset. The Lady Buffaloes made sure that didn't happen. Melrose dominated almost from beginning to end during a 25-16, 25-2, 25-11 victory. The No. 1-ranked Lady Buffs, improving to 23-0, not only finished with a perfect record in district play, but suffered losses in only two sets all...
The Tucumcari High School volleyball team celebrated more than normal after its 25-22, 25-14, 21-25, 25-11 district victory last week over New Mexico Military Institute. It wasn't entirely because the Lady Rattlers had avenged an earlier loss to the Lady Colts on Oct. 20, though that played a part. It wasn't entirely because the win came during Tucumcari's final regular-season home match and Senior Night, though that played a part, too. The main reason for the rejoicing was the victory gave the...
The Logan volleyball team earned a No. 6 seed in the Class 1A state tournament and will face 11th-seeded Alamo Navajo in the first round on Thursday morning. The Lady Longhorns (15-7) play the Cougars (16-5) at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Rio Rancho High School. The winner of that match takes on third-seeded Animas (19-2), which has a first-round bye, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Rio Rancho High. The semifinals and championship of the double-elimination tournament are scheduled for Saturday at the Rio Rancho Events Center. The final is set for 3 p.m....
