Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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On this date … 1940: Texico farmer Eddie Hudson, 26, held serial number 158 — the first draft number drawn by the secretary of war. “I think the draft is a good thing and I am for President Roosevelt all the way,” he told a reporter. 1941: New Mexico’s attorney general ruled that all pinball machines were illegal gambling devices. E. P. Chase issued the ruling following a request from Valencia County Sheriff Joseph Tondre. “By the word ‘all,’ I mean all pinball machine...
Last week was one full of high praise for state Sen. Stuart Ingle, R-Portales, who announced his retirement at age 75 after 10 terms in office. “I will really miss seeing Stuart in Santa Fe,” said former prosecutor and state Rep. Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis. “Whether I was there representing the district attorneys or as a legislator, he was always supportive and helpful when I had issues or questions. “He served our area well and will be missed in the Roundhouse.” Reeb also desc...
On this date … 1954: The city of Clovis declared Oct. 30 would be the lawful time for local Halloween celebrations, since Oct. 31 fell on a Sunday. Mayor O.G. Potter, in a proclamation, said that since Halloween is traditionally devoted to merrymaking, with playful ceremonies and charms, that Saturday would be a better day to celebrate in that “the ceremonies and merrymaking will not conflict with our usual church activities.” 1956: Clovis police were busy responding to multi...
On this date … 1937: Clovis police were on the lookout for two 11-year-old boys from Sudan, Texas, who had run away from home. One was dressed in a khaki suit and black cowboy boots, while the other was wearing striped overalls and a baseball cap. 1940: Rail traffic was moving uninterrupted between Clovis and Lubbock, but cleanup continued a mile west of Muleshoe where 31 train cars derailed two days earlier. Officials said cars loaded with potash, wheat and cotton had been m...
I’ve been a journalist most of my life. So I have run afoul of the authorities several times when it comes to First Amendment issues. I guess the first time I was maybe 10 years old … I was editor of the Stevens Family Gazette. It had a circulation of six – one for me, my mother, my dad and three siblings, created on six hand-written loose leaf notebook pages. It was full of news relevant to its readers. For example, I always interviewed my mother for the supper menu. She k...
On this date … 1930: Portales’ Palo Duro Café was open day and night and promoting its Sunday dinners. Ike Hahn’s café served chicken, steak and roast pork on Sundays. Each meal included soup, coffee, tea or milk and a dessert “in a cool, clean dining room with efficient waiters,” according to a newspaper advertisement. The Sunday dinners cost 60 cents. 1930: A political ad published in the Portales Valley News asked, “Does a sick man call in a plumber?” The answer: “Not un...
I remember the first time I met Jerry Seidenwurm. He told me the saddest baseball story I think I’ve ever heard. Jerry was maybe 10 years old, growing up a Giants fan in New York in the mid-1950s. His dad was drinking buddies with Giants Owner Horace Stoneham. When Jerry learned that his dad knew Stoneham, he made it his mission to speak with the team boss so he could ask him about a dream held by every baseball-obsessed young man: Could he be a batboy for the Giants? S...
On this date … 1930: The Mountain States Telephone Co. had released its newest telephone directory for Clovis. The directory featured 1,055 phone numbers, including 19 Smiths, 18 Joneses, 10 Davises and eight Browns. Twenty eight businesses started their firm’s name with Clovis. 1957: Sporting crisp crew cuts, two coaches and two players from the Eastern New Mexico University Greyhound football team were photographed as they watched a film preparing them for an upcoming gam...
If you looked up on Saturday morning, you may have thought the moon was taking a bite out of the sun. At least that's how NBC News described the annular solar eclipse visible in five-plus states. New Mexico had one of the better views, a little after 10:30 a.m. Greatamericaneclipse.com tells us the moon's shadow was traveling at 3,005 mph when it hit the sun over the Land of Enchantment. The whole thing lasted less than five minutes. Clovis-Carver Public Library held a watch...
On this date ... 1930: The biggest single rise in the Pecos in 16 years occurred at Fort Sumner when the river hiked 10 feet and carried out three spans of a De Baca County bridge. Up to 5 inches of rain fell across eastern New Mexico and central-eastern New Mexico, causing the floods. Two farm houses were reported washed away and three “orchestra boys” found their vehicle submerged in nearly 6 feet of water near Melrose as they drove to perform in Fort Sumner. No deaths wer...
On this date ... 1941: Funeral services had been held for Ann Jennings, one of Billy the Kid’s staunchest defenders. Jennings, 73, had lived in Roswell and Tascosa, Texas, and knew Billy Bonney well, along with Sheriff Pat Garrett, who shot the Kid at old Fort Sumner. Jennings had maintained the Kid was only seen as a “bad boy” because of lawmen like Garrett. Her funeral services were held in Tucumcari. She was buried in Panhandle, Texas. 1952: Clovis police were alert...
News, notes and trivia by the numbers: 4: Number of arrests recorded by New Mexico State Police at last month’s State Fair in Albuquerque. All four arrests were for misdemeanor crimes. Also of note: “(N)o vehicles were stolen from the 230 acres of Expo property” during the fair, according to a police news release. Maybe we can visit Albuquerque and do fun stuff sometimes. 9: Days until Eastern New Mexico University hosts First Amendment Day in the Sandia Room at the Campu...
Area high school football fans haven’t had a lot to cheer about the past two years … at least not by our standards. In the past two seasons, not one team from Curry or Roosevelt counties won a state title. That just might change this year. Heading into the season’s eighth week, at least four squads are playing well enough to keep their fans hopeful. Portales is generating the most optimism. The Rams are 7-0 heading into their bye week. And they’ve not been challenged yet. Here...
This has been a pretty good month for interaction with readers … A sampling: Ron Mask read a report in the Quay County Sun that New Mexico State’s interim president has decided this “is not a good time” for a merger with Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari. This pleases Mask, who prefers Mesalands link up with Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. “NMSU's decision is heaven sent,” he wrote in an email. “ENMU is a much more logical partner for Mesalands Community Col...
On this date ... 1934: A Santa Fe railroad conductor was seeing “decided improvement” after suffering burns on his hands a week earlier. S.K. Cotton was tarring his roof, at 818 Gidding, when he saw 5-year-old Bobby Miller, whose clothes had caught fire. The boy had been playing in the yard near the fire where the tar was being heated. Cotton attempted to save the boy, severely burning his hands in the process. Bobby Miller died. Doctors said it would be months before Cot...
It seems some of New Mexico’s public entities want changes to the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act. Mostly they want to charge taxpayers for the time public employees spend researching and compiling public information when it’s requested. Melanie Majors, director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, suggests you think of their plan like this: “When the fire department comes and puts out a fire at your house, they don’t say, ‘Mrs. Jones, here’s your bill....
On this date ... 1910: Miller & Luikart, a Portales dry goods store, was selling black derby hats for $3. 1941: The Cash Ramey family hosted a football-themed dinner party at 414 Gidding St. in Clovis. Centering the dining table was the football used in 1933 when Clovis High won an unofficial state championship. Cash Ramey Jr. had been the captain of that team. Guests found their places marked by picture place cards bearing photos of 1933 team members in their uniforms....
Late last year, the question began circulating among respected members of our community: Is it true Clovis Municipal Schools is placing litter boxes in restrooms to accommodate students who identify as cats? The answer is no, CMS was not, and is not, placing litter boxes in restrooms. I know this because I asked students and teachers and volunteers in multiple schools. None of them had ever seen a litter box in a school restroom for any reason. None of them knows anyone who...
On this date ... 1952: A U.S. Air Force photo printed in the Clovis News-Journal showed some of the 40 Explorer Scouts from Portales and Clovis who had been outfitted with parachutes before boarding an Air Force C-47 plane at Cannon Air Force Base for a flight over eastern New Mexico a few days earlier. Oscar P. Cantwell, Plains District field executive for the Boy Scouts of America, supervised the outing. Troop leaders were Jack Eichenberger, Bud Cagle, and Art Hutchins of...
Have you ever Googled yourself? Mostly you don’t find yourself. David Stevens has over 35 years of experience in the mortgage banking industry. David Stevens is an American politician and a former Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives. Highly skilled 168-pounder David Stevens scored a wild last-second KO of Sean Hemphill in January. None of those David Stevens are me. There’s a David Stevens on a wrestling roster, a David Stevens on a football roster, a l...
Security cameras show arson suspect Jimmy Guillen entering a closed Walmart “though a roll up door used for shopping carts on the northeast side of the store,” court records show. The cameras also show him “grabbing multiple bottles of propane canisters off store shelves and starting a fire by “placing a torch with an open flame on the shelves where other propane canisters are located.” “The fire begins to intensify and becomes larger and larger” until the video cameras stopp... Full story
On this date ... 1927: Portales Canning Co. was preparing for its first full-day run of the season. A day later, the company’s 70 employees produced 12,000 cans of tomatoes. 1930: A Muleshoe boy was being credited with the biggest snake haul of the season. Eugene Moore, 11, killed 13 rattlesnakes in a den. Most were about 8 inches long, the boy said, but two were "extra large." 1942: A rubber shortage and other wartime concerns was forcing area sports teams to cut back on c...
New Mexico’s governor last week issued an “emergency health order” that bans firearms in all public places in Albuquerque. The only people exempt from the ban are police and security officers. And criminals, of course. Criminals don’t follow laws, so this nonsense does not apply to them either. Michelle Lujan Grisham herself said she expects opposition from those who care about liberty and the U.S. Constitution. She was right. New Mexico’s House and Senate Republicans immediat...
Twice last weekend, police had eyes on Jimmy Guillen, a person of interest now tied to last Sunday's Walmart fire. Twice, they let him go. In both cases, officers did the right thing, Police Chief Roy Rice said. "We didn't have anything to hold him on. If we knew then what we know right now ... they would have placed him under arrest," Rice said. Going into this weekend. police were actively searching for the 59-year-old California man believed to be transient. "I think he's... Full story
I don't always publish press releases, but when I do they're usually interesting. The best press release in recent weeks comes from Wheatfields Estates Senior Living. It tells the story of retired football coach Sesario Ramos, who was honored at the Clovis High game on Sept. 1. "Ramos was announced to the crowd before the varsity football game as he joined the team on the field to wish them good luck prior to kickoff by shaking each one of the players' hands," Wheatfields repo...
