Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Articles from the July 23, 2023 edition


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  • Students continue performing dream

    Madison Willis, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 24, 2023

    With the bruises on their arms evidence of gymnastic-like training and years worth of laughter, three former students came together two years ago to continue their teacher's dream in making Clovis' first aerial and circus arts group. From flipping in the air to dancing through hoops, Hannah Henrichs, Valerie Dewbre and Elizabeth Rodriguez are owners of Clovis Aerial & Circus Arts, a performing group that strives to bring the circus to the city. Rodriguez said a circus troupe...

  • Q&A: SBDC director talks small business costs and preparation

    Landry Sena, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of state-of-the-entity interviews with local officials. Sandra Taylor-Sawyer is the director of the Small Business Development Center at Clovis Community College. Q: Are you seeing an increase in clientele (people who seek to start new businesses)? A: Yes, we are. Really, since 2021, we have seen an increase in the number of people who are wanting to start to expand or diversify their business. Q: How well-prepared is a...

  • State mental health program has offices in Clovis, Portales

    Autumn Scott, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Suicide is one of the top-10 leading causes of death in New Mexico, according to the Centers for Disease Control. New Mexico had 533 suicide deaths in 2021, making it one of six states where suicide rates are highest in the country. But now, new mental health resources are available in Curry and Roosevelt counties, allowing more people to get help. Justin Nutt operates Nurstead Mental Health, a new mental health service called a mobile crisis unit, with offices in Clovis and Portales. Nutt said the program is part of a...

  • Sweet memories remain despite the heat

    Betty Williamson, Local columnist|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Any way you measure it — Fahrenheit, Celsius, or scoops of ice cream — it has been a hot summer. It’s a fine time to contemplate how we managed before that best of inventions: air conditioning. Plenty of us grew up in homes without it, passing our summers in sweaty blissful ignorance. At our house, the heat-fighting arsenal included screen doors, open windows, strategically placed fans, outdoor time, and a tank of mossy green swimming water that was ice cold on even the hotte...

  • Pages past, July 23: Silver Grill making a comeback

    David Stevens, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    On this date ... 1938: Actor/musician Ronny Cox was born in Cloudcroft. He graduated from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales in 1963 with a double major in theater and speech correction. He’s best known as the ill-fated businessman Drew Ballinger, who instigated the dueling banjos sequence in “Deliverance” in 1972. 1950: Tucumcari police “swooped down” on Northside Park to nab three men and three juveniles for gambling. The adults were fined $10 each. The boys were...

  • On the shelves - July 23

    Updated Jul 22, 2023

    This week’s “On the Shelves” lists documents in the Clovis-Carver Public Library’s Flood Protection Library Reference Collection, revised July 2023. Documents are located in the library’s Southwest Room. • “Addressing Your Community’s Flood Problems: A Guide for Elected Officials.” Association of State Floodplain Managers Inc. and the Federal Interagency Management Task Force, 1996. Ref. 363.349 Wri • “Answers to Questions About Substantially Damaged Buildings.” Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1991. Ref. 363.349 Ans...

  • Senior calendar - July 23

    Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Curry Residents Senior Meals Association 901 W. 13th St. Clovis Monday: Chicken salad sandwich, carrot raisin salad, sliced beets, peanut butter cookie. Tuesday: Riblet on a bun, cheesy scalloped potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, banana pudding. Wednesday: Baked chicken with cranberry sauce , stuffing with gravy, baked sweet potato, fruit cocktail. Thursday: Chicken enchilada, calabacitas, chips and salsa, apple crisp. Friday: Fried fish, pinto beans, Cole slaw, cornbread with butter, cake. Baxter-Curren Activity Center...

  • Our people: Voice of the Wildcats

    Grant McGee, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Nick Brady broadcast Clovis High School Wildcat sports for six decades, radio broadcasting and television, back when Clovis had its own television station. These days the Clovis native sells real estate for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, something he's been doing for seven years. Thursday, The News caught up with Brady via phone, while he was in his home office, to talk about his life. Q: Are you Clovis born and raised? A: My dad was born and raised in Clovis as was I. My...

  • Looking forward to teaching my great-nephews to fish

    Karl Terry, Local columnist|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Fishing is good for your soul. Fishing with two little boys — well, we will see. By the time you’re reading this I’ll know if my fishing trip with these two great-nephews was a success or if short attention span won out over Uncle Karl’s ability to talk with the fishes. All three of us have had a rough spring and even if we don’t catch a fish getting out and about in the mountains will be a great distraction from our problems. There might be S’mores, ice cream, pool time,...

  • Jail log - July 23

    Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Booked The following were booked into local jail (Tuesday - Friday): Clovis • Kadesha Dickson, 29, driving under the influence of drugs • Brandi Chavez, 30, attempt to commit a felony, to wit: aggravated assault upon a peace officer, driving under the influence of liquor • Patrick Williams, 35, failure to appear on a felony charge • Stacy Hill-Preston, 52, probation violation • George Gutierrez, 38, criminal sexual penetration in the first degree, criminal sexual contact of a minor in the second degree, contribut...

  • Portales water emergency extended

    the Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    PORTALES -- Continued hot weather and demand for evaporative cooling have made it necessary to extend Portales’ Stage 3 water emergency, according to a news release from the city. Despite giving three wells a rest for a few hours just before the current 100+-degree heat wave arrived, “well-field production has dropped slightly,” the news release stated. With the arrival of extreme temperatures, all of the city’s wells are in use again, despite conservation efforts. The extreme heat has increased the need for evaporative cooli...

  • Commissioners hear complaints about city apartments

    Landry Sena, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    The Clovis City Commission on Thursday heard from residents concerned about living conditions at the Lo Lomas Apartments. Two women who led the discussion brought along several residents who shared their experiences with the management of the apartments, saying they felt threatened and neglected. “Who are we as Clovis to leave them like this?” one of the women asked the commission. Conditions cited included elderly residents living with mold in their apartments and no air conditioning. The property is a 55-unit housing com...

  • Women in Agriculture Act to address equal opportunities

    Landry Sena, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-New Mexico, has introduced a bipartisan Women in Agriculture Act that would make sure women's agricultural opportunities and potential obstacles would be addressed within the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). "The ideas that are in this act came from sitting down with ranchers and farmers in Roswell, in Lea County, in Curry County," Leger Fernandez said Tuesday in an interview, "so they're the ones who were explaining what they...

  • Opinion: We can still beat climate change with fast, furious work

    Tom McDonald, Syndicated content|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Hot enough for you? Well, brace yourself, it’s going to get worse. As I write this, an unprecedented heat wave is gripping much of our nation and world. Scientists are saying this could turn out to be the hottest year on record — at least until next year, when it could be hotter. Scientists have been predicting this incoming disaster for more than a century, since about the onset of the industrial revolution. Or, if you’d rather count the years in which pop culture made us aware, it’s been 17 years since Al Gore release...

  • Letter to the editor - July 23

    Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Smarter, cheaper solutions to water problem Several weeks ago, I wrote a letter questioning the lack of common sense associated with the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority’s quest to build a pipeline to Ute Lake. It pointed out that ENMWUA was planning to spend a minimum of $800 million to build the pipeline to a lake that could be dry in two years. It provided as an example the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority that supplies water to Amarillo and Lubbock. Although CRMWA historically relied on water from L...

  • Opinion: War not good for those who love freedom

    Rube Render, Local columnist|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    I’ve written before about the curse of linguistic professionals. These are the folks who spin janitors into maintenance engineers; personnel administrators into human resource professionals; the opposite of pro-life from pro-death into pro-choice and propaganda into “the narrative.” Reality is for people who can’t handle booze and drugs. On June 24, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted: The bottom line on the “costs” supporting Ukraine: 1. Zero American service members in...

  • Opinion: Shapiro move on school vouchers works against kids

    Christine Flowers, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    When Democratic wunderkind Josh Shapiro campaigned to become the next governor of Pennsylvania, he tried to assume a centrist, bipartisan tone on “helping kids.” That included supporting Lifeline Scholarships for children in disadvantaged areas, which would allow their parents to put them in better schools with some limited government assistance. This was a rather courageous and tactically savvy move by the governor, given the stranglehold that the public teachers’ union...

  • Opinion: Liberty always the civilized choice

    Kent McManigal, Local columnist|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    If you don’t understand, love, or want liberty -- fine. If you’d prefer having powerful governments take most of your money, tell you what you are allowed to do, and watch your every move, go for it. It’s not my place to deprive you of what you want. I draw the line when you don’t return the consideration. When you say I am required to live under your conditions when I don’t place the same constraints on you. When you are willing to throw people in a cage for preferrin...

  • Publisher's journal: Happy 85th birthday, dueling banjo man

    David Stevens, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Shad Mayfield is one of the best calf ropers in the world. Katherine Ortega was the 38th treasurer of the United States. Norman Petty was largely responsible for some of the best rock and roll music ever produced. But if you’re looking for the most famous celebrity ever to call Clovis-Portales home, that’s probably Ronny Cox. A graduate of Portales High School and Eastern New Mexico University (1963), his movie/TV show credits range from “Deliverance” and “Beverly Hills Cop” t...

  • Road work to begin in Roosevelt County

    the Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    The Roosevelt County Road Department will begin work on South Roosevelt Road 6 between Industrial Drive and South Roosevelt Road U, during the week that will begin on Monday, according to a news release from the county. Work should be complete by Aug. 31, weather permitting, the news release stated. The one mile section of roadway will be closed to through-traffic, as heavy commercial traffic will be rerouted during the construction, according to the news release. The roadway is being reconstructed through a joint...

  • ENMU department chair participating in USDA ag program

    the Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    PORTALES – Science and enhanced educational opportunities in agriculture highlight a USDA program in which an Eastern New Mexico University department chair is participating as one of 30 faculty and staff nationwide. Kalynn Baldock, assistant professor of agriculture and chair of the Agriculture, Food Science and Kinesiology Department at ENMU, was selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as one of 30 faculty and staff from Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) to join t...

  • Airports to receive $9.32 million in grants

    Madison Willis, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    As of Thursday, Clovis Regional Airport and Portales Municipal Airport, along with four other local airports, will be receiving $9.32 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program, according to a press release from the New Mexico Delegation, which includes New Mexico members of the U.S. Congress. The release states funds will be split between six airports within New Mexico, where the money will be utilized to construct equipment building, repair runways, and other infrastructure n...

  • Ask the News - July 23

    Updated Jul 22, 2023

    If someone is smoking or vaping in a Clovis restaurant, contrary to state law, who enforces that? Many code violations are handled by Clovis’ Building Safety Department. But Director Pete Wilt said enforcement of New Mexico’s 2007 Dee Johnson Clean Air Act, basically prohibiting smoking in restaurants, is handled in Clovis by police. “We would issue a citation,” CPD Deputy Police Chief Trevor Thron said. Thron, responding by email wrote, “The following statute (section A) outlines our enforcement action if someone were caug...

  • Zoo animals also battling heat

    Landry Sena, The Staff of The News|Updated Jul 22, 2023

    Play in the water. Eat a popsicle. Stay in the shade if you can. That's good advice for these hot summer days – for man and beast. "We get the water hose, or we turn on the sprinkler for them so they can go ahead and have some time to cool off," said Stephanie Chavez, curator at Hillcrest Park Zoo, explaining some of the ways park officials try to ensure zoo residents stay cool. "I know our hyena is one of our animals that absolutely loves to play in the water," Chavez s...