Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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On this date … 1952: Two airmen from Clovis Air Force Base reported seeing a “flying saucer” west of the city limits. They described it as a “full, bright orange, twice as big as a full moon.” The airmen were on their way home about 1:30 a.m. when they spotted the object that varied in shape from a “frying pan to that of a big cigar,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. 1962: A number of local dignitaries were part of a capacity crowd at the dedication of the new...
On this date … 1945: Lila Hedrick had been elected football queen by the Clovis Wildcats squad. She was presented flowers and a football at a coronation ceremony by the team’s co-captains, Jack Lorts and Gail Hungate. Hedrick’s attendants were Sue Bell, Pat Denton, Fran Staubus and Jeanne Boone. 1960: Eastern New Mexico University President Donald Moyer said he planned to ask state legislators for $4.3 million to open a branch junior college in Clovis. Moyer also told st...
On this date … 1899: Evelina Twilla was born in Tennessee. Her family settled in the Field community (west Curry County today) when she was about 8. The pioneer settler wrote about her life’s experiences in 1956, including this tidbit about what teenagers used to do for mischief: “(We) slipped out our mother’s coffee and smoked it,” she wrote. “We smoked cotton leaves, too, after the frost had come.” 1942: With New Mexico and the rest of the nation facing a...
On this date … 1925: A Portales man’s friends were mourning his loss following a hunting accident. James L. May, described by newspapers as “prominent,” was found reclining against a tree near Cloudcroft with a bullet through his heart. “The presumption was that a hunter in the distance had seen him move and mistaken him for a deer,” the Clovis newspaper reported. 1930: McCrory Chevrolet, located at 112 E. Grand in Clovis, was promoting the “bigger and better...
Jael the Rothschild's giraffe, one of the Clovis zoo's most popular attractions, was found dead in her enclosure on Saturday, city officials said. Jael, 22, was discovered when zoo workers came in at 8 Saturday morning, curator Stephanie Chavez said. There was no obvious sign of trauma. "I think it was just her age," Chavez said. Jael had not been sick, Chavez said. The zoo was closed on Saturday so that a necropsy could be performed that could help determine the cause of deat...
On this date … 1948: Gambles department store had arranged for every Clovis child to write a letter to Santa Claus and receive a hand-written response. A special mailbox in Gambles guaranteed that letters would reach the “dear old gentleman at the North Pole.” 1961: New Barcaloungers had arrived at Home Beautiful Furniture & Carpet Co., just in time for Christmas. No down payment was required and there was no first payment until March 1. The store was at 824 Main in...
On this date … 1933: Helen Hockenhull of Clovis, daughter of New Mexico Gov. A. W. Hockenhull, had been nominated for queen of the yearbook of Colorado Women’s College in Denver. 1955: A 14-year-old girl, possibly a member of the Black Cat Gang in Clovis, was ordered confined to a girls welfare home in Albuquerque after she was habitually truant from school and her parents were “unable to control her,” the Clovis News-Journal reported. The Black Cat Gang was a...
On this date … 1930: A.B. Castle had sold Red's Café in Portales to J.A. Harleson, who was moving to town from El Centro, Calif. Harleson planned to “manage the café practically in the same manner that was used by Mr. Castle,” the Portales Valley News reported. 1936: A Clovis man died trying to save a child who had fallen into a tank of water at the Santa Fe Railway yards. Lavelle Brown, 7, was saved, but Rito Mendez, 45, slipped in and drowned. The sloped tank, where...
The resignation of Curry County's tax assessor was preceded by an investigation into personnel policy violation allegations, records show. Assessor Randa Jesko resigned Oct. 15 with a one-sentence statement that offered no reason for her leaving. Records obtained last week by The Eastern New Mexico News show the county spent more than $14,000 investigating the unspecified allegations. Jesko did not respond to messages seeking comment left on her phone and Facebook messenger....
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...
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...
In a time of political divide, Stuart Ingle’s legacy as a New Mexico lawmaker may have been his ability to unite. Karl Terry, who has known Ingle through Terry’s career as a longtime journalist and his work as executive director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce, summed it up like this: “Ingle was very well respected on both sides of the aisle in Santa Fe. Republicans and Democrats alike sought (his) counsel,” Terry said in a statement Wednesday after Ingle...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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?...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 y...
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...
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...