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Articles written by Kevin Baird Cnj Staff Writer


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  • County leads median beautification project

    Kevin Baird CNJ staff writer

    Senior Airman Franchisca Thompson didn't know what a yucca was until she helped plant more than 140 of them on a median on Highway 60/84 near Cannon Air Force Base. "Now that I've seen them I think they're cool," Thompson said. "I hope they're here for a long time." Thompson, who works in billeting in the Special Operations 4th Support Squadron, was one of 22 airmen who helped in a Curry County beautification project that gave a Southwestern motif to a bland median that was...

  • Local tornado relief effort mobilized

    Kevin Baird CNJ staff writer

    Jessica Sleeman thinks she might have found her calling. Helping strangers. For the second time in just more than a month, she will bring aid to a community affected by a disaster. This morning, Sleeman plans to lead a caravan of two SUVs and a pickup truck packed with supplies to the Moore, Okla., site of the nation's deadliest tornado since 2011. Sleeman said she has collected supplies such as food, water, diapers, clothes, baby formula and toys. CNJ staff photo: Kevin...

  • Rangeland still waiting for rain

    Kevin Baird CNJ staff writer

    Lane Grau of Grady has sold about 30 percent of his cattle over the last couple years because his land could not support grazing. CNJ staff photo: Kevin Baird Lane Grau kneels down to get a better look at the dead turf on his property. He estimates one-third of the turf on his rangeland has been reduced to a dead-gray stubble. Grau estimates that a third of his rangeland is dead turf due to the drought. According to the USDA Weekly Crop & Weather Report, Curry County is experi... Full story

  • Eastern Plains Council of Governments approves Friday furloughs

    Kevin Baird CNJ staff writer

    Finances took center stage Wednesday at the Eastern Plains Council of Governments board of directors meeting, as the board approved of a shortened work week for employees and discussed the need to raise the cost of membership dues. Odessa Hamilton, EPCOG finance manager, said EPCOG employees will no longer be working on Fridays and will have salaries adjusted to 32 hours per week. It hasn't been determined as to when the will Friday furlough will end. EPCOG is a voluntary association of county and municipal governments from...

  • Business feature: SPS seeking more wind energy

    Kevin Baird CNJ Staff Writer

    Southwestern Public Service, which provides electricity to eastern New Mexico and West Texas, has already met New Mexico's renewable energy mandate of 15 percent that will go into effect in 2015. Now SPS is seeking proposals for wind energy projects so they can increase the amount of power in the SPS grid. "We generate power, and we purchase power," said Wes Reeves, media relations officer at SPS (Xcel Energy is the parent company). "We're always looking ahead to meet our customers needs 10 to 20 years down the road. We're... Full story

  • Economic optimism varies among locals

    Kevin Baird CNJ staff writer

    Although our nation's economy has been in recession over the last four years, recent signs look positive. The Dow Jones stock index broke records in early March. The unemployment rate is down to 7.7 percent, which is the lowest it's been since December 2008, and February car sales are 7 percent higher than February 2012. Could this be a sign that the U.S. economy is finally going to crawl out of the recession? We caught up with Clovis residents and asked them what they thought about the economy: Carlos Velasquez Age: 53 Occup...

  • Officials: Prairie dog job complete

    Kevin Baird CNJ staff writer

    The final body count may never be known. City Parks and Recreation Director Bill Bizzell said Tuesday the poisoning of prairie dogs at Ned Houk is done, and that he's done talking about it. City Manager Joe Thomas said he has "no way of determining" how many prairie dogs were dead because he didn't oversee the project. CNJ file photo Clovis city officials confirm the poisoning process is complete for prairie dogs at Ned Houk Park. The one thing that is known is the city of... Full story