Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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ALBUQUERQUE -- The body camera worn on the chest of New Mexico State Police Officer Justin Hare the early morning of March 15 captured the image of a stranded motorist on Interstate 40 who wanted a lift into town. The NMSP-issued device recorded the sound of the first gunshot, causing the 35-year-old Hare to slump over in his patrol vehicle, an FBI agent testified Tuesday in federal court. The video footage showed the assailant come around to the driver’s side, “briefly pausing as a semi-truck passed by,” and then shoot...
ROSWELL – Senior Jasiah Mendoza’s two-run double broke a tie in the top of the seventh and boosted Clovis High’s baseball team to a 4-2 victory over Roswell Goddard in the opener of a doubleheader on Tuesday night. Senior right-hander Michael Mathison tossed a five-hit shutout in Game 2 to give the Rockets a 2-0 victory and a split of the twin bill. Mendoza led the Cats’ nine-hit attack, going 3-for-4 and driving in a run with a first-inning hit. Senior Koby Rivera’s RBI single helped CHS take a 2-0 lead in the frame, bu...
SANTA FE – Portales High’s softball team has had a fairly easy path to the finals of the eight-team St. Michael’s Invitational. After rolling to a quick win over Zuni in Thursday’s quarterfinals, the Lady Rams jumped on Santa Fe Indian for 10 runs in the first two innings in Friday’s semifinals to post a 13-3 win. Portales (7-4) was slated to face Santa Fe High – a team it beat 12-1 last weekend – in Saturday’s championship clash. PHS posted a six-run first against the Lady Braves, highlighted by a bases-loaded tr...
SANTA FE – Senior right-hander Elijah Archuleta tossed a five-hit shutout and senior first baseman John Leeder clubbed a two-run double during a five-run, third-inning rally as host St. Michael's blanked Portales High 6-0 in Friday's semifinals of the St. Michael's Invitational. With the loss, the Rams (6-4) were slated to play for third place on Saturday against Pecos (4-3), a 7-1 loser against Cobre in Friday's other semifinal tilt. Archuleta walked two and struck out n...
Eastern New Mexico University men’s basketball coach Brent Owen has accepted the head coaching job at Lenoir-Rhyne University, an NCAA Division II program in Hickory, N.C. In a release from ENMU, Owen said the decision comes with “the opportunity to get my children closer to their grandparents and cousins and to put my wife, Ashley, in a better position for her career.” Owen was hired by ENMU prior to the 2020-21 season, which was later canceled due to COVID-19. After a 7-18 record in 2021-22, the Hounds won 17 games the f...
Eastern New Mexico University’s baseball team has gone from a solid position in the Lone Star Conference standings to all but out of the postseason. On Friday, the Greyhounds were competitive against Arkansas-Fort Smith, but couldn’t come up with enough offense in dropping 3-1 and 4-3 decisions to the Lions at Greyhound Field. Originally, the four-game series called for single nine-inning games on Friday and today and a pair of sevens on Saturday, but due to expected high winds ENMU decided to go with the twin bill on Fri...
On this date ... 1918: Bailey County school teacher Evelyn Monts, 23, was shot to death outside her home north of Muleshoe by a man who’d asked her to marry him. John Teal was not arrested and brought to trial until 1936, but confessed to killing Monts and received an eight-year prison sentence, according to multiple newspaper accounts. Some newspapers reported Monts had declined Teal’s marriage proposal, and that led to her slaying. Teal testified he had planned to div...
The biggest issue with US 60/84 between Clovis and Fort Sumner is the vehicles passing on the highway. Curry County Commissioners heard this from Michael Smelker, Assistant District Engineer – Construction from Roswell with the District 2 office of the New Mexico Department of Transportation. Smelker addressed the commissioners at their Tuesday regular session. Smelker said the highway is being evaluated to identify the “level of service” needed between mileposts 325 and 383. Smelker said NMDOT is looking at three alter...
Booked The following were booked into local jails (Tuesday - Friday): Clovis • Kendra Payton, 47, failure to appear on misdemeanor charge • Edrick Bibbs, 39, failure to appear on a felony charge • Laureano Nunez-Alvarado, 58, probation violation • Holley Quintana, 42, parole violation • Debra Buesing, 51, failure to pay fines • Nicole Ramirez, 42, criminal damage to property • Malachi Johnson, 38, battery • Blythe Johnson, 27, contributing to the delinquency of a minor • Jimmy Maes, 37, probation violation • Vanessa Barber,...
A Clovis High School senior is one of 23 New Mexico high school seniors to be named a Daniels Scholar. According to a news release from Clovis Municipal Schools, Rebekah Warren was awarded up to $100,000 in college funding toward an undergraduate degree. Warren is one of CHS’s Early College High School students. With that designation she is on track to graduate from Clovis Community College with an Associate of Applied Science - Paralegal and an Associate of General Studies according to the release. Warren is expected to grad...
Christmas will be celebrated two times in Clovis this year; the first celebration will be in July at Hillcrest Park Zoo. Stephanie Chavez, zoo director, presented to the commission at their regular meeting Thursday and expressed her excitement for the first ever Christmas in July. The commission unanimously approved of the event. “I love Christmas,” Chavez said. Celebrating the holiday two times a year was something Chavez wanted to bring to the area. “A lot of animals are going to be out because it’s going to be warmer...
The Clovis Music Festival’s three-day weekend is turning into a month-long “Clovis Takes the Stage” concert series, according to the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce and Clovis Economic Development. The annual Music Festival is set for April 18-20 at the Curry County Events Center. The Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular, rock band Gin Blossoms and country music’s Kip Moore are the headliners. On Friday, the Chamber announced a series of musical performances before and after the Music Festival “celebrating and highlight...
As part of Clovis Municipal Schools’ facilities master plan, the Dual Language Program at Lockwood Elementary and James Bickley, along with students at La Casita, would become one at La Casita Elementary. With the proposed transition of Lockwood Elementary becoming an early childhood center, those in the dual language program would merge with those at James Bickley in the same program at La Casita. According to CMS’ plan, The Center for Teaching for Biliteracy will assist with merging the two programs and develop a com...
Editor’s note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Troy Hall is the finance director for Curry County. Q: How long have you worked with the county? A: I have worked for the county for 8 years. I was given the opportunity to internship with the County Finance Department my senior year of college and have been fortunate to climb the ladder within the county and have been the finance director for over two years now. I am very grateful to the county for giving a young college student from E...
Is government trying to provoke you? I believe it is. It’s setting a trap. If, by doing provocative things, government can trigger you into acting, your actions become an excuse to crack down harder -- which will trigger more people to act. Like a feedback loop. It’s part of the reason for anti-gun legislation. It’s part of the reason the two main factions of authoritarians love the fight over the issue of “immigration.” It’s why the real solution to crime is criminalize...
Most conspiracy theories are based on kernels of truth. This is true for the terrorist attack that occurred in Moscow on March 23 and resulted in more than 100 deaths. The U.S. government issued a statement asserting it provided a warning to the Russian government, that the Russians failed to heed, which led to the loss of life. A public statement was issued by the U.S. Department of State on March 7 that read, “The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have i...
From hissing cockroaches to energetic green iguanas, Clovis residents were able to learn about the lifestyles of exotic species at Hillcrest Park Zoo's Educational Center grand opening. More than 50 people, including families and local city leaders, came to Friday's big reveal. Among them, smiling ear to ear, was Zoo Director Stephanie Chavez, who has been planning big changes since she started working for the zoo about a year ago. "I visited a lot of zoos and I realized...
If there’s anything I know for sure, it’s that crime in Clovis is on many minds. I read on Facebook that local crime is spiraling out of control. Mostly it’s Joe Biden’s fault. But the anecdotal evidence shared on social media does not match up with the statistics, which suggest crime may be dropping … dramatically. Consider: In 2013, Clovis police recorded 2,646 arrests. That number has been steadily decreasing since. In 2023, CPD recorded 1,061 arrests – a 150% drop. Jail...
Michael Zeiler knows it might sound wrong from every angle, but he wants you to have the best possible total solar eclipse experience when it crosses North America on Monday. So if you're traveling to San Antonio, he suggests staying away from the viewing party at the city's most famous landmark. "The slogan is 'Forget the Alamo,'" Zeiler says. "You would think that would be a cool place to see it. It's historic. It's scenic. But it's outside the path [of totality]." But it's close, he says, adding, "They only have to travel...
While Monday’s solar eclipse will bring night-like darkness to a “zone of totality” about 400-500 miles to our east, the event will also dim sunlight in eastern New Mexico. Gary Zapotoczny, vice president of the Clovis NM Astronomy Club, said the moon will eclipse most, but not all, of the sun’s disc in our area. “We won’t be in totality. You’re probably looking at about 85% coverage. You’ll see the moon eclipsing the sun, you’ll still see sunlight, but sunlight will dim,” Zapotoczny said Thursday. Zapotoczny said any solar e...
Looking at the recent Clovis city election, voter turnout was 11% to 13%. Any idea as to why voter turnout is so low? What if voters were offered incentives such as Jell-o shots or gift cards after voting? Clovis City Clerk LeighAnn Melancon said she doesn’t know the answer. “I have heard, ‘it doesn’t matter, nothing changes,’ ‘It’s rigged and the winner has been decided,’ ‘I didn’t know there was an election,’ ‘I don’t know any of the candidates, so I won’t vote,’ and some say the citizens must be okay with the representati...
Cal-Maine Foods’ poultry facility in Farwell tested positive for bird flu last week, forcing the destruction of 1.6 million laying hens and 337,000 pullets, officials said. “They’re going to be working hard to clean up the facility and get it ready to go back to work,” said Max Bowman, vice president and chief financial officer for the company. In a press release from the Texas Department of Agriculture, the loss accounts for approximately 3.6% of the company’s total flock. Cal-Maine, headquartered in Mississippi, is the U.S....
Words of wisdom can turn up in the most unexpected places, and sometimes from people who have already left us. That happened to me on a couple of occasions recently. The first was a little over a week ago at the memorial service for Leroy Thomas, a retired pastor, tireless community servant, and the longtime owner of the Print Shop in Portales. He died March 24 at the age of 89. He and Gaynelle, his wife of more than 72 years, were steadfast supporters of every good cause you...
A Fort Sumner man was found guilty Friday in a double homicide that happened in early October 2022. The Fort Sumner jury deliberated for just over two hours. Kelby Randolph, 55, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, each with a firearm enhancement, in the shooting deaths of Brian Beaver, 48, and his wife Rachelle Beaver, 38. Sentencing will be soon, according to Judge James Waylon Counts in his concluding address to the court. Special Prosecutor Andrea Reeb said Randolph faces a maximum sentence of 32 years...
Portales Fire Chief TJ Cathey will serve as interim city manager until the City Council replaces Sarah Austin who was fired in a 6-2 Council vote on Tuesday. Cathey said he will direct the public to the resources it needs and take over some “in-charge” duties. “I am willing to step in as interim, to be a team player and help out, but I am not interested in the City Manager position at this time,” he wrote in a text message Friday. He said the Council agenda calls for an executive session at this Tuesday’s meeting to discus...
